Would it be possible for a 300 savage reamer to clean up a .308 cal 7.62x39 chamber? I want to do a small ring swede in 300 savage and I can get my hands on one of these bbls easily. It is already threaded and finished. What are some opinions? Thanks...............C

Genghis, I am not sure of your answer. The 300 Savage according to the info that I can find was not loaded to exceed 46000 cup, same as a 6.5 Swede or a 7mm mauser. The project is not meant to be a hot rod. It is meant to be a companion rifle for a model 81 remington woodsmaster also in 300 Savage. Now it is only in the planning stages and I really don't care what action is used as long as I can get the whole thing to look like it ws done in the 50's. Steel tube Weaver and all. Everything is on the board so to speak. I am trying to explore as many options as I can before committing to any one course of action. As far as the caliber thing goes, the bbl is chambered for a 7.62x39 round but the bore and groove diameters are standard .308 30 cal, not the .311 bore sometimes found in the soviet round. That is why I was wondering if the 300 Savage would clean up and work in this particular 7.62x39 chamber. Thanks

The 300 Savage would easily clean up a 7.62x39 chamber. The 300 is very close in size to the 308 of course. Regards, Bill

Carnivore: I think you knew the answer to your question at the time you asked it (as Bill says, yes). You just wanted to know if you could elicit some non-sensical answer from somebody on this forum, and Genghis obliged.

Well I had an idea that it would work, but I was hoping that someone here had done it. I still am not 100% on the small ring action though. I have seen 22-250's and 308's on small rings but I would never fire them! I have zero experience with the savage round so I was hoping for a little insight. All this stuff as of today is still on paper. I don't even know of a smith that would do it for me yet. Anyone for an AK in 300 Savage? (JUST KIDDING) Non-sensical answers are ok I guess , but I really want to do this rifle the right way.

Carni: I suppose you're talking about the Swedish Mauser, in whichever configuration, originally chambered for the 6.5x55. The bolt face will be just a tad oversized (the specs for the rim of the 6.5 Swede call for a diameter of .480" as opposed to .469-471 for the '06 series of cartridges, including the .300 Savage). This is not a problem since the Mauser extractor will have plenty of grip on the rim anyway. Likewise, the amount of barrel steel left surrounding the chamber will be a bit greater since the Savage chamber is similarly a bit smaller in diameter than the Swede. Although this action is essentially identical to the Spanish M93 and M95, it has plenty of strength for the .300 Savage, or for that matter, the .308 Winchester. Many have been reworked into higher intensity cartridges.

I have an Oberndorf sporter in 300 Savage but I dont know how to tell if its a small or ??? ring size. It does have the dovetail cut in the reciever and is a short action if that tells you anything. Im finding that with a 125 grn BT @ 2800 fs it actually makes a decent varminter, its no powerhouse but the mild recoil makes it enjoyable to shoot all day long and it packs plenty punch for the lesser critters.

[ 07-17-2002, 08:31: Message edited by: Wstrnhuntr ]

I've seen (and owned a few) small ring Mausers in various calibers usually considered "too hot" for the action. I have not seen any of these rifles fail catastrophically. Of course, with a little negative help you can blow up anything, but a small ring Swede in 300 savage sounds like the beginnings of a very nice rifle to me. Right now I have one in 6.5-06 that I have had zero problems with. I took it in a trade, the parts on the rifle were worth more than the rifle, but I had to try it at the range, and it shoots very well. Now I need more parts. Oh well. FWIW, buld the 300. - Dan

I think somebody is confusing true small ring M-98s with the small thread with the older M-98 with a small ring and a LARGE thread.

If you can find something wrong with G33/40s and VZ-33s, BOTH small ring Mausers, I'd sure like to hear about it. They are the premier M-98 built by any company at any time.

Many of the commercial Mauser actions from Orbendorf were small thread large ring like the Turk. They're fine actions and suitable for any non-belted caliber.

Wstrnhuntr---

Your's is a VERY special rifle if it's built on a K Mauser and it sounds like it is. It makes me absolutely cringe to think of trying to shoot light bullets out of it at fast speeds. That action is worth more than many cars and its NOT made to hot-rod.
The 300 Savage had at least three different sets of chamber dimensions and the Germans chambered the commercials to take the biggest ones. That gun started life with excess headspace for American cartridges. When pressures are kept at sensible levels the 300 Savage won't hurt it, but handloading varmint bullets in a dovetailed receiver is asking for a wreck.