I will be getting my 416taylor back soon and it will have a pretty thin barrel at the muzzle. Not sure if there will be enough meat to screw a front sight on. Is there any other way to attach one. I do not want to send the gun out agian so what would work????

You could use a low temp solder like Brownells Hi-Force 44, melts at 475 degrees. If the barrel is too thin to safely drill a .125 deep hole, then I wouldn't be looking to use anything in the upper temperature brackets unless you're real experienced. Would be easy to damage a thin barrel quickly if not real careful. Good luck.

I've never seen a barrel so thin that one couldn't get enough 6 X 48 threads in it to attach a sight.

If one can screw sights to a featherweight barrel one can put them on your 416 I'd bet.

That said the hi-force 44 solder described by malm will work as well

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
I've never seen a barrel so thin that one couldn't get enough 6 X 48 threads in it to attach a sight.

Sounds too me like you need to hang out around a working gunshop for a while. You would gain a whole new prospective on things. The experience of witnessing some of the shit that comes through the doors would be worth the price of admission.

quote:

If one can screw sights to a featherweight barrel one can put them on your 416 I'd bet.

Not quite that easy. Anyone can screw a sight to a barrel, the trick is having it hold. Before deciding to drill and tap a barrel, you need to make sure you will have sufficient threads to hold the sight based on the caliber and it's expected kick, and how much material will be left between the bottom of the screw hole and the bore. You don't want to compromise the accuracy of the gun by pressing too close to the bore to the point of distorting it.

I think that somebody still makes a barrel band front sight ramp. Uses a set screw to hold+I would put high strength Loc tite under it, after finding the right spot(windage bore sight adjustment) for the band.

for the cost of shipping the gun again, it would be cheaper (and better IMO) to buy a NECG barrel band, have it shipped to your gunsmith and blued, and then attach it yourself with loktite bushing adhesive and the set screw.

vapodog, this was a stainless ruger 338 that i had rebored to 416, not sure how much meat will be left.

quote:

Originally posted by grizzinater:
vapodog, this was a stainless ruger 338 that i had rebored to 416, not sure how much meat will be left.

didn't stainless Rugers come with (as an option) a stainless barrel band ? That would be a good way to go.

quote:

Originally posted by grizzinater:
vapodog, this was a stainless ruger 338 that i had rebored to 416, not sure how much meat will be left.

grizz,

I'm no expert, but I don't think it is safe to rebore your .338 barrel to .416 and retain the original 24" length w/ .625" muzzle. This barrel is close to a #3 contour and may need to be cut and crowned no longer than 22" to be safe. I may be wrong, but this does not sound good to me.

quote:

Originally posted by malm:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by vapodog:
I've never seen a barrel so thin that one couldn't get enough 6 X 48 threads in it to attach a sight.

Sounds too me like you need to hang out around a working gunshop for a while. You would gain a whole new prospective on things. The experience of witnessing some of the shit that comes through the doors would be worth the price of admission.[QUOTE]

Yes...I stand corrected...I just got back from a gunshop and saw the worst bolthandle on a Mauser ever....and on a mannlicher chambered in a 8MM-06 with the original stepped barrel......and of course.....no dies!!!!....consigned at $800?????

It had the original trigger and a buehler "up/dn" safety.....but it did have the annodized aluminum hinged floorplate.

gary,if i keep it 24inches that will give me o.1045 of meat left. How can to test to see if its safe? How much bigger diameter would i have it i cut back to 22.

.1045" is plenty of steel to hold it together

quote:

Originally posted by grizzinater:
gary,if i keep it 24inches that will give me o.1045 of meat left. How can to test to see if its safe? How much bigger diameter would i have it i cut back to 22.

grizz,

I'm no expert on this stuff. I was building the exact same rifle as you and wanted to rebore or duplicate the Ruger contour.

Shilen ran their computer program for me showing you could safely make a #3 contour (as long as it was finished no more than 22") in .416 caliber to duplicate the mkII 338WM contour but rechamber/caliber to 416Taylor. This would be light in contour.

I thought that the "bore diameter + .200" rule would apply but their program indicated that the muzzle diameter beyond 22" would be too thin. Cutting back to 22" only gave approx. an additional .030", but that was the difference between Shilen giving a thumbs up vs. thumbs down.

As far as a front sight goes. I'd suggest getting a banded sight. I just installed the Ruger (stainless) on a factory 338 which would work for you at 24", but there is neither enough meat in the band nor any stretch in the cast material to get it to work if you cut the barrel to 22". Ruger may have a banded sight for a different model w/ a larger band id if you cut the barrel. The NECG banded sight is also an option, but you would need to have it NP after fitting to get it close to stainless in appearance.

Just as a note about your project,

I picked up a new Ruger 338 SS/Lam for mine. Shilen was doing the barrel/chamber and I wanted a fiberglass stock w/out cheekpiece to duplicate the Ruger profile. I think this would make for a very nice handling rifle w/ plenty of power that is rugged.

What killed it for me is that I took the rifle from the box to the range to check it for any major flaws. In stock form it shot any 338 ammo I put through it under an inch and a quarter. I then went out and picked up an M70 416Rem and decided to leave the 338 as is.

Keep us posted, I really like such Ruger projects.

Gary