My wife has a sporter that was made from an '03. Her dad made it including the stock. The stock is a thing of beauty, and fits her perfectly. It also fits me very nicely. It comes to the shoulder like an old familiar shotgun - eyes perfectly aligned with the ghost ring rear and front post. It would be an easy rifle to like a lot.

There are two problems:

First, the barrel was fired with surplus ammo that had corrosive primers and not cleaned, so it is ruined. It is so bad bullets go through the target sideways at 50 yards. This happened before she and I got married which was 40 years ago. She has shot it since, but it is a real downer for her to see how badly it shoots.

Second. it is, of course, a .30-06 which given the light weight of the rifle is pure punishment for my tiny wife to shoot. However, she likes my .243.

So, to my question, has anybody rebarreled one of these actions to chamber .243WIN? If so, how did it work? What were the problems and the fixes?

I'm in the process of getting ready to chamber my first rifle barre, which will be a Savage which seems to me to be a better first rifle than an '03. Barrel vise done, cat-head done, tailstock adaptor for dial indicator done, and so forth. That said, it would help the domestic negotiations over added equipment, like the muzzle flush system, if I could point out that her rifle would also be both fixed and more pleasant to shoot. But I don't want to tell her about it before I "know" it can be done and will work well.

Thanks
Fitch

It's no more problem than any other cartridge conversion. You may have to work feeding issue but shouldn't be much trouble. Flush system? There's really no advantage unless you're barreling rifles on a production line. Put your resources elsewhere.

A.243 should work fine. Many have been built on Springfield actions and served their owners well.

If you are a bit worried about needing feeding tweaks you might consider cartridges more like the original '06 round in profile. Both the 6 mm Remington and the 257 Roberts leap to mind, as does the 7x57. All would be easier on her shoulder than the '06, particularly the 6 m/m Remington. None of the three are likely to cause any magazine or feeding problems, nor to require any tweaks thereof.

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
If you are a bit worried about needing feeding tweaks you might consider cartridges more like the original '06 round in profile. Both the 6 mm Remington and the 257 Roberts leap to mind, as does the 7x57. All would be easier on her shoulder than the '06, particularly the 6 m/m Remington. None of the three are likely to cause any magazine or feeding problems, nor to require any tweaks thereof.

6mm Remington sounds like the answer. It should feel about like a .243 but with the right profile to minimize feeding issues.

That's what I was looking for.

Thanks!
Fitch

The original solution was to rebarrel to .270 Winchester which used lighter bullets at similar velocities... with powders of the day. .27/'06 really.

The .308 family including the .243 are approx. 51 mm while the '06 is 63 mm as I recall. You would be much safer in avoiding action/magazine work with the 57 mm family... 7x57, .257 Roberts/.25/7 Mauser; 6mm Remington, aka .244/ .24/7Mauser... etc. I believe the Newton, .22 was the 7 Mauser necked to .228. Long and serviceable traditions. .257 Roberts loads are a bit lighter than the +P .257 loads which work at higher pressures and kick a bit more. Luck.

I should have mentioned the .25-06 in my original post. It is much more noisy than the others I did mention, but recoil is still quite mild, particularly with bullets of 100 grains or lighter. If she used Barnes TSX bullets, it could even be a pretty fair elk rifle for her.

Since it is the same nominal length and almost exactly the same shape as the '06 parent cartridge, naturally it is going to feed with no issues. And, like the other three, she can buy cartridges over the counter for it if you are ever not there to load for her.

quote:

Originally posted by iiranger:

<snip>

The .308 family including the .243 are approx. 51 mm while the '06 is 63 mm as I recall. You would be much safer in avoiding action/magazine work with the 57 mm family... 7x57, .257 Roberts/.25/7 Mauser; 6mm Remington, aka .244/ .24/7Mauser... etc. I believe the Newton, .22 was the 7 Mauser necked to .228. Long and serviceable traditions. .257 Roberts loads are a bit lighter than the +P .257 loads which work at higher pressures and kick a bit more. Luck.

.257 Roberts ... both you and Alberta Canuck mentioned that. I spent some time looking in reloading manuals and playing with it and 6mm Rem in QuickLoad/QuickTarget. .257 Roberts makes a second really good candidate. Recoil is managable and I like the bigger diameter bullet. The rifle has a Williams adjustable rear sight on it, which is usable for my aging eyes if I remove the peep disk and use it as a ghost ring. It wouldn't be nearly as handy with a scope on it.

Handy as it is, in either 6mm Rem or .257 Roberts it would make a great PA coyote and deer rifle. The shots on deer and coyotes here can be are relatively short range. Seldom over 75 yards.

Thanks for the excellent suggestion.

Fitch

If it were me I would go with a 25-06 or 6 mm. If 6 mm, then I would weld up the bolt stop to the same "level" as the cut off pos. to save a little bolt movement quick and easy.

One more option for you, Fitch. I rebarreled this Springfield to 7x57. It's an old standby cartridge, very low recoil, that feeds like butter in a Springfield.

This is an IT&D Douglas barrel.....installed and shipped for less than $250 2 years ago.

That’s a real beauty you got there Grandview! See you made apt use of a Ruger sight. I have had several rifles brought to me for work that have been barreled by IT&D and can testify that they do quality work with Douglas barrels.

I was also going to suggest the .257 Roberts or the 7x57. If she is not likely to hunt game larger than deer, go with the Roberts, otherwise go with the 7x57.

Dave

quote:

Originally posted by loud-n-boomer:
I was also going to suggest the .257 Roberts or the 7x57. If she is not likely to hunt game larger than deer, go with the Roberts, otherwise go with the 7x57.

Dave

Deer or Coyotes in So. Central Pennsylvania. Most shots well under 100 yards. I like the idea of having a .257 Roberts ... just because I like it. It is essentially the same recoil as a .243 with equivelant bullet weights.

I'll know for sure what I'm going to do when I order the barrel and buy the reamer, but for the moment the cartridge at the top of the list is the .257 Roberts.

My father in law made the gun for my wife as a Christmas presant 45 years ago. It will be fun for me to fix it so she could shoot it again, but it won't be done by Christmas.

Her dad had a big basement workshop crammed full of tools. She thinks having a shop is normal. Works for me.

Fitch

quote:

Originally posted by GrandView:
One more option for you, Fitch. I rebarreled this Springfield to 7x57.

Nice rifle! Well done.

Fitch

Mrs. Idared also carries a Springfield in 7X57.

The 120 g. Hornady loaded lite would also be an excellent choice. Just bulk up the powder, say Reloader 22. With all the pretty Springfield’s in this thread I thought I would go ahead and post a 400 I built.

an answer, rebore to 9,3x62 or 338-06 and load the lightest bullets to 2600fps..

that preserves everything as is, doesn't require any stock work, and keeps it light...

a 160gr .338 barnes TSX at 2600 will be low presure, and low recoil