The bore in my late father's old 1903 Springfield has some rust pitting. I was thinking of having it rebored to .338, for a .338-06. I know the accuracy of a rebored barrel will depend a lot on who does the work, but can such barrels give fine accuracy? Is it generally cheaper to just rebarrel?

Bill,

I've only had one rifle rebored and that was by Cliff LaBounty. He took my old model 70 out to 35 Whelen. The rule of thumb I was told at the time was if it shoots well originally, it will shoot well rebored, assuming the work is quality. Mine shot well as an 06 and shoots phenomenal as a 35 Whelen.

I hear great things about JES Reboring as well as Dan Peterson. JES has a very fast turn around from what I hear. I don't know about Peterson's turn around time.

It is generally cheaper to rebore than rebarrel especially when you add in the bluing or other finish for the barrel, assuming a CM barrel. I sure wouldn't be afraid of either one of the guys I've mentioned they both have been well recommended. I keep toying with the idea of sending my Marlin 1895 to JES to be opened up to 50 Alaskan. The last time I checked with him, he doesn't do the action work so I would have to play with that myself. Not sure I'm up to that yet but I may get brave one of these days.

You cannot go wrong with the 338-06. I went with the 35 Whelen because I've wanted one since I was a kid. Either round hits like a big hammer and is pretty manageable recoil wise for most shooters. I've never found my Whelen objectionable in it's recoil.

You will be well prepared for any North American big game encounter with the 338-06. Perhaps not as well prepared as you would be with a 35 Whelen, but almost.

Mart

Mart, I had forgotten about JES, just a couple of hours up I-5 from me in Cottage Grove, OR. The barrel is the original Springfield military barrel. I thought about going up to another favorite of mine, the 9,3X62, but that somehow seems to me to be a better choice for a Mauser.
Thanks for your reply.

Keep us posted on this project. Being a Springfield, the 35 Whelen surely should be the chosen rebore caliber. Of course the 338-06 would still be a fine choice in a Springfield.

You're right on the 9.3x62. It just needs to be in a Mauser. Of course is you wanted to go out to a comparable American thumper, you could rebore to a 375 Whelen. You could even have it stamped in it's original title of 38 Whelen. The good Colonel would smile down on you I'm sure.

Mart

Mart, and then there's that .400 Whelen thread I started on the Big Bore forum, where you have played a starring role.

But I don't need a thumper. I need something with punch for elk but that can shoot flat enough for mule deer.

Jesse will make you a fine rebore in whatever reasonable you decide on...I have one of his in 9.3x62 on a Rem.760 ,and am waiting on funding to finish a 375 Whelen on a Springfield '03...Nate

Bill,

All kidding aside, your choice of the 338-06 is outstanding. Really for a one rifle do it all North American big game rifle it has a lot to offer. Couple that rifle with a Nosler 210 grain Partition and go shoot stuff. In fact bring it up here and we'll compare it's performance to my 35 or 400 Whelen on caribou. I doubt we'll see much difference. I know the 35 and the 400 make them quit, I expect the 338-06 would do the same.

With the Nosler 210 or some of the Barnes TTSX 210 or 225 the 338-06 ought to make a pretty flat shooter.

My original goal with the 400 was to find a lefty conversion and rebarrel and restock in the pre WWII style of Sedgley or G&H. I found a Sedgley Springfield so converted on an auction and bid hard for it but ultimately got beat out by someone with deeper pockets. A week later I found the Winchester that I used for the 400. I still hold out hope of finding a Springfield converted to left hand operation on which to build a 38 Whelen. I found one lefty G&H but it went for $8000. Ouch. I'll keep looking. One will come my way one of these days.

Mart

Bill be warned that once you start shooting the 338/06 your hooked. Especially using it in the woods in Oregon.

LaBounty did two 30-06s for me. One to 35 Whelen, one to 9.3x62 both on old 03' sporters. Both shot as good as any new gun. Norm Johnson (High Plains Reboring) did a 300 H&H 700 Classic to 400 H&H and an 1885 Browning High Wall from 25-06 to a .411/40-82. Both would cloverleaf 3 Swifts or Woodleighs. All were far cheaper than new barrels especially when dealing with a 30" tapered octagon. The theory is that older barrels are "destressed". Of course all quality rebores are cut rifling which is how Harry Pope did it .... a reasonable standard of performance.

My 35 Whelen that LaBounty did for me thinks it's a varmint rifle. It loves 250 grain bullets and shoots them powered by 56 grains of 4320 into tiny little groups. I've even shot a sub one inch 4 shot group with that load and one Hornady 250 SPT, one Hornady 250 RN, one Nosler 250 Partition, and one Speer 250 SPT.

Cliff explained to me that if it shot well originally it would shot as well rebored. I have say he was right.

Mart

Remember LaBounty sold his reboring business at least 4-5 years ago or more. He sold to Jim Dubell in Washington state. Dubell did a 9.3X62 barrel for me. Ed Shilen borescoped it and said it was a beautiful job. It is still in the safe.

I have had three done; a .30-06 to 35 Whelen by laBounty, a .310 Cadet to .357 Magnum just JES, and a .270 to .30-06 by Danny Peterson. All three were satisfactory.

Thanks fellas. Butch, love the name of your town!

Bill,
I like the name of my Buddy's town in Oregon"Yamhill".

Butch, yep, that's one of many odd Oregon geographic names. Turns out to be an early anglicanization of Yamhela, the name of an Indian tribe that lived in the area. "They are great rogues, but not very numerous," an early fur trapper-explorer wrote of them in 1814.
Your buddy lives in the heart of some of the best wine country in North America.

Speaking of re-boring. I have a concern about changing the caliber marking on the barrel. Seems to me that changing the bore is a fine idea. But, changing the markings is another. Nothing turns my stomach more than a crossed out marking with another crudely stamped above it. Is a re-cut barrel shoulder standard procedure by re-borers to turn the mark under Seems like the way to go. What is your experience?

Turning a plane Mauser barrel 1/4 turn works fine but will create a small gap along the barrel channel in the stock. Not much, but it is there. If the barrel has site bases, a barrel band sling swivel or a barrel band front site base that are simply soldered on,these can be repositioned. If these are soldered and screwed on, so are you. On Mod 70's however this doesn't work because of the extracter cut on the back of the barrel. On these you use a small end mill plunged down slightlv to mill a small cartouche. You can then either stamp the new caliber in this or even classier you can fill this with gold and engrave it with the caliber. This can also be used on Mauser barrels that have integral bases and sites ect. ...Dave

quote:

Originally posted by custombolt:
Speaking of re-boring. I have a concern about changing the caliber marking on the barrel. Seems to me that changing the bore is a fine idea. But, changing the markings is another. Nothing turns my stomach more than a crossed out marking with another crudely stamped above it. Is a re-cut barrel shoulder standard procedure by re-borers to turn the mark under Seems like the way to go. What is your experience?

Not reboring, but.... I had Dennis Olson rechamber a 30-06 Ruger No. 1 to 300H&H. He did some kind of magic and filled-in/erased/??? the 30-06 marking and stamped 300H&H right top or the old stamping. It was nothing short of amazing. I know that he didn't simply machine them off because the "R" in the circle that was right above the the caliber designation was still there.

I have posted photos here on AR. If I can find them I will post them.

Thanks Dave for your words of wisdom and also thanks Jason for the photo. That is some fine work. Dave: I intend to free-float so I'd be OK with a fine gap. Great information.