Does anyone know a competent gunsmith in the upstate NY area to rechamber a rifle?

Phil

Sorry can't help with a name. Just a heads up if you don't set the barrel back there is a chance you will leave a ring along what had been the front of the 338 belt. While the rear of the two cases are the same size the ruger will be tapered the belt on the 338 was not. I'm sure you can fire it without issue but you might have a ring showing on the brass.

I believe a .375 Dakota would clean it up nicely. Brass not as easy to come by but it should take the belt out.
C.G.B.

Thanks for the comments. I spoke with Pac Nor...they barreled this action for me....they said that headspace might be a problem and that the barrel would have to be setback. Probably because of the "ring" that Paul referred to. I would like to get a hold of some .375 Ruger brass to compare, but can't find any...can't find ammo locally and suppliers won't ship ammo to NY due to the Safe Act.

Phil

While I haven't had my yet looking at the shoulder area I don't SEE a headspace issue. Then again I didn't draw it out either. Since your current barrel has 375-338 stamped on it "I assume" if you set it back it would hide the stamp.

Paul, The PacNor barrel is a match to the contour of the original Ruger .338 Mag barrel. The shank is 2.5" and tapers quickly... probably too short to stand a set back, and the .375/.338 Mag stamp won't cover with a set back. Also, you mentioned the ring due to the untapered belt. To rechamber and clean out the ring would surely cause headspace problems. The lack of availability of Ruger brass and/or ammo makes it difficult to draw conclusions. This rifle is very accurate with my pet loads...under a minute of angle...I'd hate to set back the barrel and possibly hurt the accuracy.

Phil

Phil
I fully understand not having enough shank to set a barrel back. I have several of my own. I sure didn't ask if you had sights etc that would impact simply turning the barrel to cover the stamp.

I also didn't take the time to ask what type of action the barrel was on and if it had an extractor groove cut. All critical question that ashould have been asked.

As to the original headspace statement from pacNor Normally the issue of headspace on a rechamber is "will the new chamber remove the old chamber and allow proper headspace. Sometimes people try to rechamber with a shorter bodied case and the old shoulder contact point is too far forward.

If you had set the barrel back then the 375 ruger would have cut a proper headspace. I "feel" that even with simply recutting your chamber without setback you would still have proper headspace. It looks to me like the 375 Ruger shoulder if farther forward and sharper. But I didn't draw it out.

I mentioned the ring. As I said I would bet that leaving the front of the rim cut in your chamber and simply cutting a 375 Ruger would function. I do not believe the ring would be a safety issue of any kind. I'm sure someone has rechamber a belted magnum and had that ring. If you aren't reloading an going to only shoot factory so what. However if you sold the rifle later the new buyer might not be happy.

Last but not least I'm going on my opinion "assuming" since the belt area is cut and the Ruger will not completely clean it that a ring would appear. I have not done this conversion myself.

Paul,
I checked the original Ruger takeoff barrel and there is no cutout. The .375/.338 barrel is 24", .625 at the muzzle and has no sights. I would much prefer to ream out the chamber to .375 Ruger and live with the ring if that's what happens. My pet loads are 270 gr A Frames at 2,675 fps and 300 gr A Frames at 2,560 fps. If I do my part, these loads will shoot 1" groups at 200 yds. My only reason for considering a rechamber to .375 Ruger is for availability of factory ammo...but, I don't want to disturb my tight groups. Do you see a problem with resizing fired cases with the ring and reloading them?

Phil

I wouldn't have an issue with a ring. Others might.

Just a thought. While the 375/338 groups well in your rifle. Only way to insure that you don't mess it up is to leave it as is.

Since the current chambering groups well you would hope that it would still after you rechambered. But the only way to know for sure is chamber and test.

If I was still going to reload I'd leave it alone.

Paul,
I won't make a decision until I get some .375 Ruger brass to compare to my .375/.338 which is more difficult than I would have expected...very scarce. I am leaning toward not making the conversion. Thanks for you input.

Phil

375 Ruger brass from Hornady is in Stock here:

http://www.midsouthshooterssup...em.asp?sku=000038673

The local Sportsman's Whearhouse in C. Springs also has plenty of the stuff.

BTW. Great cartridge. I love mine!

Barstooler

Thanks Barstooler, I got an email from Midway in the last 15 minutes indicating they now have the brass. I quick ordered a few boxes. Hornady must have sent out a shipment to their dealers.

Phil

That is a lot of work and a lot of expense for very small returns if any..I have done a lot of chronograph work on the 375/338 (Chatfield-Taylor) and the 375 H&H and 375 Ruger. You might pick up a 100 FPS, but I seriously doubt it..I can duplicate a 375 H&H with a Chatfield Taylor and its not even a problem..

You're right Ray. I've decided not to do it. The advantage of access to factory ammo alone doesn't justify the expense and effort.

Phil

You can get 375 Chatfield Taylor marked brass. I found two boxes of the stuff in my reloading stuff..Not sure who made it, but its out there.

That .338 case is a wonder..A 9.3, 375, 416 or 404 on a .338 case will duplicate any of these calibers close enough for Goverment work anyway.

I got up to or within 50 FPS on all of them some years ago...I duplicated the 9.3x64, the 375 H&H, got within 50 FPS of the 416 Rem and same for a same loaded 404 Jefferys. Hard to beat that..Just a damn nice wildcat...Ross Seyfreid used a 416 Taylor and 350 gr. Barnes Xs as a back up gun for quit some time with excellent results, I think he told me he gave up very little velocity with 400 gr. bullets. I shot mine at 2355 FPS with 400 gr. bullets..I prefer the 404 Jefferys, but only out of nostalgia with which I'm afflicted.

My original supply of properly headstamped brass for the .375/.338 and also my .30/.338 came from Quality. Good stuff...except on one box of 50 cases, the case mouths were ragged and not trimmed to proper length. I agree...the .338 case is a wonder. My wildcats easily duplicate the ballistics of the .375 H&H and my .30/.338 equals the .300 Win Mag, and is a better designed cartridge in my opinion. Both rifles are Ruger Mark II actions in aftermarket synthetic stocks, easy to carry...and superbly accurate.

Phil