Will a 35 Whelen rebore/chamber clean up an 8x60 chamber?

the 8x60s? Ammo guide says it will.

OK, but isn't the Whelen .358 dia and 8 MM is ~323 at the grooves?

quote:

Originally posted by Dulltool17:
OK, but isn't the Whelen .358 dia and 8 MM is ~323 at the grooves?

Hence the rebore.

quote:

Originally posted by z1r:

quote:

Originally posted by Dulltool17:
OK, but isn't the Whelen .358 dia and 8 MM is ~323 at the grooves?

Hence the rebore.

It is actually an old .318" commercial Oberndorf barrel. If it were a .323" barrel I would leave it as 8x60. Bullets in 318" are expensive and hard to find. I suppose I could swage 323" bullets, but I'd rather not. Roboring/chambering to 338-06 or 35 Whelen sounds like a better option. I don't think the barrel is thick enough for a 9.3x62. Thanks for the advice, fellous!

If your chamber neck will accept .323" bullets (and most are loose enough to do so) you might be surprised how slickly they will go down a .318" bore. Obviously, you should start with somewhat conservative powder charges, but don't be surprised if you can work up to near maximum listed charges and still exhibit no pressure. Some oversized bullets will work better than others in terms of accuracy. Of course, this applies only to lead core bullets. Don't even think of trying it with a monometal.

quote:

It is actually an old .318" commercial Oberndorf barrel.

Given that all commercial Oberndorf barrels are old, since they were made pre-1946, can you tell how old yours is? At some point, in the early '30's as I recall, Oberndorf started chambering its 8mm barrels with an "S" (.323") type reamer, which would allow both bullet diameters to be fired through them without dire consequences. If a .323" bullet will slip easily into a case fired in your barrel, then you should be able to use .323" bullets in it.

My experience with .318" bores is that if it has a tight neck the chamber will not accept a cartridge loaded with a .323" bullet. If it will accept a cartridge loaded with a .323" bullet, then chances are good that it was chambered with the larger reamer. However, the test with the fired case is the final determining factor.

Matt,

I have some .318 bullets if you would like to try your barrel as is.

Talk to a re-borer about the barrel diameter, you may be surprised. Personally I would go with 9.3x62 before .35 Whelen. Just seems right in a mauser.

The .318 I have is going to be re-bored to 9.3 as soon as I get around to it. At first I didn't think I could get it rebored that big, but after talking to a few folks found a couple were OK with doing it.

quote:

Originally posted by Fal Grunt:
Matt,

I have some .318 bullets if you would like to try your barrel as is.

Talk to a re-borer about the barrel diameter, you may be surprised. Personally I would go with 9.3x62 before .35 Whelen. Just seems right in a mauser.

The .318 I have is going to be re-bored to 9.3 as soon as I get around to it. At first I didn't think I could get it rebored that big, but after talking to a few folks found a couple were OK with doing it.

Thanks for the offer Nathaniel, but I just found a good selection of .318" bullets at Buffalo Arms. Not exactly cheap, but much cheaper than Woodleigh or Hawk. I have a .318" bore guild gun in 8mm-06 that needs feeding as well. This should mitigate the need for rebores. I have 8mm-06 dies. Now I'll need to get a set of 8x60 dies. Thanks to everyone for their help/comments/info!!!
Matt