Hello

I have a US Model 1917 sporter in 30-06 with the two-groove barrel. I think it is an Eddystone reciever. I read that can make a difference when doing machine-work on this action.

I have been told that this action can be the basis for some pretty big nasty rounds. Rigby, Nitro Express and the like. For now I want to keep the two-groove barrel on the gun.

I am interested in either 300 Winchester Magnum and the 300 H&H Magnum. What type of work is required to rechamber to the 300 Winmag? I also would like to know what sort of extra machine work is reqiured for the longer magnums like the 300 H&H.

I have nothing against the 30-06. I have dies and components and plan to shoot the gun in '06 for the foreseeable future. One of the reasons I bought the gun was because of the action. Might rechamber down the road sometime.


Thanks
ZM

Hey, so, yeah! Right on.
Here's the deal: the barrel was put on some of those Eddy's really tight, and can crack or warp the receive upon removal. Have someone who's familiar with the problem take the barrel off, such as a particular house framer in CA.
IIRC the procedure is to cut a slice into the barrel near the tenon to relieve the pressure, then remove.
But you're talking about saving the barrel, so if you can find someone with a (what's it called?) "pull-through" (?) reamer, they can leave the barreled action alone and just cut a bigger hole. Definitely a 505-308 x 2.5" is in order! (LOL)
As for mods, I believe the action is long enough to just take off the rear for 3.6" rounds (H&H), maybe for the longer ones even (Wby, e.g.) which is what you want, since cutting into the front ring gives less support for the big boom.
Feeding will need to be addressed, widening the rails and setting up the feed ramp possibly.
The Win Mag would take even less work, since the bolt stop and magazine would be the right length already.
I should add the caveat that I really don't know what I'm talking about, even if I was sober!
(The Immortal, Elysian Brewery: one is enough!)

[edit:]
arghh! how I wish I'd bought that rem'17 sporter for $125!!

what he said about the barrel removal - yes. de haas mentions this in "bolt action rifles" and says he believes the problems w/ cracked receivers in enfields are due to damage upon barrel removal. a retired gunsmith i know said he'd never removed an enfield bbl w/o cutting the relief.

as to 2 groove barrels, they can be plenty accurate from what i get out of people who've shot them a lot so don't listen to nonsense abt those either.

as to length, i finally lucked up on one cheap enough to canabalize a couple weeks ago and is a remington (also had an eddy and wish i could have afforded both). the mag box as is measured 3.49" on inside and the way is riveted together the ends can be altered and get - going off memory i think it was - 3.6" w/o cutting the receiver at all (excepting bolt rail mods).

you still have a problem in rechambering tho. and a regular reamer could be driven from behind but you have no way to guide it. the same gunsmith, when i was asking why some rechambering jobs were so expensive, explained it. if the pilot can't reach the bore, the reamer has to be held in rigid alignment by a reamer guide to keep the new chamber concentric. which pretty much means the barrel has to come off so can go in a lathe. the receiver hanging off the back end wouldn't leave any way to support the reamer.

what you might could have done is have the relief cut, bbl removed, and the breech moved fwd to take out that relief cut, then rechambered but at that point you're probably $$ wise into the cost of a new barrel period.

talk to a GOOD barrel maker and i don't mean some local wanker gunsmiths like i've got burned by. mcgowen, shaw, somebody w/ a real reputation.

It depends on the reamer, but I believe I still have the reamer from a job I did years ago.
300 Apex Magnum.
In fact, the guy never came back to pick up his gun, so I also have a barreled action for 300 Apex Magnum.

Anyways, it is a blown out 300 H&H case and I don't think that I pulled the barrel so I must have done the job from the receiver end.

It just depends on the reamer and how long the pilot is.

-Spencer

Zeke,
Take care with that action. Some Eddystone actions are glass brittle. I mean to the point that a moderate rap with a 2 oz. hammer (even a plastic mallet!) can cause the front receiver ring to crack! It is a common ocurrance for these to break when the barrel is unscrewed.
Sorry I can't steer you to the site to chech the serial #'s, but even a moderate amount of searching should get you to a site where you can check.
From what I understand, there are three classifications. The earliest were improperly heat treated, and can be very brittle. The second class consists of those that were re-heat treated, and may ormay not be useable. The latest group have been properly treated, and can be considered safe to use.
Just be sure you are on safe ground before you start. It's an easy thing to check, and can prevent some real headaches, figuratively, and LITERALLY. I would imagine someone on this site has the info. jUST BE SURE TO CHECK IT OUT.
Lastly, as far as a rechamber, why not the .30 Gibbs? It's Very close to 300 Win Mag performance, with just a basic chamber improvement. Good Luck!

I found an excellent article about the M1917 on the CMP website. http://www.odcmp.org/503/rifle.pdf

My SN is 1307xxx. Based on the info in the article, the born-on date is December 1918 or Janurary 1919. This looks to be near the end of production run.

BTW I was able to get the gun to shoot OK at 100 yard pop-cans. My hand is slightly injured from a boo-boo at work so my trigger finger doesn't work well. I should be able to get on the hill Friday to wring it out some more.

From the comments here it seems to be a better idea to skip the rechamber to a 30 cal magnum and go right into a 375 H&H or a 416 Remington Magnumb.

Thanks
ZM

It's your gun and your face.....I wouldn't spend a dime on an Eddystone. It's likely fine as an '06.....my advice is to leave it that way.....if you wish you can trade it in on a M-70 in any caliber you wish for less than the cost of futsing with the p-17.

If your reasearch leads you to believe that your gun is safe, then I'd suggest going to a full length H&H case, or a 300 UM. The advantage of the longer case is that during re-cahmbering, the new neck will be far enough forward not to worry about any slopyness in the original chamber.

You might want to see about having the action hardness tested, shouldn't cost much.

quote:

You might want to see about having the action hardness tested, shouldn't cost much.

That is probably a good place to start. I guess a Rockwell test is in order. What kind of results am I looking for if I want to rechamber?

ZM