Gentlemen,

I am really wanting to make a single shot .303 British, and I am not exactly sure which route to take. I was thinking about a NEF Handi-Rifle, but the .30-30, which would make a logical starting point, only has a 22" barrel, and I would like at least 24" if not 26".

I was wondering how big of a job it is to re-bore a barrel from .308 to .311. What do you all think?

If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them as well. Thanks in advance.

Joel Slate
Slate & Associates, LLC
www.slatesafaris.com

7mm Rem Mag Page www.slatesafaris.com/7mm.htm

Joel,

You would be better off to start with a smaller caliber such as a .284. This would give the barrel maker a little "meat" to work with.

Except for contouring the barrel, there is as much work involved in a good rebore as making a new barrel.

Scott

While making a single shot 303 is a neat idea and one I would like to do myself an easier conversion is to simply rechamber the 30/30 to 30/40 Krag. I have done this on H&R rifles and Savage 219s and it works out really well.
It is really not possible to properly rebore a 30 cal to 303. In a rebore you have to be able to eliminate the original rifling altogether. The fitting of a custom barrel to a top break action is a possibility but is quite a difficult task and therefor likely to cost a bit. It is possible to cut off a shotgun barrel and sleeve the new 303 barrel into that. Shilen makes quality .303 barrels. Regards, Bill.

Joel,
I did a NEF handi rifle in 30-40 Krag from a 30-30, and also had a 24" barreled krag on a P14. The vel differance is very little between the two. If you want a .303, just use a removeable pilot reamer and put a .308 pilot on it. As long as the neck has enough clearance to expand properly that little differance from .311 bullets to .308 bore wont hurt a thing. ruger does the same with their 7.62x39's.

jrslate,

Scott H is right, you better start with a bore that is "one size smaller" if you want a .311"

Or use the .308" bore as is and stick to handloads.

The Ruger Mini-30 7.62X39 has a .3085" bore so .311" bullets do not produce TOO MUCH pressure, higher pressure is still bound to occur.