Ever consider rechambering a 338 Win Mag to a 338 Rem Ultra Mag? Any problems?

Jim

It's a mortal pain in the ass.

John, what kind of problems?

Jim

If you ream the chamber .001" too deep, which is easy to do, then you have to move the shoulder forward, ejector cut forward, time the barrel where the quarter rib is lined up, cut the back of the quarter rib off, ream the chamber deeper and hope you don't do it all over again. I would rather fit and chamber a new barrel. In fact, I charge almost as much money to re-chamber as I do to fit up a new barrel. I do it, but I don't like it.

John,

I thought gunsmiths never make mistakes

Dam rite we dont! Wait a minute, that's not right. No, probably the most important things Kenny Jarrett ever said to me in the whole nine years I worked for him was, "It's not about not making mistakes. Every body makes mistakes. It's about being able to fix those mistakes and make the job right."

I grew up in a tool and die shop. The old saying was "A tool maker never makes a mistake, sometimes it just takes longer"

My dad came up with the idea to have his help make the tools for a price. He would put the drawing and material on a bench with the total price on it and the tool maker could choose the job he wanted. The tool makers had to finish that job for that total price. The state found out about it and since no overtime was paid they made my dad stop it.

When these gunsmiths work for themselves it's like the good old days.

John Lewis;
How much of a major pain-in-the-ass would it be to take a Ruger 1B, 243Win to a 243WSSM when they finalize the case dimentions? Same story?

[ 02-22-2003, 01:21: Message edited by: Marsh Mule ]

I'm sure it will be.

J Boutfishn

I had my 375 H&H rechambered to 375 Ultra Mag. One problem I had was that the barrel came loose after 150 rounds. So I took it back to the 'smith' who fixed it. But I'm sure he probably wished he'd never agreed to the job in the first place.

One thing we ran into was the falling block had to be machined a bit to allow the ultramag case to clear upon ejection.

With all that said, I absolutely enjoy this rifle. It'll do 1" and less 3 shot groups.

J Boutfishn,

I had my 375 H&H rechambered to 375 Ultra Mag. One problem I had was that the barrel came loose after 150 rounds. So I took it back to the 'smith' who fixed it. But I'm sure he probably wished he'd never agreed to the job in the first place.

One thing we ran into was the falling block had to be machined a bit to allow the ultramag case to clear upon ejection.

With all that said, I absolutely enjoy this rifle. It'll do 1" and less 3 shot groups.

I'd like to do a .338 next if I can find a suitable rifle. Or else I'll take my other #1 that another 'smith' rechambered to 7mm RUM - it'll do 6" groups at 50 yards - and rebarrel it to.338 RUM. This time I'll let PacNor do it. I've been thinking of a 28" or 30" octagon barrel.

J Boutfishn, I just noticed that you're in Redding. Give me a private e-mail at aunuts@sisgtel.net if you're serious about doing your #1 and I'll tell you which gunsmith in Redding screwed up my 7mm RUM. Or, maybe I could trade you out of your .338?