Re-barreling a 700

[Robin128]

Thinking of replacing my 26" 308win barrel with a 32".

I have the appropriate vice and wrenches.

Is this all it is?

Presumably smith would have to thread for moderator and brake...if required although I might leave it alone to preserve integrity of crown etc.

Would new barrel be proofed already?

Might need new cabinet.

Where is MRY when you need him.

Rob

[Dangermouse]

It will need to be sent away to be proofed, and you will need to drill out the chamber - specialist tooling required.

Personally I like the idea of having a scape goat should the thing come out "bent" - in more than one way!

I hear of some very big names getting this wrong, so I assume that I am more than capable of boshing £800 of barrel.

I was plenty happy to let someone else take the responsibility for this up grade,

DM

[Sim G]

I would reckon if the barrel was bought from a UK dealer then it would be proofed. If you imported it and fitted it yourself, I believe you would only have to proof it if you then sold/transfered it on.......

Why a 32" barrel?

[Robin128]

Drill out the chamber...don't understand...isn't that already done?

Curious.

Changed triggers and stocks and scopes.

32" for 900+

Rob

[Sim G]

32" for 900+

Rob, post your load and I'll shove it through Quickload, purely as a comparison to see if there would be any theoretic benefit. I'm not convinced there would be especially with a .308.....

[The Gun Pimp]

Rob,

If a barrel has never been screwed onto an action - how could you proof it?

It is possible to buy a pre-chambered barrell but an RFD would only sell it to you provided he could fit it and proof it. Fox Firearms have pre-fits for the Barnard action but if you wanted one, Fox would take your action and give it back to you with the barrel fitted and proofed.

That video makes it look oh so simple! That vice wouldn't even remove a factory barrel from a Remmy! They are stubborn at times!

Then we have the little problem of headspace - possible to use a prefit with a Barnard - they are so accurately made - each one is identical but not so with a Remmy.

Prefit barrels for Remmys - as sold by Brownells - are 'short' so that the gunsmith can headspace in the lathe and properly fit your barrel. The headspace tolerance is very small - around four thou between the 'go' and 'no go' gauges.

Cheers
Vince

[Dangermouse]

32 inch barrel because of the physics.

With a 26" barrel it is very difficult to keep a .308 above trans sonic and sub sonic at 1000 yards. My soft wear showed my rounds dropping below super sonic at around 800 yards.
What happens to bullets in trans sonic and sub sonic space is a whole discussion for another day (get Bryan Litz book) but suffice to say that accuracy is not great at these speeds and you will always score less than a competitor with a supersonic round.

The question of how long do you have to have is another question which could be discussed at length, but the general rule of thumb is 30" should be your starting point.
The longer the barrel the higher the velocity - to a point.

The barrel I bought was a "blanc" and needed work at both ends. You can get pre chambered barrels but these will still need the head space correctly fitted and any work done on the action / Barrel should see the gun go off to the proof house.

DM

[Robin128]

N540 39.7 175 matchkings cci200 2.800"coal.

Guys on here reckon 26" too short for 1000+

Its doing fine on 700-800 at Sennibridge.

Thinking about serious LR 2011.

Rob

[Ovenpaa]

I am determined to build a new rifle next year for the Hunting Comps in Denmark, additionally I have a very robust engineering background with the added advantage of being able to use my hands and understand wood. I will not be chambering or fitting the barrel to the Action, that is something I leave to the experts (In our case this is Stuart Anselm) I much prefer to know the action and barrel are true, head spaced and proofed and my part is bed the stock and fit the rail and 'scope etc.

I think such things are best left to people with the facilities and experience. Yes I know swapping out a barrel is in theory very simple but when it comes to a new custom chambered barrel I am just not up for it.

[Dangermouse]

The level of accuracy you want and the effects of wind are also worth taking into account,

I won a Police F Class comp with a Sako TRG with a 26" barrel. That was at distances including 800, 900 and 1000 yards.
But at that comp no one else had anything better.

The problem with me now shooting outside "club shoots" and in the UK F Class league, is that nearly everyone is shooting a lot faster rounds than me, and faster i this conversation equates to more accuracy.
A simple example of this is the effects of wind. A faster round may be knocked out to the 5 ring where as a slower round will be knocked out to the 4 ring. In a 15 round stage that could be at least 15 points you are dropping. In a 3 stage comp then you will see yourself 45 points below the top shooters, many of which are drooping only one or two points a round.

So you can get to 1200 with a 26" barrel, and I did in my first F Class comp, it's just how accurate you want to be.
Or perhaps that is how competitive you are, want to be?

DM