Sante Fe model 1946

[2ski]

This was my grandfather's gun. Nothing stamped on it as far as caliber. Someone told me they thought it would've been his service weapon in WWII. Cut to be a sporting rifle. So a number of years ago my dad took it to a gunsmith to see what caliber it was. He told him it was a 30-06 but that the barrel had shrunk and it needed to be rebored. Is that a thing? A few years later, after I had put about half a box of bullets through it, I found some bullets of a 7.62 or something caliber. A friend told me that if the gunsmith widened whatever caliber the bullet was to an ought 6, it was no longer safe to shoot and handle those pressures. Anyone here have any ideas as to what I may have? And if the gun was ruined by the gunsmith?

 

[D_Walt]

You have a gun that needs to be taken to a competent gunsmith and have him figure it out.

 

[FairWeather]

Here’s what a quick google brings up about these rifles: https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50058

 

[kodiakisland]

Really hard to tell what you have based on the information you have been given. Barrels don't shrink. It may be a rebarreled M98 in 30-06, or could be something completely different. A chamber cast will tell you what you have. Some M98s were just rechambered from 8X57 to 8mm-06 so a necked up 30-06 case could be used instead of trying to find 8X57 cases. I doubt that's what it is, but you never really know with old guns and no markings. The vague reference as to a gunsmith widening something would make me want to be certain before shooting it. Who knows what was done to it after the original work on the M98.

 

[shb]

At the check out counter of life there's a little dish, but instead of penny's, it says take a miracle, leave a miracle.

 

[longbow51]

My barrel shrunk a little after radiation to my prostate, but fortunately it grew back.

Metal doesn't "shrink". Get it to a gunsmith.

 

[noharleyyet]

Golden State Arms SF 1946 (stock pic)