Who's had a rifle re-bored?

[Dougfirtree]

What chambering did you start with and end with?

Were you happy with the decision (was accuracy good)?

Do you have a gunsmith to recommend, as a result?

Bonus points if you know a smith who can re-bore a Remington 7600.

Any other wisdom to pass on with regard to this subject?

 

[Mallardsx2]

I know a guy who had a 30-06 bored out to a .35 Whelen. It cost him $450. A week later I saw a .35 Whelen at a garage sale in mint condition for $500....lol

 

[RickND69]

I had a 30-06 rebored to 338-06 by reboring by Jes and love the job he did.

 

[Sawtooth]

I had my 270 win rebored to 338-06 by JES as well. He is a great guy to work with and am very happy with the one MOA accuracy the rifle provides with both 185 and 210 grain Barnes TSX bullets.

 

[Dougfirtree]

I know a guy who had a 30-06 bored out to a .35 Whelen. It cost him $450. A week later I saw a .35 Whelen at a garage sale in mint condition for $500....lol

That's funny, but have you seen what 7600's (and virtually all older Remingtons) are selling for now?! The prices have basically doubled in the last year, or two.

 

[Dougfirtree]

I had my 270 win rebored to 338-06 by JES as well. He is a great guy to work with and am very happy with the one MOA accuracy the rifle provides with both 185 and 210 grain Barnes TSX bullets.

When he did that, did he do the headspace, too? Or was that an extra job?

 

[T Bone]

From my experience of one, JES puts a witness mark on the action and barrel to mark alignment. Unscrews the barrel. Punches it out to the desired cartridge, the puts it all back together, correctly head spaced and timed.

Mine was back in my hands in two weeks.

The only thing I'd suggest that he could do better is the new cartridge marking/stamping on the barrel. He X's out the old and stamps the new cartridge chambering in big blocky, kind of sloppy font.

Mine was a burned out 30-06 that was punched out to 9.3x62. It's accurate.

 

[BrentD]

What chambering did you start with and end with?

Were you happy with the decision (was accuracy good)?

Do you have a gunsmith to recommend, as a result?

Bonus points if you know a smith who can re-bore a Remington 7600.

Any other wisdom to pass on with regard to this subject?

.32 Winchester Special to .38-55
Yes and no. Mostly no. (eventually relined it).
I used JES
JES
A larger differential in calibers is better than a small differential.

.30-30 to .38-55 would have been better, but probably still not great.

What about a reline? And why not a rebarrel?

YOu know that deer and elk cannot be hunted with a gun that is worse than 0.5 MOA in these modern times. Heavy match barrels are pretty much de rigueur these days, so premium barrel, matched with premium bullets is the only way to go. Just look at the internet if you don't believe me.

 

[Sawtooth]

When he did that, did he do the headspace, too? Or was that an extra job?

Headspacing was part of the price.

 

[Mallardsx2]

That's funny, but have you seen what 7600's (and virtually all older Remingtons) are selling for now?! The prices have basically doubled in the last year, or two

Go to pawn shops in West Virginia. There are literally hundreds of them for sale, if not thousands.

Good luck finding a spare magazine for an older 760 gamemaster right now....If a person was able to make them out of a CNC machine they would literally make a killing...

 

[Dougfirtree]

Go to pawn shops in West Virginia. There are literally hundreds of them for sale, if not thousands.

Good luck finding a spare magazine for an older 760 gamemaster right now....If a person was able to make them out of a CNC machine they would literally make a killing...

I've had that same thought, about making new magazines. I think all owners of older pumps live in fear that their magazine will crap out and they'll have to get one of the new ones.

 

[Mallardsx2]

Well, if your magazine craps out my advice would be to sell the gun......Your not finding a magazine for a reasonable price and if you do it likely wont fit the damn gun....

Dont even waste your time with the aftermarket ones if your gamemaster is older...

In the process of building our house I accidentially packed up my 30-06 magaizine....I had to "retrofit" a 742 magazine from my wifes uncles blown up 742 for my 760 pump.....

It does work but I had to get creative with a dremil tool. And it only functions perfectly with 2 rounds in the magazine.

After 6 months of looking for an older gamemaster 30-06 magazine I have finally given up.

 

[Dougfirtree]

.32 Winchester Special to .38-55
Yes and no. Mostly no. (eventually relined it).
I used JES
JES
A larger differential in calibers is better than a small differential.

.30-30 to .38-55 would have been better, but probably still not great.

What about a reline? And why not a rebarrel?

YOu know that deer and elk cannot be hunted with a gun that is worse than 0.5 MOA in these modern times. Heavy match barrels are pretty much de rigueur these days, so premium barrel, matched with premium bullets is the only way to go. Just look at the internet if you don't believe me.

As far as I can tell, the price of a re-barrel is 600+ bucks, more like 800 if I wanted it to match the rest of the rifle with bluing, etc. I don't think I'm prepared to do that right now. Let me know if you're aware of a cheaper option. I don't need this rifle to shoot 1/2" groups, but right now, it's 2.5-3" groups, at best. I'd like for this rifle to be more accurate than that. $250.00 for a re bore is tempting.

I didn't realize that re-lining was a thing. Where did you have that done? Cost? Can you do that to a fairly light modern rifle barrel, like the one on my Rem 7600?

 

[BrentD]

As far as I can tell, the price of a re-barrel is 600+ bucks, more like 800 if I wanted it to match the rest of the rifle with bluing, etc. I don't think I'm prepared to do that right now. Let me know if you're aware of a cheaper option. I don't need this rifle to shoot 1/2" groups, but right now, it's 2.5-3" groups, at best. I'd like for this rifle to be more accurate than that. $250.00 for a re bore is tempting.

I didn't realize that re-lining was a thing. Where did you have that done? Cost? Can you do that to a fairly light modern rifle barrel, like the one on my Rem 7600?

I have had many rifles relined. However, I do not know if it can be done with your rifle or with the cartridges you are interested in - you haven't stated what they are. I live in a very different world ballistically, so what works for me, may not for you.

Frankly, if all you want is more accuracy - why not sell the rifle and buy another? That will probably be cheaper than anything else you can do.

 

[Horse]

Frankly, if all you want is more accuracy - why not sell the rifle and buy another? That will probably be cheaper than anything else you can do.

THIS... If dont want a bolt gun, buy a Browning short/longtrac, depending on caliber you want.

With the 7600, you are unlikely to get better accuracy with a re bore. You need to look at why you think this is needed. How many rounds have you put through the barrel? Avg hunter probably only has a few hundred rounds, even with a older gun. So barrel probably isnt shot out, unless its been neglected by not cleaning.

 

[Dougfirtree]

I have had many rifles relined. However, I do not know if it can be done with your rifle or with the cartridges you are interested in - you haven't stated what they are. I live in a very different world ballistically, so what works for me, may not for you.

Frankly, if all you want is more accuracy - why not sell the rifle and buy another? That will probably be cheaper than anything else you can do.

It's a 7600 in .30-06. If it comes down to 600+ dollars, I probably would just get a new rifle, but if this rifle could turn into an accurate .338-06 for $250.00 (through re-boring), I'd be inclined to go that way. Sounds like there's a good chance it could.

THIS... If dont want a bolt gun, buy a Browning short/longtrac, depending on caliber you want.

With the 7600, you are unlikely to get better accuracy with a re bore. You need to look at why you think this is needed. How many rounds have you put through the barrel? Avg hunter probably only has a few hundred rounds, even with a older gun. So barrel probably isnt shot out, unless its been neglected by not cleaning.

You may be right. A gunsmith looked at the bore for me and estimated that it had a couple thousand rounds through it and was towards the latter end of its life (I bought it used). He also identified some pitting in the bore, some of which is on the lands. So, those might actually be fixed by a re-bore. I'm not sold either way though, yet.

 

[Horse]

He also identified some pitting in the bore, some of which is on the lands. So, those might actually be fixed by a re-bore. I'm not sold either way though, yet.

Since barrel erosion/pitting has been identified, that only kinda leaves you 2 options. Unless the rifle has sentimental value, I'd lean towards a new to you gun. The Browning bars/trac models are more accurate than the remingtons. Trac models are slightly less weight than the bar safari models.

 

[Dfuller]

I have a few that JES rebored.
One is an older FN Mauser tgat went through flood. Barrel was rusty and pitted and had it bored from 30-06 to 9.3x62. Shoots great. 3/4” 3shot groups with nosler 250 accubonds.
Second is an older marling Glenfield that JES rebored to .375 win. Made it legal for straight wall rifle in Iowa. If you talk to him he will let you mark the barrels. I milled the old 30-30win marking off the Marlin and stamp .375 Win in the flat. Touched up with cold blue.
Lots of options out there. The cost was nice as you get to keep the factory sights on barrel if you prefer. And there is rumor that cutting a barrel by reboring will help relieve the stresses in barrel. I’m extreme happy with both of mine.

 

[antelopedundee]

As far as I can tell, the price of a re-barrel is 600+ bucks, more like 800 if I wanted it to match the rest of the rifle with bluing, etc. I don't think I'm prepared to do that right now. Let me know if you're aware of a cheaper option. I don't need this rifle to shoot 1/2" groups, but right now, it's 2.5-3" groups, at best. I'd like for this rifle to be more accurate than that. $250.00 for a re bore is tempting.

I didn't realize that re-lining was a thing. Where did you have that done? Cost? Can you do that to a fairly light modern rifle barrel, like the one on my Rem 7600?

Here is one place that's been around for a long time.

http://redmansrifling.com/