Gunsmithing Milling a Rem take off barrel

[Beepy]

So, I have a Remmy 700 AAC SD that I cannot get to shoot better than 1MOA no matter what I do. So I plan on pulling off the barrel and I always wanted a lightweight 6.5x47, so I was going to use this action with a Rem/age barrel nut conversion.

Now I will have this .308 barrel that I don't want to go to waste. How hard would it be to mill off the shoulder and continue the threads for the barrel nut so that I can throw that barrel back on (heck might as well have it set back and re-chambered to a correct throat length.... The throat is so long on this one there is not enough bullet left to be held by the neck of the brass if I wanted to seat to the lands...)

How much do you think a smith would charge and anyone doing this in the first place?

 

[rdinak]

If it were me, I would sen the whole thing to Chad with the Long Rifles group buy and never look back. If you try one custom barrel, your view of factory barrels will change.

 

[rdinak]

If it were me, I would sen the whole thing to Chad with the Long Rifles group buy and never look back. If you try one custom barrel, your view of factory barrels will change.

 

[bohem]

My experience with my own switch barrel projects is that they're convenient for only 1 thing:

I have another barrel on the shelf when I shoot out the one that lives on there full time. You have a rifle that's tuned up and shooting well, the last thing you want to do is fiddle with it and swap barrels around.

Now, for what you're looking to do with the 308 barrel you're likely looking at:

Dialing the barrel into the lathe, picking up the current threads and moving the shoulder, rethreading, changing headspace (bust out the reamer) and then you may as well get it recrowned just in case.

That's about 85% of the time and work of just putting a new barrel on there, expect something along the lines of 85% of the cost if any smith is going to do it anyway.

Then there's the question about reusing the factory barrel anyway because the receiver will need to be trued up for the new barrel, so depending upon how loose the fit turns in to be you don't have the option to count on putting the factory tube back on there.


The most cost effective thing to do IMO is to take the factory barrel and list it for sale with exactly what it is, a used factory barrel. You will probably get about $75-100 for it. Put that into the "new barrel fund" for when you eventually cook the 6.5x47Lapua barrel and don't look back.

 

[EXTREMEPREJUDICE]

Well, it might be a fun project and you could learn quite a bit if you were doing it yourself. I'm not certain if it makes sense when you are paying a smith for quality work and expertise on a used barrel that you are not currently happy with. By paying to set it back and rechamber you very well might spend $200 on a barrel that might still only produce 1 MOA results. Just a perspective, as always YMMV!

 

[MikeeBooshay]

I agree with bohem - although I KNOW it shouldn't hurt anything to unscrew a barrel, and put another on, I hate to take a rifle that is dialed in, and change anything about it. I've got a 6PPC that is shooting one hole tiny groups, favorite gun. I have another barrel that is already chambered for it. You think I'd change it out before a match? No way, I chambered another barrel, for another rifle, to bring as a spare, call it superstitous, whatever, I don't care.

It SHOULD be OK..... but what if it's not? I like the idea of buying two or three barrels at once, if the first one shoots good, then you have extras.

 

[Beepy]

My thinking was more along the lines of planning to change the rifle to 6.5x47 on a more permanent basis, but if the "zombie apocolypse" comes I have a 308 backup barrel as that would probably be easier to find......

It would not really be a switch barrel, the rifle would stay 6.5x47 (unless, you know...) I just didn't want a 308 barrel to go to waste, and its not shooting good enough for me to feel good about selling it....

And since it would a switch nut barrel, there is no need to have it rechambered, as you set the headspace with the barrel nut and the go/no-go gauge...... I have several savages and like doing my own work as much as possible, just dont have a lathe or the experience to use one....