Bolt barrel question.

[pingi3]

Just out of curiosity, can you take a take off 308 barrel and ream the chamber for the 300 Fireball? I see take off barrels often in FS forums.

[Colohunter]

Originally Posted by pingi3

Just out of curiosity, can you take a take off 308 barrel and ream the chamber for the 300 Fireball? I see take off barrels often in FS forums.

For what type of firearm? You would probably have to cut off some of the chamber end of the barrel as the Whisper is shorter than a 308. So if you cut it down, rechamber, then recut threads for the action it would probably work. It would be a fair amount of work, but if you can get a good deal on a take off barrel it could be worth it.

[amafrank]

You need to determine a few things first before the question can be answered completely. First and foremost is : do you want to shoot subsonic or supersonic and most important what bullet weights are you looking at shooting? For heavy bullets the rifling twist is important. Most .308's are 1 in 10 twist to 1 in 14. For the heavy bullets like the 200-240gr matchkings you really need more like a 1 in 8 twist. If you just want to shoot 150gr slugs than the standard 1 in 10 or 1 in 14 is fine.

Next question....are you expecting to simply run a 300 reamer in a .308 chamber??? that won't work due to the 300 case being substantially smaller than the .308. You will have to lop off a good bit of the chamber end of the barrel to recut a 300-221 chamber and in doing so you will likely remove the threads and greater portion of the barrel of suitable diameter for threading receiver size threads.


So the question is what barrel are you considering removing and what do you intend to install the new shorter barrel in???? What purpose do you have in mind for the finished rifle?


Frank

[pingi3]

Sorry guys. I am building a 300/221 from scratch. Remington 700 223 action. I called several barrel companies and they have a long wait period. I have several people from whom I am talking too to build me a barrel but some issues. Like I have a used Manners stock which the guy I purchased it said the barrel contour was very close to a Remington 700 Varmint profile but I would like to stay with .855 at the muzzle due to wanting to use a HVT flash hider with same diameter. Plus fluting. Just thought well lets try to get a 30 caliber barrel and ream it out. I rented a 300/221 reamer from rental place and gave it to my gunsmith and he reamed out a 300 Whisper AR upper from SSK cause I want to reload. I might just have to get a varmint barrel and deal with the odd size from barrel to flash hider.

[amafrank]

From the sounds of what you've said I say that no, you can't use a takeoff .308 barrel. Unless you find a cylindrical barrel from a Rem 700 there won't be enough left of the breech end to cut new threads and still have a shoulder to sit against the recoil lug. You will have to cut off at least 1.5" of the breech end of the .308 barrel in order to cut a 300-221 chamber clean. That means that with the normal and varmint contours the barrel diameter in the breech area will be too small to use. You are better off buying a blank and being patient. The wait for proper blanks is normally about 4-6 weeks and you end up with the barrel you want instead of the barrel you get. Order a nice stainless blank from Pac-Nor or Lilja in a 1-8 twist and have your gunsmith make the contour you want. Thread the muzzle for a suppressor and with a stainless barrel you won't have to worry about the bore rusting from moisture built up by the suppressor.

Last possibility if you feel that you must use a takeoff barrel is to have the smith make a bushing to thread into your receiver and hold the recoil lug. Have the bushing threaded to take the smaller diameter barrel that will result from cutting the .308 chamber off a barrel. Definitely not what I'd do but to each his own.


Frank

[pingi3]

Thanks Frank.

Love the advises. The problem is I procrastinated this past year and did not take my shooting seriously. I missed too many shots and still not confident with any of my rifles. What's the point of having nice guns when you can't even shoot them straight. I am hunting wild hogs right now and need a good bolt rifle. I am suppose to pick up my 300 Fireball AR SBR today so if I can dial her in, then I will just take this bolt build slowly. I have a POF P-308 too that I am in the process of fine tuning. I took this thing hunting a couple off weekends ago and missed a deer by a mile. I shot afterwards and i could not even paper the thing. It was jamming every other shot.

I might end up with another off the shelf rifle and trying to shave weight off it.