Barrell reaming and rechambering Question.

F

fast-eddie

New member
I have a M99 300 savage. It's been in the family since the early 40's and want to keep it in service for future generations. The barrel is shot out (smooth), , would it be feasable to ream the barrel and re-rifle for a 30-30 or another cal? Something thats cheaper and easier to find, because as time goes by it won't be any easier..Your help would be much appreciated.

PS, this is a rifle I would love to keep using, even if I could find another 300 barrel. I'm just curious of my rechanbering options.
 
You could rebarrel of put a bore liner in the rifle. If your rifle has a rotary magazine, choice of chamberings should be as close in size and shape to the 300 Savage as possible due to the rotary magazine, but you could go to 250 Savage easily. Going to a 308 family cartridge would require a bunch of work on the rotor in the magazine. If you have a box magazine, you can pick just about any short action standard head size cartridge you want.
 
would it be feasible to ream the barrel and re-rifle for a 30-30 or another cal?
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"Reaming" the barrel and rerifling would require going to a larger calibre than .30-30, since the bullet diameter is the same as the .300. From a practical point, your best option would be to rebarrel it. .300 is a good calibre and isn't going to die out just yet.

Regarding the magazine rotor, you could possibly luck out and find another rotor, say for .308 and then rebarrel to .308; Otherwise, as the other poster said, major modification of your existing rotor would be necessary.
 
35 rem

Could a 35 remington be done, I'd rather keep the old barrel. It would be a long term project. Are there other calibers that you would think would be useable?
 
The barrel is shot out (smooth),
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That is not likely. Barrels do not loose their rifling due to shooting. The lands burn away in front of the chamber and the grooves become eroded from the heat. You should take your gun to a competent gunsmith and have him determine what the problem is and what can be done about it.
 
Anything is certainly possible however I would strongly encourage you to have a new barrel hung off the receiver. Much less work in the long run and you'll have much better performance (accuracy) if the work is done by someone who has a good understanding of how to barrel and action.

A good barrel starts at 300 bucks. A typical fee for threading/chambering/crowning a barrel starts at $150 and typically tops out around $200.

Good luck.

C
 
I got the rifle from the back of my dads closet, where it has been for the last 10 years. 370,XXX serial number. The barrel looked pretty smooth, I can barely make out the rifling . No pitting or anything, just seemed smooth. I'm not at home right now, and I'll check and get back to you guys. thanks. :D

It probably has been fired in at least 12-15 years, I don't remember the last time it was fired to be honest.
 
I got the rifle from the back of my dads closet, where it has been for the last 10 years. 370,XXX serial number. The barrel looked pretty smooth, I can barely make out the rifling . No pitting or anything, just seemed smooth. I'm not at home right now, and I'll check and get back to you guys. thanks.
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If it were mine, I would mount a scope on it (only if it already has threaded holes for scope mounting), and fire it using a sandbag rest. You may find out that there is nothing wrong with the barrel.
 
There is an old Bushnell aluminum tube 3-9X40 on there, it's been on since the mid to late 70's I believe. I am going to as soon as possible, but there are no public ranges where I live.:(
 
What makes you think that the barrel is shot out? Have you fired the rifle yet? Usually rifling becomes eroded at the breach end (throat) and there is not a general loss of lands/grooves throughout the entire length of the bore.

I would try cleaning the barrel in order to get it as free of any fouling as possible and then take it to the range & fire six or eight shots. If the rifle then shoots patterns instead of groups or shows evidence of bullets tumbling, it's time to consider re-barreling but not before.

;)

Bruce
 
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