Action and Barrel Question

[smoky]

If I were to purchase an action of one type, say a mauser reproduction, can a take off barrel from another gun, say a remington 700 be fitted to that action?

I hope this isn't too dumb of a question, but I was contemplating a left handed mini mauser for a custom project, and I thought I could keep the cost down if it could be fitted with an already chambered take off barrel from a factory gun.  I'm left handed and was looking to see if there were any affordable options in the custom rifle dept.

Smoky

[John Traveler]

Fitting a takeoff barrel to a specific action is limited by the dimensions of the takeoff barrel and the action.

Per your example of fitting a Remington 700 barrel to a Mauser 98 (large ring) action, the answer is no.  The Rem 700 barrel shank is too small in diameter.  It could be made to fit a Mauser 93, 95, or 98 (small ring).

There is more than simply rebarreling an action.  The new barrel and caliber must be SAFE within the pressure limitations of the existing action.  You still have to have stock and sights fitted and finished.  For these reasons, it's best to consult a qualified gunsmith for assembling your custom rifle, or at the least, the barrel fitting.

[Rangr44]

The action also has to be able to actually feed the cartridges you want to rebarrel to - unless you don't want a repeater, that is.
The Mauser action rails usually will need expert reworking, to reliably feed anything shaped much differently than an 8X57 or a .30-06, etc.

It also has similar cartridge length limitations, for the cartridge of your choice.

[iiranger]

#1). YOur question reflects ignorance. I was there once and a nice gunsmith went over this with me, so let me "pass it along." Please.
#2). About anything can be done if you have enough money. ANYTHING. You suggest saving money. This limits things alot. The Swedes, for one example, were very strict about replacing barrels that started to show wear. SO, you can get Swede 96 barrels not too expensive, used or surplus unused, sometimes. Often, I am told, the Mauser standards were such that you could screw a barrel from one action into another similar action and it would headspace without fitting! Swede is pre 98 so you could screw a barrel into any "small ring" Mauser. '93. '94. '95. '96. And I think there were made some small ring 98's it might fit. So if you would be happy with a 6.5x55 rifle.
#3). My gunsmith friend had a left handed son. He got into Savages when that was all there was left handed. Loved them. Savage uses a newer barrel installation system. You might want to study on that.
#4). As said, I think this is correct but don't have manuals in front of me, Remington 700 uses a smaller thread and different pitch than a Mauser 98. A very good machinist could probably make a bushing to fit the smaller thread to the larger thread... You don't want to know what this sort of thing costs. Safe? Good question. Or "build up the Remington and recut the threads. This might involved re chambering. Again, bring money. LOTS!
#5). You suggest taking a "take off" barrel and screwing it into your gun to save money. Yes, there are take off barrels. Hit the largest gunsmith operations. Some people buy a whole rifle just for the action or action and stock and the barrel is removed carefully and sold, almost new, cheap. (Good place to start is the 'smiths listed on benchrest.com. Biggest and slowest...) If you can find a take off barrel for the action you have ["mini mauser"] then it should be fairly easy and safe and quick and ... Surplus 98 barrel? Again, not the way to "save" anything. Pay enough and it might get fitted. Now if the 98 is, say, 7x57 or 8x57... I doubt you will get the magazine in a mini mauser to feed that. You might have a single shot and you might not have enough steel.

Yes, this is a zoo. If you must, find a very good local machinist to advise you. You can save money if you do enough home work (and don't value your time...). But "run amok" and you might even hurt yourself, wallet and/or body. luck.

[benchracer]

Your best bet would be to buy a barrel blank of the appropriate contour and caliber.  Then, have a competent smith thread, chamber, and headspace your barrel.  This probably won't be cheap, but it will give you the best results.  Failing that, you could buy a couple of surplus mauser rifles, buy or borrow the necessary tooling, and get some how-to books (I would recommend those by R.A. Walsh and Jerry Kuhnhausen) and learn how to do it yourself.  You won't save any money, but you will learn a lot.  Your might even have fun doing it.  Or, you my lose your mind and your patience and end up with bloody knuckles and a pile of buggered parts.  I built a couple of my own, but that is because I am a glutton for punishment with questionable mathematical skills.  Plus, I had a friend who wanted to do this too, which spread the cost of tooling and gave me someone to help solve problems. If you want to save money, buy off the rack.  If you want a decent custom rifle sans headaches, hire a good gunsmith and listen to his advice.

[LaOtto222]

You can buy a Stevens 200 and modify that fairly cheaply. I have done just that. The original rifle will cost some where around $300. You can get it in short action. They come with a 223 or 308 bolt head size. You can get it in long action with a 30-06 bolt head size. From there the sky is the limit for modifications. for about $200 you can rebarrel it. An action wrench is some where around $40 a barrel wrench is about $35 and an A & B barrel is $130. You are in business to change barrels at this point. You can finish the stock or buy a new one. You can replace the trigger, bolt handle, trigger guard, recoil lug. Like I said the sky is the limit. You could buy other prechambered barrels by a variety of makers. The cost being the limiting factor. The Savage family of guns is the easiest to work on there is. You could do your custom in steps. Replace the barrel and refinish the stock to start with and then add the other things as you want.

[LaOtto222]

Sorry about the above reply. the Stevens does not come in a left handed version, but there are other Savage rifles that do. Buy the cheapest left handed Savage (new or used) you can get and you can still do the modifications I was talking about (all parts interchange).

[Davemuzz]

Sorry about the above reply. the Stevens does not come in a left handed version, but there are other Savage rifles that do. Buy the cheapest left handed Savage (new or used) you can get and you can still do the modifications I was talking about (all parts interchange).

First: Smoky...please forgive me for a short hijack of your post.

Second: LaOtto...I currently own a Stevens 200 in .308. I hand load and currently I am pulling my hair out trying to get MOA with this one. But, let's not go there. What is the MAJOR advantage to re barreling a gun such as my Stevens 200? Would an A&B barrel make a significant improvement in itty bitty teeny weeny group size?

Dave

[LaOtto222]

Short answer...yes. I believe the A & B barrels are better than stock. I do not have a 308, both of mine were 223's before I worked on them. I think you can get the same kind of results from a 308 or any other reasonably accurate cartridge, like a 7mm-08 or 243.  I did not even shoot the second one before I pulled the barrel off. The first one disappointed me in the accuracy department. I did not do extensive work on trying to develop a good load for it. The first thing I noticed was it had a lot of free bore. I could not even reach the lands with a 50 grain bullet. I know they have a 1 - 9 twist rate. I might have been able to with a 65 or 70 grain bullet. Shortly after I got the first gun I found Midway had a SS fluted 223 barrel on sale for $100 + a barrel wrench. You can change out a Stevens or Savage barrel with an action wrench and a barrel nut wrench. You do not need a barrel vise, but a couple of wood blocks in a bench vise are nice to help out holding the barrel. I jumped at it.The new twist rate was 1-14. That was OK with me because I was planning on using lighter bullets. I got the barrel and the first thing I did was look down the barrel. It was real rough. I have done some research on this and many people have commented on the roughness of the A&B barrels. While I was at it I got a new recoil lug. The original recoil lug is stamped and consequently it was not very "flat". A & B barrels are supposed to be air gaged to with in .0005". They are definitely not  lapped. I did a lot of other things to the rifle. Some of them were cosmetic. I replaced the trigger guard, bolt handle and stock, those were the cosmetics that had little or nothing to do with accuracy. What I did do for accuracy was the barrel, new recoil lug and new trigger. I did put on a Rifle Basics trigger. I think they are around $80. It is a 1 - 3 pound trigger. When I replaced the barrel I put on the new recoil lug and I bedded the recoil lug into the stock. I only bedded the recoil lug area. I used J-B Weld and shoe polish for a release agent. If I was trying to be as economical as possible, I would replace the stamped recoil lug with a ground one and bed it in first. If that did not work then I would do the trigger. Then I would replace the barrel. I would do them in that order. Once you bed in the new recoil lug, you can change barrels with out effecting it. I got OK accuracy out of the A & B barrel, but it was so rough that it would copper foul with just a few shots and then would start throwing fliers. I polished it with Mothers and JB bore polish. I did it a lot. I would shoot 20 rounds, clean out the fouling and polish. I then would shoot 20, repeat. I did this cycle I do not know how many times. The pay off is the barrel does not foul and I can shoot under .5 MOA on a consistent basis. It is almost boring. If you replace the barrel, use a non seize grease on the threads and do not torque it down as tight as the original barrel was. I think that torquing down the barrel too much distorts it and effects accuracy. Do the same if you just replace the recoil lug. If you later want to replace the barrel, then it will be much easier to "pull" the barrel too. The second one I got in 221 Fire Ball, I have done basically the same thing to, but have not polished the barrel as much or have I shot it as much. It still gets down to .5 MOA once in a while, but mostly stays in the <.75" range consistently. You can also buy barrels at other places, but they will cost you more. Buying a barrel is a crap shoot, there are no guarantee it will shoot .5 MOA. Even the best have a bad one now and then. Below is a target shot @ 100 yards and 5 shot groups. The results of my quest for the holy grail. If you have any further questions, please ask. 

[Davemuzz]

LaOtto....Gheezeee......I thought you said that you shot tight groups? Is that the best that you can do?

Nice stuff!!!

Thanks for the info! I got some research to do.

Dave.

(We now return the post to it's regular programing)