Can these barrels be saved?

[threepdr]

I have some 1903A3 barrels that have bad chambers.  These barrels had been partially demilled by pounding a pieces of steel rod in the chamber (but not welded in as some demilled rifles).  I took 9 of these barrels to a machine shop to have the rods removed.  4 came out fine and the barrels are good shooters. On the other five the drill on the lathe wandered and bit into the chamber shoulder or neck.  Otherwise the bores are great.

Can these chambers be cut deaper for a longer .30 caliber cartridge, or can they be cut back a thread or two and rechambered to .30.06 or some other cartridge.  New barrels can be had for $80, so it would not be wise to spend too much fixing them.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

Mark

[jed]

$80 seems too high for my liking. Are these barrels unused but just plugged? If they are used, it is way too much. I got used barrels for $10 - canadian, and in good shape.
However, the answer is, they can be cut back a little and recambered, for $50 to $100. :shock:

[threepdr]

Jed,

A couple of vendors are selling new in the grease A3 barrels for $80.  That has pretty much set the value down here.  New one usually sell on Ebay for $70 - $90.  Good used barrels run about $45 - $70 or so.  Too bad we can't import some of those $10 barrels down here.

[gunnut69]

If the damage is not too deep the barrel can be set back and re-chmabered and will work just fine.  if the damage is a bit too deep they could be rechambered to the Ackley improved version of the 30-06.  The squared off shoulder and reduced taper should remove the damage...