interested in rechambering a .308win, any interesting wildcats?

[EddieHarren]

Varmint Hunter, Remington offered the 40X in 300 Win. Mag. Since all 40X actions were short actions, it is not a problem. Having to pull the bolt to remove a live round is a PITA but, it is done.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I was thinking that a standard Rem action (of any length) wouldn't have sufficient diameter or strength after rechambering to 378 WBY to be fired safely.

Maybe I'm overly cautious ????

 

[EddieHarren]

7mm Ultra, 300 Ultra, 338 Ultra, 375 Ultra, 416 Rem. All offered, by the factory, in the M700. I don't see a strength problem anywhere. I know the 378 Wby uses a larger case head but, considering case volume, there isn't much diffrence.

 

[olcrip]

All you guys that are hollering about the 338-08, A really great cartridge to blow up his barrel and gun. Have you ever tied to shove a 338 dia. bullet thru a 308 dia bore? If you guys would reread the original post you would realize he wants to rechamber the .308 Winchester chamber in the .308 bore.

You can stay with the .308 chamber and load some warmer heavy bullets that would break your shoulder.

I'm goig to bed, she's warmer than a proof load and she is soft and cuddly. Nitty nite boys.

 

[EddieHarren]

Olcrip, I never saw anything, in the original post, that said he wanted to keep his 308 barrel. He just stated he wanted to re-chamber his 308 to something that kicked harder.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

7mm Ultra, 300 Ultra, 338 Ultra, 375 Ultra, 416 Rem. All offered, by the factory, in the M700. I don't see a strength problem anywhere. I know the 378 Wby uses a larger case head but, considering case volume, there isn't much diffrence.

Good point - I assumed that a larger diameter action would have been necessary to accommodate the 378WBY. I guess that it isn't the case.

 

[olcrip]

Excuse me gentlemen,Oliveralan said he wanted to Re chamber. There was no mention of re barreling.


{I'm interested in re chambering my .308 winchester to make it a little more exotic, and i feel the recoil is too mild.}

Is there a definite difference in the meaning between "RECHAMBER" and REBARREL"?

I understood it to read just what it says in the quote "RECHAMBER", no mention at all about "REBARRELING" Go ahead and cram a .338 or a .375 bullet into his "RECHAMBERED' .308 barrel. It's called catastrophic failure. Some times involving death or dismemberment!

 

[EddieHarren]

Oh, I stand corrected. I assumed that the original poster had enough sense to know what you, so obviously, know. Some of us are just so darned ignorant.

 

[Hired Gun]

As I have read through this thread I assumed the same thing. I was thinking that a rechamber did include a barrel change. Put me in the ignorant line too. In our defense the OP did start refering to the capabilities of the short action. Made me think he was open to anything that the short action could handle. I guess about the only thing to do to the old .308 to get more out of it is make it an improved of some kind or do the .300 RSAUM as 436 suggested.

 

[Oliveralan]

Thanks for all the replies people, to clarify things, I would prefer to keep my current barrel as it is and only rechamber the action. So would a 30-378 work in the short action? On the top of the previous page someone said the m700 is chambered in 300Ultra, 338Ultra, 375Ultra, and 416 rem. Is this on a short action? If the 30-378 is getting anywhere near the unsafe zone I would rather go down to a 30-338 or such.

 

[Aldon]

Ammoguide Interactive has an application that will help you determine what your options are. Scroll down to the area that lets you choose caliber you have, what mods your wanting or willing to do and then click on all options unless your already set on what you want to turn it into. It does not give you all details for instance, I wish to take a 243 WSSM to 6.5 WSSM and it states I can do so, however a couple of guys on this site say that they have done it and while it works they can not use the magazine, so it turns a repeater into a single shot.

So this gets you close but you may have to follow up with those on the site who are knowledeable.

AmmoGuide Interactive - ReBarrel/ReChambering Guide

Aldon

 

[436]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say "no" to the cartridges you've mention, not that you can't; money works miracle'…, it's just that they are a little large for that action. As I mention pound for pound your best bet is the .300 RSAUM… there are other cartridges like the 30.284 Win where all you're looking at is a re-chamber job, no bolt work and they work pretty good in a short action. If you really wanted to wildcat the .308 cal you might look at something like the 7.62x55mm Swede which is really nothing more than a .30 284 Win. Using a wildcat case that will fit and feeds is the real problem; those that you have mentioned, would have to "single feed" do to there over all size; it sounds to me your getting to the point of wanting to feed them by having to remove the bold and placing the round on the bolt face like some of the .50 cal rifles… that might be a little overbroad for a practical field rifle, but if it makes you happy… good luck. In the end the .300 RSAUM is going to give you the most bang. Or perhaps the Winchester's .300 WSM but I think the Remington cartridge is the better choice for your project
436

 

[EddieHarren]

Well, since you don't chamber the action, this is getting more confusing all the time. Lets do it this way. Do you want to keep your 308 barrel and chamber another barrel, fitted to your action, in a larger cartridge? If so, your choices are many. If not, and you want to rechamber your 308 barrel, you'll have to stick to a 30 cal. of some sort. My apologies to Ol'crip. Seems like he was not the confused, or arrogant, one here.

 

[X3MHunter]

Oliver,

What is the intended purpose of this rifle? You may have more than enough gun already. Believe me, if you have enough rifle to do what you want and the recoil doesn't bother you, believe me, that's the perfect situation. You don't want to be in a situation where the rifle needed recoils enough to make it difficult to shoot accurately.

I have a 300 Win. Mag., a 280 AI, a 6.5-284, and a 6BRX. And for all around hunting in South Texas (hogs, javalinas, coyotes, does, cull bucks, etc) the 6BRX with 105 gr. bullets gets the nod most of the time because of the lack of recoil, much more fun to shoot. But if I'm going after white tail trophies the 280 AI in case of a long shot. If going after elk, the 300 Win. Mag. is the ticket. What I'm saying is that I never expose myself to more recoil than necessary just because I know I can shoot a light recoiling rifle better.

Also, is this a factory barrel? I don't know that I would spend the time and money rechambering a factory barrel. If I were you, I would pull off the factory barrel and sell it, then I would look into getting a new barrel and then you can have whatever you want. 338 Federal or 284 Winchester would be nice. 260 or 7mm-08 are also great cartridges but lack the recoil that you desire. These are all on your bolt face, if you want to modify that too, then you can have a "Short Magnum" built of whatever flavor you want.

Just my $.02

-X3M