re-barrel.... what calibers choices to replace 223?

[Greg Nolan]

Don't be like me in my past efforts and limit myself to what your caliber can be improved to. Get the caliber you are trying to almost match. Or better yet, sell what you have and buy what you couldn't have possibly have achieved by the limits of your rifle.
You'll be amazed how much cheaper that can be. Does the name "Savage" ring an accuracy bell? Vanguard WBY, Rem SPS Ultra-mag. They don't cost that much more than what you have and a modified rifle sells way cheaper than a factory chambered one. The cheapest way to go with the most bang for the buck is sell the one you got and buy the caliber you really wanted all along. Saving a few pennies a round in efficiency will never overcome the cost of re-barreling and re-chambering. Today's factory barrels will shoot as good as the custom barrels of 40 years ago.
IMHO.
Greg

 

[chet]

greg, I'd dearly love to have this one:
http://www.kimberamerica.com/products/r ... o_varmint/

so, sell what I've got for maybe $600 and buy one of these for $1200 then buy a scope $$$$..... It makes for an argument that's too close to call. The deal breaker is that the kimber has a 22" barrel. If I could get it with a 26" tube I just might be in love!!!! I'll be spending somewhere around $1K on this project, I'd end up around $1800 setting up the kimber........ it's probably a good thing my taxes are taking their sweet time :lol:

 

[FOTIS]

FYI

I had a ruger #1B 26" barrel in 223 AI.
With the 40 grain Ballistic Tips and 748 I got 4040 fps.

Biggest mistake ever--selling it that is.

 

[chet]

pop, your selling gun stories sure do bring a tear to my eye

they're all little heart breakers in their own little ways.

 

[FOTIS]

Me too!

 

[jtoews80]

I'm just into the Ackley's. Not sure if it's just the quality barrel or chambering, but my 22-250AI shoots lights out.
My younger brother shot a one-hole group with it yesterday and I shot around 3/4" shooting leaning against a truck box with my arms crossed along the box. I'll know soon, my VTR is coming back soon in 223AI and I've got another chamber to break in. Now to figure out how to bore sight with an integral muzzlebrake. Any tips guys??

JT.

 

[DrMike]

JT,

I bore sight almost all the bolt guns myself by pulling the bolt and looking through the barrel at a 25 yard target to centre the bore. Then, I adjust the scope. Make certain the rifle is steady on the bags. Then, one shot at 100 yards, and adjust the scope to the hole. Finished. The muzzle brake should not complicate the procedure. Many of the rifles I shoot have muzzle brakes.

 

[3006savage]

If the rifle is a shooter and the barrel has some life left in it I would suggest rechambering it to AI first to see if it is a shooter. This is inexpensive relative to a rebarrel and the AI is a pretty nice step up in the 223 it gains 100+ fps typically.

 

[chet]

well, here's the story..... it's a post 64 with push feed.... so I'm assuming 198?... who knows what it's been through.
I've had it for a couple years and I've tried:

factory walnut stock
and
factory synthetic w/pillar bedding stock

40 gr BT
50 gr CT
50 gr TNT
55gr BT
60 gr PT

Varget
Benchmark
BLC2
IMR4320
H322

three different scopes

best groups from the walnut was around 3MOA
the pillar/synthetic improved it to about 2MOA

After testing 100 or so groups, I've come to realize that it's just not a shooter due to it being a "featherweight" or it's shot-out.
I know sometimes light rifles are hard to shoot, I have a Kimber that weighs less than this and I shoot it sub-moa all day long.
so my instinct is to replace the barrel with more meat and an interesting chamber. I dont think reaming this floppy to AI will help it out any, but if it were free I'd sure try it out! anybody got a reamer? :lol:

I've already ordered a Boyds JRS, and I suppose I could try it out before the new barrel, but honestly I have no confidence with the rifle now.

Any easy way to tell if the barrel is simply worn out?
velocity seems normal and consistent
copper fouling is minimal, if any....

thanks for your help guys.

 

[jtoews80]

I have one.

 

[chet]

beg, borrow, steal, rent, pay shipping?
how much are they new? $100?
Do you think it's relly worth it in this particular case?

 

[jtoews80]

They are about $138 Usd from Pacific Tool & Gauge. Shipping was $23 bucks for me, but that was too Canada.

In the US you have the option of renting reamers. I don't have that luxary, it is not expensive, about half the cost of buying it.

If you are after that chambering specifically and can see a new barrel or barrels in that chambering for yourself, I'd suggest getting the reamer as your brass and loads will correlate to the those diamensions alot better. Don't let anybody try to make dies with your reamer if you can help it.

JT.

 

[chet]

I am assuming making dies with the same reamer would only harm the reamer?

 

[jtoews80]

Making dies is possible, but it works much better with a resize reamer that is about 5 thou undersized and will allow your brass to hold it's form and have enough clearance to chamber easily. IF your brass is the same size as the chamber it won't chamber or not easily.

The bigger mistake is when somebody tries to modify existing dies, like from 223 to 223AI. Then you're trying to cut hardened steel and will just destroy the reamer.

The die companies like Redding or RCBS will make you a really nice set of customs for roughly the cost of a new reamer, so ruining your reamer is not worth it. 223 AI is a common wildcat, I paid under $90 Cad for my Redding set.

If you're designing your own wildcat, you can have the reamer print emailed to you or sent with the tooling. Forward that to the die maker and in a few months get a custom set of dies back that will work great and are stamped properly etc. If not the big guys, try CH4 Dies.

http://www.ch4d.com/

JT.

 

[3006savage]

Theses guy rent the reamers for $30.00

http://www.4-dproducts.com/display.php? ... e+Calibers

 

[jtoews80]

What have you come up with??

 

[chet]

sell it and buy a factory rifle in 204 ruger

or

ship it to hart for a #5 fluted 26" stainless 204 tactical

aint decided yet which way to go yet

 

[sask boy]

I have CZ 527 in a 204 with a 6X24 B&L on top of it.
It is my favorite,as it shoots the lights out and you can watch everything you shoot through the scope. The only bullet I have used is 39BLKs.
I just bought some 35gr bergers so if anyone has a load using H4895 I would sure like to test it. :wink:

Blessings,
Dan

 

[YoteSmoker]

35 Berger shoots great in my CZ 527 using 26.8 H4895 w/ Fed205M primers and an OAL of 2.265"

My most accurate load is 27.3 H322 with 32 V-Max and 2.325" OAL.

 

[Woodycreek]

My vote is 223AI