Re-barreling a 700SA to 7-08??

[mtmuley]

A 243 slinging 105-110gr bullets is a heck of a cartridge. Mine is an 8 twist and shoots bugholes. You won’t regret it.

Pretty nasty with 70 and 80 grain monos. mtmuley

 

[Farmerj]

Pretty nasty with 70 and 80 grain monos. mtmuley

Because one thing I want to do with it is try NRL/PRC.

And those won’t reach to the ranges those matches play at.

 

[mtmuley]

Because one thing I want to do with it is try NRL/PRC.

And those won’t reach to the ranges those matches play at.

I just kill stuff. Don't shoot matches. mtmuley

 

[Farmerj]

I’ve shot out to 1000 meters.

I’d like to make a 1-mile range.

No one in our house, other than me, like wild game. So I just find it at a butcher.

 

[mtmuley]

I’ve shot out to 1000 meters.

I’d like to make a 1-mile range.

No one in our house, other than me, like wild game. So I just find it at a butcher.

Great. mtmuley

 

[VikingsGuy]

Because one thing I want to do with it is try NRL/PRC.

And those won’t reach to the ranges those matches play at.

6mm Dasher and 6mm Creedmoor rule NRL/PRC.

.284 Win and it’s variants rule 1000y.

 

[BuzzH]

After thinking more about the 6mm Rem that I got from a buddy, the more I'm leaning towards rebarreling it to 7-08. I don't have a smaller 7mm round in the safe and think it would be a good one to have. I have most of the tools needed to do the job it if buy a prefit barrel from Northland Shooting Supply. They have 24" 1:9 twist sporter barrels in stock. I would probably have it cut down to 20-21". From there, put a new trigger in it and a new stock and I would have a light little rig for myself or my wife if she wanted to rifle hunt with me.

Thoughts or ideas as to why not build it? The 6mmRem will has no purpose in my safe if I were to invest the time and money to get it shooting, so I figured, make a nice light hunting rifle out of the action.

The 1-9 twist in a 7-08 will handle anything in the 120-150 grain bullet range for sure, probably even 160's.

Good choice on going 20-21 inches on the barrel length as well, will handle awesome.

I have B&C stocks on several of my rifle's, another good choice IMO/E.

For a trigger, I would go triggertech.

You'll like the 7-08 its an awesome hunting round, frugal on powder and really easy to load for.

 

[ImBillT]

Why not just stay with 6mmRem then?

Doesn’t fit all that great in a 700 S/A. Factory ammo is harder to find. Brass is harder to find even for a reloader.

I think a 6mmRem is a superior cartridge to a .243Win if you give it an 8”-9” twist and put it in an action that it fits a little better in. A lot of the newer 700 clones have larger loading ports that really help a 6mmRem fit better. It’s a beauty in a Mauser.

A 6CM is also superior to a SAAMI .243Win and sorta fits a S/A 700 better. IMO they should have shortened the throat a little, then it would have fit great and allowed you to chase the lands if needed. That’s why I’m leaning 6x47L for my next 6mm.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

The 1-9 twist in a 7-08 will handle anything in the 120-150 grain bullet range for sure, probably even 160's.

Good choice on going 20-21 inches on the barrel length as well, will handle awesome.

I have B&C stocks on several of my rifle's, another good choice IMO/E.

For a trigger, I would go triggertech.

You'll like the 7-08 its an awesome hunting round, frugal on powder and really easy to load for.

This sounds like a winning combo to me. Now let's hope Santa is nice to me!!!

 

[ImBillT]

The 1-9 twist in a 7-08 will handle anything in the 120-150 grain bullet range for sure, probably even 160's.

Good choice on going 20-21 inches on the barrel length as well, will handle awesome.

I have B&C stocks on several of my rifle's, another good choice IMO/E.

For a trigger, I would go triggertech.

You'll like the 7-08 its an awesome hunting round, frugal on powder and really easy to load for.

A 9” twist will handle all the up to a 195EOL. I wouldn’t build a 7-08 with plans to go beyond 168gr, but if I had a 7-08, and no larger 7mm rifle, and decided to go hunting something I felt like 168gr wasn’t enough, it could easily be loaded much heavier, and be at no particular disadvantage inside 300yds.

I built a 280AI on an 8” twist Lilja that I got for a song from one of the Lilja boys, but I wish I had gone with a 9” twist.

 

[Addicting]

On LRH classifieds there is a thread Rem 700 take offs. I asked him and he has several 7mm08 he can sell you.

 

[std7mag]

Your plan on the 7mm-08 is a sound one.
The typical 1:9.5 will easily handle up through the 168gr class.
The 140gr seem to be the just right balance of weight and velocity for 7mm-08.

If you want to stick with heavier bullets, you may want to have the throat reamed.
Lets you use the longer bullets seated to the shoulder/neck juncture of the case. Allowing you to use the full powder capacity of the case.

 

[ImBillT]

Your plan on the 7mm-08 is a sound one.
The typical 1:9.5 will easily handle up through the 168gr class.
The 140gr seem to be the just right balance of weight and velocity for 7mm-08.

If you want to stick with heavier bullets, you may want to have the throat reamed.
Lets you use the longer bullets seated to the shoulder/neck juncture of the case. Allowing you to use the full powder capacity of the case.

But then a loaded round won’t fit in the magazine unless you have done some serious work.

 

[std7mag]

But then a loaded round won’t fit in the magazine unless you have done some serious work.

Then i guess you like the 140gr class of bullet in the 7mm-08.
And not a darn thing wrong with that!

 

[ImBillT]

Then i guess you like the 140gr class of bullet in the 7mm-08.
And not a darn thing wrong with that!

I always want to stick with a bullet/seating depth combo that will seat to mag length or shorter in a hunting gun. Lengthening the throat, so that you can seat a bullet father out, on a 7-08 is not something that you would do if you were seating to magazine length or shorter in a 700 S/A.

 

[std7mag]

I always want to stick with a bullet/seating depth combo that will seat to mag length or shorter in a hunting gun. Lengthening the throat, so that you can seat a bullet father out, on a 7-08 is not something that you would do if you were seating to magazine length or shorter in a 700 S/A.

Neither would I, personally.

But some people like to run heavier bullets.
Were i to throat ream the chamber to run heavier bullets, i'd also lengthen the magazine box.

And how many threads have we seen, on here even, of someone wanting to run a cartridge/bullet combination, where they really should have a longer action?

 

[ImBillT]

Neither would I, personally.

But some people like to run heavier bullets.
Were i to throat ream the chamber to run heavier bullets, i'd also lengthen the magazine box.

And how many threads have we seen, on here even, of someone wanting to run a cartridge/bullet combination, where they really should have a longer action?

You don’t have to increase the throat length to shoot heavier bullets. Competitive shooters do that primarily to prevent longer bullets from decreasing available case capacity, and sometimes to avoid certain issues that usually only occur with neck turned brass.

You can’t lengthen a 700 S/A box very much before you have to start removing material from the action, at which point I don’t understand why you would use a Remington. By the time you buy an extended box and follower, then pay a gunsmith to mill on your action, you’re getting close enough to the price of a 700 clone that comes out of the box with an extended box, a better bolt and a better trigger. On top of that, having someone modify your Remington action rarely improves resale value, and often reduces it.

Yeah we’ve seen a pile of threads with people squeezing too much case into an action that isn’t ideal for it, but I’m not going to recommend it.

On a side note, as discussed before, a 700 S/A is only 3oz lighter than a 700 L/A. I recently weighed L/A bolt with a factory fluted firing pin, Wolf extra power spring, and factory steel bolt shroud, and compared it to a Tubb Speed Lock firing pin, spring, and aluminum shroud, and the Tubb was 1.9oz lighter. I then skeletonized the knob and handle which removed over 1oz. So for about $70 and some time with a Dremel the action now weighs what a standard 700 S/A weighs. For another $50-$100 you can have the bolt fluted and remove another 2oz. People should just pick a cartridge, then use the right action for the chosen cartridge and stop imagining that a S/A saves meaningful weight compared to a L/A.

 

[ImBillT]

Neither would I, personally.

But some people like to run heavier bullets.
Were i to throat ream the chamber to run heavier bullets, i'd also lengthen the magazine box.

And how many threads have we seen, on here even, of someone wanting to run a cartridge/bullet combination, where they really should have a longer action?

Just had time to look at specs. You can fit a 180VLD in a 7-08 at factory 700 S/A mag length, and all the way to the 195EOL with a different mag, but without modifying the action, BUT if you wanted to reach your lands with those bullets, you have to SHORTEN your throat to keep them magazine length.

Lengthening the throat is something competitive shooters often do for performance purposes, and primarily in competitions where they load one round at a time and do not feed from a magazine.

 

[tzone]

After thinking more about the 6mm Rem that I got from a buddy, the more I'm leaning towards rebarreling it to 7-08. I don't have a smaller 7mm round in the safe and think it would be a good one to have. I have most of the tools needed to do the job it if buy a prefit barrel from Northland Shooting Supply. They have 24" 1:9 twist sporter barrels in stock. I would probably have it cut down to 20-21". From there, put a new trigger in it and a new stock and I would have a light little rig for myself or my wife if she wanted to rifle hunt with me.

Thoughts or ideas as to why not build it? The 6mmRem will has no purpose in my safe if I were to invest the time and money to get it shooting, so I figured, make a nice light hunting rifle out of the action.

Wanna sell that 6mm? What's the twist rate on it?

If you're going to order a barrel, I'd look into getting a 1:8 twist on it. More RPM's in not a bad thing. What bullets do you intend to shoot in it?

Also, a sporter barrel won't make a "light little rig." They're pretty heavy for a hunting rifle.

 

[tzone]

I wouldn’t hesitate to rebarrel. I’m against going tighter than needed on the twist. For a 7-08, you likely won’t be shooting really heavy bullets. 1-9, 1-8.5, 1-8, that’s where I would stay UNLESS you were looking at a specific monolithic bullet that required a twist tighter than that. Even then, I would plug the length and weight into a twist calculator using the lowest elevation you plan to hunt at. Most manufacturer recommended twist rates are for sea level and low temps just to cover their butts.

Why are you against it?