30/06 to 300 mag. rechamber question
Is it possible to convert a 30/06 to 300 Winchester mag. without re barreling if the action is strong enough? in this case it's a 1917 Eddystone. Thanks
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upjumtddebl,
Yes, but it involves more work than just running a chamber reamer into the barrel. If you aren't qualified to do all the work then it costs money to get it done by a professional gunsmith.
The United States Rifle, cal .30, Model of 1917, has been used for decades by many gunsmiths to build the biggest and baddest recoiling rifles on the planet. Usually though, the barrel is taken off and thrown away in favor of a new, modern barrel made from modern stainless steel.
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The bolt face has to be opened up to accept the over sized rim of the belted magnum cartridge. Probably the extractor would have to be tweaked also. I believe that belted magnums like the .300 Winchester are approximately .060 greater in rim diameter then the 30-06.
When rechambering the barrel to 300 Winchester mag the rear of the barrel has to have enough "meat" so the the oversized "belt" at the rear of the cartridge would have be able to clean up in the original 30-06 chamber. If not the shoulder and threaded rear shank of the barrel would have to be further machined. Depending on the contour of the original 30-06 barrel, this might not be feasible?
EDIT #1, The bullets used in the 30-06 and 300 Win Mag are the same diameter. We have no way ascertaining if the barrel is original or the safety of the conversion. Best to take it to a competent smith for inspection, headspacing and test firing, prior to purchase.0 -
just for info, the rifle that blew apart and almost killed me was a 1917 Enfield that had been incorrectly annealed prior to drilling and tapping for a scope base. 0 -
You may want to take a look at what another forum had to say about the Eddystone. From what I remember, the problem stems from the inital assembly of the barrel to the action. Using the original barrel may cause a safe situation to become an unsafe one. See: {Elsewhere}
It makes sense to send it to an experience gunsmith who can properly detach the original barrel without damaging the action. At the same time, all the other minor corrections can be addressed by someone who will be able to identify the necessary work needed to make this a safe shooting rifle.
If cost is a factor, I would recommend E.R. Shaw because they can replace the barrel and do all the necessary conversion work to assure a well functioning rifle. Their prices are very reasonable and they have a full service gunsmithing division. They are also rather quick on turning the rifle around. I had them do a 338-06 for me years ago and did a great job.0 -
just to clarify the gun is already chambered for 300 mag and the seller does not have any history on the work and I wondered if this would have been a mater of just recuting the bolt face/chamber (as in does 30/06 and 300 mag have the same bullet dia.)or would a new barrel had to have been used to do the conversion 0 -
I saw a number of Eddystone Enfield actions with bolt faces sized for the .303 British.
It may have been one of these.0 -
upjumtddebl,
That's an important piece of information to know before trying to answer a question such as yours. I was trying to avoid a much longer and detailed answer in favor of a shorter, more concise answer but it appears that will fall by the wayside.
As I and others have suggested, the barrel is most likely a replacement. However, stranger things have occurred... It would be easy to check since the original barrel had several distinct factory marks which would be obvious. The barrel was more than likely replaced. I always removed the original barrel before attempting any custom work.
No it's not just opening up the bolt face and cutting a new chamber.
The extractor, as pointed out, requires modification as do the rails and feed ramp. Then there is the magazine and follower to adjust. With most true custom rifles, the bottom metal is modified to become a 'flat bottom' trigger guard instead of having the 'dip' at the front. This though precludes the use of the original stock obviously.
The best bet is to have a gunsmith look at the rifle to ascertain if the conversion was done correctly and to check the headspace. Post a couple of pictures of the barreled action so we can try to assess what took place just for the sake of discussion.
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