How does rechambering work?
The chamber of a rifle is part of the barrel. So when it is said that a rifle is rechambered, the barrel must be unscrewed. Then, is a new barrel screwed on, or can the old barrel be machined into the new chamber and bore size? Let's say you were changing a 7x57 Mauser into a 8x57.
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You can't just rechamber a 7x57 to a 8x57. You would also have to rebore to the larger caliber. Cheaper to just buy an after market barrel that is already threaded for a mauser action and partially chambered and let the gunsmith do the rest. Had a 416 Rigby rebored and rechamberd to a 470/416 Rigby by LaBounty Precision Reboring and it cost $350 complete.
AlleninAlaska
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Now Aglore, I said "machined into the new chamber and bore size." 0 -
Ok. But would still be cheaper to go with an after market barrel then to have one rebored. It also took 2 years of waiting for mine to get done because these companies usually rebore in lot's by caliber. They may wait quite a while before they had enough 8mm's to switch over the machining. Can't imagine 8mm being a very popular caliber at a roboring shop.
Some gunsmiths do not remove barrels for re-chamber jobs and some do. My gunsmith is of the barrel removing school.
AlleninAlaska
http://www.outdoor-o-rama.com
He who dares not offend cannot be honest.
-- Thomas Paine0 -
A rifle of like calibre(ie, a .243 to .243 Ackley Improved) can be rechambered because the cases are very similar(the Ackley has a different shoulder angle) and it's the same bullet. Whether the barrel, absolutely, has to come off or not depends on the type of action and how easy it is to get the cutting tools into the chamber. To change from 7x57 to 8x57, you have to change the whole barrel. They're completely different calibres as well as the cases. And that's assuming the action will handle a more powerful round. Then there's work that needs to be done to the bolt face and a few other things to make it feed, extract and be safe to shoot.
That help you?0 -
Sunray, 7X57 and 8X57 are the same case so no changes needed there. 7x57, 8x57, 6.5x57 and 9.3x57 are all built on the 7x57 case. Neither is more powerful than the other as far as pressures go. The Europeans lnow how to load the 8mm as opposed to the American factories.
AlleninAlaska
http://www.outdoor-o-rama.com
He who dares not offend cannot be honest.
-- Thomas Paine0 -
Allen, I suspect you know this, but the capability of the action needs to be considered also. For instance, if you had a M98 Mauser with a 7x57 barrel on it, it could be re-chambered to a .280 Rem. assuming that the bore was at least .284 inches which is correct for 7mm rifles. However, don't try this trick with a M93 type Mauser because the action, as considered by most authorities, is not designed to handle pressures of the magnitude developed by the .280 Rem. 0 -
Thanks everyone for the info. Yes I am aware that the old 93 and 96 actions do not do well with high pressure rounds. 0 -
There is reboring and then there is rechambering. The first term involves drilling, reaming and rifling to a larger size. In the old days of corrosive ammo, some gun manufacturers offered this service. Today it's a custom proposition and not a cost effective option. Rechambering is done to convert say a .222 to a .223 or a 22-250 or from a standard cartridge to an improved or wildcat version.
Rechambering is often done when the throat of a barrels' chamber is worn and accuracy is lost. In that case the barrel is removed and an inch or so is cut off. The barrel is then rethreaded and rechambered.0 -
In Europe, 1948, I got a 8x60 Mauser that I had rechambered to 8x57 due 8x60 being scarce in US. Barrel was removed and cut off at breech end and rechambered to 8x57. Don't recall exactly how much barrel length was removed but probably was more than the 3mm difference in case length. 0 -
Any good gunsmith will remove and rechamber a rifle, however, he will likely turn down your request for changing the bore size unless the barrel is new. If the gun has been fired more than a few times, the steel has been "seasoned" and therefore hardened. The changing of bore size in a seasoned barrel is EXTREMELY hard on a reamer, and most gunsmiths will refuse to abuse the equipment that way,.. unless you pay for a reamer.
A great rifle with a junk scope,....is junk.0
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