How to rebarrel a rifle?

[doc25]

What exactly are the steps in replacing a barrel in a rifle? I bought an Arisaka in 7.7 and am thinking about maybe turning it into a 22-250. I figure case dimensions are close enough for it to feed so the major change will be a barrel, am I right? What should it cost about to get this done by a gunsmith (barrel included) any guesses? Or can I buy a ready threaded barrel and do this myself? I don't have anyone who knows how to cut threads on a lathe though.

[richbug]

Sell the Arisaka and buy a new Savage, Remington, Ruger, CZ. You will come out lots of money ahead and have a better rifle.


The process is pretty basic though.

Strip rifle down,
Unscrew barrel,
Figure out what thread was used in Japan 70 years ago.
Thread and contour a new barrel blank,
rough out chamber,
screw in new barrel,
finish cutting chamber/ set headspace,
polish and blue whole gun,
drill and tap receiver for scope mount,
forge over bolt handle,

I expect $4-500 would cover it if you aren't real picky and settle for a cheap barrel, but it seems kinda silly to spend all that money and use a $70 barrel.

[MtGun44]

Since most Arisakas are chromed bores they are almost always in good
shootable condition. If they go the way of all the other milsurps, ones that
haven't been sporterized will steadily increase in price, while the "better"
sporterized ones will be worth about $150 max - forever.

The synthetic stocked Stevens is a Savage in sheep's clothing and Savages
are arguably the most consistently accurate factory rifles out there. You
can get a Stevens the WILL shoot for around $300 at a gun show - NEW.

If you want to just have fun and learn, find a milsurp that has already been
"sporterized" (wood cut and such) and start with it, since it has already lost
most of it's collector appeal and will usually be available for $100 to $150, or
just buy an action. I got a real deal a milsurp Mauser 98 action and plan on
building a rifle out of it one day. For $40 it is hard to go wrong.

Your gun, do what you want, the advice is free.

There are a couple of web sites that cover a lot of the rebarreling steps. Probably
the easiest way is to buy a 'short chambered' barrel that is made for your
action (unfortunately the Mauser 98 is by FAR the most common action that
these are available for, and I have never seen one offered for the Arisaka).

Basically, you screw it in good and tight and rent a chamber reamer, and VERY
carefully ream out a few thousandths at a time, clean and check the chamber
with headspace gages. When you get it just closing on the go gage, you are
there. These short chambered barrels make the whole thing a LOT easier.

Couple hundred or more for the barrel, headspace gages, reamer rental, a new
stock or blank, a new trigger (maybe) and you are spending more than the
Stevens or Savage or some others. Pure economics says no, but we ALL do
things against pure economics at times "just because".

Good luck.

Bill

[versifier]

As stated above, don't butcher a vintage Arisaka. Enjoy shooting it with cast and let it appreciate in value. Stocks for them are a custom proposition and will run you as much or more than the rebarreling. Then you will still have the ugliest mil action ever made, poor finish and all, (chewed out of barstock by demented beavers with dull carbide teeth) and it will never appreciate in value or be appreciated if you have to sell it.

Find a Bubba'd Mauser 98 action, new barrels for them are cheap and plentiful, so are replacement stocks. If you are going to spend the money on rebarreling, you might as well go for something harder to find and cast friendly like a .358win. For the money, if you want a .22-250, just buy one. There are a ton of used ones out there for reasonable cost, and you can always buy and sell a few until you find one with acceptable accuracy.

[smokemjoe]

My brother uses a 7.7 Jap for deer hunting all the time, cut down, bolt handle crudly bend, bad job of scope mounting but gets his deer and other game as is,Last year he laid it in the jeep out in the field . Saftey is push in on the back of bolt knob and it went off. Blowed a hole in floor board and just missed the trannie. Tommorw he will be deer hunting with it again over there in Wis.

[doc25]

I forgot to mention bubba has been to the wood allready. So I won't be hurting anything there. So at the prices mentioned I think I'll leave it as is if it'll shoot.