Your father probably had loaded ammo or even fired brass from this rifle among his possessions. Start looking for it to gain a clue about the rifle's caliber designation. If the ammo box or brass reads "308 Norma Magnum" you possibly have found your answer. There may even be hand written notes inside the box about the ammo's caliber. However, the ammo (or empty brass) may have been re-formed (specialty created) from another caliber of brass, such as 300 Winchester Magnum. In this case the cases would claim (in writing on the case head) to be one caliber but actually have been re-formed to fit another entirely different caliber's chamber. If you find any such ammo or brass, take these and your rifle to an experienced person for comparison. That person may be a gunsmith or advanced handloader, not just your usual neighborhood tinkerer. Above all, do NOT attempt to load or fire ANY ammo in this rifle until after making a determination about the actual cartridge caliber.
Then again, there may be no ammo or brass available to be found. As another posted advised, have a gunsmith create a chamber cast to assist with determining the rifle's caliber.
When you get the answer to this caliber question, please post it on this thread for us, and thanks.
Thin Man
Thin Man
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