Next year will be the first year in a long time that I have more free time than work time. I retired in August of this year but I've been working like a dog to finish up all my previously scheduled work. I'll have it all done and I'll be a free man in March of 2019. (if you can believe that)
Anyway; I've had my eye on one of the rifles chambered in the new 6.5 PRC cartridge. After checking the specs on that chambering I'm thinking I can rebarrel a Tikka T3 that's in a native chambering of 300 WM. If I'm understanding bolt-face sizes correctly, the bolt-face on a 300 WM chambered rifle should be an eligible candidate; and since Tikka rifles have always been tack drivers for me, (I've owned four-still own two) I thought that by rebarreling one so chambered, it would save me some money when compared to the prices of some of the custom rifles being sold in the 6.5 PRC chambering.
I can't really afford a gunsmiths' services and I've already rebarreled and rechambered two of my other rifles with good success. I don't think this would be much different. My only problem is that I need confirmation that the Tikka in the 300 WM chambering really is a good candidate for the 6.5 PRC.
Please understand; I'm not asking for permission. I'm asking for wisdom from (hopefully) someone with hands on experience in doing such a project. The Tikka actions are all long-actions; even those chambered for short action cartridges so the length of the receiver shouldn't be a problem. I guess my concern is the bolt-face. If that's compatible I think I'll be good to go. With the other rifles I've rechambered the existing bolt-faces were nearly identical to the bolt-faces of the cartridges I was replacing them with.
One other thing of importance; in those other rebarreling jobs I did, I threaded my barrels so as to make them "Switch-Barrels" kind of like the "Savage-Barrel-Nut" design. I did it this way to make the headspacing easier for me; and it really worked out well. It really simplified things in terms of machining and time in front of my lathe. Another benefit of this is that if I ever get a wild-hair up my butt again I can chamber another barrel for some other caliber and be able to swap from one to the other with relative ease. (funds permitting)
It's not a new idea; in fact there are at least two online barrel suppliers that offer pre-fit barrels for the Tikka line of rifles featuring this type of "Barrel-Nut/ Switch-Barrel" concept. I've thought of just buying one of their offerings but still, it's a money and budget thing that will be driving this project.
HollowPoint