Re-barreling a Rem 700

[aarolar]

I have a Rem 700 in 243 that I have been thinking about re-barreling for a long time now. I wanted something odd ball and have considered 243AI but now that I have started casting I would like to go with something much more cast friendly. What big bore option do I have for a rem 700 short action with a .243 bolt face that would be cast friendly.

[felix]

Use the 308 cased chamber you already have. Rebarrel to 323, 338, 358. If planning to shoot a LOT, ask for a short throat and larger twist number (slower twist) and use bore riding boolits for the deer loads. If planning to shoot often, but not a lot per se, pick the hunting boolit of choice first and then throat and twist for that. ... felix

[shotman]

338 federal is good
remmember you are dropping from a 300/400 yd gun to a 100yd gun

[Artful]

http://www.handgunhunt.com/photopost/data/500/308_Take_offs_with_text.JPG
7mm-08 is a good one, but larger bores make for easier casting in my experience
308 itself is a good round to shoot cast with - 338 is excellent - 358 gives large choice in 35 caliber bullets from 100 to 300 grain just choose twist to shoot the longest you want to use.

[softpoint]

.358 Winchester. I am biased!!:lovebooli

[flounderman]

I like the 260. I don't know how it would be for cast. all the 308 based wildcats have short necks. I put a lightweight stainless 260 on a 722 and restocked it and there is nothing not to like about the 260. the recoil is not bad in a light rifle, it shoots flat, and it kills without ruining a lot of meat. I have most of the calibers from 30 on down and the 260 is one of the last I would part with.

[rockrat]

I would go with the 308 or 358. LOTS of moulds available in both those calibers. 7-08 would be third. Personally, 308's are common, so I would go with the 358win

[Sweetpea]

If you're going for rare, why don't you take the 358 case and neck it up to .375? Sure would be some work, but seems like a great brush gun...

I am quite sure there are many others here with a great deal more experience than I... this may even be a wildcat already, or it may just not work.

Would love to hear others opinions on this...

[softpoint]

Long ago there was an article called "a magnum for lever actions" where the writer had a .375/284 built on a Savage 99 I often thought that would make a good cartridge in a short action bolt gun.

[felix]

Artful, you are missing the 323 version. Use the RCBS 32WS boolit, and be done with experimentation. 16 twist 8mm barrel having 5 or 7 lands at 0.0045. ... felix

[GabbyM]

A look at 6mm cartridges: 6mm x 222, 6mm XTC, 243 Win, 6mm Rem.

My 1-10 twist 243 AI's are pretty cast friendly. Sub MOA at under 2,000 fps. Get a 12 twist so you can go a little faster. David Tubb’s 6mm XTC has a longer neck (.305” vs. .241”) and less case volume. Thus should be a better platform for cast. It’s a slightly modified 6mm x 22-250. That chambering with a slow twist barrel would definitely be different. I wouldn't take a 6mm cast boolit deer hunting intentionally. Because I’ve bigger and better big game guns. When I first started casting 6mm bullets I thought of a new rifle chambered in something I could make from the five gallon bucket full of 5.56mm brass I have. 6 x 45 or 6 x 222. With a 1-14” twist. Then when I started shooing my 243 AI with cast over my Chrony and getting the occasional single digit E.S. Justifying another rifle and all that goes with it suddenly got hard.

Original barrel on my Ruger VT was a 1-12” twist rate. To bad I wore that out before I started casting 6mm boolits. I’m grandfathered into the 243 Win and AI with all the dies and brass I have. 243 Win was what was available chambered in the factory rifles. If I had to do it over I’d go with a different 6mm. The 6mm Remington , being a necked down 7 x 57mm Mauser, has the longest neck at .351". That neck is purported to save throats from powder erosion So far I’ve never got a 243 Win barrel to live past 800 rounds while running them hard. I expect at least twice that many J bullets from the two AI’s I have since I’m not going to be so hard on them. Never know though as I’m shooting mostly cast bullets so no way to know how much wear and tear they are doing versus the J bullets.

For a dedicated cast boolit shooter in 6mm a 6 x 222 looks ideal. You can form brass from 5.56mm NATO and it holds just the right amount of powder.

Then you have the temptation to jump one size up to the 25 caliber. 250 Savage with a classic 1-14” twist looks attractive and is reported to be a great boolit shooter. This round would give you a 120 grain RCBS cast boolit plus 100 grain J bullets at 2,900 fps. Although I’m pretty sure you’d be able to shoot far higher cast bullet velocities with a 1-14” twist 6mm. But you’d have to stick with the bullets shorter than the RCBS 95 grain in a 14 twist. The Saeco 85 and Lyman 84gr Loverin.

I'd better stop now before this gets confusing :lovebooli

[felix]

Shooting hard means shooting with high pressure as seen by the throat. ... felix

[Kestrel4k]

Totally agree with the .358 Win. idea. :)
A great cast-bullet cartridge, and much more difficult to find factory rifles with this chambering compared to others in the .308 family.

[MJR007]

I have had two 700's rebarreled. One was a 26" heavy Hart 7mm-08 and the other 22" Douglas 358 winchester. For cast - the 358 is the way to go.

[hicard]

I like my 260 for jacketed and my 358's for boolits.

[Nobade]

7mm or 30 BR. Both super cast boolit cartridges and not everybody has one. Throat and twist appropriate for the boolit selected of course.

[MJR007]

One other thing to thing about. For not much more that one of my Hart rifle projects you can get a ER Shaw Mark VII http://www.ershawbarrels.com/build-your-e-r-shaw-mk-VII-rifle.htm
I shot one today and it shot very well but from my uderstanding the lead time is about a year.

[felix]

My barrel choice for boolits will next be:

http://www.bartleinbarrels.com/

... felix

[Lloyd Smale]

.358 hands down would be the best of the bunch if you want to play with cast bullets in it.

[youngda9]

+1 for 358 Win

[Artful]

My barrel choice for boolits will next be:

http://www.bartleinbarrels.com/

... felix

Funny they don't list .35 cal
http://www.bartleinbarrels.com/calibers.htm

[FLORES425]

6.5 creedmoor

[fouronesix]

Given a choice, why pay for oddball? More hassles with components and dies. Resale more difficult if that becomes necessary. Some oddballs don't live up to the hype and expectations and so on and so forth. Something in the mainstream between 7-08 and 35 caliber seem better all around for both cast and Jbullet loading/shooting.

Even the "marketing" mainstream geniuses of the big companies go off on tangents once in a while that no one can figure out... like the 243 WSSM :veryconfu

For an efficient smaller caliber cartridge with a track record, that's a little different but still within the mainstream maybe a 6PPC? But getting many of the short fats or oddballs to feed smoothly out of the magazine can be a headache.

[atr]

ps...for my money a .308 or .358
atr

[Three44s]

The PPC's are a great platform but since this is a Remington, the OP would have to buy another bolt for that.

Three 44s

[300savage]

personally i would just find a new take off barrel in 308 for about $50 and put that on that sucker. shoot lead or jacketed, short range and heavy, or long range and jacketed.
does a man really need to shoot heavier than 200 to 220cast at anything in the lower 48 anyway?

[dakota]

I've been looking for a reasonable priced short action 700. The purpose -- To rebarrel to 358. My brother has a 243 in 700 I sold him a couple of decades ago and he hasn't shot it more than a dozen times. I think the next time I see him I'll make an offer he'll have a hard time refusing. I love the 358 and if a shooter wanted to go with jacketed bullets they could use the rifle to 300 yards and they won't need premium bullets to be effective - my favorite jacked bullet for the 358 is the 200 grain Hornady.
I use 158 grain pistol cast bullets for small game and have several rifle molds - they all work well.
Not for prairie dogs - but good for most anything else.

[Love Life]

338 federal. We can go in halfsies on a reamer....

[Baron von Trollwhack]

This is an opprtunity for a JES rebore to 358, one of the best cast bullet calibers around. Jesse Occumpaugh. Reasonable cost, quality work, quick turnaround, choice of twists, uses your barrel.

BvT

[Artful]

338 federal. We can go in halfsies on a reamer....

So out of curiosity, what advantage do you see the 338 has over 358?

[Love Life]

Better bullet selection, and I just want something different.

I like building off the 308 case. for the 30 cal and up short barrels give awesome performance.

[Artful]

You must be thinking of J-word bullets - in Cast you have a much larger selection in 35 caliber than 33

[Love Life]

Correct. I am thinking jacketed bullets, but I see the 338 Federal being cast friendly with the bullets in it's cartridge class.

[Artful]

Correct. I am thinking jacketed bullets, but I see the 338 Federal being cast friendly with the bullets in it's cartridge class.
Oh, it's as cast friendly as 308 or 358 - you just have such a wider selection in 30 and 35 caliber to pick your boolit design from. Kicking around here is a 338 caliber barrel I picked up in the past. After I started looking at available projectiles I left it lay. I should probably divest myself of it and get another 35 caliber barrel for playing with.