300 Savge to 300 Bower?

[DanM]

I have a 30 Herret S14 Contender barrel in 300sav that I don't shoot much since I have gotten into cast shooting. Case necks tend to split more often than I am used to. Likely I could do better if I annealed, but am thinking about re-rechambering to 300 Bower or something similar. I understand that the 300Bower is basicly a rimmed 300sav with a longer neck. Uses 307win brass with standard 300 Savage dies for reloading. I am happy with the performance of the 300 Savage, and like the idea of using dies I already have. So, I am wondering if the reamer I need can be rented (or borrowed), or is the 300 Bower a strictly propritary chambering? Do I really need a reamer, or could the whole operation be done on a lathe? Cut for the rim should be simple, and maybe the neck cut could be done with a .30 neck reamer or some such? Since the basic chamber is already there. Maybe there is a better option?

[lathesmith]

Dan, how much longer is the neck of the Bower? If it is pretty close to the Savage, you may have enough room to do what you want. Just cut a rim for the 307 brass, and then use as-is. If you need more length for the neck, a small boring bar would do the trick, but you've gotta be good as this wouldn't be a job for an amateur.

As a side note, I have done this same thing to my Contender--for making a 35 Remington rimmed. I just cut a rim relief in the barrel, and use 303 British brass. I like rimmed cartidges for single-shots. I have also done this to my 7mm-08 Encore--I cut a rim relief so I can use necked down 307 Win brass. It works great for me...

lathesmith