Short Barreled 30-06

[Steve]

Well, I put theory in motion tonight and hacked down the barrel on my Savage 111. I'm trying to accomplish the feel and handling of a Remington Model 7 at about 1/4 the price. Went from 22" to 18". Dropped 4 ounces, and it feels like I gained a whole lot of balance and maneuverability.

After I get educated following this I am going to do the same to my 30-06 bolt action rifle.
Mine is a Sears/Ted Williams Model 53. It's a nice rifle, made by Winchester. When I bought it was a poor man's Model 70.

[357cyrus]

Ha! I planned on people learning from my mistakes. Who knows what it will turn out like! Worst case scenario, I take it to a gunsmith for a recrown. Or swap the barrel out for a factory 270 win barrel someone was kind enough to give me.

[62chevy]

Awesome job 357cyrus !!! My Savage has a tapered barrel so the square won't work for me.

[357cyrus]

The other night I hit it with emery cloth of 50, 80, and 150 grit to smooth out the file marks.

Tonight I chucked the brass screw into the drill, dabbed some valve grinding compound on the head and in the bore, ran the drill at about half speed for 20 seconds, and then reapplied the compound. Overall maybe 2 minutes of actual drilling.

After that I flushed the barrel out from the chamber end with gun scrubber. Then went about a normal barrel cleaning routine.

Next stop... Load development.

[Ranch Dog]

Looking good. You going to cold blue it?

[Steve]

Nice job 357cyrus. Now the rusty gears in my head are starting to turn.

[357cyrus]

Looking good. You going to cold blue it?

I'm not sure yet. The rest of the barrel has a couple spots that need some attention too.

[Ranch Dog]

I'm thinking about chopping 2" of the barrel off my Savage 340 I just bought, gon'na see how well it shoots first.

I was going to use this method of cutting and crowning to get the rebated crown: http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=2979

[357cyrus]

I was going to use this method of cutting and crowning to get the rebated crown: http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=2979

I saw a video of that being done, but with an aluminum sleeve made to slide in the bore an protect it from the case length guage. A 7mm something or other case length gauge was used. Either way... It gives me the hebeegeebees to think of a single shaving of steel getting in there and twisted around. Over and over and over.

[62chevy]

Boy and I was going to say I liked the idea of using the Lee case trimmer to true the crown but Cyrus has made me reconsider that option.