Gunsmithing Truing an action with a factory barrel, not worth it?

[5RWill]

Currently my setup is my 700 5R bedded in a MCM A5, with APA RTG, and bolt knob. With my handloads it really is a great shooter. That said this is my main rifle and i want to rebarrel to 6.5 CM. I also want a shorty .308, as a semi truck gun and dedicated medium range hunting rig. So i picked up a 700 action and figured i'd use the 5R take off with the new action. Have it cut to 18" put it in a manners EH1 w/ minichassis, surefire 7.62 brake, etc. etc.

From what i'm reading truing an action with a factory barrel pretty much covers the cost of a new barrel. So is it a waste of time? It's hard to want to get rid of the barrel when it shoots like this. The other side is how would you sale a factory barrel?

 

[redirt78]

It shoots great. Get the barrel cut down to the length you want, have it threaded (and contoured to fit for some Surefire brakes) and keep it as your short 308. Use the new barreled action to build your 6.5 on. The headspace might be off if you try to use the barrel off of the 308 you have now on the new action then it might require work to fit it to the new action. It's not worth screwing with what you already have. It shoots good, cutting it down and threading it won't hurt the accuracy if a good smith does it.

 

[redirt78]

I guess you want to rebarrel what you have because the McMillan stock is bedded for this action. You might have to re bed the gun with the new action and 6.5 barrel if you do like I'm saying but that's probably cheaper and easier than he headaches you might run into swapping this barrel to another action. Have this one cut down and drop it in the EH1 then build your other rifle full custom.

Here is my 18" 308 in the EH1 for motivation.

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[5RWill]

I was just going to PM you about your setup ha.

That's what i'm worried about. The 5R/700 action is already Pillar/Glass bedded in the A5 with the APA bolt knob and RTG. I guess it would cost about the same i suppose either way. I was planning on sending these to GAP.
Main Rig
Re-bed 235$
350$ To true the action, chamber & crown the barrel
340$ bartlein blank
155$ Thread for suppressor
Shorty
Whatever it cost to cut
155$ thread

On the other hand if i could manage 150-200$ by selling the 5R barrel to fund another bartlien i could keep the actions without rebedding, ultimately what i was planning but spending about 500$ more but they would both be full customs by then.

Didn't anticipate there might be difficulties moving a factory barrel to an action.

Oh BTW i've been meaning to ask you what are your velocity numbers on that rig? IIRC it was a factory barreled action cut and threaded?

 

[Bubb]

Oh sweet looking rig!,, if its shooting like that don't change it!, get another action?

 

[redirt78]

Getting right at 2500 out of the factory barrel cut to 18

edit: that's with Southwest ammo 175's and it shoots groups about like your target pictured above. Groups tightened up after cutting it down and putting it in the mini chassis. I think I lucked out, it shoots the same whether it's the first shot or the 15th

 

[19Scout77]

It is my understanding that most (all) proper truing jobs require the threads to be recut and therefore oversized as compared to the factory threads. Therefore once trued, your factory barrel will no longer fit properly unless it is set back and completely rethreaded.

 

[wayfastwhiteie45]

Truing an action with a factory barrel is money well wasted! it cost just as much to fit a factory barrel to a different action as it does to just start with a new barrel less the cost of the barrel. But what you get out of a match grade barrel i think will make you much happier anyway. my vote is to do it right the first time. besides going with a .298/.308 barrel will help you scavenge as much velocity as possible out of a 18 inch pipe.

just my opinion... hope i could help

Ps. You could get ahold of W.A.R Rifles out of Manassas Park Va if you need any assistance im sure the can help you either way. (703) 367-7155



___
Greg

 

[wayfastwhiteie45]

It is my understanding that most (all) proper truing jobs require the threads to be recut and therefore oversized as compared to the factory threads. Therefore once trued, your factory barrel will no longer fit properly unless it is set back and completely rethreaded.

Thats correct.

 

[MikeeBooshay]

Rule # 1 - first do no harm.

Rule #2 - related to Rule 1 - Do not fix what is not broken.

You have a good shooting 308 - OK cut the barrel down if you must.

Make the other one into what you want. Cutting the corners, will likely mean you get to buy another tube, spending $$$ that look like they are thin, on truing a good shooting action, likely won't make it better, just have more money in it.

 

[bhoges]

Your nuts if you do anything to that rifle. If you cut it shorter even the change in harmonics might affect that group size. Don't mess with something that works. My buddy braked a rifle that shot .3 and the groups opened up to 3/4. Id get another action or shoot out that barrel first.

 

[chipsfan]

Your nuts if you do anything to that rifle. If you cut it shorter even the change in harmonics might affect that group size. Don't mess with something that works. My buddy braked a rifle that shot .3 and the groups opened up to 3/4. Id get another action or shoot out that barrel first.

yeah- you never know- leave it alone

 

[JByrd]

my vote is leave 308 alone its a solid shooter/trainer. build a clone to it. me personally id save my money till I could swing a deviant since the surgeons are unavailable till they catch up production. and drop it in another a5 so ergonomics are same same same. train with the 308 and bring out the 6.5 when it counts.

that 308 is gonna be good to you for a loooooong time. choot it.

also, lets say the smith work goes fine and shes still a one holer, the shorter barrel isn't really gonna change the world vs how it currently sits.

 

[5RWill]

After some thought and the realization of how long it's going to take me to get the barrels i would've wanted. I think i'm going to do what Redirt suggested. Just move the barreled action to the manners and have it cut/threaded. Then take my new 700 action, with a bartlein #16, have it re-bedded in my A5, etc. etc. Think i'll be waiting some time for a 6.5mm #16 (LV Modified) i can't seem to find them anywhere. So i'll be giving Bartlein a call.

 

[flatland1]

From what I've seen in the past, when you've got a really good-shooting factory rifle, most times there's little to be gained by truing that action. I do my own rifle work, and most of the time, will true an action just because it makes me feel better about it. But in truth, since there's really no easy way to test an action before & after truing (mostly because - as stated in a previous reply - once you single-point the action threads, a bbl with factory threads will be too loose to fit), I've never set out to test whether truing really helps accuracy. However, I was told several years ago that the AMU's practice when truing a M700 action was to skip single-point thread chasing. If anyone has the budget & time to thoroughly test whether a step like that results in increased accuracy or not, it's the AMU.