I recently purchased a Remington SS BDL 300 RUM. I now intend to rebarrel my older 700 BDL 30-06. Any suggestions as to which intermediate caliber to rebarrel too and also suggestions on specs and possibly the right Gunsmith to do the work? Considering something with light recoil to poke holes in paper and maybe longe range varmiting.
I would look @ either a .243 IMP if varminting is higher on the priority list, or a 6.5 WSM if more of an all round caliber with superb wind deflection is what you want.
I would have S1 do the chambering without question. I have seen his work in the shop and at the range. The machine work is the cleanest and most precise that I have ever seen. Now at the range, I have a friend with four 243 improved that all shot in the zeros. All of the rifles that I have seen built or worked on by S1 work extremely well. S1 also gives a 1/3 minute guarantee on anything he chambers, crowns, and beds.
S1, please provide me with some information on the 6.5 WSM. The superb wind deflection of the 6.5 cal. has my curiosity up. Also, what would you charge to accurize my 700 BDL SS 300 RUM?
I have accurized a lot of the 700 RUM both in 30 cal. and 7mm, but before you spend any money, I would like to know how well is it shooting right now, and have you handloaded anything for it yet? Also, which exact stock do you have it on right now?
The 6.5 is about my favorite cartridge to shoot. It will run a 123 gr. Scenar about 3,440 fps. out of a 27 inch barrel and is 8 MOA up from 100 to 600 yards which makes it ideal for integrating into the NPR2 reticle.
Here is a pic of one I built for the Sarg of our local HRT team.
S1, My 300 RUM has a factory synthetic stock BDL SS. I have a Leupold 4.5 x 14 x 40 on it. It is new with only 14 rounds down the barrel and it does not like the 150 gr. Scirroco's. It groups around 1.5in at 100yds. I have ordered dies and am waiting for them to arrive. The older BDL 700 is a 30-06 that I wish to rebarrel into a long range (light recoiling) all purpose rifle. It was tuned years ago and has served me well but now has so many rounds through it the accuracy is degrading. Even with it's favorite loads it is hard to get it to group under 1.5in anymore. The 300 RUM is a new experiment for me since I've started hunting alot in Western Oklahoma and the shots are very long for deer and occasionally coyotes and prarie dogs. I have turned down shots at large deer at 7-800yds. I did however zap a pig at 800 next to the river but watched it make its death run into the river and disappear. My 30-06 has taken many deer and an antelope out to 425 yds but I've never pushed it past 425. I shot M-16's in the military competitively out to 500 meters. I love to reload and shoot but it is hard to get long range practice in the Dallas area. Uncle Sam keeps me here working. I have to go back home to Oklahoma once a month to get any quality range time. Hope this helps.
Roger that, it does help. I like to do a couple of things different when accurizing a factory barrel with a big cartridge. I think your current stock will be great to work with, unless you want something with a different feel. I would recommend setting the barrel tenon shoulder back and going with a thick recoil lug for the Ultra Mag, the stock lug is way too thin for that much recoil. Once you get a thick lug in place, you can now bed the rifle, and the bedding will actually last as long as the barrel. Next is to recut the crown, and install a brake. I make several different designs of Anti-Torqe brakes that do make the rifle more accurate, and much more pleasant to shoot. They are worth their weight in GOLD on a cartridge that holds more than 65 grains of powder and is shot off a bipod.
I am concerned about the Leupold scope on the real heavy recoiling rifle, they are famous for having marginal erector tube springs which are supposed to control the position of the crosshairs through the recoil cycle.
If you go to the 6.5 WSM on your current 30-06, I would go to a Sako style extractor, its wind deflection is easily 30 percent better than a 30-06 at 800 yards, and the energy delivered is probably higher at that range as well.
Well now, thats a good question, 'Is the 6.5 a barrel burner, and the .270 WSM not a barrel burner?'
The actual diameter of a 270 WSM bullet is about .2772"
The actual diameter of a 6.5 WSM bullet is about .2645"
The difference in diameter is less than .013 of an inch.
The cases are almost identical in powder capacity, around 69 grains. My point is that they are so close that the speed powder chosen is also going to be almost identical. You will have a much more positive effect on throat life by going to a 3 groove barrel, than by going to a 270 caliber.
The truth is that shooters burn throats, not cartridges. If you are the kind of shooter that rapid fires their weapon on a hot day with loads that are borderline too hot, your throat will not last long with a .223 rem.
If you are the kind of shooter that lives with some margin, takes good care of your barrel, and pays enough attention to not overcook it on a hot day, your throats will last on something as big as a 30 Wolf. I won a couple of competitions last year with a 30 Wolf with over 5,000 rounds on the barrel, there were more than enough brand new NON barrel burners in the field. A 6.5 WSM is 85 percent of the case capacity of a 7mm Rem Mag. and the bullet is about 86 percent of the cross sectional area of a 7mm Rem Mag.
I know for a fact that both the 140 A-max, and the 147 clinch river are outstanding in the accuracy department, don't have enough boxes burnt of the 139 Scenar to comment. The ballistic payback still adds up to 200 yards and some change over the 243 IMP.
Any guess at what the BC of either the 140Amax or 147CR might be?
What kind of impact velocity do you think you would need from the bullets mentioned to get any fragmentation or expansion on a coyote sized animal without just penciling through?
Posts: 290 | Location: Tsaile, AZ | Registered: Fri August 06 2004
