Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors '51 30/06

Just picked this rifle up- it will be interesting to see how she goes as the bore is a bit rough...may need a new calibre....hmmm

If it's rough, have it re-bored to 9.3x62mm. Hint...

Nobody re-bores here in New Zealand, great calibre though. I may have an opportunity to buy a ZG47 in 9.3x62, might have to twist the owners arm though!

Damn that sucks. I should consider myself lucky that I only live 100 miles from JES, who re-bores a lot of stuff for loonies like us... The 9.3 is a favorite of mine, probably pretty popular in your neck of the woods as well....

Before you change calibers on the rifle (that is unless you bought it to modify) then why don’t you clean the rifle. After cleaning it try using an electric bore cleaner. I made one out of a flash light and you would be surprised at the stuff it gets out of a barrel. See the link below for how to build one:

http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/f18/making-electric-bore-cleaning-kit-31091/

Also if you want to spend some more work, you can use Flitz Metal Polish, to get some of the rough spots out. See link below:

http://www.varmintal.com/ashot.htm

Finally assuming a barrel is half way dead, then read this article:

http://www.shootingtimes.com/gunsmithing/gunsmithing_st_lappingbarrel_200805/

It explains barrel lapping,

I hope this helps you if you want to keep the rifle as is. It may not become a tack driver, but if you try different bullet weights it may become a good shooter.

I have/had four rough barrels. Rough does not always mean they won't shoot well. They may or may not require cleaning more often than normal.
Jack