I picked up a Ted Williams model 53 (model 70 winchester)pretty cheap. Already have a 270 an 30-06. I want a 338 magnum.I know the bolt face will need opened up. Will the mag box need tweaked? Also can the barrel be rebored/rechambered or will it need rebarrelled?
I know getting i rebored into a 35 whelen or 338-06 would be easier but I want a 338 and I like this rifle.

Thanks, Don

hmmmm... nobody ever do this?

Keep it and buy a used .338... I would love to locate one of those.. Good F.N. action.. Enjoy..

I am sure it could be done.. It was common years ago to alter Springfields to shoot the .308 Norma, or .300 Win. But there was no problem with bore size..

I still think keep it and pickup a used .338..

Is this a PF or pre-64 CRF? If PF Might be easier to get a new bolt & mag box. Def makes sense to do a new barrel.

As was said it was not uncommon on Mausers & Springfields but I assume it isn't as common on factory rifles due to more easily acquired parts.

I'd definitely lean toward selling it & getting a mag. Far simpler.

Rebore to 338/06 or buy a 338 mag.

I think the work to machine the bolt face and possibly expand the raceway and the cost will likely not be worth it.

If you don't want to sell then consider rebarreling, 338/06 is common now and you can easily find all the components you need to load it. Or even 338/06 AI for extra velocity. I think the .338 federal shares the same bolt face (it is normally a s/a cartridge) but lots of factory ammo.

BearschlayerX2,

My .338 Winchester Magnum was put together many years ago on a .30-06 sized FN Mauser action. I had a local gunsmith open up the bolt-face and fit a slightly used Sako barrel picked up for $30 at a gun show, but I did the work on the feed rails myself, which really isn't too much of a mystery if you do a little reading on the process beforehand, and go slowly. As it turned out I didn't have to change the magazine box. The rifle shoots great and feeds very slickly.

You'd have to ask a reborer about the possibility of your particular barrel being rebored and rechambered. I've had very good luck with both Classic Barrels & Gunworks (www.cutrifles.com), and also JES (www.35caliber.com) which despite their name also does .338's.

Ok so here's where I'm at with this project. I picked up a used 338 supergrade takeoff barrel on ebay $93 plus $15 shipping. Alocal well known and highly recommended gunsmith is going to install the barrel, headspace it, open up the bolt face and make sure it feeds like a hot knife thru butter(his words) for $150. My birthday is at the end of this month so my daughters said they will take care of the gunsmithing bill as my gift. Only other thing I want to do very soon is get a recoil pad put on it as it has a steel buttplate now. I can imagine what the recoil will feel like with that. Goona upgrade the scope as soon as possible also. I would like to eventually get a nicer walnut monte carlo stock for it. Would like to find a nice takeoff stock but may settle for a Boyds or something like that.

That's my kind of custom! Not a lot invested and all the more enjoyable because of it. It will probably shoot great. GD

Nobody has mentioned the extractor mod; that is a big thing.

Trying to not get a whole lot into it. I'm only into the rifle for $200. It came with a NRA Sports Optics (made by Brunton from what I could find on Google) 3.5-10x50 scope already mounted and a leather padded sling on it. At some point I do want to upgrade the scope to probably a Redfield Revolution. And as said above I would like to find a model 70 take off monte carlo stock.
Don't know if I would call it a custom, maybe more a cobbled together bunch of parts to make something nice as cheap as possible...LOL
McCauslin's Rifles in Carlisle Pa. is who is doing the work. He has been pretty highly recommended by several people. He said it will be a 3-4 week turnaround once I drop it off to him. Be a few weeks till I drop it off. Can't wiat to shoot it!

And oh yeah I definitely want to get a recoil pad on it. I would imagine it would be pretty "lively" with that steel buttplate

woohoo barrel arrived today! looks pretty good too.

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I have converted 8x57 1908 Braz and 7x57 VZ24s to 7mmRM and 300WinMag.

The bolt face and extractor mods are obvious on inspection.

The feed lips mod I got from a drawing in Walsh's book on Mausers.


I was always suspicious he got that information from looking at Win 70s, although the only pre 64 M70s I have here were 30-06 and 308 from the factory.

Finally got the rifle picked up out of layaway today. Going todrop it off at the gunsmith next week sometime. Quick question... it has the 2 piece weaver scope bases. Will these hold up to the recoil of a 338 or should I start looking at other options? What would be the best recommended scope base and ring system if not what I already have? Thanks, Don

Also the extractor work is included in the price he quoted me

Yeah, the Weaver bases will hold up to a .338's recoil. I've used them on rifles up to a .416 Remington Magnum that weighed around 8-1/2 pounds with scope, and never had any problems. My own .338 has Weaver mounts, and weigh 7 pounds 9 ounces with scope.

I run a lot of Weaver Bases with Warne or Leupold PRWs. It's a very solid mounting combo in my book.

Cool old rifle. Can't wait to see how it works for you.

Another woohoo....I dropped it off at the gunsmith today. He said it will be done in 3-4 weeks. Also stopped at the gunshop today where I bought the rifle. Wasn't going to but my daughter wanted to put some money on her layaway for the Taurus Curve she is buying. He had a Leupold vari x11 hanging on the wall he just got on Saturday. So I put that on layaway to go on the 338.Got the scope for a pretty good price. So in the near future there will be a 270 barrel and a scope for sale in the classifieds.

What rings do you fellas recommend? The scope is a 3-9x40 and there is no rear site to worry about. Going to stick with the 2 piece weaver bases. Thank you everyone for the input so far.
Don

I use dual dovetail bases in conjunction with Burris signature rings on my .338 Win Mag. A highly recommended combination.

Got the call today that my rifle is done. Unfortunately I didn't have time to go pick it up. Gonna try for tomorrow or Monday. Then I gotta get the scope out of layaway and get some rings for it then I can play with it.

As far as the rings, will talley lightweights hold up on a 338? I like the looks of them and they aren't expensive.
Thanks, Don

Well I got picked up on Friday and it came exactly what I wanted. Ended up costing $219.37. It feeds and ejects exactly like it should. I haven't shot it yet as I want to wait until I get the scope picked up and mounted. The gunsmith said he test fired a couple shots thru and said I should name it the slobberknocker. He said after the three shots he was bruised. So I guess a recoil pad is going to be installed in the very near future.
If anyone would like to have the gunsmith's info just let me know. I would highly recommend him. I will be dropping an old noble 16 gauge pump shotgun off to him that has some ejection issues.
Also. On a side note I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the Talleys to mount the scope