Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Winchester M70 FWT: Re-bore to .338 Federal?

Does anyone know if there is enough barrel with a factory-made Winchester Model 70 Featherweight Stainless in .308 Win to re-bore to .338 Federal? If so, who might be a candidate to do the work?

If not, what would it take to do up the same rifle originally chambered in .325 WSM? Would that be more feasible?

Thanks.

Please don't ruin a Featherweight Stainless 308. Just load some 180s or 200s, and it will do the same thing as the 338 Federal.

The .308 doesn't do anything my 6.5 Creedmoor can't do. I'd run 130 or, at most, 150 TTSX in .308 Win. That .338 bullet does make some mighty big holes, though. :-)

It could probably be argued that the Featherweight was already "ruined" by being chambered in .325 WSM. I couldn't imagine shooting a cartridge that powerful in a Featherweight.

JES has always been good with reboring. They are reasonable and fast. I would still vote not to have a stainless featherweight rebored especially if its a 5 or 6 dig it classic. Sell it (to me if you want) and build what you want. Save the classics, but good luck in whatever you decide.

Craig

It would be a new Portuguese-made rifle.

Probably easier and as cheap or cheaper to re-barrel.
They you can keep the original barrel, if you are ever so inclined you can swap it back later.

In that case, have at it!

Though if you load heavy bullets in the 308, you'll have the same rifle as far as usefulness in the field.

JES has been good to me. Quick as well.

Definitely not as cheap to rebarrel.

Three hundreds of an inch ain’t much. But if ya have an itch, have at it!

An important distinction which you may or may not be aware of is the classic 308 fw had a different barrel profile (true Winchester fw) than the short mags, even those called “featherweights.” The short mags have a standard (sporter) profile ...
I am not sure about the 2018 guns as I have not seen them.

Btw, your “cheapest” option is to find a used extreme weather in .325 wsm since it doesn’t sound like you care about the old style trigger.

Definitely not as cheap to rebarrel.?????

How can we know if prices have not been posted.

I am not taking any new work, because I have too long of a back log now, but when I was about 15 months ago I charged $300 to rebarrel such a gun. That's the new barrel, the labor and the bluing, out the door.

What is the cost of a re-bore?

Seattle Setters I would not consider any firearm with a muzzle diameter less than .600 to be suitable for 338 Federal .330 bore and .338 grooves and there is not much barrel left pretty whippy. Most of the factory ulw rifles are in the .550 range at the muzzle. The rifle may be lacking in the balance department as well I/E light in the fore end as well.

Ultimately it would be your rifle and you're the only one who needs to be happy with it. I own a Sako 85 in 338F muzzle diameter .630 and I think that is a little light but my personal tastes like a little extra weight in a firearm. I really like the caliber but its not like 308 or 30-06 where you might own 2. If I were to build a 338F it would probably be 22" and as close to .700 muzzle diameter as I could get.

Give JES a call and see what they think Jesse Ocumpaugh 541-942-1342

Good luck and shoot straight

I’d like to hear what JES thinks is a minimum.

if it were me, having had a 338 federal, id go 338x284. the 338 federal is good for factory ammo but you cant reload it anywhere close to factory ammo ballistics. the 338x284 is a powerhouse. I have a nula pushing a 200gr speer hot core right around 3000 fps from a 22 inch barrel. if a rebore is what you want and don't mind reloading id vote 338x284, just be sure to use Winchester brand 284 brass, the necks are thicker and more consistant than norma or nosler

seattlesetters

I wouldn't re-bore. Too much for little return and the barrel marking is an issue. Ruger chambers 338 fed and here is a fine deal if you don't mind a single shot. Put this auction number in GunBroker in the search window. 752652791 Great price.

With a 24” barrel you can come very close to, if not match, factory specs. Just takes the right powders.

I just had a stainless classic rebored from 22-250 to 7-08. It has enough metal but it now needs a rest between shots to shoot really good. With a 5 minute wait between shots it puts 3 into less than 1/4".

As far as the statement that .338 is no better than 308 or 308 can do anything that a 6.5 can't do is pure hogwash. It is the same argument that a 338 is no better (assuming very large game here) than a .243. It's just a few hundredths of an inch, Right. You have to draw the line somewhere and a 250 grain bullet makes a bigger splash than a 200, a 200 makes a bigger spash than a 140...

I've had rebores done by JES and by Danny Pedersen. The latter uses 0.100"/side muzzle thickness after reboring as the minimum required. As to prices, reboring is considerably cheaper than rebarreling, unless you use a takeoff or cheap barrel as a replacement.

Pedersen is probably backed up - although his turn around with my last job was pretty quick and the quality of the work outstanding. JES quality was equal and the turn around was less than 3 weeks from shipment from me to return to my door. I'll use either again without hesitation.