I picked up an older Marlin X7 in .30-06 for cheap, primarily to rebarrel to .257 Roberts. Anyone rebarreled one with a prefit Savage barrel? Any tips or tricks to do this without a set of go/no go gauges?

I put a Adams & Bennet 22-250 barrel made for a savage on my XS7 with zero issues, did not have to change a thing. I also used factory round to headspace the barrel by bringing the barrel in to a stop on it and backing the barrel off just a bit before tightening it up. Make sure the case is seated against the bolt face and not stopped by the extractor! I have had zero problems doing this but if your not comfortable doing it this way by all means get your hands on some Go-NO Go gauges. Supposedly the Marlin's bolt face is deeper than the average Savage bolt face and you have to face the barrel off .015 to clear the front of the bolt.

Thanks for the information!

260Remguy has been all over this.

If he doesn't post up something here, shoot him a PM.

FC

I had to have a smith remove .005 off the back of the barrel, otherwise the front of the bolt hit the back of the barrel before the no go gauge touched. Other people claim no problems.

I have a couple lathes, so I could always take some off the rear of the barrel...but wouldn't that require a finish reamer and set of go/no go gauges? I wonder if I wouldn't be better off simply buying a prefit McGowan barrel....

No it really doesn't require to be finish reamed. All you want is a bit more of the case sticking out of the barrel to clear the bolt face recess. You will have to deburr the shortened barrel where you turned it off. I even saw a bolt where a guy filed the front of it even with the top of the extractor and it did work but the proper place to remove material is from the barrel.

Any suggestions on which "brand" barrel to go with? Plan is to make a hunting rifle for my 11yr old to use next season.

ER Shaw and a few other barrel makers will sell you a barrel set up specifically for the x7. The Remington 783 is also equivalent.

I have gotten good takeoff barrels from Savage rifles, a very accurate ERShaw 35 Whelen barrel too but my next barrel will be from Criterion or Preferred barrels.

McGowen makes barrels for this don’t they ?

I've rebarreled at least a dozen Marlin X guns with A&B and Savage take-off barrels. Since I have a lathe and finish reamers, I always trimmed the Savage specs barrels back 0.05" and recut the chamber to insure correct head-space. The Marlin bolt faces have a slightly deeper recess than the Savage bolts so you can get a false head-space reading if the front of the Marlin bolt touches the rear of the Savage specs barrel before the head-space gauge has touched the front of the chamber.

I know that a lot of people screw Savage-specs barrels into a Marlin X action, head-space it by feel, maybe with a layer or two of packing tape on the case head of a factory round, and call it good.

I've done X guns in 22-250, 250-3000, 257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, 260, and 7x57.

I actually considered 7x57 at first, simply because I already have dies, brass, and bullets...but on the other hand, this would give me a reason to finally pick up a Roberts.

Actually, the more I think about it, may be the perfect time to go ahead and put together a 6.5x55. I have a 1900 Swedish Mauser that I just started picking up components for, not sure how much more recoil it would have over the .257 with factory ammo.

Whatever you do make sure you strip the bolt so the ejector doesn’t give you a false reading as well

... and 260 is VERY right... it’s easy for someone to confuse the nose of the bolt binding vs. the gauges....

Makes sense, now I just need to decide on a chambering and barrel manufacturer.

Do a 6.5x57 and your bolt face will already be the right size. Easy to neck down 7x57 or neck up 257. It is the truly improved 257 Robert's because it gets you away from 25 cal bullets and into the much better 26 cal. Just go 8 twist 6.5 barrel for the win.

Bb

My understanding was that even though the 6.5x55 nominally runs a .480" case head, most current brass is slightly undersized (while most of the bolt faces are slightly oversized)….basically, it should run fine in a standard .473" cartridge bolt. I'll check mine with a few cases just to be sure.

260, do you recommend using a barrel wrench or just a simple barrel vise? I have some barrel vise inserts I can use with a large vise, but no action wrench. I don't mind buying one, but not sure I want to buy one just for this project...although, if it works out well, I may look for a short action XS7 to build a .250-3000 on.

I just use a pipe wrench padded with a bicycle inner-tube.

I use a savage nut wrench and a 700 action wrench. Just picked up a barrel vise though so I might use it next. I have 2 of the x7’s that I bought barrels for from McGowan barrels. Latest in 6.5 creedmoor, although the savage barrel in 6.5 cm I sold was more accurate with 140 gr bullets.

The local shop had a used marlin x7 in 30-06 on the shelf for $169. If I didn't already have over a dozen rifles I haven't shot yet....

Bb

I already have a Savage barrel nut wrench, so I may pick up one of the generic barrel vises that you clamp down. I have an older 16" South Bend lathe, I may be able to engage the back gear and use it as a makeshift barrel vise...I guess it really depends on how tight the nut is.



If it was in decent shape, I would have made them an offer...

I like this vise for the money. Only used to hold barrels for barrel but swaps. Works good for that.

http://www.pmatool.com/barrel-vise-by-viper/