Just took delivery of Shilen #5.5 308 barrel threaded and short chambered for a 308.


The current rifle is a Rem 78 sportsman with the following:


Timney trigger
Barrel cut down to 20" and threaded for suppressor use.
B&C Alaskan Sporter
BDC bottom metal

With the new barrel I will need another stock. I am looking at the following:
KRG Bravo <- this comes ready for DBM, all I need are the mags.
B&C Long Range Hunter <- I would have to get the DBM bottom metal and mag
B&C Heavy Barrel Sporter <- again I would have to get the DBM bottom metal and mag

I have a local gunsmith that will do the work.

I was initially planning on having the barrel cut to 20" and threaded, but want to hear some thoughts on barrel length. If it is cut to 20" the muzzle will be somewhere around 0.8". at 26" it is 0.75"
I would also like to hear some thoughts on stocks. I really like the fit of the B&C Alaskan so was favoring the heavy barrel sporter stock.

The main use will be shooting 300 - 600 yards. May take it out west for hunting if the final weight is not too horrible. But here in KY, I have plenty of other choices.

Now if I come across a cheap SA Rem, I may just build a dedicated target rifle and keep this rife as is. Not in a hurry

Check out the Greyboe stocks. Really close to the original mcmillians.

Red Hawk Rifles . Com

They have stocks or you can buy a package with the DBM bottom metal and stock. I used one this spring and will be buying more.

Full, Thanks, that Greyboe Terrain looks like a top contender for what I want.

Handling a Remington AWR is as close as I've gotten to a Grayboe stock, but I can say that they're on the heavy side. That would be fine on a rifle that kicks but not sure I'd want one for a 308. Very nice stocks otherwise, though.

EDIT: I just checked the site--looks like they cut half a pound off of the Outlander. Hmmm. I stand corrected.


Okie John

I have a Terrain on a 18” sendero profiled 223 I built last year. Very happy with it. The fit and finish are top notch. Have a light weight outlander I picked up for a future build.

Scoony- is that 78 a short or long action? Buddy has a long action that he put a 308 barrel on and runs AICS long mags. Shoots in a 22” suppressed barrel and uses the 190 gr match bullets. It’s a pile of fun and the long mags make the 190s shine as they can be loaded right up on the rifling.

Also greyboe just released a hunter DBM set up that looks pretty slick. But I have a B&C n a Mauser in 9.3x62 that I really like. And just ordered a second b&c for a Winchester build that I’m planning on using as a primary hunting rifle.

Full,

It is a short action and after some though, I am going to get another receiver and keep that 78 as is for hunting since it is light and handy and still shoots great. Local gun store has several SA Rems including a stainless that is not priced too high.

Time for an update:

Today, I picked up a Rem 700 ADL Stainless in 308.



I now have 2 rifles to choose from for the rebarrel job. I plan on keeping one of them in the B&C Alaskan stock, while the other will be rebarreled into something of a tactical/hunter. I have some ideas, but nothing solid yet. I was hoping to keep the stainless as is, with a threading job on the barrel for a suppressor.

Here is the conundrum. I was cleaning up the stainless rifle and mounting a scope so I can get an idea of how it shoots. I decided to do some measurements. The cases that I have sized for the 78 Sportsman would not chamber in this rifle. I was initially thinking headspace problem since I resize to a minimal shoulder bump, but was noticing marks on the base of the cases. I marked up a case with a sharpie and tried to chamber it. I am thinking that this is a situation where I would need a small base die. Or is the chamber in the 78 big? New unfired case measures 0.467 at the web, while a fired case from the 78 measures 0.470.



So at the moment I have:
- Sportsman 78 with factory barrel cut and threaded to 20"
- 700 stainless with factory 24" barrel
- Shilen stainless prefit, #5 1/2 contour barrel that will go on one of these.

Whichever one gets the new barrel will get a new stock and DBM. Still deciding on a B&C, Greyboe Terrain, Boyds, or maybe something else.

I would like to hear some of your thoughts. This is my first custom job and want to get it right. Oh and for what I will use this rifle for? Heck I don't know, I just want to have fun with it. I have no illusions of being a sniper and I am not competing. I just want to be able to hit stuff at 500-600 yards.

Scoony,

The back of the chamber should measure .473 which leaves you 3 thousands clearance... brass springs back 2-3 thousands so that means your other chamber is normal.

Given you scratch marks are circular ...
I would look inside the remy for a bur around the entrance of the barrel - it really shouldn’t be a tight chamber, but reamers do wear down over time so that barrel may have been done when the reamer was simply wore away to small.

You can take a finish reamer and “Lightly” touch it up, but normally I put it in a lathe to do so.. - first I’d look at it with a bore scope to see how well the chamber and bore are aligned then I’d slug the bore to see if it’s good or not...

I pick what barrel I’m going to keep by slugging, and checking chamber alignment with the bore - and of course shooting it.


So is that a .470 base fired shell or a new one - I’d check to see what a new one does as well .467”

The .470 case was one fired from the 78 and resized bumping the shoulder back 0.002. I have some factory ammo that shoots great out of the 78. Going to try them in this new one to see how it shoots and compare fired cases from both.

I plan on taking both rifles to the gunsmith and let him give them a look, and get his opinion. I would really like to rebarrel the 78, so I am hoping the 700 shoots good.

There’s no problem, your chambers are just a bit different at the base. Reamers vary, chambers vary, by a very small amount. .308 reamers can have different diameters at the .200 line. Your issue is your die won’t size the base of the larger brass enough to get it past the memory point, so just keep your brass segregated or try a different die. If you use the larger brass in the tighter chamber it’ll act like brass that has only been neck sized. It’ll be hard to extract and you’ll think your pressure is too high.

Thanks, I will keep that in mind.

If you want to check the difference in headspace between the two put a piece of scotch tape on the base of a NEW round, trim the edges with a razor knife... test it in each rifle to to see if it will chamber...

Add a second piece on top of that one... repeat - scotch tape is .001-.002 thousands thick, so you can find out which one has less headspace this way.

Dies also vary, a lot......Hornady typically sizes little and RCBS typically sizes down more...Typically......

Reverse that IME.

I would polish the new rifles chamber as it looks like it has a sharp edge or burr. If it is undersized you can use some valve grinding compound on 0000 steel wool on a solid cleaning rod chucked in a drill.

If the chamber is within specifications then use Flitz on the steel wool only. Don't hit the shoulder area with grinding compound as it could create a head space issue. I would be tempted to re-ream both rifles to match as I don't like having to segregate brass.

I was checking the brass in the new barrel. The chamber in the Sportsman 78 has to be a bit on the loose side, expanding the cases a touch too much.

New brass and brass resized with the small base die (RCBS) fit like this



Resized brass from the 78 using a regular die (Redding)



I had a bunch of brass to clean and process yesterday, so I resized them with the small base die. I also went through and resized the previously sized brass with that die. All cases fit the chamber of the new rifle. I am hoping that using the small base die will be a one time deal on all the previously sized brass. Once I start shooting them out of both new chambers, I can go back to using the regular die. I still have about 200 rounds of reloaded ammo that I will be breaking down and reloading into the newly sized cases.

I am taking the rebarrel project to the gunsmith this weekend and will bring the new rifle for him to look at. I can polish out the chamber prior to that.

I am hoping that the new barrel in the 78 action and the new stainless 700 will have similar chambers so I will not have to segregate brass.

If you had a dedicated set of brass for each rifle that you reload for you wouldn't have any of these issues.

I believe the issue is the old Sportsman 78 has a large chamber, allowing the brass to expand too much. That barrel is being replaced by a new Shilen barrel. The new-to-me stainless 700 seems to have a chamber that is tighter than the older 78, but seems on par with the new barrel's chamber.

I will end up segregating the brass anyways due to the types of ammo I will be shooting in the two 308s. One will be more target ammo, the other more hunting ammo. I have a good supply of ADG, Starline, and Hornady brass. I will probably stick to the Hornady brass for the 700, and use the other two for the new build.

The 700 stainless will not fit that B&C stock shown in the first post as it was bedded for the 78. I am going to have to remove the bedding material and re-bed it.

Holding off on a stock for the new build for now. The gunsmith has some ideas for me on some different stocks.

Curious, is the current barrel on the 78 tired? Wore out ? Throat eroded or just doesn't shoot well? Just wondering why the rebarrel? MB

The 78 is not wore out. It actually shoots pretty good. Chamber seems to be 0.001 or so oversized, but otherwise in good shape.

I have been wanting a target/tactical style 308 for a while. I was originally looking for a donor action, and came across the used 700 stainless that looks to be in great shape. Decided to keep the 700 intact and rebarrel the 78.

So now the question is barrel length. The 78 was cut down to 20" and that seemed to work well.

The 700 has a 24" barrel, and the Shilen is 26". I am debating 20 to 22" lengths. These both will be used with a suppressor. Any thoughts on barrel length?

I'd keep the 78 as is, rebarrel the stainless action with the Shilen barrel and cut it at 22" and thread it.

Keep your brass for both rifles separated.