I just read through an old thread that got revived recently, on rebarreling a Carcano. It got me thinking about the 1891 Argentine Mauser sitting in my closet. It's in excellent condition, but Bubba got to it before I did, then I finished it off.
It had been partially sporterized when I got it, barrel and stock shortened. The wood looks great and the bore is shiny. Problem is accuracy was practically non-existant. The barrel wasn't re-crowned properly so I took it to a friend of mine who is a gunsmith. He was busy and told me to use his tools and pull the barrel off. I put the barrel in the barrel vice, and bolted on the receiver wrench. I screwed up and got the wrench on wrong, plus the barrel was very tight, and I damaged the receiver, bending the rear part of the ring slightly so the bolt wouldn't go in. He helped me fiddle with it so it would work again safely, but if you look close you can see the damage, forever reminding me of my stupidity every time I look at it.
I then looked closely at the throat and realized it was all screwed up. It looks like the chamber reamer galled or something. It's pretty much worthless as it is and has sat in the closet gathering dust ever since.
My question for you gunsmiths out there is; does it sound like a worthwhile project to convert this thing to 7.62x39? I asked the gunsmith years ago about .308 Win, he said no way; .308 is too hot for that hundred year old action. What about 7.62? I don't know if the barrel could be set back that far to rechamber. I'm thinking no, plus the fact that 7.65 Belgian bores generally are more like .312 or larger instead of .310 for 7.62. So I'm thinking new barrel which I could scrounge up somewhere, and hopefully get my gunsmith friend to help me with it.
Any ideas how this would work? Is the pressure level OK for this action? Could I shorten the follower, put in a mag block, and make x39 rounds feed reliably? I think it would be a neat little carbine if I could get it to work right.
It had been partially sporterized when I got it, barrel and stock shortened. The wood looks great and the bore is shiny. Problem is accuracy was practically non-existant. The barrel wasn't re-crowned properly so I took it to a friend of mine who is a gunsmith. He was busy and told me to use his tools and pull the barrel off. I put the barrel in the barrel vice, and bolted on the receiver wrench. I screwed up and got the wrench on wrong, plus the barrel was very tight, and I damaged the receiver, bending the rear part of the ring slightly so the bolt wouldn't go in. He helped me fiddle with it so it would work again safely, but if you look close you can see the damage, forever reminding me of my stupidity every time I look at it.
I then looked closely at the throat and realized it was all screwed up. It looks like the chamber reamer galled or something. It's pretty much worthless as it is and has sat in the closet gathering dust ever since.
My question for you gunsmiths out there is; does it sound like a worthwhile project to convert this thing to 7.62x39? I asked the gunsmith years ago about .308 Win, he said no way; .308 is too hot for that hundred year old action. What about 7.62? I don't know if the barrel could be set back that far to rechamber. I'm thinking no, plus the fact that 7.65 Belgian bores generally are more like .312 or larger instead of .310 for 7.62. So I'm thinking new barrel which I could scrounge up somewhere, and hopefully get my gunsmith friend to help me with it.
Any ideas how this would work? Is the pressure level OK for this action? Could I shorten the follower, put in a mag block, and make x39 rounds feed reliably? I think it would be a neat little carbine if I could get it to work right.
