Is a re barrel practical option ??

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petew

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So a 243 Parker Hale Safari has gone south in accuracy.

Its not a high value rifle in new condition , but still its a good functioning good looking hunter that suddenly doesn't group.
First option is try a diferent scope, the Nikon on it is new , but could still be wonky.
Next option will be try a re-crown , brass screw/valve grinding compound. After all it has minute of dinosaur acuracy now so nothing to loose there . Any improvement will confirm a crown is the issue, and if the brass screw doesn't do good enough a paid job would be in order.
This would leave the option of a new barrel. So How much will that cost? A new barrel from Zastava at Tradex is $169.00 , threaded and chambered, in the white, so that's not to bad, and the finish I can do myself. But what would it cost for a smith to mount and headspace it ? Lets face it, another can be had from anywhere around $375 to $450 ,and there is no sentimental value at all and I have many other rifles to hunt with . Buying tools head space gauges etc to do it myself is surely prohibitive in cost for a 1 time job but it's a shame to wall hang it . Grandkids would love it if it can shoot straight again.

The barrel now is spotless and no lead / copper fouling, and the crown looks good, but may not be .

Any ideas on price ranges to have a smith mount a supplied new barrel and headspace, check chamber size? No bluing or polishing the outside, just make it a shooter for Minute of deer at 300yds.
 
Before you get involved in a rebarrel. In my experience , if the rile shot alright in the past, there are two conditions that will cause the barrel to lose accuracy. (1) the throat ahead of the chamber is washed out from shooting a lot of ammo. Most sporting rifles do not get used enough to have this happen . or (2) the end of the barrel has become eroded from rain and wetness creeping in. Usually only about 1.5 inches at most, Condition (2) can be addressed by cutting back and recrowning.
But first try loading and shooting some flat base round nose 6mm bullets. The shorter bullets with a longer bearing surface will often overcome these barrel problems as they can self allign better in the barrel while being shot.
 
The barrel now is spotless and no lead / copper fouling, and the crown looks good, but may not be .
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Did it quit shooting before or after it was cleaned to spotless? A few months ago I thought I'd treat my 7-300 to a through bore-cleaning, because it had a couple hundred rounds through it with a moderator and was so carbon packed that it looked like the inside of a smokestack. Since I couldn't take my can home, it needed resighting anyway. The first group out of the clean barrel was around 4", and it wasn't until the 4th or 5th that it returned to normal. Remind me to never clean it again. ;) That's with a 1100 round count Hart barrel; not a miled up Parker Hale.

That aside; I'd look at the scope because a rifle that suddenly shoots minute of dinosaur is screaming scope or mounting problem. The fact that it is new is even more reason to be suspicious since scopes like to pile up in the first couple hundred rounds if they are going to. After checking the base screws try a scope that you know is good, or do it the opposite way and put the Nikon on your most accurate rifle. The name on the tube means little; I had a Zeiss quit the other day.

There are lots of reasons to rebarrel, but saving money isn't one of them. There are plenty of decent new rifles that cost less than an installed barrel.
 
Rebarrel is only economic if you can do the work yourself.
First question, is a Zastava barrel short chambered or fully chambered for standard M98 dimensions.
 
Dogleg said:
Did it quit shooting before or after it was cleaned to spotless? A few months ago I thought I'd treat my 7-300 to a through bore-cleaning, because it had a couple hundred rounds through it with a moderator and was so carbon packed that it looked like the inside of a smokestack. Since I couldn't take my can home, it needed resighting anyway. The first group out of the clean barrel was around 4", and it wasn't until the 4th or 5th that it returned to normal. Remind me to never clean it again. ;) That's with a 1100 round count Hart barrel; not a miled up Parker Hale.
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I would soak it good and long with copper solvent and clean it well before I wrote it off. If it's just been getting oil and G96 or something the rifling could be fouled.

+2 on the scope, I run them through the full range of adjustment 3x to take the lash out before I ever sight them in.
 
Are the stock screws loose, is the action bedded correctly and the barrel free floating? What about the scope and mounts? Is the barrel actually clean? How about the throat? I bet it shows some wear... and the crown and last couple inches of the barrel will also look crappy from years of shooting it with dust and debris that was sitting in the barrel...

So many things contribute to accuracy or inaccuracy. You could take it to a gunsmith and have all of this diagnosed.
 
as Guntech said above. wood stocks on those are prone to cracking, was it bedded, has the bedding deteriorated causing what was once a tight fit to result in some slop that would affect accuracy. has the foreend shifted from being left in a corner over time and is now putting pressure on the barrel impacting your group. Is the rifle shooting a pattern resembling the motion of the hands moving around a clock then scope issue. rings, bases tight? try a different scope.
 
Gun barrels should not suddenly start shooting crappy, You changed the scope, What about the mount, that should have been the first, than the action screws.
 
You have lots of great advise already mentioned. The "sudden" accuracy change likely is indicating something other than barrel burn. Let us know what you find.
 
Thanks for the thoughts, and sugestions. As soon as I pick up some bullets I will be searching for the issue. Right now all I have are Partitions , and they are to expensive and hard to find to use for the trouble shooting.
 
gunpro said:
as Guntech said above. wood stocks on those are prone to cracking, was it bedded, has the bedding deteriorated causing what was once a tight fit to result in some slop that would affect accuracy. has the foreend shifted from being left in a corner over time and is now putting pressure on the barrel impacting your group. Is the rifle shooting a pattern resembling the motion of the hands moving around a clock then scope issue. rings, bases tight? try a different scope.
Click to expand...

Re barreling is only worthwhile if the quality of the gun merits it and you're desperately in love with it . :) Can easily exceed the cost of a new rifle.

Grizz
 
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