Pay for it to be fixed or part it out?

[samsplacci71]

Just looked at your link with the pics. Those are some serious chunks drache...wow. How much money do you want to throw at this? Just thinking that if the barrel is off now, no sense to reinstall it, keep it off and rebarrel it.

 

[burnt_servo]

if it was my rifle , if the action was long enough I'd recut the chamber to 30-06 .

if it wasn't then , either I'd look at setting the barrel back a turn ( and leaving it as a 308 ) or recutting the chamber to something like 7mm mauser necked up to 308 ( or conversely 8mm mauser necked down to 308 ) .
I mention this because you said it was very accurate .

 

[lejarretnoir]

Buying a new barrel for $250+ then paying for it to be installed and the original sights to be added is taking a giant leap back. This is a non numbers matching Israeli k98 that I wanted to turn a .308 german sniper rifle look a alike. I paid $400 for the complete rifle.

All Israeli Mausers are non matching except restamped bolts to receivers.
If you want to make a sniper out of it then I would indeed get one of those Lothar-Walther barrels. Accuracy would be best.
Trying to remove that gouged chamber requires a couple of threads removed from the original barrel then reaming it out until gone. I'd rather get another used barrel to swap then to keep original outer dimensions.

 

[flying pig]

As said if you are doing a sniper clone just buy a new barrel. It'll live that much longer plus you obviously want something you can shoot a pile and enjoy plus you are obviously going to spend more time and money setting it up as a clone so you might as well have something worthwhile in the end.

 

[rgv]

I wouldn't give up on an accurate barrel.

K98 barrels have a very short (~0.200") shank but you can get away with cutting off one turn of the barrel (1/12" or 0.083") without throwing everything else out of whack.

since you probably arent able to do a chamber cast, have a good look at a fired case and using calipers, determine if threading the barrel in one full turn will clean up the gouges. If so, send it to a gunsmith who can do a chamber cast and confirm.

the fact that the first two gunsmiths you went to did not immediately recommend a chamber cast, as well as the idea that one of them "hoped the headspace doesn't get screwed up too much" is why I suggested bringing it somewhere else. You don't "hope" anything with gunsmithing and especially headspace.

A chamber cast will run $25-50 and the work will be $150-200. If you think thats expensive, wait till you price a Lothar Walther barrel and the work needed to install, chamber, refinish, and affix the sights from your old barrel.

There are no practical rechambering options (30-06 will not clean up a 308 chamber)

 

[NB.nagantsniper]

this sounds to me as a good== If setting the barrel back is not an option, there is always the 30,06 option. option --------------why not ?

 

[sunray]

Dental filling material isn't anywhere near hard enough. Buy another barrel, since you were planning on bubbfying it anyway.
NECK SIZING DOES NOTHING TO FIX BAD HEADSPACE!!!!!

 

[drache]

Well a member here offered to sell me his German/Israeli K98 in 7.62! It has a Polymer stock but the receiver is all original with no bubba'ing! Looks like I just might pick it up, toss it into my wood stock, then sell the left over parts.

 

[burnt_servo]

this sounds to me as a good== If setting the barrel back is not an option, there is always the 30,06 option. option --------------why not ?

the shoulder diameter is roughly 14 thou smaller on the 30-06 that the 308 .....but there are ways around that .

 

[none]

the shoulder diameter is roughly 14 thou smaller on the 30-06 that the 308 .....but there are ways around that .

30-06 Ackley Improved ?

 

[burnt_servo]

30-06 Ackley Improved ?

one of my thoughts ..... also is there any reason a guy couldn't sink a 308 reamer into the chamber until the bolt closed on a 30-06 headspace gauge ..... sort of 1/2 way between a 30-06 and a 30-06 Ackley .

there are at least a dozen other ways to do this too ..... setting the barrel back a turn might be enough too .... a guy just needs to get creative

 

[Ganderite]

I would set the barrel back one thread and touch it with a chambering reamer. Should not cost much.

 

[drache]

Well thanks to a member here I think I found my solution. They have this K98 in 7.62, I just agreed to buy. State it's pretty accurate. I'll mix and match the best parts, throw it into my beat up K98 stock and good for round two of my build! Then sell the excess parts of course to recoup.

Here's what I've got so far:

Then all I need to find is:

 

[samsplacci71]

Cool!