Rebarreling rem mod 8/81 to 7.62x39.

polkey

polkey

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Anybody rebarreled a remington model 8/81 to 7.62x39? I have had the idea on the back of my head for a while. Pressure wise 7.62x39 is about the same as 300 savage so the action shouldn't have any problems handling it. Finding one in 30 or 32 rem seems like the best candidate as the bolt head dimensions would be the closest, may need to open it about .020 to work. Anybody ever tried it?
 
Interesting.
Breech pressure shouldn't be an issue.
First thing to check would be if the 7.62x39 would feed from the magazine.
It might be necessary to actually rebarrel one in order to find out if the recoil impulse would cycle the mechanism.
 
Biggest issue will be the barrel ID. Then the mag length. Either Remington case is .761" longer than a 7.62 x 39. A .75" mag spacer should fix that though. A .300 Savage is .400" longer.
Kind of suspect a Model 8/81 might be far too valuable to play around with anyway. They run between roughly $400 and $1600 US, Stateside.
 
The new barrel would have to be turned to suit. .30 Remington is less than .54" longer than the x39. A less than pristine Model 8 is not all that pricey.
 
The price of a beater in 30 or 32 rem is one of the things that got me thinking. I have seen them go as low as 300 at auctions but payed them no attention because of the caliber. One of the guns i regret selling most was my model 8 in 35 rem. Seeing as the gun is recoil operated as well as a takedown would make it very easy to keep clean. I figure a stainless barrel blank would be the best for cleaning without ruining the look seeing as the barrel jacket covers it.

tiriaq said:
The new barrel would have to be turned to suit. .30 Remington is less than .54" longer than the x39. A less than pristine Model 8 is not all that pricey.
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Rather than using a stainless blank, I would be inclined to use a takeoff barrel. Something from a Mosin Nagant or a Lee Enfield. Any idea what the thread shank size is for the Model 8? It is really easy to convert a Lee Enfield barrel to 7.62x39. The front end of the chamber is just about a x39 chamber even without reaming.
I suspect that the magazine conversion - getting the thing to feed reliably - could be the most time consuming part of the conversion.
I would be very inclined to experiment with a Model 8 and some x39 rounds before doing any work.
 
Was goggling to see if I could find any information about the barrel shank dimensions. No luck, but I did find a thread about a carbine conversion that a chap did. Really interesting looking little rifle.
 
Well I just picked up a beater in 32 rem, made in 1910, washed out bore and all 5 rounds I put through it to make sure it worked had split cases. Safe to say its a perfect candidate, I'll either use a cut down lee enfeild or Ross barrel. So far it looks like it should feed alright, I tried without the barrel attached. Will need to open up the bolt face a bit.
 
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You may want to consider chambering the rifle for 7.62x39 AI/Improved. It will straighten the cartridge out and make it easier to feed and work in a magazine. It will also put less strain on the action as the regular x39 cartridge generates a significant amount of bolt thrust. However, this is inadvisable if you plan on using steel-cased milsurp ammo.
 
Figured I would update this, finally got around to finishing this. Barrel work is about 90% done, just need to finish extractor cut. Just got to test fire it and see if it cycles and doesn't blow up and then ill finish the barrel off. Plan is to fire with a string from a lead sled.
 
Well i can say without question that it was a complete success. The gun feeds, fires, extracts & ejects without issue. So if anybody wants to do this conversion in the future it is fairly straight forward. All that is required is a new barrel and to open up the boltface up about 5 thousands over the 7.62x39 case dimensions ( i don't remember the the exact dimension off hand). The magazine requires no modifications and none of the springs need to be changed. Works well with both commercial softpoints and combloc surplus. I ended up using a cut down no4 lee enfield barrel.
 
Today, I saw a Model 99 Savage that was converted to 7.62x39.

It wasn't obvious and I wouldn't have known if the owner hadn't told me.

He had a friend set back the barrel, which was chambered for the 300 Savage, and rechamber it for the 7.62x39.

Very handy little rifle.

He was using handloads with 308 diameter bullets but told me that he often plinks with surplus fodder.

He says the handloads with the .308 bullets shoot much more consistently out to 200 yards with about 1.5 moa and the surplus just a bit less consistent at around 2 moa.

He told me that his handloads are substantially hotter than surplus ammo but didn't go into a lot of detail.

Very nice little rifle.

He was out and about looking for a bear.
 
Having rebarreled a 99, I have a lot of respect for the friend who would undertake such a project. These are not the easiest rifles to work with.
 
Interesting, I've been contemplating a conversion of a 99 to 7.62x39 after seeing Max Popenker's rifle My plan is to ream out and reline a takedown barrel... Nice to see that someone in Canada has already done that.

And a Rem 8 in 7.62x39 would be lovely too
 
That would require a stepped two diameter liner - larger in the chamber area. Making the liner would be fun. Higher pressure bottlenecked cartridge barrels don't get lined all that often.
 
tiriaq said:
That would require a stepped two diameter liner - larger in the chamber area. Making the liner would be fun. Higher pressure bottlenecked cartridge barrels don't get lined all that often.
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That's one project I most certainly wouldn't be comfortable attempting.

Turning down such long liners is very difficult.

The rifle I saw had the barrel set back, continued the threads and rechambered. That's doable, but as tiriaq says tedious and finicky.
 
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