Schmidt- Rubin (Sp?)

[oldrodder]

I had a 1889 S-R fall into my hands today!..........for free!!!!! It's converted to 30-30 Win.
I checked some of my old Lyman books and can't come up with the bore diameter. I don't have lead slugs of the proper diameter to slug the bore with
so I'm hoping to find the answer here. I believe the original calibre was 7.5X55 I'm just curious if the original bore is 308" or 311" like the Argentine 7.65X53
Thanks for your help,
Mike

 

[jongun]

I'm gonna take a shot n say 7.5mm or .307"

 

[K-C]

that's close enough - .308 bullets will work fine...

 

[Ganderite]

The S-R was .307. The K31 is 308. Both reload with 308 bullets.

 

[oldrodder]

Thank you all for your help.......and a Happy New Year to all!
Mike

 

[zuke]

I like to use 32 cal boolit's pushed with 5gr of 700X in my S/R

 

[LUTNIT]

I like to use 32 cal boolit's pushed with 5gr of 700X in my S/R

You should probably specify diameter since cast ".32 cal" bullets range from .312" to .321". The bottom end of the spectrum is fine but the upper end probably wouldn't even chamber nevermind shoot properly.
I also want to note that the conversions from 7.5x55 to 30-30 were sometimes done with a rebarrel and othertimes done with a chamber sleeve. The sleeves can sometimes fall out; it's rare but there are anecdotes about it happening. It isn't necessarily unsafe (unless you don't notice and chamber another round anyway) but it can bring your shoot/hunt to an abrupt end.

 

[oldrodder]

Is there a way to tell weather a sleeve or rebarrel was done???

 

[sunray]

7.5 x 55 uses a .308" bullet, but an 1889 wasn't in 7.5 Swiss. It was in 7.5 x 53.5 Swiss or 7.5 x 54.5 Swiss. Both being black powder cartridges. No 7.5x55 Swiss until 1908ish.
the easiest way to check stuff like that is to slug the barrel. That's hammering a cast .30 calibre bullet or suitably sized lead fishing sinker through the barrel with a 1/4" brass rod and a plastic mallet, then measuring with a micrometer.

 

[K-C]

Or slug the bore with a 00 Buck pellet. Start it gently with a smooth-faced hammer and them switch to 1/4" dowel rods stacked end on end. Stuff some cotton wool in the chamber to catch it as it drops so it doesn't get dinged-up...

 

[dnepr]

Is there a way to tell weather a sleeve or rebarrel was done???

I have one of these , I am pretty sure it is a chamber adapter As for reloading a couple things I have noticed about mine. It will not chamber with a cast bullet larger than .309, and cases need to full length resized to work smoothly in mine . It does seem pretty accurate with the sights on mine being the limiting factor . ps don't try a cerrosafe chamber cast in one of these I think it catches on the edge of the chamber adapter

 

[LUTNIT]

Is there a way to tell weather a sleeve or rebarrel was done???

I've never seen one but researched it when I found a K31 in 30-30 for dirt cheap once and was curious.
From what I've read, you should be able to see the front and rear edges of the adapter/sleeve inside the old chamber if you look closely. They are brazed in with a torch and are meant to be permanent. If you can't see any edges and the chamber looks like it's all cut from a single piece of metal, it could be a rebarrel. You probably wont be able to see the front edge inside the chamber without a fiberoptic bore camera or something like that.

Any competent gunsmith should be able to tell you quite quickly. They have the equipment and the expertise to know what to look for.

 

[cantom]

I've never seen one but researched it when I found a K31 in 30-30 for dirt cheap once and was curious.
From what I've read, you should be able to see the front and rear edges of the adapter/sleeve inside the old chamber if you look closely. They are brazed in with a torch and are meant to be permanent. If you can't see any edges and the chamber looks like it's all cut from a single piece of metal, it could be a rebarrel. You probably wont be able to see the front edge inside the chamber without a fiberoptic bore camera or something like that.

Any competent gunsmith should be able to tell you quite quickly. They have the equipment and the expertise to know what to look for.

I like the Swiss rifles but not crazy about the hard to source ammo, especially the earlier SR versions (that operated at lower pressures)

I wonder how hard it would be to make and install a chamber adapter to .30-30 for later versions than the 1889?
I suppose putting heat to a K31 would be sacrilege and might discolour the bluing?