I had Ron Smith re-bore a older pre-safety Marlin 336 30-30 to 38-55 .376 groove with a 1-15 twist.Figured I can shoot .375 jacketed and slightly over sized cast GC's.Haven't picked it up yet.Any prep needed before shooting it.Start with jacketed or cast? Not a collectable waffletop as this one is factory D+T already.
treating a new re-bored rifle
- Thread starter mbogo3
- Start date
Of course I will ask Ron when I have it in my possession.Just wondering if any others had something like this done.It was $425 . These days he doesn't say yes too often unless he knows you or your project is something he likes.Ron is in his 80's so I wanted this done ASAP took about 6 months.
Ron is getting pretty choosy about where and when he will devote his valuable time.
He usually laps the bores on all of his work from my experience with his barrels. If it were my rifle, I would just shoot a half dozen jacketed bullets and clean/repeat as necessary.
It really depends on how it does or doesn't foul. I've had several RS barrels and only on, a 30cal with 1-12twist. It was smooth as glass but it fouled to the point it lost accuracy around 15 rounds. It's saving grace was that it shot really well right after cleaning, without needing a fouling shot. Great Deer/Bear rifle. In 20 years, it's never let me down if I do my part.
I don't think you're going to have any issues with that new bore. I suspect, if anything Ron is getting fussier than ever.
He must like you.
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Well I picked it up today and he isn't too keen on the use of jacketed bullets in the old timer calibers as he says it fouls up the bores then they won't shoot cast without cleaning.I wonder if I can size .381 bullets down to .378 or something compatible with a .376 groove?
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- High River, Alberta
That should work. It's only 3 or 4 thou. Otherwise there's plenty of molds out there around .377.
I'd be pretty excited in your shoes!
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
What BN hardness lead are you using for your cast. If your using plain WW at BN12 or less then I wouldn't worry about the .379 dia slugs at all however if you are using commercial "hard cast " that is usually around BN 25-27 I would look for a different alloy...failing to find any I would probably talk myself into trying the hard cast as well at .379 LOL.
One thing you could try is something I read about before but never tried to verify until this winter. I have read that cast slugs will "cure-out" to a slightly smaller dia. over a period of time. I had a bunch of slugs cast over a year ago (.311, .379 and .459) that I powder coated then sized but never got around to using them, a couple of days ago I had a buddy that needed a few .311 slugs to try in his 30-30 so I dug last years castings out, I was surprised to find that every one of them miked out to .3095-.310. They had all "cured" to at least .001 under size in that year...I verified the same thing with all the rest of the slugs I have on hand of the previously mentioned dia.
so if you want to wait a year for your slugs to cure the .379 sized ones will probably end up at .378.
One thing you could try is something I read about before but never tried to verify until this winter. I have read that cast slugs will "cure-out" to a slightly smaller dia. over a period of time. I had a bunch of slugs cast over a year ago (.311, .379 and .459) that I powder coated then sized but never got around to using them, a couple of days ago I had a buddy that needed a few .311 slugs to try in his 30-30 so I dug last years castings out, I was surprised to find that every one of them miked out to .3095-.310. They had all "cured" to at least .001 under size in that year...I verified the same thing with all the rest of the slugs I have on hand of the previously mentioned dia.
so if you want to wait a year for your slugs to cure the .379 sized ones will probably end up at .378.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
I'm pretty sure Jet will know the BN hardness that he uses for his casting alloy...Jet???
Even a very hard alloy will size down .002 without damaging the slug or your sizer mechanism but any more than that can "stress things" a bit . The biggest problem you might encounter trying your .379 sized slugs is that the chamber might be tight enough that they wont chamber then you have to find something with a smaller dia.
Even a very hard alloy will size down .002 without damaging the slug or your sizer mechanism but any more than that can "stress things" a bit . The biggest problem you might encounter trying your .379 sized slugs is that the chamber might be tight enough that they wont chamber then you have to find something with a smaller dia.
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- High River, Alberta
Save the .381" for Grandpa's gun and order up some other things to try from Jetbullets or bullet barn.
Otherwise a Lee mold and press sizer will run you a little more than $50.
Otherwise a Lee mold and press sizer will run you a little more than $50.
I agree with the above... the slightly over size bullet will most likely shoot just fine, but you would have to load one and see if it fits in the chamber okay. Obviously the bullet needs to have good lubricant grooves, full of lubricant. The case would require a bit of a bell to the mouth so the case won't shave lead on bullet seating. Tight bullets usually shoot better than loose bullets.
That seems like a Very ODD statement - The ONLY reason the bore will Foul with Lead is if its to ROUGH or the Boolits too soft and shot too fast ! If your shooting Cast fast you need Good Lube and a Gas Check Boolit ! If the Bore is rough its gonna FOUL bad with Copper too so ?? RJ
A bore needs to be cleaned free of copper before lead shoots well.I believe he was just stating his own personal bias as he prefers cast in the old time calibers.But on the other hand he has been making barrels for at least the 40 years I've known him so I assume he knows what he's doing.I have a couple hundred 255 gr Barnes and old CIL jacketed from gun shows with cast easy to find.I'll just work out a load for both and shoot it .
