Re-boring a barrel

W

William Suter

Well-known member
I've been reading.....again. About re-boring a barrel to a different caliber. Larger of course. Just a question, if the original barrel was a dog, meaning poor accuracy, will re-boring possibly make it more accurate or is it still going to be a dog? Woof Woof!! Some recommended JES Reboring and if I read correctly its cut rifling not button pulled. I have a FN Mauser that would be a great candidate for a 35 Whelen re-bore. Just late evening reading and thinking of ways to spend money.LOL
 
My Rem 721 had a rusty bore(toast) and I had it rebored as I wanted a 35 Whelen anyway and it was way cheaper considering new barrel fitting, drilling for sights and blueing. This was well before Remage barrels were available. If you want to keep the rifle original reboring is the way to go.
 
I don't know any sleeving bores
Thees days
With cnc lathe keeping the cost of barrel blanks down
Lots of good smith out there .
 
Back 12-13 years ago I researched re-boring a barrel. The rifle was an early teens '94 Winchester. Original barrel was 30 WCF that was rusted out. There were several period correct cartridges that would have worked for a re-bore, but then the barrel would have been stamped wrong, which I did not want. The rifle was pretty beat up but kind of a heirloom of sorts as well, so at least appearance wise I wanted to keep it as original looking as possible. When I was doing the research JES was the name that always came up. Maybe even the only name that was doing it at the time. General opinion was that his re-bores shot pretty good as long as there were not other issues with the rifle, or bad barrel steel, whatever.

In the end I went a different route. There was a guy (in Missouri I think) that did work on the old lever guns. Pretty sure his name was Lee Schaffer but I might be wrong. He ended up sleeving that barrel for me, putting in a liner. He also replaced a few wore out parts with period correct ones and tuned it up as best he could. It shoots as good as I can with open sights at 100 yards so I am happy with the work he did. He was an older gentleman then I believe, so no idea of he is around and doing work anymore.

When the rifle came back I ended up killing a cool old buck with it that I had been chasing that I called "The Ghost." This is the rifle and that buck. My daughter who is in the picture with me turns 16 next week. So that gives you a timeline.

Uoud0WR.jpg
 
I looked on JES's site and he's still in business. If I read correctly it was only $300 to re-bore your barrel. Much cheaper than a new barrel and having it installed. Like said, I was just reading and thinking it might make a not so accurate barrel a little more usable.
 
I have an early teens '94 that was sleeved and lined to .38-55. It shoots great. But, the sights can't be adjusted low enough anymore for a decent zero. The guy that did the job is a buddy and he more than once offered to re-do, but for how I've used it, it works okay as is. And he has now long since ceased working. So it's kind of a double heirloom, both from it's original heritage, and the work done on it. Used it to whack a few sage flat coyotes before I learned about shotguns. It looks way rougher than yours JTP :p .

- DAA
 
Well Dave, you have not seen this one up close, lol. It is rough. Especially the other side.

The story behind this one I think you would really appreciate. It has to do with an old Arizona Ranger. There are gaps there I need to fill in, and you might could even help. I might send you a message, or make a post on it in the clubhouse when I get some time. You would enjoy it.
 
I had Jes rebore a Marlin 336 30-30 to 38-55 and it shoots fine the turnaround time was pretty fast and the price is hard to beat, I wouldn't hesitate to go that route again on a lever gun, but with a bolt action I think I would look at a rebarrel
 
I did get to spend the day with the gunsmith while he rebored my 721. It is quite a project, he used a single cutter head and every few passes had to set the cutter a little deeper. He showed me how to hand re-chamber the barrel and set headspace. The instructions were worth more than the price of the rebore.
 
greetings 1st post here
I have had a rebore on 2 different firearms both done by Jess
who's work is outstanding
I have had excellent accuracy out of both rifles
one from 30- 06 to 35 Whelen ( a Win m 70 Super Grade ) and the other from 22 cal to 44 cal (a TC Encore barrel) in a 444 Marlin chambering
 
JTPinTX said:
Well Dave, you have not seen this one up close, lol. It is rough. Especially the other side.

The story behind this one I think you would really appreciate. It has to do with an old Arizona Ranger. There are gaps there I need to fill in, and you might could even help. I might send you a message, or make a post on it in the clubhouse when I get some time. You would enjoy it.
Click to expand...
Can't wait to hear that story, Jeff. Bet there are lots more members who would enjoy reading it as well.
 


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