Convert back to 30.06

Bought M-1 that was rebuilt by Springfield Armory, the owner had gunsmith install what he called a Navy sleeve, in the chamber converting it from 30.06 to .308. I would like to put it back to original 30.06. How to Remove The Navy Sleeve.

The easiest way is just to shoot it as a 7.62x51 until the sleeve comes out with an empty. However, it's not the best way!

Depending on the loc-tite used, it might be tough to get out, but filling the chamber and a SHORT section of bore w/ cerro-safe and attempting to drive the insert and metal fill out would be my first choice. Gotta be careful not to damage the rifling in the process though.

At one point I used a stuck casing remover. For separated casings. Then tap out with a rod from the muzzle. If all else fails you could use a chamber reamer and cut the insert until it comes out on the reamer. I've done it this way and there's no other alteration to the chamber as long as you stay aware of what you're doing.

put the barreld action in a freezer over nite, then remove with a stuck case remover.
sometimes this works good....works great for broken cases..

Didn't the Navy "rough up" some of the 30-06 chambers to make the insert stick better? Thought I read this somewhere.

The gas port was drilled to a larger size on most 7,62x51mm barrel conversions too

What do you do when you have removed the insert? The original .30-06 chamber must have been bored out to fit the .308 insert. So I imagine you then need a .30-06 insert.

Seriously - quite apart from the question of how well the whole caboodle is going to function after 2x boring out and fitting of inserts - is it worth the bother?

Patrick
:wave:

There is no boring for the sleeve, it just slides in and most people are saying you take them out with a broken case extractor. Should not have altered the chamber at all. It looks like the top half inch of an empty casing.

A photo of one here:

http://www.auctionarms.com/closed/di...temnum=5535159

There is evidently a danger to them as they can come out with a fired casing and then the next 308 round put in there is loose and if shooter not paying attention and trying to force something or trying to "unjamb" an autoloader, big problems.

Good grief! I had no idea that they were that simple.

But something is not quite right with that conversion. Those who swear by SAAMI can check for themselves that a .308 is wider at the shoulder than a 30-06 at the same distance from the base. I worked that out a couple of years ago when investigating the case of the ..... ..... idiot who forced 308 rounds into a 30-06 chamber, complaining about how hard they were to chamber - and then wondered why the fired cases were practically neckless. So it looks like that conversion would have produced a tight-shouldered 308.

But OK, if that's how it was, then it should indeed be feasible to restore the 30-06 chamber.

One last thought - that insert was in effect simply moving the neck and shoulder position back to the 308 position. That means there was a long stretch before the bullet reached the rifling. How did those rifles perform?

Patrick
:wave:

I had one that was flawless. I mentioned it on Culvers and was burned in effigy??? When I did mine I used the headspace gauges and a reamer to make sure headspace was acheived. This meant some minor removal of material inside. I'm sure some of the insert was effected but also the chamber's smaller than the shoulders at that point and I'm sure I took some out of the chamber as well. The insert never came loose and the buyer much later couldn't get it out. It functioned perfectly and shot as well as the original caliber. The receiver by the way was numbered SA 215115. It was a Danish return from the late 90's.

cost....install another barrel.. you can find a nice used Garand barrel, for 100.00 if your not worried about dates ect..will cost you around 100.00 to have it installed..cheaper if you have a buddy thats done a few,
its the safer choice...and it will work...and you can always swap it back out if you like.