30-06 and other military cartridges

[Cosine26]

After WWII rifle barrels were hard to get and were very expensive. The 1919A4 machine gun barrels were selling for about $5.00 each . I have one installed on a M70 Winchester action. I had it turned and polished to the contour of the original M70 barrel. Quite accurate for the time. Some of the were "stellite" lined to reduce erosion for the MG's. If you take an unaltered stellite lined barrel and examine it carefully you can often times, upon careful examination, detect a slight line just forward of the chamber. Stellite, plays havoc with chambering reamers. It was necessary to cut off the original tenon and re-cut as the original tenon was too small for the M1903, M70 or the GEW 98 action. Then the barrel had to be re-chambered. The barrel finished off at about 23 inches. I believe that the original barrel was large enough in diameter so that it was not necessary to "bush" the M1917 action - though I never used a M1919A4 barrel on a M1917 action.
A M190A3, M1903, or GEW 98 action, fitted with a M1919A4 MG barrel, a Lyman 48 sight, a Lyman 17A front sight, and a commercial target stock made a fairly good substitute for the M70 Target rifle that was very expensive and practically unobtainable. On the 03A3, riflemen usually replaced the stamped trigger guard and follower, with the forged or machined variety obtainable through the DCM for about $500.
I believe that the early 30-06 cartridge was loaded with Pyro DG powder which was a bit erosive.
FWIW