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Thread: Re barreling a No 4 Worth it ?

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    Re barreling a No 4 Worth it ?

    Years ago I bought a rusted POS Savage at Big 5 . Why ? I felt sorry for it ! It was rusted all over and the barrel was your typical sewer barrel. I had bought a Savage barrel off of Ebay to re barrel but everybody talked me out of it . Their logic was it would cost more to barrel it than what it is worth . I've done AR barrels but not an Enfield is it worth the hassle ?
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    If you have the barrel for free and the rest of the gun is in decent nick, well I would. These days its very hard to get a good barrel here in NZicon. Guns in the US seem very cheap so depend son what its going to cost v getting a tidy gun.

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    I would do it. How is the wear on the action parts?

    I have sewer barrelled rifle that shoots! It had a layer of scale in the bore which I fire-lapped out leaving a large and riverbed looking bore but it shoots sort of OK - with oversized paper patched bullets. I had to shorten the barrel somewhat to get to visible traces of rifling. The barrel is now 14½ inches. Don't underestimate what a short barrel can do with paper patched bullets. It delivers 2000 fps shooting 194gr bullets and pressures are still moderate. It's waiting for a 35/303 barrel which I hope to get in a month or two. That will be for paper patched too.
    Last edited by 303Guy; 09-24-2013 at 12:14 AM.

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    The action is in very good condition. It's a mismatched bolt though that is why I haven't done it yet . I figure it was just going to be a " Trunk " gun . I just Naval jellied the rust off and painted the receiver . I figure it would be a Suncorite type finish. It turned out real nice better than some of the painted Enfields I've owned in the past . I am wondering if I do barrel it would I need to get different Bolt Heads to headspace it ? There is also a question of a front sight tool . Since I have you Kiwi's on line why is it every .303 Barrel I've seen pitted ? Never seems to happen with other Mil Surps . My theory is those " Pull Through " cleaning kits that are issued .

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    Good question. In my parts it's lack of care but generally I'd say its from the corrosive primers used in mil ammo. I doubt the cordite would've helped much. There was a drill for cleaning the bores involving hot soapy water being poured down them before cleaning to get the salts out. It's been said that the barrels were of inferior steel but that's not so. But I know for a fact that firing milsurp would rust the bore overnight - ask me how I know!

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    corrosive and cheap ex-mil ammo, many guns here in NZicon are in a bad way. I dont let it near my guns, I reload.
    Last edited by ssj; 09-24-2013 at 02:55 AM.

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    My old No 5 had a nackered barrel. I could drop a bullet down from the muzzle end and it went about half way down. Got a new barrel and it war reformed overnight into a precision shooter. My present No 5 was rebarreled to .308 Win. .... perfect!

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    If you do go down the rebarrelling path, just make sure that YOU or the person doing it for you reads up the thread about doing it properly. It's easy for an enthusiastic amateur to twist the body.

    Or better still, just get Brian at BDLicon to do it properly and then bead blast and phosphate it afterwards at the same time. And while it's there, get him to fit and CHS the bolt too. All you have to do thereafter is to fit it up again - properly!

    Worth remembering a well used Armourers phrase too. Treat ALL ammo as both errosive AND corrosive

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    Quote Originally Posted by villiers View Post
    My old No 5 had a nackered barrel. I could drop a bullet down from the muzzle end and it went about half way down. Got a new barrel and it war reformed overnight into a precision shooter. My present No 5 was rebarreled to .308 Win. .... perfect!
    I have a Lithgowicon H barrel on one gun, Im trailing 308 fmjs and match bullets in it at the moment, if nothing else the pills are half the cost and easier to get.

    regards

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    I find them every bit worthwhile rebarrelling. A knackered unit becomes a serviceable unit again. Cost wise, I suppose it depends on how much you're paying for bits and pieces and labour, but if as it seems, you can do the work yourself, then why not?

    In the last 5 years I have done quite a few and all of them were worthwhile to me.

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