Re barreling a hunting rifle.

[Sembob]

Hi folks. I am new here and fairly new to the idea of taking shots at animals out to and beyond 1000 yards. Anyway I am now obsessed with the 28 Nosler and want one to carry for elk and muleys. I often hunt open country and long shots will be there for the taking. Someday I will spend 4-5 thousand on a custom build but not now. My thoughts are to buy a good rifle and rebarrel for the 28 Nosler. My question to you people is which do you recommend? And should I buy a particular chamber such as the 7 mm or will any bolt and mag already work as long as it is close? I'm open to all suggestions and open to discussion of my plan. Thank you , Jim

 

[PGJPJ]

I don't believe the bolt face is too hard to match. I think it's the 0.532", which is shared by the 7m RM, 300 Win M, ect.

So, probably easy enough to find some long action magnum donor rifle, and re-barrel it. I probably would go with a re-barrel instead of just reaming out a 7mm RM to a 28 Nos, because you might not be happy with the twist of a factory barrel. I'd look at replacing the barrel with a 1:8 twist. No slower than a 1:9, or you are selling yourself sort on some of the longer, heavier bullets available.

Also look for an action with lots of length in the magazine. Rem 700's are pretty generous. You'll want to have room to seat the bullets out farther if you want.

So, you could probably do a build that wouldn't be too expensive.

 

[WildRose]

Hi folks. I am new here and fairly new to the idea of taking shots at animals out to and beyond 1000 yards. Anyway I am now obsessed with the 28 Nosler and want one to carry for elk and muleys. I often hunt open country and long shots will be there for the taking. Someday I will spend 4-5 thousand on a custom build but not now. My thoughts are to buy a good rifle and rebarrel for the 28 Nosler. My question to you people is which do you recommend? And should I buy a particular chamber such as the 7 mm or will any bolt and mag already work as long as it is close? I'm open to all suggestions and open to discussion of my plan. Thank you , Jim

As long as you are starting with a long action and magnum bolt face it's easy and relatively inexpensive.

I'm a 7mm STW guy and have been for over twenty years but if I were young and starting over today I'd be hard pressed not to give serious consideration to the 28 Nosler as a first choice for a 7mm Cartridge.

It seems that Nosler is dedicated to their proprietary cartridges so there will be a good, reliable source of both factory ammo and brass for a long time to come so there's not much of a gamble in doing so.

They seem to be doing a much better job than Remington in supporting the cartridges they develop.

 

[Litehiker]

If'n I wuz to re-barrel my Browning A-Bolt and had the discretionary income I'd try for either a Christensen or Proof Research carbon fiber wrapped barrel. Light and far stiffer than even a steel bull barrel.

If I could not afford a CF barrel then for considerably less I'd go for a Bartlein barrel.

Either way I would ask that the chamber be reamed to absolute minimum SAAMI specs.


Eric B.

 

[AZShooter]

The 28 Nosler and the RUM cases share a large diameter body. Some actions like a standard Remington magnum action will not allow the cartridge to pass the feed rails.

If you are going to get a used rifle get one with a RUM Remington action, a push feed model 70 or some other brand that WILL allow the cartridge to fit. Wyatt's has longer magazines for each of the actions I mentioned.

Magazine Boxes, WYATT'S OUTDOOR, INC.


An alternative is to buy a new RUM action through Brownells:

MAGNUM 700 LA 300 ULTRA MAGNUM RECEIVER, SS | Brownells

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I find nothing wrong with rechambering an existing 7mm barrel to the 28 Nosler if it is in good shape. Just realize that a factory barrel has the potential to shoot accurately it will generally foul faster than a custom barrel. I use takeoffs often. Of course I also do my own rebarreling and this saves me a ton of money trying new chamberings. It is true, as stated earlier you may not be able to shoot 180s or heavier bullets. I don't see that as that big a deal. The 168 Bergers with their higher velocity will have a flatter trajectory with similar wind drift only loosing a bit of terminal energy when compared to the 180 gr bullet.

If I were to buy a custom barrel I would get one that would finish at 27" or 28".
I say 27" because Lilja has in stock barrels that finish to that length. Otherwise I'd go 28".

Have a triggerjob done or buy a good aftermarket trigger.


Does your gunsmith have the reamer? If not you might want to consider buying one for your needs. You can alter the distance to the lands and specify neck clearance etc to your advantage.

Finally you are trying to minimize your expenses a Boyd Laminate would be an inexpensive way to get a reliable stock. You could drill it out in a few places to lighten it as well.

When this rifle is completed and you have used it for a while, you can always upgrade the stock and get a new bartlein or similar barrel to complete the rifle making it IMO a custom. At that point there will be little difference between your rifle and a full blown custom as they both should be capable of shooting with the same accuracy, except yours will have cost you far less money.


The acquisition of the parts and seeing it come together should be a fun experience. Do the research and ask questions. Hope it works out well for you.

 

[FEENIX]

Hi folks. I am new here and fairly new to the idea of taking shots at animals out to and beyond 1000 yards. Anyway I am now obsessed with the 28 Nosler and want one to carry for elk and muleys. I often hunt open country and long shots will be there for the taking. Someday I will spend 4-5 thousand on a custom build but not now. My thoughts are to buy a good rifle and rebarrel for the 28 Nosler. My question to you people is which do you recommend? And should I buy a particular chamber such as the 7 mm or will any bolt and mag already work as long as it is close? I'm open to all suggestions and open to discussion of my plan. Thank you , Jim

Jim,

Greetings from the Great Falls side of the Big Sky Country ... welcome to LRH and enjoy.

IIWY, I'd go with .300 Win Mag. It will serve you many years of long range Montana hunting muleys and elk until you're ready to re-barrel. Load it with 215/230 Berger and you're golden.

Here's an excellent thread on .300 Win Mag and the 215/230 Berger bullet from another Montanan, Jeff (BROZ) ...

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/comparing-berger-210-vld-215-hybrid-88657/

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/berger-230-300-otm-hybrid-terminal-results-80283/

Savage rifles are known for accuracy of the box and they are very DIY friendly. Below is LRH poll ...

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f22/right-out-box-76570/

Here's one for your consideration, you can custom build (limited but better than most) your rifle for under $700. If you opt for .300 WM, I'd go with 1:9" twist or faster and if you go with 7 MM Rem Mag, I'd go with 1:8" to take advantage of the heavier and higher BC bullet offerings ... but that's just me.

Check out >>> Build Your E.R. Shaw Mk. VII Rifle

When it is time to re-barrel, you have plenty of excellent barrels to choose from, some which are made here in Montana. I'm on my second Lilja barrel (27" 1:9" 3-groove on my .30 Lara on BHA LA SR2 action and 30" 1:8" 3-groove on my .270 AI on Savage 110 LA action) and I am very pleased with.

Good luck on your project. Have safe hunting/shooting.

Cheers!

Ed

 

[fmajor]

Hi folks. I am new here and fairly new to the idea of taking shots at animals out to and beyond 1000 yards. Anyway I am now obsessed with the 28 Nosler and want one to carry for elk and muleys. I often hunt open country and long shots will be there for the taking. Someday I will spend 4-5 thousand on a custom build but not now. My thoughts are to buy a good rifle and rebarrel for the 28 Nosler. My question to you people is which do you recommend? And should I buy a particular chamber such as the 7 mm or will any bolt and mag already work as long as it is close? I'm open to all suggestions and open to discussion of my plan. Thank you , Jim

IIWY, I'd buy a receiver from these folks (they have "trued" Rem 700 actions for ~$545.00 - an AMAZING price though will need to add a recoil lug), choose a good barrel (~$360.00 - i'd choose a Bartlein, Brux or Kreiger), a *good* 'smith/builder (~$300-$400 to chamber/thread/assemble) and a stock that captures your fancy (I like the looks of the one near the middle of this page "Ambidextrous ENLARGED Thumbhole" - especially for ~$160.00).

You will likely be around $1,600 depending on the stock choice which could easily push things to $2,000.

So, you're at $1,600 for likely a tack-driver and all you need are optics. You could easily be under $2,000 for a complete CUSTOM rifle (IMHO it's custom) that will do what you want with aplomb.