very curious

[Wild Bill]

Keep in mind I ask this with very little knowledge about gun smithing. I shoot, but never tore into one beyond whats required for a cleaning.
I have an old 30-06. This gun and I fight. A LOT. It broke my arm when I was 9 (long story). It shot great till I was about 20, I had it glass bedded and it shot worse in return. I dropped the cross hairs out of a Burris. Replaced it, she shot okay, then dropped the whole damn gun and now its shooting about a 3 in group at 100 yrs. Unsat.
I have a fairly educated that this is a Chezk Mauser based off my research. Allegedly it was a 7mm at some point in its life, then the original military made her into a 30-06 and stamped her as to warn. If so, how much would be involved to turn this thing back into a 7mm? From what I understand its basically a Mauser 98 action.
On the right side she reads MOD.1908/.34
On top of she has a crest
Left side: CESKOSLOVENSKA ZBROJOVKA, AS, BRNO
Prior to the serial # is a "wavy" W, and after is a T within a circle
Below the serial is a J, and below that it reads C.A.I. ST. ALB VT
The barrel is stamped 3006 with a crown above it.

Basically I would like to know whats involved. I know costs would vary, but for a guy who wants a good shooting gun for the *censored*s and grins of it, "about" what would i be into it? Just a Barrel? Or is there more to her than that?
My dad bought her from a smith, and it already had a timney on it.
Thanks,
WB

[FALFire]

You will need a new barrel then have it installed and head-spaced. This is not something you can do, it will require a smith. But why switch over to 7mm and we are not talking 7mm Mag either because the bolt would also have to be swapped out or at minimum the bolt face would require additional machine work and still, depending on the amount of material on the bolt, you may not have enough metal to do it safely. So I would stay with something with a case head size of .473 which is what the 30-06 is.

First off, I would clean it very good with some Sweets or your choice of copper remover. Then have the muzzle crown checked for damage, otherwise if it still will not shoot, time for a new barrel.

[Wild Bill]

Damn. So by not a 7mm Mag you mean the like of a 280 or like a 7mm-08? Ive never heard of a 7mm without the mag thrown in there (again, i shoot but don't get to techy).
I'd like to have a 7mm, as I already have a couple 30-06, and want to try something different.
WB

[724wd]

it's original chambering would have been 7x57or 8x57.  a simple barrel swap at the 'smith would get you back there.  both great cartridges.  .280 would be fun, and i have one planned on a mauser myself.  you'll give up around 100fps over the 7mm rem mag if you load 'er hot.  as stated, 7mm rem mag will require bolt face modification and likely magazine mods, too.  if you're bored with 30/06, there's always 338/06, 35 whelen, 6mm rem (GREAT  dual purpose round!), and a million other choices! 

[Wild Bill]

I see.
I really would like to keep the cost to a min. I LOVE my 270's, and thought I'd try for the big brother, but if its a spendy venture no thanks. I'll have to read on some ballistics.
Thanks,
WB

[724wd]

9.3x62 is minimum legal caliber for dangerous game in most of africa... just sayin'!   

[Wild Bill]

lol... Think I stick with my 300WSM.
Another silly question. Is there any caliber that would just be a barrel swap? I ask, cause the first thing that pops into my head would be the bolt face.
Thanks,
WB

[marlin]

.25-06 and .270 are both built off the same case as .30-06, so you could get it rebarreled to either of those calibers. Or like mentioned above you could go .338-06

[FALFire]

lol... Think I stick with my 300WSM.
Another silly question. Is there any caliber that would just be a barrel swap? I ask, cause the first thing that pops into my head would be the bolt face.
Thanks,
WB

For calibers in commercially loaded ammo, just to name a few:
243
260
7mm-08
308
25-06
270
30-06

[724wd]

lol... Think I stick with my 300WSM.
Another silly question. Is there any caliber that would just be a barrel swap? I ask, cause the first thing that pops into my head would be the bolt face.
Thanks,
WB

man, just take your pick!  everything from .22/250 to .400 whelen are the same boltface as your /06!     there's a million /06 wildcats (6mm/06, 6.5/06, .338/06{commercially available now}, 375/06{basically 9.3x62}, 400/06{.400 whelen}, then there are the .308 case variants (6.5/08{.260}, 7mm/08, 338/08, etc...) and all the european calibers 6x57, 6.5x55, 7x57, 8x57, 9.3x57, 9.3x62...... the list goes on and on! 

what are you looking to do with the gun?  varmints?  deer sized game?  elk?  bears?  african game?  targets? 

[Mike450r]

Go .280 remington.    gets ya the 7mm you want,  really is a perfect non magnum round

[Wild Bill]

[/quote]

man, just take your pick!  everything from .22/250 to .400 whelen are the same boltface as your /06!     there's a million /06 wildcats (6mm/06, 6.5/06, .338/06{commercially available now}, 375/06{basically 9.3x62}, 400/06{.400 whelen}, then there are the .308 case variants (6.5/08{.260}, 7mm/08, 338/08, etc...) and all the european calibers 6x57, 6.5x55, 7x57, 8x57, 9.3x57, 9.3x62...... the list goes on and on! 

what are you looking to do with the gun?  varmints?  deer sized game?  elk?  bears?  african game?  targets?
[/quote]

Id like to go between 300WSM and 270. I LOVE my 270's. Things are silly accurate and range ta boot. If i could just increase their range a touch... It would be a deer/target/varmint only thing. Sooner or later i'd like to reload as well, but till then I cant afford to pay 50+ a box (like my 300). Its silly. I like shooting moderate ranges (300-600), without having a "big boy" set up.
Curious about the whelen stuff. No clue or reason why, but it interests me. Is a .35 a option?
Thanks,
WB

[FALFire]

You could go 6.5x284, it uses the 473 case head so you would just need a barrel installed.

Here is some info on it. >>>>>>>>> http://www.6mmbr.com/sixfive284.html

[724wd]

initially i would agree about the .284 case, but being a mauser action (know finicky eaters), the rebated rim and body of the shell being fatter than other .471 casehead cartridges can cause feeding havoc. 

If it were me, i'd put a longish 7x57 tube on and reload them on the warm side.  the stuff you buy over the counter in the US is pretty anemic, but loaded to its potential,  7x57 gives up little to the .280. 

the thing to consider most when rebarreling is buying a good barrel.  don't cheap out and get an A&B or ER Shaw.  step up to a shilen, douglas or any of the other top companies (hart, breitbart, Krieger, Lilja, pac-nor, Lothar Walther)