Using .308 takeoff barrel as 7.62x45r "blank" barrel?

[pgaplayerless]

I'm thinking about converting one of my Steyr M95's to 7.62x54r since it has badly corroded barrel plus the 8mm ammo is expensive and hard to find.

I have already determined that modified Remington 700 barrel could be modified for this project since it has a beefy shank.

But what i don't know currently is whether it would be ok to shoot 7.62x54r thru .308 rifled barrel. IT seem that the bullet diameters are almost exact but the 7.62 is tiny bit bigger.

[dfrak]

That sounds like a really cool project!

On the other hand, the 7.62x54R bullet diameter tends to be about .310 and sometimes larger. I would not feel comfortable shooting jacketed bullets that size in a .308 barrel.
This link goes into detail, including bullet diameter, about some of the 7.62x54R ammo that you might come across.
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmo.htm

Of course, if you reload, it's a different story, but the rifle/barrel should be clearly labeled as .308 diameter.

Dan

[wombat12]

Should be quite doable. Several of the Finnish Mosins had .308 or .3085 bores and have shown no problems shooting surplus ammo with .311 diameter bullets. As I remember, when Ruger came out with their Mini30, they used a special chamber/forcing cone (developed by Sako or Lapua) that made it suitable for commercial 7.62x39 ammo with .308 diameter or surplus ammo with .311 bullets (.308 bore). That being said, I'd avoid steel jacketed bullets as a steady diet because of potential barrel wear issues.

I also believe the enblock clips for the M95 should work on the 7.62x54r with little or no modification.

[pgaplayerless]

yes enblock clips fits then x54r no problem. The brass between 8x56r and 7.62x54r is almost identical alas why people use x54r brass to resize to 8x56

[dfrak]

This project really intrigues me. I poke around a little and found this over on Cast Boolits. Not a lot of detail, but some useful information. I think it supports but wombat12 says:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=38739

I also found this on gunboards:
http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?t=80299

Like I said, this is very interesting.

pgaplayerless,
please keep us posted if you pursue it.

Dan

[pgaplayerless]

This project really intrigues me. I poke around a little and found this over on Cast Boolits. Not a lot of detail, but some useful information. I think it supports but wombat12 says:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=38739

Like I said, this is very interesting.
pgaplayerless,
please keep us posted if you pursue it.

Dan

yes I'm pursuing it but it will be a slow project since I'm not willing to shell out top dollar to get the 700 barrel considering the worth of the rifle itself. So I will be watching gunbroker for a good, cheap take off barrel.

[dfrak]

I'll be patient!!!
I just updated my other post with some info from gunboards...

That 30-40 Krag option is also interesting...

Thanks,
Dan

[pgaplayerless]

Well almost a year later and I'm slowly making progress on this.

Got a .30 cal barrel blank from Numrich some time ago and Friday I got around turning down both ends so that I can start profiling it for the proper look.

Got a sheet load stripper clips too