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Install 308 Barrel

2K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  Maxamillion 
#1 ·
I am looking to rebarrel my garand in 308

I see numrich has 308 garand barrels for $159.95

What should I expect to pay for installation and reaming/headspacing (if required)?

Finally, do you all have any smiths that you would recommend for the work?

Thanks,
TC
 
#3 ·
tc,
i too recently decided to do a 308 conversion.....
in fact i just today received back my greek racker from springfield armory, inc. on a 308 garand re-barrel. it was less than $200.00 total for the barrel , headspace/installation (with a 308 clip spacer put in). their turnaround was about three weeks.....i haven't shot it yet (SA, inc. test fired it though), but it looks like a very nice build. its a parkerized wilson barrel i believe. i've been impressed with sa, inc. so far on this project.

it was more cost effective for me to have sa, inc. do it, than to buy a barrel for $160, then send it out for an install/headspace and refinish (most barrels out there are short chambered and in the white) and ship it back to me.....hth
 
#7 ·
Would you let the 12 year old kid down the street that you know is a little "off" do a brake job on your car just to save $20

Most likely you would not. You would take it to someone that knows what they are doing because there is a serious safety issue involved.

Find a good armorer to install your barrel.
 
#8 ·
cornbread2,
all due respect to dgr and some of the other fine garand smiths on this board, but is there something dangerous about having Springfield Armory, Inc. do a garand re-barrel? i think they have some experience with 308 garands and garands in general......???
this ain't an "off" 12 yr old down the street, heck, this ain't even cai, inc.!!!
 
#9 ·
Their Garand "experience" and the very poor way they build their own Garands is a good reason NOT to let them touch anything you own.
 
#11 ·
Their Garand "experience" and the very poor way they build their own Garands is a good reason NOT to let them touch anything you own.
I agree with this 100%. I ahve a friend of mine who is a gunsmith and works on Garands. He can do it for you very reasonably. He has a Class 1 FFL. Let me know if your interested.

Mike
 
#12 ·
You need to check it to make sure they have the barrel indexed correctly.

You can't tell by "looking" unless it is way off.

You can do this at 100 yards.

Get a big target board and have a good aiming point at the bottom of the target.

Get a good zero on your aiming point.

Use a level or someting else to draw a perfectly vertical line from the center of your aiming black all the way to the top of your target board.

Go back to the line and go up one click elevation and fire a round at your aiming point.

Go up another click and fire another round.

Keep doing this untill you get up at least 30 clicks up.

If they have the barrel indexed correctly you will have a vertical line of bullet holes above your target.

If they begin to wander off to the side more as they get higher you know they screwed up.
 
#13 ·
Cornbread2 said:
You need to check it to make sure they have the barrel indexed correctly.

You can't tell by "looking" unless it is way off.

You can do this at 100 yards.

Get a big target board and have a good aiming point at the bottom of the target.

Get a good zero on your aiming point.

Use a level or someting else to draw a perfectly vertical line from the center of your aiming black all the way to the top of your target board.

Go back to the line and go up one click elevation and fire a round at your aiming point.

Go up another click and fire another round.

Keep doing this untill you get up at least 30 clicks up.

If they have the barrel indexed correctly you will have a vertical line of bullet holes above your target.

If they begin to wander off to the side more as they get higher you know they screwed up.
Now THAT is a good idea I have never heard or thought about. I have always gone on the assumption that if the rifle hit near the center of a 200 yard target with the rear sight centered,the front sight centered, and 12 clicks of elevation on then all was O.K. in the world of indexing. This seems a bit more accurate and may pick up small 1 or 2 degree changes that my method would miss. Thanks for an idea I can use as soon as we get the 6" of "light dusting" off everything here in the Blue ridge :roll: TJR
 
#14 ·
Lets assume your front sight was just slightly leaning to the left. It could be just slightly off where you could not notice it and your rear sight could be center with your 100 yard zero.

Every elevation click you put on would also give you a bit of right windage. It may not even be noticable untill you went up about 16 clicks to get to the 600 yard line and you find that you are shooting about 8 inches to the right.

A perfect barrel index is very had to get and even the very best rifle builders find it hard to get it exactly right where your windage zero does not change with lots of elevation clicks put on.

If the kids at SA INC did it right it would have to be an accident.
 
#15 ·
Well, I sent an M1A back to the SA custom shop to be rebareled (I provided the barrel) and reparked.

I have to say that they did a fantastic job. Barrel indexing was good & the finish was great. Based on that experience I wouldn't have a problem using them again. The price was good too.
 
#17 ·
hi all,
i took my springfield 308 re-barrel (of a cmp greek rack grade) out this weekend. double checked headspace.....it was what i liked: 1.633. only got to fire 40 rounds (7.62 malaysian) down range, but function was 100%. no ftf, failure to fire, or fte at all. the recoil is sharper than 30-06, but that is normal for 308 garands im told. did not test for accuracy, but it hit center of mass on the paint bucket at 100 yds. the barrel appears to be indexed well as the sights pretty well lined up w/ poa at the exact center tick of the windage hash marks. im pretty happy with springfield's work on my rifle....
 
#18 ·
.308's are neat!

MWC; This was in response to an earlier thread right? Yeah I think you will like it,in general the .308 is this most fun and accurate to shoot. I had the shortin my ejector spring alittle bit as it would want to throw a case in to your forehead once in a while. After I got that fixed I put a N.M. rear apature on it and a narrow front sight blade,try some Australin or Pourchegese .308 in it and watch the groups shrink, also you might get a Shuster adj. gas nut ,they work real good on improving accuracy. Next I want to make one into a .270 with a new barrel,who sells them anyway?
 
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