99 F rechamber question

[Red Elk]

Hi,
I have a 99F which was in .243...the barrel seems to have lost a chunk somewhere in front of the chamber area. A friend had the rifle, and took it to a gunsmith, and was told it was in need of a new barrel. The buttstock is toast, as well. Bottom line, he didn't want to mess with it, and I wound up with it.
I want to re-barrel or re-bore into a .358 Win.
So here is the question.
Do I re-bore a .243 to a .358....is there enough meat?
Or am I better of just re-barreling.
If re-barreling, which manufacture is the most sensible or recommended for this project.
I am able to thread, rechamber and headspace without too much difficulty, but barrel contouring is sort of a pain.

Please advise.

re

[bootsmcguire]

I would call some of the barrel blank manufacturers you want to deal with and see if they offer a contoured blank that is compatible with your 99. Just a thought.

I would think rebarreling would be a cheaper alternative to reboring.

[Mad Dog]

People have brought up this subject time after time and the answer is "no" you can't go to 358. The wall thickness is to thin.

Most of the time it's 308 to 358, first time I've heard of 243 to 358, one extreme to the other, haha.

Best bet would be to buy a used barrel for it. A pre-million serial numbered gun will have a square thread barrel and a post-million serial numbered 99 will have a v threaded barrel.