Rechamber 6.5x284 Norma?

[jh6717]

I have a Savage factory take-off barrel coming soon in 6.5x284 Norma. It's a take off from a Model 12 - F class rifle, large shank with 30" tube. I'm aware that these barrels purportedly die at around 700-800 rds. and it currently has about 300-400 rds. fired.

SO......

If I shoot this thing out sooner rather than later, and it was primarily due to throat erosion, is there anything to stop me from having a gunsmith cut off the chamber, chop it down to say 26" and them rechamber to .260 Remington or something more exciting like 6.5x55 Swede? Maybe turn the threads from large shank down to small shank for use with another rifle at that point? I would only go that route if the barrel turned out to be a good shooter, and if the cost for gunsmithing was like $150 or less.

Any experience, advice, etc. is much appreciated. Again this is just a hypothetical, as the barrel isn't even on my gun bench yet and I still need the gauges, brass, dies, etc. before I even get it started as a 6.5x284 Norma.

[yobuck]

In answer to the question, yes you could do that.
But is it worth the cost of doing from an overall view?
The answer to those questions would probably be no.

[LoneWolf]

Note: I have not personally set back a barrel.

However, the big thing that's going to matter is how torched the barrel is. With some of these hot 6mm and 6.5mm cartridges I've seen barrel cutaways where the first 12+ inches of the barrel were torched and fire cracked. In this case a set back may only get you a few hundred rounds of accurate life. So, in the sense of yobuck's post above it may not be worth it as you may only see 200-500rds out of it. a new barrel can had for about $300 and with the 260 (unless running very hot loads) will see at least 3000rds.

So the overall cost would be much more efficient by going with the brand new barrel over a set back. There are a few guys on the forum though that are more savy with barrel setbacks than I am, but I don't believe they were shooting matches with these barrels. So, your options are to take the chance and learn something/maybe see better results than what I've explained above or go with a new barrel that you will have full confidence with from the start.

[yobuck]

Would I rebuild a G Loomis fishing rod? probably yes.
Would I rebuild a $30 Walmart rod? Definatly no.

[bsekf]

Reduce your loads, seat bullets longer and shoot it till it dies (might surprise you). Then BUY A NEW BARREL. Or you could buy your own lathe, $5000 to save $300....... makes sense to me.

[jh6717]

Apache Gunworks it looks like will rechamber for $100, but there's shipping both ways probably, etc. If the first 12 inches of barrel are getting toasted, rechambering is kind of pointless. Probably should have just gone with 260 Remington, it was an impulse buy. �� D'oh!

[jh6717]

Bsekf - I'm going to shoot this one nice and easy to start. Probably 140 gr bullets going 2800 or so. Doesn't really make sense that the 6.5x284 is such a barrel burner compared to the .270, 7 mag, etc., but everything I read suggests it is.

[LoneWolf]

Barrel burner primarily relates to match life. It's about when the barrel loses competitive accuracy. A couple small fliers in a match drops your score and most Likely a few places down in the match. It would probably still be ok for practice/plunking.