Rebarreling Vintage 110 Help

**Burr** · 03-05-2015, 01:05 AM

First - hello to all, first post. I've read, and certainly enjoyed a great deal of the forum posts. The forum feels like a great find.

First I'll apologize if I ask a question I should have found the answer to, but let me assure you, I've really tried with the search function and can't find information I'm looking for on barreling a couple of 110 LH actions that are quite a bit older than most of the discussion. However, I have learned the age of at least one of my guns "might" make the process difficult.

I think J Baker is going to know the answer, so I'm ending my search and I've decided to just ask. Hard to spend too many more days enjoying the reading when I think Baker has some answers.

I've got a few savage actions that have throat erosion to the point a new barrel is a consideration.

First - a 7mm that I may, or may not, decide to put a new barrel on. I've owned it since 1978, one of the first guns I ever bought. Was used and shot plenty before I owned it. I've shot many deer with it, it still shoots minute of deer very well, so I might just decide to leave this one even though a 140 gr bullet drops out the end of a Stoney point modified case when measuring the distance to the lands. Ser is 130392 - so it's prior to 1968 - but I don't know how much prior. Question, is this rifle so old that the barrel has a cutout for the bolt making a new barrel job more challenging than the newer actions?

Same question on another action I have - but it's older. 110 LH in 300 Win Mag ser 44332. This one is quite a bit older, but new to me, I picked it up for a song, it's not in "great" condition, purchased mostly because it's left handed, low priced, and has a Bishop stock on it like my 7mm (I love the bishop stocks). I've NEVER shot this gun. Same throat erosion, actually much worse throat erosion, I definitely would like to put a different barrel on this gun but there is another complicating issue with this gun. This one has the small area in the middle of the barrel with a swell in it, a short area that is a larger diameter than the rest of the barrel. To maintain the original appearance, I'd like to put a barrel on with the same swell area, which would also fit the stock better, but I'm afraid it's going to be really hard, and expensive, to get a barrel on this one done. Not sure who could even do it with the way the barrel industry is now. Used to be gun smiths made barrels, now barrels are purchased that already have a hole in them... Should I take this gun to the range as is and see how it shoots, or is a new barrel a must do before any time with a loaded round.

I have no reservations shooting my 7mm that I've owned forever, and I'll carry it again in the field. Should I feel just as comfortable shooting the older 300 win Mag?

You all have much newer guns than I. So I guess I'm an odd ball.

A bit about me, the shooting hobby for me is very much around the enjoyment of hand loading. I have not purchased a loaded round of ammo for 30 years. At the same time, I would not put myself beyond an intermediate level reloader. It's just hard to learn the more advanced reloading techniques without a mentor. I don't shoot competitively.

I smile when I'm in my reloading room, reach for a box of bullets, and see the $9.99 price tag from when I bought it many years ago. It's makes me not shy at the check out counter when I happen across a store closing close-out to stock up on more components.

I enjoy hunting, but as I've aged I've really gotten to where I enjoy "hunting" and I'll often not shoot if it's not the one I'm hoping to find. That way I get to keep on hunting. Still I like to harvest at least one White Tail with every gun I own. Currently, I've got a few guns that still need that notch. But I enjoy building loads to find an accurate one for the gun, so I just keep buying guns for some reason. Thankfully I have scopes that have not found a gun yet.

While I don't shoot competitively, I do get a little competitive with a fishing rod in my hand.

So that's my intro, and I'm hoping to learn a little about what I can/should do with my guns that are much older than what y'all have. Hopefully there's some insight?

**Hotolds442** · 03-05-2015, 12:25 PM

Both rifles, if unmodified from their original configuration, will have the older recessed bolt heads. They can be rebarreled with your standard Savage pre-fit barrel only if you replace the entire bolt. You cannot just change the bolt head because the bolt retainer pin is 90° off on your factory bolt bodies. Your only other option is to have a gunsmith fit new barrels to both rifles if you choose to stick with the factory bolts. If you were to upgrade the 300 to a magnum or heavy magnum barrel contour, you could then open up the barrel channel to get rid of that ugly bulge in the Bishop stock and have a very nice Sendero style rifle that should be capable of some very accurate long range shooting.

**Burr** · 03-05-2015, 07:56 PM

Thanks, that helps. I didn't know this would be solvable by a conversion.

I was thinking last night I could have answered my own question if I'd just take the barrel off and look.

I might just order a heavier contour barrel and modify the stock. The stock on that gun needs to be refinished anyway, and I have the barrel channel rasp to modify it. Not saying I'm any good or experienced with the tool, but I've got it to make the modification.

I'd like to change cartridge on the 300 Win Mag. I have another on a 110LH that is more recent/modern than these two. Might be interesting to have a different long action cartridge with the heavier barrel contour.

I'll start looking into the options for replacement bolt options. I've seen some aftermarket bodies that have a nice change of pace in appearance, but know nothing about the quality of the different choices.

A different bolt would provide some flexibility into the future.

**Hotolds442** · 03-05-2015, 08:19 PM

Originally Posted by Burr

I'd like to change cartridge on the 300 Win Mag. I have another on a 110LH that is more recent/modern than these two. Might be interesting to have a different long action cartridge with the heavier barrel contour.

I'll throw this out there for you to ponder then......
6.5x55 Swede.
Cheap high quality Lapua brass
Flat shooting
Great bullet selection
Low recoil