I thought we were talking re-boring, not re-chambering.
Jim
I thought we were talking re-boring, not re-chambering. The 308 is what we would consider a 30 cal., or nominally .308" dia. round. I would have to check to be certain of the 358 Win., but I can't be far off figuring it to be more of a 35 cal., or .357" nominal ? That's not a simple re-chambering, which I have no problem with considering more or less run of the mill type of stuff, as long as twist rate seems to be appropriate. Switching from the former to the latter would entail some metal removal throughout the entire bore. To my way of thinking, a completely different animal requiring a much different skill level. You couple that with whether the company involved is using cut rifling, button rifling, micro-groove, etc. Then I start wondering about final finish of the bore, actual finished dimensions, all of that type of thing. At that point, I'm thinking if you simply buy a new barrel, you can choose among all those options for what you prefer and perhaps even your own style and habits, good or bad. Also from a company that has basic procedures in place for repeatable results. Yep, you do have that problematic extra barrel sitting around collecting dust, but on the other hand, you have that extra barrel available for another potential project too. Not something potentially unusable, and still no new caliber on that rifle that worked well up to this point........
Jim
I would not be afraid as long as the rebore did not make the barrel walls too thin. I owned a Winchester that started out like as a 30 WCF that was rebored to .32 WIN spl. There was plenty of thickness left.
The above observation is right. The same equipment to rebore and rifle a barrel could make a new barrel. At one time, being able to make barrels was just part of the gunsmith trade.
There is less labor in a rebore due to the elimination of the initial pilot drill, outside machining, threading and rebluing.
There is also a company that makes a piloted drill to hog out a bad .22LR barrel and a properly bored and rifled liner can be pressed in to the old barrel. I do not think anything more powerful than a .22LR is recommended to be sleeved.