Rem 722 Rebarrel to 300 Blackout

[Slughammer]

I took the 1" piece I cut from the muzzle end and used the chamber reamer to cut myself a gage to aid in sizing brass and seating bullets. I zeroed my digital calipers over the gage and then trimmed the gage back to the datum to end up with the same 1.079 marked on the gage.




I can now zero my caliper over the gage and then measure brass for headspace and shoulder bump. The best part is when setting up a new bullet I'm able to set my OAL by dropping a long seated round and seeing how far I am from the shoulder touching and the 1.079 dimension. Then I can make adjustments and sneak right up to the length for my newly cut chamber.

Its not exactly a headspace gage or a case cage. So, what should I call it, a shoulder gage?

Lyman 311299, 311284 and 311466 set up using the new gage. I wish I had one for every rifle I own.

 

[Jeff H]

Nice work!

Right there's VALIDATION!

 

[Jeff H]

Neat project!

I took to the 300 BLK after looking at the caliber, case capacity and parent brass.

So what if it was developed as a "tactical" wonder! It's a marvelous little CB shooter and worthy of the effort expended.

Thank you for taking the time to take and post pics of your progress.

 

[Rushcreek]

That is a neat little rifle you’ve made. And the 10” twist makes it neater!

 

[fiver]

dang now i gotta see if the 466 will chamber in mine.
my 299 will not,, i don't even gotta make a dummy it's the original 314 version.

 

[Spindrift]

Clever solution with that gauge, @Slughammer !

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

dang now i gotta see if the 466 will chamber in mine.
my 299 will not,, i don't even gotta make a dummy it's the original 314 version.

I have been licky the 299 & 335? Both chamber for me in my Ruger American. (Powder coated)

NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED WITH PIX HERE!!?????

 

[fiver]

the 299 just got the [311] number changed when they changed cherry's and it wasn't 314X304 anymore
you can get a 310X300 mold anywhere, but it won't shoot worth crap in a 31 cal rifle.
which makes 'lucky' subjective... i feel i got lucky..

oh you just gotta click on the expand thingy at the bottom since you made a quote and entered a pic too making it all too big.

 

[Barra]

Nice work

 

[Slughammer]

Having a feed issue. Loading 5 into the box magazine and the first 3 feed well. Round 4 and 5 are having issues. I look into the box and see the follower has nose dived. I'm thinking I need a new spring. Are all the short action magazine follower springs the same (223 & 308)? This is a Rem 722 that started as a 222, there is a folded sheet metal spacer behind the follower. I'm concerned that springs sold as short action are actually short enough to fit in this box.

 

[fiver]

might be able to give the spring a little 'stretch' and get it pushing up right again.
i've had to do that with a couple of old Mausers.

 

[Slughammer]

Rough-in accuracy testing continues. Nothing too serious or focused in any certain direction. Right now I'm mainly playing with different bullets that are on the shelf; seeing what should be pursued to deeper extents. Last week was 311299, 311284 and 311466. This week 311291, 311576 and 311316. (Previously 311041, 311440, Saeco 315 and Saeco 301). It likes most of them. Once I gather a little more chrono data, I'll start some more focused testing.

 

[RicinYakima]

Try a Brownell's SA 700 spring; cheap and available. Solved my 722 257 Roberts problem.

 

[Slughammer]

The rifle has been shooting quite good. I've been updating the shooting in the thread "What did you shoot today".

I pulled the follower spring and could see immediately why the rounds were going nose down. I stretched it a bunch and it's working pretty well. No more nose down rounds, just an occasional one where the rim is too low for the bolt to pick it up. (Maybe a little too much stretch). I figured I'd let it take a set a few range sessions.

 

[Slughammer]

I've got an annual falling plate match (PSA Shootout) coming up in a week. Six stages with 25-35 plates per stage. My buddies and I squad together and then go to Bob's house for a BBQ afterwards. Part of the BBQ is firearms show and tell. My barrel is unfinished and still in the white. I've been practicing rust blueing for a few weeks on several different take off barrels and I'm pretty sure I have my process worked out. So, it's time to stop practicing and put rubber to the road.

 

[Slughammer]

The 2" PVC tube serves two purposes. I made it as a scalding tube for converting the rust to blue. It's 40" long and my wife's 1.7L kettle will fill it 30" up (without anything in it). I found I could also use it for rusting. Here in PA in the middle of winter it was way too dry to get anything to rust in my basement shop. I rigged up a damp box of sorts, but it took up too much space in my tiny shop. I dampened a cardboard mailing tube and hung test barrels in there and got good results, but cardboard is only temporary. By just misting the inside of the PVC with a spray bottle I got the same result.

This is the second application of Laurel Mountian Browning Solution (cut with alcohol). The first one was rusted in the tube for 4 hours. The second was NOT rusted in the tube. It was going to be overnight, so I slid it into the tube for 15 minutes to get some moisture, then hung from the ceiling overnight.

For hanging the barrels and now the barreled action I used wire at first. Now I'm using broken sections of cleaning rods. They have been drilled and tapped 8-32, then joined using steel screw threads. I made the 2" aluminum spacers to assist in lowering and rasing the barrels into the PVC without scraping the sides.

It's currently in the tube being scalded for 30 minutes.

 

[richhodg66]

I don't have one, but always liked the 721/722 rifles much better than the 700s for some reason and a 722 in .222 has been a want for a long time. I would have had a hard time rebarelling one unless it was just shot out beyond hope.

I want one in the old slow twist .244 chambering at some point too. The .300 BO is interesting for sure, and I might have one at some point, but it's pretty far down on the priorities list.

 

[Slughammer]

Its really hard to take good pictures of the blue..

After the 2nd rust, scald, carding wheel cycle, I've got a pretty nice coat of blue on 60-70% of the barrel. Which means 30-40% does not.

The first 10" from the muzzle are nice and even already, the next section is 50% nice and 50% lighter.
Feel free to start an over/under on the number of cycles until I'm satisfied.
Rust solution applied and back in the tube again.

 

[fiver]

looks better than half my rifles already.
but i'll go three max and a buff.

 

[Ian]

I like your setup, but I'm a hardcore Mark Lee hot water blue user. I can do a barrel in one session, takes about 3-4 hours and an overnight soak in a tube full of kerosene and DONE.