Rechamber or just buy outright

[smchop]

I have a remington 700 in 7mm Rem Mag that I want to either:
Rechamber to .300 Win mag, or just sell and buy a .300 win mag.
My dillema is this, if I rechamber I can choose the barrel of my liking and have the action trued at the same time. Otherwise I either buy a factory win mag and have it reworked which seems more expensive, or buy a custom or already trued action and barrel. Anyone have something rechambered and remember the cost? I know the bolt face is the same between the two so no bolt face work would need to be done ( I believe ). Input?

[BPTactical]

Costs to true an action are going to range 250-400ish. Rebarrel and chambering are going to run 2-300ish. That is not including the cost of the barrel which are 2-400ish. If you get it all done at the same time by the same Smith you may get a bit of a break.
It would not take too much imagination to see that you are quickly getting to the cost range of a Surgeon, Bighorn or similar precision rifle action.
Are you a serious enough shooter to realize the small gains to justify the expense?

[Hoser]

What is the end purpose of your 300? A 7RM will do anything a 300 will and sometimes better.

[smchop]

BP, expense is kinda where I'm at. Serious enough, yeah, but no I don't know everything about both either cartridge to tell you why I prefer one over the other. It's more I have more interest in a .300 than a 7mm. With that though I've really been thinking about changing one of my .308's to a 7mm SAUM. Hoser, my end purpose is another target rifle, hoping to keep it under 15lbs to use it once a year as an elk gun. One of my reasonings for wanting to go .300 is barrel length. Seems no one wants to run 7mm RM under 26" and prefer longer. I hear more about the .300 being ran at 24" lengths with good results. Now this is all from reading not real world experience. Hoser, I know your around the long range circuits a lot so if you can comment on this great. Another reason is I have the 7mm RM sitting, its got a pencil thin fluted barrel and couldn't run a string with it without it overheating and changing POI. So I planned on truing and rebarreling anyway even if I stay with the 7mm RM.

[rondog]

JMO, but unless you're married to that rifle for some reason, I'd sell it and buy a different one.

[smchop]

JMO, but unless you're married to that rifle for some reason, I'd sell it and buy a different one.

That is an option, I'm trying to work that angle also. Tried to move it here but just not enough interest, probably mostly due to the fact I don't want to give it away, it is brand new, so that is part of my hang up on it. It is a beautiful rifle the way it is, but I look at it and say "well I gotta change the stock to something of my liking, rebarrel it to a different contour and may as well have the action trued at the same time. Then I only have the receiver I started with and a bunch of brand new parts!

[yosemite]

can you do any of the work yourself? pull the barrel, true and lap the action?, how much accuracy can you use?I know I have shot some of the heavier Remmy barrels that shoot as well or better than I can, and there are many takeoffs out there unfired, I plan on doing something similar with a 700 7mm RUM, either a 338RUM, or a 338LM as a long range elk rifle, also have thought about Bergara barrels, they use a nut for headspacing like a Savage, unfortunately they do not list a 338. I have heard verygood reports on them, check the target forums on the internet too, many premium barrels are sold there at pretty decent prices, I also see a lot of barrels on Long Range Hunting and 24 HR Camp Fire sites, good luck!

[BPTactical]

can you do any of the work yourself? pull the barrel, true and lap the action?
Do you understand the processes and tooling involved?
Unless you have access to a lathe that will turn accurately and repeatedly to .0005 of an inch your chance of success is slim.
A $500 Harbor Freight machine isn't going to get it, you are talking multiple thousands of dollars for the machine alone.
Tooling to do the work accurately will quickly come close to the machine in cost.
Now that you are tooled up do you have the experience on the machines and the knowledge of the materials and how to properly machine them? Stainless machines differently from carbon steel, hardened steel machines differently from barrel steel.
Now how about firearm specific tools? Barrel vice, receiver wrench, chamber reamers and flooding system, receiver and bolt truing fixtures/mandrels etc add up to a few thousand more.
I have the tooling and machinery plus the majority of knowledge. It still makes sense to me to send the work to somebody that specializes in action truing. There are guys that truing action is all they do. You are paying them for their expertise.

Get all through that and what have you gained? A rifle that shoots 1/10" tighter groups?
Was it the best investment of your shooting dollars? Typically not, you are better off putting on a quality trigger, ammo and range time. Perfect the tool behind the trigger.

Back when firearms were machined at the hands of skilled tradesmen you had deviations from specifications and truing an action was a necessity for serious shooters.
The introduction of the CNC machining processes eliminated those deviations on a broad level. You still have deviations but no where near those of the past.
Face it-just about any out of the box rifle will outshoot 98% of the shooters out there. That 2% left over are the hardcore competitive shooters that will truly benefit from spending the wad on accurized actions, sleeved bolts etc.

Just my .02
YMMV

[smchop]

Very true, Yosemite doing the work myself is not an option, and I am a tool whore but I just would send that out to someone that specializes in it. With that BP I can shoot my AI AE much better than my Remington, could be a number of factors but that action and bolt are smooth as butter and help with follow up shots. I'm sure I could be out shot by someone with a factory rifle, but for me I like and can feel the difference. On a side note it also helps on resale which is something I always keep in mind because I always say I'm gonna keep this one and never sell it until something different catches my eye. But all my problems have been for nothing, I just traded my rem. 700 for a custom .300 on a stiller tac action and rock barrel. Now I had to add cash but it was less than having an action trued, barrel and chamber work, etc.

[BPTactical]

Good move on the trade.
Let us know how she shoots.

As far as the AI v Remmy comparison- VW to Mercedes[Muaha]

[yosemite]

Stiller actions are neat, considered one myself, there are a lot of good custom actions out there, the VW to Mercedes analogy is a good one too. I have a machine shop full of tools as well, but sometimes , I too bite the bullet and call a specialist, good luck with the new gun

[smchop]

Well here it is. I broke the trigger shoe right when I got it so I am running a factory pre x-mark trigger now and will figure that out here in a bit. Its a lazer!
http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss256/smchop/300.jpg