[Blood_Money]

I recently bought a Remington Sportsman 78 in .243. (the 'budget' 700 from the 80's)
I inquired with a gunsmith about re-barreling to .308.

He has a take-off 308 barrel from a Rem 700 rifle used for a custom gun.
He wants $200 for the barrel and to mount it. That doesn't seem unreasonable to me, but I've never had a bolt gun worked on before. Other than 22s, most of my guns are ARs and AKs, and I've always done all that work myself. This is my first foray into this type of gun, and using a gunsmith.

Would you all feel this is a good price for the work?

 

[Doom]

It sounds like a good price to me if the 308 barrel is new or fairly new and is of a profile that you want. One thing to understand about Remington 308 barrels is they have a lot of free born so loading bullets close to the lands isn't possible.

 

[butchrx]

My first question would be "Why do you not want the 243"? That is a great caliber that can be greatly used with 75 grain up to 100 grain bullets, for varmints and deer. Normally, the Remington 78's accuracy is superb. If you need the 308 for bigger game hunting take that $200, add to it and look for another Remington 78 or 700. You would love having both.

 

[Blood_Money]

Freeborn?

It sounds like a good price to me if the 308 barrel is new or fairly new and is of a profile that you want. One thing to understand about Remington 308 barrels is they have a lot of free born so loading bullets close to the lands isn't possible.

 

[Blood_Money]

My first question would be "Why do you not want the 243"? That is a great caliber that can be greatly used with 75 grain up to 100 grain bullets, for varmints and deer. Normally, the Remington 78's accuracy is superb. If you need the 308 for bigger game hunting take that $200, add to it and look for another Remington 78 or 700. You would love having both.

.243 doesn't really appeal to me. I have wanted a .308 bolt with detachable magazine for a while now. The 78 was very inexpensive, and I bought with the intent of switching to 308.

 

[Maxwell]

That is a good price for a barrel installed and headspaced . Doom is correct on the freebore , i have three .308 Remington 700s , all of which have long freebore . I have found very few bullets that will touch the lands and have enough bullet in the neck for proper tension unless I go with heavies or cast . I put my barrels on long actions so OAL was not a concern .

 

[gwsears]

Small sample of one but my Sportsman 78 in 243 Win is without a doubt the most accurate rifle I own or have ever owned. Should be a good one if the barrel is a good one.

 

[ebb67]

I recently bought a Remington Sportsman 78 in .243. (the 'budget' 700 from the 80's)
I inquired with a gunsmith about re-barreling to .308.

He has a take-off 308 barrel from a Rem 700 rifle used for a custom gun.
He wants $200 for the barrel and to mount it. That doesn't seem unreasonable to me, but I've never had a bolt gun worked on before. Other than 22s, most of my guns are ARs and AKs, and I've always done all that work myself. This is my first foray into this type of gun, and using a gunsmith.

Would you all feel this is a good price for the work?

So the $200 includeds mounting? I bought a custom barrel for Prefered Barrel Blanks, and while my options were a bit pricey, I shipped my old action with barrel attached, and for $90 they will remove your old one and install/setup the new one and even install it in your stock or chassis if you also include it. If the barrel was a decent piece then its not a bad deal. As a gunsmith his labor is about nil for a simple barrel swap, its just a matter of making sure the headspace is correct.