41 replies to this topic

[Clemson]

I'm teaching barrel fitting this semester at the gunsmithing school. For a different class project, I think I am going to sporterize a Type 38 carbine that I had sitting around. It is missing the upper handguard and has a chunk out of the stock, so collectability is nil.

We pulled the barrel last night. The breech end of that barrel is going to take some serious machine work to replicate. The 6.5mm barrel is pristine, but, after all, it is a barrel fitting class, so I am going to order a new tube. I am thinking either 250 Savage or 300 Savage, ending up with a woman's or kid's rifle. Any suggestions? Who cuts stocks for the Type 38?

Clemson

[gun nutty]

With the strength of the 38 well documented, my thought is that the .300 Savage and .250 Savage are rather "anemic".

Both are excellent cartridges, but I'd think that they'd be a better fit in .308 Win length actions.

The 6.5 "Spence Special" (6.5x57) was a popular conversion for the 38, so I'm suspecting that "x57" cartridges will function well (7x57, 8x57, etc.).

Dunno... the .257 Roberts, 6.5x57, 6mm Rem, and 7x57 are nothing to apologize for.

[lemski4]

I'd say your limited by your nag box length, not caliber. A lot of the type 38 japs were rechanbered to 6.54x257 Roberts, but if your rebarreling one I would look at something worth while,

[Limpid Lizard]

I did one almost ten years ago in 308. It fed perfectly. After looking at various options for the shank, I chucked it up, mounted a dremel with a carbide cutter on the tool post and rocked the chuck back and forth while feeding the dremel slowly in. Dykem gave me my pattern. Not quite precision work, but good enough and much simpler than the options.

I have heard of others removing the nubbin from the bolt face. Facing the receiever was a real treat. That metal was harder than woodpecker lips.

The edit. 6.5 barrels make great pillars. That jap barrel is probably on 10 different rifles now. LL

I'm teaching barrel fitting this semester at the gunsmithing school. For a different class project, I think I am going to sporterize a Type 38 carbine that I had sitting around. It is missing the upper handguard and has a chunk out of the stock, so collectability is nil.

We pulled the barrel last night. The breech end of that barrel is going to take some serious machine work to replicate. The 6.5mm barrel is pristine, but, after all, it is a barrel fitting class, so I am going to order a new tube. I am thinking either 250 Savage or 300 Savage, ending up with a woman's or kid's rifle. Any suggestions? Who cuts stocks for the Type 38?

Clemson

[Rojelio]

Clemson, I'm pretty sure Richards Microfit cuts stocks for the Type 38 Jap.

PS You have a PM

Roger

[Clemson]

Well, we got reamer and gauges ordered for .250 Savage. I need to get a barrel ordered and get started on the project. I will do that this week. Brownells has a Shilen #1 in Chrome moly for $171. I have an old Bishop stock, but it is set up to use the action without the extensions on the tang and trigger guard. I actually like the looks of those pieces. I may call Richards and GAG to see how they cut Type 38 stocks.

Meanwhile in barrel fitting, we did a Mauser 93 and started on a Ruger #1

Clemson

[Clemson]

Progress report: Got the Shilen barrel. It is now threaded and chambered. The fun part of the indexing and breech cuts is yet to come. I had to travel out of town to find a box of .250 Savage cartridges. Even Brownells is out of stock.

Clemson

[Rojelio]

Sounds good. Be sure and take some pics along the way. I'm interested in your build and I'm sure others are, too.

Roger

[Clemson]

Pix show the old barrel and the new one underway. The barrel is threaded 14 tpi, the recess for the bolt nose is cut, the chamber is cut to depth,. You can see the intricate cuts for the extractor and the nubs on the bolt nose. Those are next!

Clemson

[Rojelio]

Nice work Clemson. Are you doing all the work, or, are the students having a hand in the build?

Roger

[Clemson]

Right now, I am cutting, and they are taking notes.

Clemson

[Clemson]

Barrel is fully chambered with the bolt nose cuts made. I have to make the extractor cuts next.

Clemson

[Rojelio]

Sounds like your getting close. Don't forget the pics.

Roger

[Clemson]

Not much to see yet!

Clemson

[Rojelio]

Looks good. Are you going to drill and tap it and weld on a new handle? I forged the bolt handle on one for a guy and had to trim the bridge so the bent handle would clear. He also wanted me to make the knob round because it reminded him too much of a testicle . I guess the customer is always right

Roger

[Clemson]

Bolt handle and D&T will follow. Here are the updates from current work. The breeching is finally finished.

This shot shows the breech coated with Dykem so we can scribe in the position of the extractor cuts.

The barrel is put back onto the receiver for marking. Note the modification milled into the Brownells Remington Wrench to fit the lug on the Type 38 action:


The scribe is used to mark the edges of the cut:

Here is the setup for milling the extractor cuts. I use a rotary table clamped to the mill bed:

The actual cut requires a wider top section than bottom section:

This shows how the bolt with extractor fits into the cut:


More to come as the project progresses!

Clemson

[Rojelio]

Nice! you'll be test firing that thing before long.

[brokengun]

please keep the pictures coming i love to see this type of work

[claytonfaulkner]

Maybe this is a dumb question but could the take off barrel be used on another type 38? Lets say you wanted to rechamber it to something longer so it would be like a short chambered barrel, sorta, could you use this barrel on the second rifle? Or would everything not line up right?

[Clemson]

Rojelio has asked for the take off barrel. There is a pretty good likelihood that it will make up to his action and headspace just fine.

Clemson