[goodsteel]

Hey there fellers! I was looking for a forum where I can get some expert gunsmithing advice. I hail from castboolits.com; thanks for having me!
I am a novice gunsmith and I am trying to get my feet under me with building custom rifles. I can rebarrel and chamber one easy enough, and most modern firearms present no problems, especially when switching between like calibers (like 308win to 358win/243 etc) However, old military firearms are a different matter. I am trying to find out how to reform the feed rails/ramp to promote reliable feeding from a cartridge that is different than what the rifle was designed to cycle. I currently have a 7.7 japanees Arisaka that I am rebarreling to 358winchester. Its a cheap rifle that I wont cry too hard if I screw it up. Now obviously, the 358win is shorter than a 7.7jap. I am having a hard time sculpting the rails to get good feeding over a range of bullet weights. I get good results from long 250grain bullets, but it chokes on shorter ones, especially flat points. This is the second rifle I have tried, and both have been a breeze except for this one area. Can anyone point me towards the right books on wildcatting/rechambering rifles to function reliably with the new cartridges?

[danf_fl]

Consider building a "ramp" to the front of the magazine.

If you check out some of the Mauser conversions to .308 (or 7.62X51), they reduced the length of the mag follower and installed a "ramp" so the nose of the bullet does not free float too long. Go the full depth of the magazine.

[goodsteel]

That's a good idea, but how does one shorten the magazine spring? I just need some really good books that go into depth and describe in detail, every step of this process and others. I have some really good books on pistol smithing and I have almost memorized them cover to cover, and I have done most of the stuff described. I just can't find that level of expertise anywhere else in relation to rifle building.

[bearrwe]

Where you are adapting 100 year old rifles go back to the gunsmithing books from years ago when these were cheap surplus. Every gunsmith used to "sporterize" these old guns. Try Modern Gunsmithing by Howe. If you look on eBay you can find a lot of these old books on disk cheap.

[goodsteel]

Modern gunsmithing, How, got it! Thanks for the tip. Does he deal with a lot of rifle building?

[bearrwe]

Howe lists a lot of usefull info in his books. Especially if you are into older guns, a lot of building and modifying. You also learn some older technique that come in quite handy for time period correct restorations.