This spring I purchased a Savage 340 in 30-30 with the intention of putting on a barrel chambered in 38-55. I was able to purchase a new 375 H&H magnum barrel from a Sako rifle on Ebay.
The first problem I faced was no one seems to make a wrench for the small barrel nut used on this action. The nut has 12 indentions equally spaced around the circumference. The indentions seemed to be about a 7/64 radius. I made a wrench by drilling twelve 7/32 diameter holes on the correct radius and then boring a hole to just fit over the OD of the nut. Pins 7/32 in diameter were then dropped in the holes to lock the "wrench" to the nut. I also made a fixture to hold the action while I removed the nut.
The barrel nut was very tight, I used a 16" adjustable wrench and a 2 foot long piece of pipe to get it loose.
The Savage 340 has an odd extractor that requires a radius to be cut on the barrel so this posed another little challenge
I cut the chamber off of the 375 H&H barrel, put the barrel through the headstock of my lathe and using a four jaw chuck indicated the bore to within about .0002 TIR.
I cut the threads on the barrel and then the radius. The barrel I purchased had holes drilled and tapped for sights so these had to be timed correctly. I cut the radius by turning my compound to 90 degrees and calculating x and y moves every 3 degrees, 30 cuts to generate the radius.
I rented a 38-55 reamer and cut the chamber.
The barrel was headspaced using gauges I made.
I purchased a Lee 250 grain bullet mould, cast, sized (.377) and lubricated some bullets and loaded 1 round of ammunition using Winchester brass.
Much to my surprise the action would not close. After some research I discovered that the wall of the Winchester cases will not allow bullets of more than .375 to be used. Using Starline brass solved this problem.
Today I fired the rifle at 50 yards and was pleased with the results. All 4 groups that I fired were slightly less than 1.75"
It is easy to switch barrels on these rifles so I think I will do a 219 Zipper next.
The first problem I faced was no one seems to make a wrench for the small barrel nut used on this action. The nut has 12 indentions equally spaced around the circumference. The indentions seemed to be about a 7/64 radius. I made a wrench by drilling twelve 7/32 diameter holes on the correct radius and then boring a hole to just fit over the OD of the nut. Pins 7/32 in diameter were then dropped in the holes to lock the "wrench" to the nut. I also made a fixture to hold the action while I removed the nut.
The barrel nut was very tight, I used a 16" adjustable wrench and a 2 foot long piece of pipe to get it loose.
The Savage 340 has an odd extractor that requires a radius to be cut on the barrel so this posed another little challenge
I cut the chamber off of the 375 H&H barrel, put the barrel through the headstock of my lathe and using a four jaw chuck indicated the bore to within about .0002 TIR.
I cut the threads on the barrel and then the radius. The barrel I purchased had holes drilled and tapped for sights so these had to be timed correctly. I cut the radius by turning my compound to 90 degrees and calculating x and y moves every 3 degrees, 30 cuts to generate the radius.
I rented a 38-55 reamer and cut the chamber.
The barrel was headspaced using gauges I made.
I purchased a Lee 250 grain bullet mould, cast, sized (.377) and lubricated some bullets and loaded 1 round of ammunition using Winchester brass.
Much to my surprise the action would not close. After some research I discovered that the wall of the Winchester cases will not allow bullets of more than .375 to be used. Using Starline brass solved this problem.
Today I fired the rifle at 50 yards and was pleased with the results. All 4 groups that I fired were slightly less than 1.75"
It is easy to switch barrels on these rifles so I think I will do a 219 Zipper next.
