Steyr Mannlicher rebarrel question

[gamma]

Has anyone out there had any experience in rebarrelling a Steyr Mannlicher deluxe hunting rifle.Ive heard in the past that those Steyrs may be shrunk or sweated into the action making them almost impossible to take off.Is there any foundation into this or are they the same as most barrels to remove.An answer from someone who knows would be most appreciated.

 

[flyingbair]

A Steyr can be rebarreled but it will cost as much as replacing the rifle. The best method is to remove the barrel and have the receiver threaded, again it will cost more than replacing the rifle. Good luck.

Johnnie

 

[gamma]

Im not at all concerned about expense as its me that will be replacing the barrel.I just need to know how easy or indeed how difficult it is to remove the barrell and why would I need to rethread the reciever.

 

[gamma]

Does anyone have any other additional info on this,Ive got a guy screaming down the phone at me and Id prefer to tell him it cant be done rather than F**k up his rifle not knowing if the dam thing has been silver soldered in place.If its just threaded in like most other rifles,then Ill go for it but if any of you guys know different,your help is badly needed.

 

[fireball168]

This has been seven to eight years ago.

The SHOT Show was in Atlanta.

Jeff Cooper was at the Steyr booth promoting the Scout Rifle.

I asked one of the factory guys, who spoke quite broken english about the projected barrel life of the .308 Scout, and if the barrel was press fit like the SSG,it is).

This turned into a conversation with five or six of them, they told me that if I, or a customer, shot the barrel out, to send it back through the importer,GSI at the time), and they'd rebarrel it.....for free.

After they all got done giggling, they told us the projected barrel life was 15,000 rounds, and they'd all be dead before we wore it out.

Unsure who the importer is now, but they were at SHOT again this year - I'd bark up the tree and see who answers.

 

[frankgreen]

Gamma, The 15,000 round barrel life is a stretch when it comes to hard core accuracy. Good accuracy in a high power match rifle I would tell you 4000-6000 rounds and that is it. The 15,000 is realistic for a combat rifle though but even the Marines Sniper rifles if I remember correctly in .308 get rebarreled mandatory at 10,000.

I would contact Greg Tannel at Gre-Tan Rifles and ask him if he would do the work or has done it etc....I think he has the best set up for doing this kinda work etc....if he would do it I would think he is your best bet and would save you $$$$$.

What most guys do with the Steyr SSG's I believe and this is what I would do is they cut the barrel off just in front of the receiver. Then they internally thread the receiver. This way when you have to rebarrel the gun it ends up being just like doing anything else.

The other thing to keep in mind are simple things like recrowning the barrel if it gets damaged or wears over time from shooting etc....yes there are tools out there to crown barrels with out having to take it off the receiver but to me the best way is to take the barrel off the action and do it in a lathe.

Get the receiver threaded and save yourself headache for the future. Years ago I had an SSG but got rid of it because the barrel was pressed in. This was before what I know now other wise I would've kept it and had the receiver threaded when the barrel needed replacing.

When I asked GSI/Steyr the question about needing/replacing a barrel when it came time, I was told by them that to send it back would cost as much as a new rifle etc....maybe something has changed over time? Don't hold your breath.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

 

[sjk]

For what it's worth,
Years ago I tried pulling an action off one of these and even with a 4 ft bar and tons of pressure it would not come off. I pulled every action that was to be chambered/rechambered because it was easier for me. Finally in desperation I did as Frank suggests by actually cutting it off thus destroying the original bbl for this cartridge length and threading the ID of the action. Little did I know that when I was threading the action some material was galling the threading tool. Yes, it was cold solder. This I never dreamed of, but I never did anymore because I never had the call to do so. In retrospect, try a little heat when putting pressure on the action. It may just work, altough this was a first for me. I to this day do not know if it was factory done or some joe cobbler wanted to tighten up a loose bbl. Heaven only knows but I got by it.

 

[gamma]

Thanks guys,Ive been getting a few similar stories myself and I dont think its worth getting caught up in that kind of ballbreaking stuff for any customer.It could end up costing me more than the rifle is worth.Thanks again.

 

[CentrePunch]

Gamma,
My buddy has recently completed rebarrelling his Steyr SSG from 22-250 to a 22-250 AI 1-8 twist.
he cut off the barrel drilled and bored out the stub untill he had a slim slither of barrel left in the reciever.
The reciever was set on a mandrel and then clocked true in the 4 jaw holding on the front reciever ring.
He then bored the action to accept a M25x1.5 thread which he inturn formed on the barrel tenon which measured 55mm long.

ian.