Can a 30-06 Over under Rifle be re-bored to 9.3x62

[Morga]

Have a friend wanting to sell his OU 30-06 Merkel , I told him I was looking for one in 9.3x62 . He went on to say that most 30-06 can be rechambered for the 9.3x62 cal, Would this actually be possible for this rifle.

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[ve7poi]

Different bore sizes
9.3 mm = .366”
30-06 = .308” or 7.62mm

 

[Morga]

Different bore size
.336 vs.308

The rounds you mentioned above are impossible to re-bore or are you saying it is not wise to re-bore to 30-06 , it is darn close to 9.3x62 smith said it is possible don't get it confused with 9.3x74r that is not possible at all.

 

[One Day...]

I believe that what ve7poi implies, which is also what I would guess, is that the barrel walls of a double rifle are not thick enough to rebore from .308 to .366. You are looking at enlarging each bore by almost 1/16th. That is A LOT. Keep in mind that barrel walls thickness is considerably less on a double than it is on a bolt action...

Then of course, even if you had enough metal to actually rebore, which, again, I do not believe you do, you would then have to tackle the endless issue of regulation, which would likely mean unsoldering and resoldering now very thin barrels, etc.

So, in conclusion, it is both unlikely possible technically, and unlikely worth the money it would cost.

 

[Morga]

Well just seems it is out of reach then , on a more limited income. Stick with bolt actions then. Wish there was a company that made a affordable double rifle.

 

[Sika98k]

Well just seems it is out of reach then , on a more limited income. Stick with bolt actions then. Wish there was a company that made a affordable double rifle.

Baikal make double rifles. A friend of mine is a firearms dealer and nestling on a rack is a double 30-06. It’s a bit agricultural to my mind but hey it’s very affordable.
Valmet of Finland used to make O/U doubles, a friend had one in 308.
Going a bit more upmarket are Browning and Berettta. There are probably other manufacturers, I’m just not aware of them. After this costs will start to spiral.

 

[ve7poi]

To clarify don’t do in a double for lots of reasons barrel thickness being one very limiting area for reboring

 

[norfolk shooter]

I would say its all down to wall thickness. However being a merkel the best thing to do would be contact them and they may have the correct barrel sets for the gun.
As for affordable double rifles I have a Sabbatti and have no issues with it what so ever

 

[curtism1234]

Baikal make double rifles. A friend of mine is a firearms dealer and nestling on a rack is a double 30-06. It’s a bit agricultural to my mind but hey it’s very affordable.
Valmet of Finland used to make O/U doubles, a friend had one in 308.
Going a bit more upmarket are Browning and Berettta. There are probably other manufacturers, I’m just not aware of them. After this costs will start to spiral.

The Baikal has always been interesting. Since they make it in a 45-70, I would assume the 30-06 uses the same barrel and could be rebored. However, the Baikal can not shoot the heavy 45-70 loads. So I'm not sure if it could take the pressure of the 9.3x62

 

[Red Leg]

So, first of all, your friend is wrong with regard to a double rifle. A truly skilled gunmaker could probably use the mono-block of the Merkel as the basis for installing and regulating a set of 9.3x74R barrels. That sort of skilled work would run at least 3-4K USD. At least by anyone I would trust.

But why ruin such a useful rifle? Except for DG (excluding leopard), a 30-06 can handle anything you would want to hunt in Africa or darn near anywhere else. It is one reason I have 30-06 barrels for my Blaser S2. And I would much rather own a nice Merkel OU in ‘06 than any half dozen Baikals regardless of caliber.

 

[RayAtkinson]

YES. it can be re=chambered and re-bored to a 9.3x62 or 9.3x64..but Id suggest selling it and buying one in whatever caliber I wanted..This project would further require re-regulation and sight in...expensive project..

 

[mgstucson]

I realize this is an old thread, but this may be of some interest. I bought a Valmet 412 in 30-06 with this very thought in mind. 30-06 is my "one gun" do it all caliber for many years. So if the experiment failed, at least I would have another 30-06 and my first double rifle. The experiment did fail. I found that although there was enough metal in the barrels for the rebore, JES Reboring here in the US says his equipment is not set up to rebore doubles. He simply does not offer the service on any double. I recently (finally) found a Tikka 512 in 9.3x74r. When I measured the barrel diameters of both rifles, I was surprised to find that the barrel of the Valmet 412 in .308 caliber was actually .568 diameter at the muzzle, whereas the Tikka 512 in .366 caliber actually mic'd at .538 at the muzzle. I was told that in order to rebore, the outer diameter of the barrel at its smallest point must be a full .2 inches larger than new bore diameter. Evidently Tikka is able to make the barrels thinner. These are both factory barrels, although the older Valmet was made in Finnland, and after being bought by Sako/Tikka, the newer Tikka 512S is now made by Stoeger in Italy.

2 lessons learned. JES does NOT rebore doubles, and you can actually have a barrel thickness of less than .1 inches (outer diameter less than .2 over bore diameter.)

 

[PerH]

I realize this is an old thread, but this may be of some interest. I bought a Valmet 412 in 30-06 with this very thought in mind. 30-06 is my "one gun" do it all caliber for many years. So if the experiment failed, at least I would have another 30-06 and my first double rifle. The experiment did fail. I found that although there was enough metal in the barrels for the rebore, JES Reboring here in the US says his equipment is not set up to rebore doubles. He simply does not offer the service on any double. I recently (finally) found a Tikka 512 in 9.3x74r. When I measured the barrel diameters of both rifles, I was surprised to find that the barrel of the Valmet 412 in .308 caliber was actually .568 diameter at the muzzle, whereas the Tikka 512 in .366 caliber actually mic'd at .538 at the muzzle. I was told that in order to rebore, the outer diameter of the barrel at its smallest point must be a full .2 inches larger than new bore diameter. Evidently Tikka is able to make the barrels thinner. These are both factory barrels, although the older Valmet was made in Finnland, and after being bought by Sako/Tikka, the newer Tikka 512S is now made by Stoeger in Italy.

2 lessons learned. JES does NOT rebore doubles, and you can actually have a barrel thickness of less than .1 inches (outer diameter less than .2 over bore diameter.)

Marocchi they are made by , i got a Finnclassic 512 S this year In 30-06 rifle and combo set . I Asked Marocchi if they make other rifle sets . Answer back was that on this time don’t make them now . Not combo or rifles sadly . So I’m looking for a 9,3x74 double rifle set also .

Heard from a gun bug the 06 set can be made into .30 R Blaser , but I’m sticking with 06 set .

Rather have one extra for it . All the Valmet , Tikka sets fit , some may have minor modifications on the lock on front part done .

 

[HWL]

The Baikal has always been interesting. Since they make it in a 45-70, I would assume the 30-06 uses the same barrel and could be rebored. However, the Baikal can not shoot the heavy 45-70 loads. So I'm not sure if it could take the pressure of the 9.3x62

Action handles .30-06 pressure, so it can take pressure of a 9,3x62 easily...

HWL

 

[Challer]

I have an under over Blaser 97 in 06/06 and it is an excellent deer/pig gun. In my case the 97 has interchangeable barrels including 9.3. Can a second barrel set be added to the Merkel?

 

[mgstucson]

I have since found a Valmet 412 in 375 Win. and I am looking for a gunsmith who can simply rechamber to 375 Flanged {already correct bore diameter). So far no luck. There are a couple gunsmiths that work on high dollar doubles. I think they are so backed up on high dollar work, a fairly simple low dollar job on a relatively low dollar rifle holds little interest, hence no one is returning my calls.

 

[PerH]

.30 R Blaser - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This one is a popular one to rechamber into over here .