Can a rifle be custom made in any caliber/cartridge even if that cartridge has no SAAMI specs?

[valleyforge.1777]

Can a rifle be custom made in any caliber/cartridge even if that cartridge has no SAAMI specs?
I want to get a custom made bolt action rifle in 7.7x58 Japanese Arisaka. I don't want to use a rifled action taken from one of the milsurp rifles, I want a completely newly made, custom made rifle. I have some reasons why I want to do this, but my question is can it be done, and if so who would do it? One reason I want to do this is because I want a left handed bolt rifle, and the milsurps are all right-handed. Another reason is that I want a nicely made rifle with a free-floated barrel where I can mount a scope the traditional way (above the receiver). Can not really do that with the Arisaka milsurps because the chamber gas holes are where the front scope mount would go. Biggest reason I want to do this is that I have managed to get a couple of pieces of brass, some primers, and powder and some Hornady 0.312 bullets and the custom made dies for reloading, so I do not want to get into a whole different caliber like 30'06 or 308 or 270. I'd rather stick with the 7.7x58.
The T99 7.7 Arisakas have a 1 in 9.5 twist and I'd be wanting to use standard 7.7x58 brass with 150 grain Hornady soft point bullets, 0.312 diameter. I reload for a milsurp 7.7 Arisaka and I had custom reloading dies made from fired brass to match the chamber of my milsurp rifle. I'd like to try to get the newly made custom rifle to have a chamber that matches closely enough to be able to use those same dies.
I have a T99 that I mounted a scout scope to with a no-drill mount from S&K Mounts. I do NOT want to pull this rifle apart and turn it into something customized. I want to keep it in the current configuration, but I'd like a nice, custom made one that can use the same rounds.
So, is this possible? As far as I know, no one makes a commercial version of this caliber/cartridge. This would be entirely custom chamber, custom rifling.

 

[gotboostvr]

You'll need a custom reamer cut. I belive PTG will do so, for a fee.

After that you'll need a barrel blank, I'm sure someone makes a .312

Then have it turned to whatever profile you'd like and threaded for your action of choice, plenty of people offer this service. They'll likely be able to cut the chamber using your reamer and install the barrel as well.

It's not terribly uncommon, the same as any wildcat.

 

[WestKentucky]

Absolutely. As the old song goes, “if you’ve got the money honey I’ve got the time”. A custom reamer for a barrel isn’t as crazy expensive as they sound. That being a traditional round there may already be reamers out there to rent which would be even cheaper. Sticking that in a nice left handed action and putting some pretty wood on it will be the biggest expense. Just consider that a virgin action costs roughly the same as a complete rack grade rifle.

 

[.38 Special]

Gotboostvr has it exactly right, I think. Just treat it like any wildcat. Several folks can make reamers, including Clymer. You may be interested in looking at their "Special reamer blank print" to see what is involved. http://www.clymertool.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Special-Reamer-Blank-Prints.pdf.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Or, if their specs are to your liking, you could order one from the PTG catalog:

http://pacifictoolandgauge.com/cust...-/4554-77-mm-x-58-arisaka-chamber-reamer.html

PTG is good folks. They made a wildcat reamer for me back in the 1990s, and last year when MGM was having some problems cutting a smooth chamber with it, PTG inspected the reamer, did some voodoo to make it work right, and got it back to MGM, no charge.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

BTW, an interesting project -- do you have a particular action and barrel maker chosen yet?

If you go the Remage route, I can recommend MGM as nice folks to deal with for custom barrels. Their prices aren't bad too. https://matchgrademachine.com/savage-remage-pre-fit-barrels/

 

[Legionnaire]

Tagging in. Others have answered your original question: yes, it can be done. I just want to be able to watch the project develop. We will, of course, need pictures and a range report.

 

[valleyforge.1777]

Forgot to say in the original post that the trigger on the milsurp Arisaka is terrible. An after market trigger is available but requires modifying the stock and I think even the receiver itself needs to be modified. I do not want to do that to my milsurp. I want a new rifle, custom made, with a great trigger.

I have never had a custom rifle made before.
I do not know much about the process.
I do not have an action picked out yet, but I know the T99 Arisakas are controlled round feed and I am used to that from my milsurp rifle. I also know the Arisaka rifles have a chrome lined barrel and Medford rifling. Not sure those last two things are critically important. The main thing I want is true left handed and able to mount a nice quality scope above the action.

I have been thinking forever about getting into 270 Win, and was going to get a LH Browning bolt or the BAR in 270, but the thought of new dies, new brass, powder, bullets, etc when I have a "bunch" of supplies for 7.7x58 already just kept stopping me from getting the 270. Someday maybe, but not in this shortage/regulatory environment.

 

[BreechFace]

A custom rifle in 7.7Jap just begs the question to be answered...

Do tell, why you want to do this? It's not too often...ok let me be honest...your project is something I never would anticipate seeing. So inquiring minds (myself) would like to hear the backstory.

I'm down for watching this custom rifle unfold, should be very interesting!

 

[LoonWulf]

Watching as well!

 

[valleyforge.1777]

Just target shooting out to about 300 yards, trying to get better with marksmanship, but with a ~30 cal instead of something smaller, and the reason for 7.7x58 is just literally so I do not have to stock up on reloading supplies for a new caliber. i already reload for many different calibers and rarely have as much time for that as I'd like to, and I have accumulated supplies for 7.7x58 for use in my T99 Arisaka, so, this caliber/cartridge wins for me.

A custom rifle in 7.7Jap just begs the question to be answered...

Do tell, why you want to do this? It's not too often...ok let me be honest...your project is something I never would anticipate seeing. So inquiring minds (myself) would like to hear the backstory.

I'm down for watching this custom rifle unfold, should be very interesting!

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

I do not have an action picked out yet, but I know the T99 Arisakas are controlled round feed and I am used to that from my milsurp rifle. I also know the Arisaka rifles have a chrome lined barrel and Medford rifling. Not sure those last two things are critically important. The main thing I want is true left handed and able to mount a nice quality scope above the action.

Well, if you went with a stock Remington 700 left hand long action, you might be able to do this for under a grand. You'd loose control feed, and personally I'd spend a few hundred more to add an aftermarket forged bolt with a Sako extractor (I hate that riveted extractor on the 700 series!) http://pacifictoolandgauge.com/1583-left-hand-bolts
but the good news is you could install a Remage-type barrel yourself, and M700 compatible stocks, scope bases, triggers, etc. can be found pretty cheaply. Midway and Brownells both carry Remington receivers, either stripped or complete, when available: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1020203653

If you have a big budget and really want left hand plus controlled feed, maybe a Mausingfield -- the action alone is $1600.

 

[.38 Special]

Just target shooting out to about 300 yards, trying to get better with marksmanship, but with a ~30 cal instead of something smaller, and the reason for 7.7x58 is just literally so I do not have to stock up on reloading supplies for a new caliber. i already reload for many different calibers and rarely have as much time for that as I'd like to, and I have accumulated supplies for 7.7x58 for use in my T99 Arisaka, so, this caliber/cartridge wins for me.

I do not mean to be discouraging - and love a good crazy idea as much as anyone - but for the price of a full-blown custom rifle, you can buy a lot of reloading supplies!

 

[BreechFace]

I do not mean to be discouraging - and love a good crazy idea as much as anyone - but for the price of a full-blown custom rifle, you can buy a lot of reloading supplies!

That is what I was thinking, but I've done crazier things!

 

[.38 Special]

That is what I was thinking, but I've done crazier things!

Amen!

 

[lysanderxiii]

Can a rifle be custom made in any caliber/cartridge even if that cartridge has no SAAMI specs?
I want to get a custom made bolt action rifle in 7.7x58 Japanese Arisaka. I don't want to use a rifled action taken from one of the milsurp rifles, I want a completely newly made, custom made rifle. I have some reasons why I want to do this, but my question is can it be done, and if so who would do it? One reason I want to do this is because I want a left handed bolt rifle, and the milsurps are all right-handed. Another reason is that I want a nicely made rifle with a free-floated barrel where I can mount a scope the traditional way (above the receiver). Can not really do that with the Arisaka milsurps because the chamber gas holes are where the front scope mount would go. Biggest reason I want to do this is that I have managed to get a couple of pieces of brass, some primers, and powder and some Hornady 0.312 bullets and the custom made dies for reloading, so I do not want to get into a whole different caliber like 30'06 or 308 or 270. I'd rather stick with the 7.7x58.
The T99 7.7 Arisakas have a 1 in 9.5 twist and I'd be wanting to use standard 7.7x58 brass with 150 grain Hornady soft point bullets, 0.312 diameter. I reload for a milsurp 7.7 Arisaka and I had custom reloading dies made from fired brass to match the chamber of my milsurp rifle. I'd like to try to get the newly made custom rifle to have a chamber that matches closely enough to be able to use those same dies.
I have a T99 that I mounted a scout scope to with a no-drill mount from S&K Mounts. I do NOT want to pull this rifle apart and turn it into something customized. I want to keep it in the current configuration, but I'd like a nice, custom made one that can use the same rounds.
So, is this possible? As far as I know, no one makes a commercial version of this caliber/cartridge. This would be entirely custom chamber, custom rifling.

That is done all the time.

 

[valleyforge.1777]

The fact that someone actually catalogs a reamer for this cartridge means that this HAS to be done.
Of course, I'd have to get new custom dies to match the chamber made from that reamer, but whatever.

 

[someguy2800]

You can either have a rifle custom built for you by any number of gunsmiths, or simply get a rifle of your choice in 30/06 or 270 or whatever and have a gunsmith rebarrel it to 7.7x58 arisaka. This will generally cost about $500 in addition to the cost of the base rifle and it is a very routine procedure. If you were to start with a Savage you could actually do this yourself at home by just ordering a barrel so chambered.

 

[valleyforge.1777]

So, if I do that, get a Savage LH bolt rifle in 30'06, I then get the barrel and a gunsmith can just change out the barrel for me? So, do I wind up using the stock, receiver, and bolt from the Savage?

 

[entropy]

So, if I do that, get a Savage LH bolt rifle in 30'06, I then get the barrel and a gunsmith can just change out the barrel for me?

If the barrel is cut to Savage specs, you could change the barrel out. It's that easy. (you would need to check headspace, also easy to do.)

So, do I wind up using the stock, receiver, and bolt from the Savage?

Not sure about the bolt, I don't know the 7.7's base diameter offhand. But the stock and receiver, yes.

From some quick research, the bolt face might have to be changed slightly by a gunsmith. (from .473 to .498 )

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

So, if I do that, get a Savage LH bolt rifle in 30'06, I then get the barrel and a gunsmith can just change out the barrel for me? So, do I wind up using the stock, receiver, and bolt from the Savage?

The term Remage is a portmanteau of Remington and Savage, as this process uses the Savage system dimensioned for Remington actions. Since both actions have a flat mating surface at the front of their bolts, they avoid the need for an extractor cut and headspace 'unclocked' barrels using an external barrel nut. Here's a video demonstrating how simple DIY barrel installation is with this system:



And yes, unless you change the barrel taper you can reuse the other rifle parts without modification. There are several semi-custom Remage type actions floating around today, in addition starting with a factory Savage or Remington rifle. Other action choices are also possible, since enternal barrel nuts have become pretty common on new budget bolt actions.

 

[JFrank]

www.jgspresicion.com

 

[Legionnaire]

My first thought was a Remage, too, having built several. The challenge may be finding a barrel blank in the right caliber. Looks like it’s the same bore as the .303 British, but that doesn’t look like a standard bore from any of the barrel manufacturers I looked at.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Does it have to be a bolt action? Single shots are both left and right handed. Looks to me that you could get one of those Henry single shots in .308, and run your reamer into it. Shazam! Does/did Ruger make the #1 in .308? Now that would be a class act. People be like, "what caliber is your rifle". You be like, "7.7". They be like............................."huh???" It would be great. I get it.

 

[.38 Special]

Does it have to be a bolt action? Single shots are both left and right handed. Looks to me that you could get one of those Henry single shots in .308, and run your reamer into it. Shazam! Does/did Ruger make the #1 in .308? Now that would be a class act. People be like, "what caliber is your rifle". You be like, "7.7". They be like............................."huh???" It would be great. I get it.

Meh. I'll be dissapointed if the gentleman does not decide for a Browning BAR.