I inherited an interesting rifle. It's an Arisaka Type 99 (old WWII Japan bolt-action rifle). It's not in great shape and I wouldn't say really much of a collector's item. But it's pretty cool to me at least.
But what is interesting is that someone decided to rechamber it in .30-06. This is great because the original cartridge (7.7x58mm) is hard to come by and expensive. .30-06 bullets are a little smaller (.308") than the original caliber (.311) so accuracy probably suffers a little. Also .30-06 is not the cheapest cartridge out there.
So what I want is to rechamber it in 7.62x39. Cheap ammo, correct bullet diameter, and my other rifles already shoot this round. I've also kind of wanted a 7.62x39 bolt gun "just because".
There's a couple problems with this plan but my main issue right now is I can't find a place that sells .30-06 to 7.62x39 chamber inserts. I know a company called MCA used to make some but I think they're no longer in business.
I've found .30-06 to .32 ACP converters (no thanks). I've seen references to .30-06 to .308 inserts (not a bad alternative) but can't find these anywhere either. I've been googling for days. Anyone have any ideas?
Is this something a gunsmith can just make?
Thanks.
But what is interesting is that someone decided to rechamber it in .30-06. This is great because the original cartridge (7.7x58mm) is hard to come by and expensive. .30-06 bullets are a little smaller (.308") than the original caliber (.311) so accuracy probably suffers a little. Also .30-06 is not the cheapest cartridge out there.
So what I want is to rechamber it in 7.62x39. Cheap ammo, correct bullet diameter, and my other rifles already shoot this round. I've also kind of wanted a 7.62x39 bolt gun "just because".
There's a couple problems with this plan but my main issue right now is I can't find a place that sells .30-06 to 7.62x39 chamber inserts. I know a company called MCA used to make some but I think they're no longer in business.
I've found .30-06 to .32 ACP converters (no thanks). I've seen references to .30-06 to .308 inserts (not a bad alternative) but can't find these anywhere either. I've been googling for days. Anyone have any ideas?
Is this something a gunsmith can just make?
Thanks.