Defiance Prefit on weatherby 307 action?

[Felton]

I’ve been looking for a rifle for the kids I’m not crazy about what’s out there on the lower end of the scale. I decided to try and build one for them. It seems cost prohibitive so I started trying to figure ways to cut cost.

Ptg has those weatherby 307 with trigger for $500. I figured that was a good start…

I searched and really only found one or two companies making pre fit barrels for them and nothing was on the shelf. Then I ran across discontinued proof carbon barrel for a defiance on midway for $500. Come to find out the thread is the same as the weatherby action but the tenon is a different length. 307 calls for .880 tenon length and ruckus calls for .955. So I’m thinking I need to fill 75 thou. That seems like a lot in the world of threads and Prefit barrels but doable. I do a little more digging and try to find a spacer that might work. Instead I find a .312 recoil lug. While it’s not a perfect fit It’s getting me close to where I need to be, 13 thou difference now. I play around with the idea of adding shim stock to it to get the right headspace. I wasn’t crazy about the idea but maybe it just might work… As I’m looking at one of the pictures of the 307 I think the recoil lug looks small. I realize I hadn’t seen the recoil lug specs, come to find out it’s .191 not .25 like I assumed. Now if I can grind down a .312 recoil lug I won’t have to shim anything. That’s good enough for me to start ordering. Ptg says they have the action in stock and it shouldn’t take too long to get it out to me. While I’m on the phone with them I ask if they can grind down a recoil lug to said width. He said they could. Order placed! Everything seems to be coming together.

Now it’s time to wait for parts to come in.

 

[Muledeerfanatic]

Hopefully it works out for you
Nothing like putting something together on a budget
What caliber?

 

[TaperPin]

I’ve been looking for a rifle for the kids I’m not crazy about what’s out there on the lower end of the scale. I decided to try and build one for them. It seems cost prohibitive so I started trying to figure ways to cut cost.

Ptg has those weatherby 307 with trigger for $500. I figured that was a good start…

I searched and really only found one or two companies making pre fit barrels for them and nothing was on the shelf. Then I ran across discontinued proof carbon barrel for a defiance on midway for $500. Come to find out the thread is the same as the weatherby action but the tenon is a different length. 307 calls for .880 tenon length and ruckus calls for .955. So I’m thinking I need to fill 75 thou. That seems like a lot in the world of threads and Prefit barrels but doable. I do a little more digging and try to find a spacer that might work. Instead I find a .312 recoil lug. While it’s not a perfect fit It’s getting me close to where I need to be, 13 thou difference now. I play around with the idea of adding shim stock to it to get the right headspace. I wasn’t crazy about the idea but maybe it just might work… As I’m looking at one of the pictures of the 307 I think the recoil lug looks small. I realize I hadn’t seen the recoil lug specs, come to find out it’s .191 not .25 like I assumed. Now if I can grind down a .312 recoil lug I won’t have to shim anything. That’s good enough for me to start ordering if Ptg says they have the action in stock or they’ll get it in a month or two as I’d like to have this ready to go for next season. While I’m on the phone with them I ask if they can grind down a recoil lug to said width. He said they could. Order placed! Everything seems to be coming together.

Now it’s time to wait for parts to come in.

That’s a nice way to get the pieces to work. Honestly I’ve never thought much about it, but your Weatherby is a standard Remington dimension so it caught my attention. I ended up with one or two takeoff barrels that must have come off a defiance since the difference is close to what you have.

 

[UnckleBob]

Good luck with your build.

 

[Felton]

Thanks guys, It helped that I have a spare stock sitting here waiting for a project. Although I may go a different route for the kids.

I went with 22arc. I saw enough guys building an arc on a 308 bolt face with success I figured I’d give that a try too. It seems the m16 extractor was key in running the odd size brass and the 307 comes with it installed. Now I just need to figure out the bottom metal and mag.

 

[Felton]

I ran accords some more headspace/tenon numbers and I believe I made a mistake on the recoil lug size. It might be easier than I initially thought. Instead of me putting any more incorrect info out there I’ll post back when I get it all confirmed.

 

[Felton]

Quick update. I got the action in. From prints that I found, I calculated I needed a .256 barrel lug. I threaded the barrel on and took a measurement and wouldn’t you know that number is .256. I’m excited that the number I calculated and my measurements are the same. The ground barrel lug has been on order for a while now. Hopefully it comes in soon and I can triple confirm that it’s correct. I don’t have any reason to believe it’s not at this point, I just like congruence.