To Thread or to Rebarrel:

[River Reaper]

I have a Remington Model Seven youth .223 Rem with a 20” barrel. It’s synthetic/stainless from the early 2000’s. I believe it is a 1:12 twist.

I want to shoot it suppressed. I think the pencil barrel has enough width at the 16” mark to thread it at the local gunsmith. Threading it would cost $175 without a thread protector, and will be around $200 threaded with a thread protector.

I’ve never replaced a barrel (or stock for that matter). Part of me thinks I should look at that option instead to get a 1:7 twist and a threaded barrel, as then I’d have the option to shoot heavies out of it. I’d prefer to go this route, especially if it would be cheaper/same cost/ or even just a bit more cost than the threading.

Any thoughts or personal experiences are welcome. If you could point me to an exact quality/decent barrel that would be pre-fit and ready to shoot, that would be great too, and let’s try to keep it $300 and under (preferably closer to the $200 mark it would cost to thread).

Thank you for the help!



Thanks again.

 

[Deere_Man]

If you order a prefit larger than what is on the rifle, you will have to make the barrel channel larger to accommodate.

You can get a nice prefit for under $500, but if you can’t install it yourself, then a gunsmith will charge you another $200-$300.

Criterion Barrels Remage prefit |Northland Shooters Supply

Northland Shooters Supply offers prefit Remage barrels by Criterion barrels that are hand lapped match grade barrels, finished and fully chambered.

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Bolt Fluting and Barrel Fluting Price List

If I were you, I’d sell it and take the money to fund something already threaded that has the twist that you want.

But, If you are attached to the rifle, no reason not to keep it and make it what you want. $300 to cut and thread yours at 16” seems like the best way to save money.

What is your intended use of the rifle?

 

[KyleR1985]

Shaw custom barrels will probably be your best bet.

You can get what you want for 300 bucks.

Watch for black friday sale - may be closer to 250.00.


Still have to get old barrel off and new barrel headspaced. That all likely costs more than the barrel.

 

[River Reaper]

Thanks for the replies, both are very helpful.

I am attached to the rifle and don’t want to sell it… Primary use will be targets/varmints at the cheapest cost possible, as I have a good shooting 22ARC for the kids to hunt with come that time. I likely won’t shoot this one, at least not much, until it’s suppressed.

I didn’t know how close I could get to the cost to thread with a full barrel replacement, and you both have helped answer that. The stock is very tight around the existing barrel, so I figured I’d have some work to do there.

Any additional info/thoughts are welcomed!

 

[Banana_Horn]

That’s a sweet rifle, if it were me I would rebarrel it.

 

[Speaks]

No experience with Remmingtons. But was looking at price to cut and thread my Tikka and found I could order a brand new factory 16 with threads for $200 which was right around what cutting and threading my 22 would have cost. And in my case both already had the twist I wanted, in your case that would be a big factor.

In fairness though the tools I bought to do barrels swaps ran $400. I would not have done that for one gun but I wanted to re-barrel 3 which made the numbers make more sense. And 2 of mine were going to barrel burner cartridges so future swaps in 20 min at home made it worth it.

 

[Wrench]

Your only hope to come in at your budget is a Remmage barrel nut setup. You'll be forced to open the stock to fit the contour and barrel nut.

It's more than $150 to do chamber work.....plus the barrel cost.

 

[River Reaper]

Dropping it off at the gunsmith today actually to be chopped and threaded.

 

[Kaleb]

I think with the given budget a chop/thread is the best option.

Another good option but over budget is send to PacNor for a 1-7" contour dupe.

 

[Buckhead]

I have an 18.5" Modell 7 in .243 that is threaded. Due to the pencil barrel, it has 1/2x28 threads. Usually wears an Omega 300. Don't handload, shooting Sako 100 grain currently. Chronos at an average of 2,770 fps. My tree stand rig, limit my shots to a couple hundred yards.

Found a .260 Rem take off barrel and am considering swapping it out. It is 20", would probably cut it to 16 or 18". I think the heavier bullets would probably up the performance a bit.

 

[River Reaper]

Say I shoot a 73 ELD-M out of my 1:12, just to see what happens, as I’m a you can tell me the stove is hot but I’ll probably still touch it kind of guy. Is there any chance that it’s so unstable, it causes a baffle strike? Or is that hyper-unrealistic, and I’d likely simply see poor accuracy/tumbling down range?