25-06 M17 (extreme bubbarizing ahead!)

[Heckler303]

Alright, while on the hunt for some spare parts for my target rifle, on sale was a 25-06 M17 and it was a mere 150 bucks, bolt included. Not wanting to pass it up, it was picked up and brought home after arriving at the LGS.

"My god." I thought, as I looked at it.

"What a piece of crap"



Did they file away some of the metal with a hacksaw?



I think the buttpad was made from a shoe....



Bubba scope mount incorporated



Now the most BS thing about it was not its condition, but the fact when I dropped in a 25-06 cartridge, it refused to chamber. So after a trip to the gunsmith to take the barell out and take it apart alongside removing the scope rings, it turns out the rifle and the boltface were modified to use 303-25!

So here is a rifle listed for a completely different caliber than what its supposed to be in, with a chamber only half reamed out AND a boltface as butt-ugly as Gina Rineheart, which was labelled good condition and 'safe to shoot'.

Sigh, never mind. It's gonna sit the safe and someday be made into a custom rifle when I get the proper tools to do a good job on it. I really wanted a 25-06 for deer here in Tasmania, so I'll need the bolt face to be repaired and the chamber re-reamed. What fun

Thanks for reading. I'm practicing my refurbishing skills on the stock as I type this, I'll get a photo of it soon.

[Wm.Traynor]

No offence mate, Really but that stock looks like it will need some skill to refurbish. Still, it's all good, clean fun and keeps you off the streets

That weld (?) on the front receiver ring worries me. Could it have spoiled the original heat treatment?

[<<Genesis93>>]

So it chambers neither a 25-06 nor a 303-25??

Was it a private sale or a dealer sale? Dealer should have his own rear reamed for selling a safe to shoot rifle not chambered correctly.... but more info required...

For 150, it would be worth it even if quoted at 'not fully chambered' for a certain round....

The front mount loks properly welded on..... but I would never weld adjacent to the lug abutments....

[Heckler303]

So it chambers neither a 25-06 nor a 303-25??

Was it a private sale or a dealer sale? Dealer should have his own rear reamed for selling a safe to shoot rifle not chambered correctly.... but more info required...

For 150, it would be worth it even if quoted at 'not fully chambered' for a certain round....

The front mount loks properly welded on..... but I would never weld adjacent to the lug abutments....

Well, I took the barrel and dropped in a 303-25. Slipped in to fit it just right. But the chamber only appears to be half-reamed out for it.

[Heckler303]

No offence mate, Really but that stock looks like it will need some skill to refurbish. Still, it's all good, clean fun and keeps you off the streets

Good to hear that then, I thought it turned out pretty well:










Skill? Nah. Just keep working at it and you can make anything look good.

[juststarting]

Does look good!

[Title_II]

Would not shoot. And I'm pretty crazy by US standards.

[Wm.Traynor]

Does look good!

Yep. I take it all back. It looks good

[GLS_1956]

First I'd get a chamber cast made to find out for sure the proper cartridge. Second thought was that it might have been a P-14 made by Eddystone, but then I enlarged the picture and saw the 17 so that was out, however could it have a bolt from an American made P-14 instead of having the 17's bolt modified?

Options that I see are to, if the rechambering is a shoddy job, is to get a barrel in 303, or a 303 based round, or get an 1917 bolt and get a barrel in the caliber of your choice that uses that bolt face.

[Heckler303]

First I'd get a chamber cast made to find out for sure the proper cartridge. Second thought was that it might have been a P-14 made by Eddystone, but then I enlarged the picture and saw the 17 so that was out, however could it have a bolt from an American made P-14 instead of having the 17's bolt modified?

Options that I see are to, if the rechambering is a shoddy job, is to get a barrel in 303, or a 303 based round, or get an 1917 bolt and get a barrel in the caliber of your choice that uses that bolt face.

Well, the bolt is definitely the Eddystone M17 bolt that started life with the rifle when it was produced. But it's been hacked about to fit the rim of a .303. I'll get a comparison photo of a my other Eddystone's bolt and this one at some point. I really want to keep the 25 Caliber barrel, as it's already worth $700 for the barrel which hasn't seen any use yet aside from a brush.

If I get the bolt face repaired and the chamber reamed out, I really want to make it a 25-06. But that's not going to happen for a long while yet, so now it just sits in the safe as the 'spare parts' gun.

[GLS_1956]

Heckler303:

If it has been partially reamed to the 303-25 will you have enough barrel left to have it setback and rechambered for the 25/06?

[Heckler303]

Heckler303:

If it has been partially reamed to the 303-25 will you have enough barrel left to have it setback and rechambered for the 25/06?

Well, I can get it reamed and re-chambered for both cartridges. I tried slipping the rim of a 303 just onto the bolt face with the extractor turned and even then it wouldn't fit. And the a 25-06 slides off either way. You'd need to see a picture of it to know just how bubbarized this thing is.

[Title_II]

I've already seen enough.

Nice work on the stock, though.

[<<Genesis93>>]

while the barrel was off did you check out the lug abutments for set back? could be a game changer

Well, I took the barrel and dropped in a 303-25. Slipped in to fit it just right. But the chamber only appears to be half-reamed out for it.

provided the 25-06 round slid no more than half way in..... and the 303-25 when fully in snuggly..... then it sound like it is 303-25, maybe the barrel had been set back and no -re-reamed....

303-25 will cleanly ream to 25-06, even if fully chambered in 303-25

[Heckler303]

while the barrel was off did you check out the lug abutments for set back? could be a game changer

Well, I took the barrel and dropped in a 303-25. Slipped in to fit it just right. But the chamber only appears to be half-reamed out for it.

provided the 25-06 round slid no more than half way in..... and the 303-25 when fully in snuggly..... then it sound like it is 303-25, maybe the barrel had been set back and no -re-reamed....

303-25 will cleanly ream to 25-06, even if fully chambered in 303-25

Nope, haven't checked that yet. Thanks for that comparison photo though, the gunsmith did notify us saying that it can still be a 25-06 if we want the work done on it, I'll save the photo and show the old man.

[Bark]

Cool comparison picture

[<<Genesis93>>]

Cool comparison picture

Its the CIP spec max cartridge (as opposed to chamber min) dimensions, I con convert any chambering to an CAD format.... pretty easily (after a not so easy bit of work in the middle, effectively outputting bunch of excel data to cad.... ) only bit I could not resolve was the radii at the body/shoulder and shoulder/neck... which might be say, 2mm as opposed to an abrupt change in direction....

If you'd like any comparo, just ask....handy for the "can I ream it" type question

[MR. WINCHESTER]

What does "bubbarizing" mean ?

[Title_II]

Bubba gun.

[Ariat]

What does "bubbarizing" mean ?

The dodgiest home repairs an idiot will make basically.