.240 Page Rechamber?

Greetings:

I have an old Bench Rifle I acquired many decades ago, a real beast, a 28" long, 1" diameter barrel chambered in .240 Page, with a U.S. Model 1917 Remington Action. I have many times, given thought to re-chambering this rifle to more modern cartridge, and turning down the barrel for a sporter...however, locating a Gunsmith with that expertise here in N. CA is difficult at best. It may be possible to re-chamber it in 6mm 284 or a 6mm-06, but......that business must be left to an expert.

Hopefully, someday, I will run across a Gunsmith that can advise me if it is worth the $$$.

Regards,

Don
:cool:

What twist barrel is it? Sometimes it’s just easier to rebarrel with the contour, twist, and caliber you want. I need to look up the dimensions of the 240 page to refresh my memory, but if you have the threads cut off and the barrel rechambered, you should be able to make it whatever you want.

Sounds like a very cool old rifle. Have any pictures?


JTD

JTD:

Just today I ran a (twist-test) twice... looks like a 1-10. I will have to shoot some images of it and send them to you. I have several 6MM rifles... a Rem 700 VLS chambered in .243, a very good shooter for dispatching ground squirrels at long distances and a Seko Vixin Sporter in 6mm PPC for the same purpose. Maybe its foolish to build up another 6mm except that I would like a fast long-haul 6mm for very long distance varmint shooting in the 500-700 yard range... that would exceed the .243 or the 6mm PPC. The Spitzer 6mm-06 is quite a Hot-Rod, maybe I should look closer at that cartridge.

I could be moving into an area of diminishing returns but, its worth the effort to investigate the possibilities.

Thanks for your reply,

Don
:cool:

I prairie dog hunted for years. The 6mm’s were my long distance dog guns.

Ive got a 6mm Remington. Factory 1-9” twist. Ive shot 87gr vmax and 105gr amax out of it. The 87’s shot flatter out to around 500yds. The 105’s were better past that.

My 6-284 is an 8” twist, that I’ve only ever shot 105gr amax and 105gr Berger vld’s out of. This rifle is exquisite at long range. I only ever brought it out if the shots were over 700yds.

240 weatherby 10” twist. This was my most expensive build and least favorite. I took a gunsmiths advice on caliber and twist and wouldn’t do either again, for this type of rifle. Don’t get me wrong. I killed many many prairie dogs with it, but found even the 6mm rem did better past 500 with its heavier bullets. This barrel with the 10” twist shot 70gr and 80gr nosler ballistic tips incredible, and I could reach way out there with them but I made more hits at long range with the heavier bullets.

I have a 243ackley with a 9” twist that I never really did much with. Ive got a good load with Hornady 75gr hp’s and H414, but never hunted with it. Whenever I dust my old dog guns off again, I will probably work up a load for the 105gr amax.

My 240 weatherby barrel is shot out and the 6-284 doesn’t have a whole lot of life left in it. Whenever I get around to rebarreling it will be with fast twist for heavy bullets.


JTD

Jeff:

L@@ks like you have some very nice Varmint Rifles. I have plenty but, always wanted to work on a Project Rifle.

For Varmints I shoot A (17-Rem- A Thompson Center with 14" BBL), A (Rem XP-100 in.17-222), A (Rem 700-BDL in.223), A (Rem 788 in 22-250), A (Rem VLS in 243) & A (Seko Vixin in 6MM PPC) for Varmints. Those rifles do well, the 6MM's can reach out to 500 Y pretty easily provide that the wind is not raging. But, I still want a Hot-Rod in 6MM, a foolish endavor possibly and probably a Senior Moment but, the desire for a project rifle exists non-the-less.

I got out the Nikon and shot a few of this beast, I should have put on a 14MM Wide Angle, I could have done a much better close-up, Oh Well.

Not certain if you can open these images up, I framed them in 4X6 while editing.??

Regards,

Don

Attachment 1643Attachment 1644Attachment 1645

Oh wow! What a beauty! I love old rifles, there is nothing like them ( to me anyways ). I definitely don’t think you are on a fools errand by any means. I was just throwing out what my time in the p-dog fields has taught me. Four different cartridges come to mind for the project you are looking at. The 6mm Remington Ackley Improved, 6-284, 6mm-06, and the 6mm-06 Ackley Improved. Any of those with the 87gr vmax would easily achieve what you are looking for.

My varmint rifles include:
17 fireball Rem700 sps varmint
17 Remington tikka varmint
204 ruger Rem700 vls
22 hornet NEF handi rifle
223 Rem700 ADL
22-250 Ackley savage bvss
22-250 Ackley Rem700 lilja barrel
220 Swift Rem700 vssf
220 Swift ruger no1
6ppc Williams action hart barrel
6mm Rem700 vs
243 Ackley Rem700 vls
6-284 Rem700 Kreiger barrel
240wby Rem700 lilja barrel

I’m hoping one of these days to hit the prairie dog fields again.


JTD

Jeff:

I have been consuming data on the 6mm-06 and the 6mm-284 all day. I finally decided to break away, ***INFORMATION OVERLOAD***

I believe I am zeroing in on a 6mm-06 AI or a 6mm-284 AI. Those should produce some nice flat trajectories out a few hundred yards. Keeping the loads tamed down a bit, should ensure longer barrel life as well. Now, finding a good Gunsmith, that is going to be a challenge. Years ago, I used Hunnintons & RCBS Gunsmiths up in Oroville but, most of those guys are gone now.

Regards,


Don
:cool: