Rechambering a 7BR XP100.....

[DocIndy]

So long story short, I picked up a custom Remington XP100 that was chambered in 7mm BR. 7BR is a hand-loaders caliber and brass has been discontinued by Remington so what's out there is salty. This XP is already in a McMillan stock with a stainless bull barrel and trigger work. I want to deer and maybe hog hunt with this, so its going to be modified. I'm thinking of having the barrel pulled, threads cut off and the then rethreaded. The profile needs turned down and maybe flutes to lighten it up so its more hunting role friendly. Once reinstalled it will be rechambered in ??????? Here lies the problem. I'm not sure which way to go with it. 7mm-08 is very tempting. Is there another round commercially available that would make more sense? 7mm-08 would save the cost of a new barrel.

 

[Clay Pigeon]

Myself I would leave it alone and order a few hundred Lapua 6mm benchrest pieces of brass and size them up. A buck a case is much less that changing calibers.
And if you get a few hundred pieces of small primer brass you should have enough for the life of that barrel.

 

[Tactically Fat]

I don't know if this a good price or not... https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/83136

But I also think 7mm-08 would be neat, too.

Glad it's not my decision to make. ;-)

 

[patience0830]

Sounds like he might not be a handloader and want's something he can buy off the shelf. Although I do take your point. I'd just rebarrel it entirely in a profile and caliber he likes. Prolly as cheap or cheaper than the work he's talking about and he could sell the BR bbl to help defray the cost.

 

[DocIndy]

I have no idea how many rounds this barrel has seen. I like the idea of 7mm-08 being available in factory ammo if I don’t have handloads ready when needed. I’m open to other options as well if there is a better option.

 

[Whip_McCord]

I have an XP-100 in 7mm BR that my wife bought me for Christmas decades ago from a friend that moved out of the area. For silhouette shooting, I installed a rear-grip stock that went better with my preferred shooting position: dead frog. There used to be factory 7mm BR ammo from Remington, but it looks like that is a collector's item now. I did see a place that makes custom ammo and lists 7mm BR as one of the cartridges the load. See link below.

Single Shot Pistol Ammunition - Big Bore Pistol Ammunition

Before that, I was looking at another XP-100 in 7mm-08. I shot some factory ammo at our range in that pistol. With the standard mid-grip stock on the XP-100, I did not find 7mm-08 to be a comfortable round to shoot in this gun. Certainly not for a 40-round silhouette match. Hunting would be less shooting, so it might not be too bad. You did not say whether your McMillan stock was mid or rear grip.


It might be cheaper to get a T/C Encore in a rifle caliber you want that does not require handloading. That would also save the cost of replacing the barrel. Then sell or trade the XP-100. I have two T/C Contenders with 9 barrels, but am not familiar with current Encore offerings. You can get multiple barrels (rifle and pistol lengths) for the Encore too. Might be something to look at.

 

[DocIndy]

I have a Encore rifle/muzzle loader but always have wanted an XP. I've bought 3.... one is a plain jane 221 Fireball and will stay that way. One is a 221 Fireball that was in need of some attention. That one is getting re-barreled to either a 6.5 Grendel or a .223. I picked up the 7BR with the project Fireball. I'd rather have a caliber that has plenty of options for brass and If I have the barrel pulled, chopped, and rechambered, I can keep the 7mm barrel and repurpose it.

 

[Whip_McCord]

I have a Encore rifle/muzzle loader but always have wanted an XP. I've bought 3.... one is a plain jane 221 Fireball and will stay that way. One is a 221 Fireball that was in need of some attention. That one is getting re-barreled to either a 6.5 Grendel or a .223. I picked up the 7BR with the project Fireball. I'd rather have a caliber that has plenty of options for brass and If I have the barrel pulled, chopped, and rechambered, I can keep the 7mm barrel and repurpose it.

OK, makes sense. Like I said though, factory 7mm-08 ammo is pretty stout in the XP, especially with the mid-grip. The 221 Fireball is pretty cool. Good luck.

 

[Hohn]

The problem with re-chambering a 7mm barrel is that anything with common ammo availability is way more than you honestly want to be shooting from an XP100. I'd sell off the barrel and step down to something 6mm. A .243 or 6 creedmoor would give you ammo availability (.243 obviously being FAR superior in this regard). Not many of the "ideal" 6mm like a 6br or 6PPC have factory ammo you can source without a big hassle.

Personally, I'd set it up as a .243 with 9 twist. You don't want to try to run the thing to 600+ anyway and you don't need the super high BC bullets that require the 8 twists or more.

You could easily do the REM/age conversion and go to a barrel nut and have the whole conversion done for $400.