So I have a decision to make. I purchased a xp100 in 221 Fireball, found another xp100 that came from a BenchRest shooters estate that was a Custom build, and another xp 221 fireball that survived a house fire and was in pieces with rust on the bolt, trigger, and action. The first one has a Redfield 2-7 pistol scope on it and will stay original. The others went to a local Smith for some attention. The custom build was checked out and verified to be a 7mm BR with a McMillan center grip stock with a very heavy stainless bull barrel. The Smith is soaking the rusty 221 and it is cleaning up nicely. The rusty 221 is going to be rebarreled...but into what, I’m not sure. Kind of thinking a 6.5 Grendel or a 223? Maybe rechamber the custom BR to a 7mm-08?

Any thoughts? The new build will stay a center grip and get a new McMillan stock.

7-30 waters is another choice

The dreaded “ring” in a 7-08 rechamber was the reason for the development of the 7mm IHMSA cartridge. Based on the .300 Savage case, it had less case body taper so it cleaned up the ring. Very popular in the 80s, finding a ‘smith with a reamer today might be a challenge....or not.



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The rusty 221 is going to be rebarreled...but into what, I’m not sure. K

What will be the purpose of the rebarreled 221 FB??

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Originally posted by Gary T:

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The rusty 221 is going to be rebarreled...but into what, I’m not sure. K

What will be the purpose of the rebarreled 221 FB??

The rebarrel on the rusty action is because I already have a pristine 221 Fireball. It had to be disassembled to clean everything up, so I might as well make it into something different. I’m thinking 223 is the way to go with it. No bolt face work needed, just a new barrel and stock and it will be back together. I already load for it and have a ton of components. The 7mm is the head scratcher as I currently don’t load for any 7mm calibers and would have to “tool up” along with selecting components. If I went 7mm-08 on the 7 BR, the barrel would be pulled, cut down, then rethreaded and chambered to eliminate the “ring”. Or a new barrel fitted chambered.

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The rusty 221 is going to be rebarreled...but into what, I’m not sure. Kind of thinking a 6.5 Grendel or a 223? Maybe rechamber the custom BR to a 7mm-08?

For varminting, the 223 Rem is always a good choice. I've got an XP in 22 BR and I really like it; it basically has 223 rifle performance in a 15" barrel. But going w/ the 22 BR would require opening up the bolt. I recently bought a Nosler Custom Handgun chambered in 22 Nosler. I really would've liked one in 223, but it's not chambered in 223. I'm about to finish load development w/ the 40 gr Nosler Varmageddon bullet. So far, I'm very pleased. I'm safely pushing the 40 gr bullets at 3500 fps w/ good accuracy. Rebarrelling the 221 to 22 Nosler wouldn't require any bolt work. Brass is only made by Nosler, but is also sold by Midway under their "Dogtown" brand. The #100 pieces of DT brass I have is good quality. I'm hoping Nosler supports the 22 N long into the future.

If you don't need a 7mm, have you considered a 6mm of some sort? 6 BR and 6 Dasher would be great rounds for varmint hunting and target shooting. My XP in 6 BR is one of my favorites.

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If you rechamber the 7mm B-R to a 7mm-08, chances are that it will leave a "ring" around all of your fired cases. Reason being, the 7mm B-R diameter at the shoulder is just a little bit bigger than what the 7mm-08 is at that junction.

What kind of problems does the "ring" pose, other than cosmetic?

I would be very careful about rebarreling a gun that has been through a fire, if it got very hot at all the heat treating will be compromised.

I would leave it as a center grip.