BRNO HYBRID 7.62x51 / 308

[zain]

I always wished to have a bolt action hunting rifle chambered in 308/7.62x51 being a round of my choice as this round possess better ballistics qualities. But the prices of bolt action rifles chambered in 7.62x51/308 are insanely high in this part of world. Some friends came up with the suggestion of re-barreling a rifle in to 308. The idea seemed workable but since a 308 round generates an enormous chamber pressure thus it was a genuine matter of concern to select a rifle and design to withstand the gigantic pressure of 308 round . Finally , with the help and advice of a very knowledgeable friend , located overseas , having a practical experience of gunsmithing , the design of mauser 98 and caliber of 7x57 was chosen.








I had 2 rifles in 7x57 , a parker hale and a BRNO ZKK600, I always love BRNOs and selected the BRNO for rebarreling, though my friend opined that the bolt of a Parker Hale is nearer to the original mauser 98 bolt design. The integrated dovetail to mount scope was another plus in BRNO so I proceeded with it. My friend also gave a nod and told me that the action of ZKK 600 was the standard action that BRNO used in many calibers including 30-06.

The Barrel

The barrel of 308/7.62x51 was hardest thing to come by. Another friend told me availability of machine gun barrels, coming from Afghanistan (presumably supplied by NATO to Afghan Government Army who sale them subsequently) in the area bordering with Afghanistan. The area was extremely volatile and unstable, yet my craze for the gun drove me there. I remained there for several days and heard something horrible every day, but finally I got the job done and the task of re-barreling was accomplished. Here is the result

[zain]

The Zeroing Report

The people live in a primitive style here. Houses made from Mud. No electricity for days even weeks is a routine matter. The mobile coverage is the recent blessing of modern times but they are charged on batteries and money is charged on mobile charging. the village I went to zero the gun is situated at a buffer zone between civilization and stone age style of life as the dirt tracks end here and rough mountain tracks lead to rest of human dwellings situated deep down in the mountains . The distance is measured in nights on camel back. I had visited the caves those contain very old pictures made by their pre-historic residents. These caves of Stone Age human dwellings are located at the distance of two nights on camel back.
The modern life articles ( which are no more modern for all of any more) are a scare commodity here . Such scarcity so intense that there was not a proper table to be used as a rest. but I am used to it now and have adapted to use our cradle to grave companion, “the Cot” as a rest. This cot is very multi-dimensional tool. It is used as Chair, as a sofa, as a resting chair, as a table , as a dining table ,as a bed , as a hospital sick bed and yes, as a rest to zero a gun too. After one has breathed his last, his body is taken to grave on a cot also. Ashes to ashes , dust to dust . You may say that we are born and taken to be buried on a cot.

Due to lack of recreational facilities , everything that is done in a village is collective event and is watched upon with open eyes and dropped jaws keenly. Not only this but the event is talked about for days , weeks and months. If something extra-ordinary happens, it survives through the generation as an anecdote and every narrator adds the spices of his choice . so one has to be very careful in doing anything in any such like event if he does not want to be funny character of local folk lore .
I was well aware of the tradition and did not get bothered when a mob of all aged


It is obvious that when I cannot get a table and chair to be used as a rest so there is no question of availability of paper targets and stands to hold them. So I went a traditional way
I gathered five stones, wrapped a white tissue on them and placed one at the distance of 200 meters.
The stone wrapped in white tissue to enhance the visibility


Sighted the gun through bore at first stage and then inserted the bolt and fired first shot. it was bit low and on left side, so I clicked the required increments up and right and in this way in 10 to 12 shots I hit the stone . It turned in to dust. second stone was put and was hit it as well. Then I put 5 stones and loaded 5 bullets in a row and started to hit one by one. 4were hit out of 5and missed only one. There were some stones which puffed away like s smoke or powder but there were some stone stubborn enough just to bounce away having a scar of P.O.I only.

Here is one.

[zain]

Zeroing Report continues

The stone puffed away by bullet impacts. The craters caused by bullet force




On my return I started my favorite hunt. “waterfowling with a .22LR” my friends were quick to point at Gad-walls and teals sitting at a distance that was even beyond the reach of .22LR . the distance was no less than 225 meters . we were standing at an angle that was about 60 degree inclination and the bullet must have hit ground and there was tens of miles of un -inhabited area ahead of our fire . So I took the rifle , loaded a 7.62x51 round in it , put the gun on the roof of my vehicle and aimed . At the very same moment, the bird I was aiming at, started to feed. It was moving randomly and was very hard to shoot . I kept waiting in that posture for nearly 6 to 8 minutes and finally the bird started to move in straight line of my fire . I aimed at his “dead centre chest “and fired. I saw , in scope the bird blowing up with the power of bullet and turned to its side. It was retrieved by my hunting buddies and this is what remains out of it.

(GRAPHIC) .

[zain]

We proceeded further and saw other birds at the nearly same distance. These birds were sitting quietly. I again aimed at one and fired. This time the bullet just zipped through it. Perhaps the difference between the result of two shots is caused by movement and stationary states of birds .These two shots made me to feel intoxicated for several days .
While at the village I saw a sig Saur bolt action 308 rifle which one of the resident of village had one in a long range shooting competition few days ago. I did not have the chance to shoot it side by side mine as the owner was not there and he had zeroed his rifle at the palce in same manner by hitting the stones . I didn’t miss , however, the chance of photographing the same side by side . The bolt of this rifle is not a traditional mauser action rather a push feed as shown in photographs.

[2damnold4this]

Interesting project. Is 7x57 ammunition hard to come by in your area?

[tobnpr]

The Mauser action is a K98K that had already been converted to 7.62 Nato by the State of Israel. There should be some proofs as well as the "7.62" stamped on the receiver.

So how did you get a 7.62 machine gun barrel threaded and headspaced onto that Mauser action? If you can't even find a gun rest in that part of the world, it's surprising that you'd find a gunsmith with a capable lathe...

Gotta say, interesting post. What country are you from that borders Afghanistan?

Coincidentally, I have an Israeli Mauser in all it's pieces on my gun bench right now. It was pretty badly rusted...I've completely disassembled it, bead blasted all the parts, and I'm in the process of re-blueing it prior to re-assembly.

Boy, would I love to get my hands on one of those barrels...

[Rob228]

That is a pretty fat barrel contour for coming off of a 7.62 machine gun, unless it is the camera angles.

[skizzums]

very interesting post. very cool to see how people are doing things in other parts of the world.

that is some real dedication hunting the streets for a machine gun barrel. i'll bet that heavy barrel shoots great. looks like you got a nice crown on it to. congratulations

[Jimro]

I'm guessing by the dress of people in photographs Zain is from Pakistan. The dangerous area would be the FATA, Federally Administered Tribal Area. There are three main border crossing points for trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Torkhum Gate, Kandahar Province, and a smaller crossing point going into Khost. There are too many "unofficial" crossing sites on the border to count, so it is largely impossible to narrow down the area, except that the the geography looks like Balochistan province, possibly south and west of Quetta.

I was not aware of 7.62zx51 machine gun barrels being issued to any Afghan units as the Russian 7.62x54r PK machine gun family is the standard I've seen used by Afghan security forces. There have been a number of shipping containers tampered and looted, so it isn't outside the realm of possibility of a 240G or 240B barrel made it into the markets, or things just got lost in a war zone (happens more often than I care to think about).

Suffice to say, that BRNO 600 is a very fine action to build on and I hope you enjoy your customized rifle.

Jimro

[Magnum Wheel Man]

Interesting story... we are so lucky in America when it comes to firearms & custom work... I can't imagine having to physically go through those hoops to get a rifle of your choice...

The BRNO is an excellent action... I used one originally chambered in 30-06 to build a 6.5 X 284 long range rifle... everything was trued up on the action, & honestly it didn't need much work... if your action was the same vintage, I expect you have a very accurate rifle...

as far as gun smith work, that area ( in general ) is known for village gun smithing, it's amazing what they can accomplish with simple hand tools... I bought a Martini Carbine in 303 Brit at a gun show ( in the states ) that was marked & looked every bit original, as an Enfield, which turned out to be a copy, when we got inside the receiver it was apparent, but outwardly, there was very little evidence that it was not an original Enfield...

if the barrel was good to start with, you should have a fine shooting rifle...

[zain]

The gun smith said the machine gun's barrel was German . Now you guys are invited to crack the nut as to which German machine gun it could be . It has a threaded part too , which was ward off in gunsmithing process

[tobnpr]

My guess is MG3...but that barrel looks like it might be longer than 22"

[Jim Watson]

That is a fascinating account of how things are done in different lands.
It just goes to show that a shooter will figure out a way to shoot.

It looks to me like the machine gun barrel has been nicely tapered to a sporter profile and well blued. Not much chance of identifying the source from the appearance.

The idea seemed workable but since a 308 round generates an enormous chamber pressure thus it was a genuine matter of concern to select a rifle and design to withstand the gigantic pressure of 308 round .

You were laboring under a misconception. The chamber pressure of the .308 Winchester is not enough higher than that of the 7.62x51 NATO to bother with. There has been a lot of confusion due to .308 specifications being drawn in pounds per square inch by pizeoelectric transducer and the 7.62 still being rated by the old crusher gauge method, now called CUP, Copper Units of Pressure. When tested by the same method, both are very close.

The military chamber is somewhat larger for reliable operation while hot and dirty and with wartime ammunition of lower quality than peacetime issue or commercial cartridges. It obviously has not hurt your rifle's accuracy.

[Jimro]

The MG3 has a 22" barrel, so that fits. Although when I was in Afghanistan the Germans were operating out of RC North, which is generally much more montainous terrain than the pictures you posted. However other NATO allies such as the Italians use variants of the MG3, so it isn't like the odds of an MG3 barrel ending up across the border are unheard of.

Really interested in the technique to plug the gas port. I'm guessing tapping the hole, installing a screw, and tack welding in place, but that really is just a guess.

Jimro

[Jim Watson]

Gas port? What gas port? The MG3 is a descendant of the WWII MG42, roller locked and recoil operated.

[Jimro]

Jim Watson,

You are correct. My mind got stuck on the Canadian Leopards that deployed to Afghanistan, which use the FN MAG as their coax machine gun. I got stuck on the idea cutting down a 24" FN MAG coax barrel. Either not enough coffee or just a case of "sometimers" syndrome.

Thanks for the catch.

Jimro

[zain]

a clue , the machine gun is not The MG3. the barrel is 22 inches

[Rob228]

The barrel is currently 22 inches or it was originally 22? Looking at 1919 barrel pics right now and the contour looks fairly close, but didn't you say it was German?

[steveNChunter]

I'll play the guessing game. How about an HK21E (which is a G3 variant) as the source of the barrel?

[5thShock]

Thanks for your post zain. We are lucky to have your voice at this fire to tell us things from lands far away. Handsome rifle and a nice shot on that bird.

[zain]

It is definitely a German MG barrel , but the model I was told by the Gun smith can not be recollected for now . But it shoots excellently . I have gotten a SKS converted into A 5.56 semiautomatic rifle too , and as far as my poor internet searching skills show, it might be the first of any winking converted rifles seen on Internet

[barnbwt]

Zain, is it fairly easy to get a hold of someone to do simple machine work for you over there? It's funny, but there are likely many more lathes/mills per person in these so-called "less developed" parts of the world than our self-proclaimed "civilized" society here in the states. Gunsmiths in the US are typically months behind with other jobs, and machine work is seen as some kind of lost art or dark magic to the vast majority of Americans --gunsmithing even more so.

An acquaintance of my brother's once journeyed from Texas to Brazil on a bicycle, and it was very interesting to hear how whenever something on the bike broke, he simply paid a local machinist to make a replacement part (since ordering a replacement was always either impossible or incredibly expensive). Even in the most remote villages, he didn't have an issue finding and then bartering for these odd-jobs.

That machinegun barrel should last you a good, long time. The profile looks pretty heavy, still, so it should be plenty accurate; machine guns actually have very high quality barrels, so they can handle the high volume of fire and still deliver bullets accurately where needed. You said your other rifle was in 7mm; is that cartridge still pretty common over there? It's actually fairly hard to find at a good price, here, which is a shame since many good rifles use the also-good cartridge.

TCB