Planetcat

I have a 20" .30-06 barrel and bolt that came on my R1 that I only used a couple of times before I replaced it with the .300 wm barrel. It's been a long while since I shot it, but it was very accurate for a short barreled .30-06. I also have a spare .300 win mag barrel and bolt that I had cut down by Ryan Pearce and threaded + muzzle brake that sits at about 21.5" without the brake. They are both blued cryobarrels and are very clean, no rust or pitting, some light muzzle wear. I'd be willing to sell either or both. DM me for deets. If you can't DM, send email to [email protected].

Glad you're enjoying it! I’ve shot several hogs with my R1 .30-06 using the 165 grain fusion ammo. Mushrooms perfectly on them at all practical ranges.

My .30-06, .300wm and .338 wm are all sub MOA with the right lead bonded bullets. The .30's like 165 grain and the .338 likes 210-225 grain. Hornady Interbond/Interlock, Federal blue box soft points, or Federal Fusion shoot the best. I have to hunt with copper bullets and use Barnes or Federal Trophy Copper, but they're not as accurate as the others, but accurate enough to drop deer and hogs and decent ranges.

Eurooptic dot com has one in .308 with the comfortech stock. https://www.eurooptic.com/benelli-r1-308-win-22-black-griptight-w-base-3-1-rifle-11778 And they have the wooden stock premium endurance model also in .308: https://www.eurooptic.com/benelli-r1-endurance-308-win-walnut-semi-auto-rifle-11781 I have two R1's and a BAR shortrac in .308. I like all of them a lot and have had them for at least 8 years or more. The BAR is very accurate and less finicky with ammo than the Benelli's, but the magazine configuration is terrible. The fit and finish of the Benelli is better and the magazines pop in and out easily and are readily available. The comfortech stock really recoils much less than the wooden model, even in my .338 win mag version. If you want an R1, I would get one of those two as they have become scarcer and scarer every year. Eurooptic is a great seller with fantastic service and professionalism. I've bought three rifles and a pistol from them - all without any hiccups. And I live across the country from their shop too. Keep us posted on what you decide.

I just bought a new Benelli Nova Field (non-comfortech) and the LOP is too long for me especially with hunting clothes/jacket on. After combing this forum and the entire internet for a thinner recoil pad (difficult to shorten stock), I found nothing. So I thought I'd see if the 1/2" thick Benelli recoil pad from my 2018 R1 comfortech stock and it fit perfectly! Now to find one of those pads. The LOP is perfect with the thinner pad for me and reduces it by about 1/2" or so. I'm willing to take the 3-1/2" goose loads punishment for a better fitting shotgun. This is the Nova with the fully integrated stock/receiver model. The stock is not removable like the Super Nova. Here's some pictures...

My wood model is 15 years old. Not sure about the newer ones. My .338 wm is synthetic and the coating on the metal parts is very durable. I believe the receiver is aluminum too. The nice thing about the synth models is that they have the comfortech stocks. I can tell you that it reduces felt recoil over the wood models.

The matte black finish is very much like cerakote-very durable and weather proof. Obviously the synthetic stocks are as well. The blued/wooden stock models would not be as good. Although, I’d had my original R1 blued model for about 15 years and it’s been in pouring rain hunts with no adverse effects. I just wipe it clean and dry as soon as I can. My safe has a dehumidifier, too.

It will not damage the crown one bit. I’ve found that the crio barrels on these rifles produce a very durable steel that’s really hard to damage.

I have a 15 year old one in .30-06 and .300 wm (blued/wood) and a newer one in .338 wm with comfortech stock and black finish. I would say with the right ammo, they all shoot MOA on a lead sled. I shoot non-lead ammo and I've found that most ammo shoots well out of them except Hornady gmx. 165 or 180 grain in the .30 cals and 210 or above in the .338. For range ammo, Federal blue box soft points are very accurate. For hunting, Federal trophy copper works great.

I had a gunsmith cut the barrel down on my .300 Wm R1 from 24" to 20", threaded, and added a muzzle brake with no adverse accuracy issues, just loss of exit velocity. I use it for deep woods bear hunting. It was a blued crio barrel and came out pretty good. I would def have a gunsmith professionally cut and crown the barrel though. A properly machined crown is important for accuracy.

Nice write up. Thanks for sharing your project! Looks good.

I had this happen to my browning shotgun (very common). I removed the stock and forearm, sprayed it with krylon clear matte, and put it in the oven for 30 minutes at 250*. Like new and never got sticky again. A bit radical, I know, but used replacement stocks were cheap and a plenty, so if it failed, I could easily replace it.

I use the Warne maxima split rings on both the benelli rail and a Warne/Browning rail on my .338 R1. When I mount the scopes on them, I tap the butt of the rifle on the floor with the rings at about 5-8 in lbs, then torque to recommended setting. This seats them against the rail slot, and they’ve never moved even on the .338 wm.

I have the 20” and 22” barrels for my 15 year old R1. They are both very accurate! I’ve successfully gotten quite a few hogs and deer with the 20”. If you go to the benelli website and shop, they have 20” barrels for the .30-06 and .300 win mag for sale. My recent post with a November hog I got was with the 22” .30-06. 150 yards or so, one shot 180 grain trophy copper ammo.

I don’t have wsm’s, but in my .30-06, .300wm, and .338wm R1’s, I have feeding issues if I don’t push the rounds all the way back in the mag so the bottom is flush with the magazine.

Shot this sow last weekend with my R1 in .30-06. One shot at about 150 yards did the trick. Federal trophy copper 180 grain. Thought I’d share…

My .30-06 R1 is very old, 20" barrel and shoots 165 and 180's really well (1" group max). Federal blue box soft points, Hornady Interlocks shoot the best in 165 or 180 gr. I hunt with copper, and get decent groups with Barnes TTSX and Federal Trophy Copper too. The rifle is not terribly finicky with ammo, but there are definitely ammo's it doesn't like. I found that 150 gr. shoot terrible, no matter what brand. I also have .300wm and .338 R1's and they're all pretty consistent with the .30-06.

Congrats on your purchase. You’ll enjoy that rifle. I bought an R1 .338 win mag in 2019. I’ve hunted with it quite a bit, shot a couple hundred rounds at the range, and clobbered a nice hog with it. They run great, but you need to clean it after shooting and shoot clean, quality ammo out of it. It’s not like an old bolt action you can just let it sit and rust and it’ll still shoot. As an aside, my 15 year old R1 in .30-06 is the most accurate rifle I own. It’s been soaked in rain, dropped in mud, and has over 1,000 shots through it. I would carry that rifle in any situation.

My .300wm and .30-06 prefer heavier bullets, lead ones like fusion, soft points, interbond, etc. in 165 or 180 grains. The copper and Hornady gmx, not as good in any weight. Federal blue box soft points shoot the best in every rifle I own (8 or so).

If you’re positive that the barrel is locked all the way down on the receiver, I would check the overall length of the cartridge and make sure it’s within standard specs. I’ve heard of this happening with 200 grain bullets in .30 caliber cartridges on other rifles. I interchange between .30-06 and .300wm without issue, but typically shoot 165 or 180 grain factory ammo. Now, you said “an older R1”, so it’s very possible the recoil plunger spring is wearing out. My wooden R1 is about 15 years old and I replaced the plunger assembly about 5 years ago after failures to feed with the .30-06. But I’d think it would affect your .308 too. The .308 is very short compared to the .300 though. I’m assuming you’re using .300 wm magazines, since the rounds probably wouldn’t even fit in .308 mags. That’s all I got. ?

If your budget is around $700 and you want a new caliber to shoot, get the barrel. The barrels work great for switching calibers, and if they’re both scoped and sighted in, they will both be at zero when you install it. I just put my .300wm barrel back on. Now I have to go to the range to sight it in. If I had had a scope on it, the zero with the .30-06 barrel would have been very close on the .300. Were it not for an ammo shortage, price gouging, and a big inconvenience for me to go to the range, I’d get more barrels. It's also worth noting that the wood model barrels fit fine on the comfortech stocks. I find myself looking at BAR’s more over the R1. I have a bar shortrac in .308 and it’s a fantastic rifle, very accurate. I do like the new Lupo bolt gun too.

I asked them a couple of years ago and they said they had no plans to. So I ended up just buying the whole rifle. Nice shooter and very accurate. Also, I have a .30-06 and .300 wm barrel for my wooden model but only keep the .30-06 on and haven't shot the .300 in years. I don't like to go to the range to resight it in, but admittedly when I used to swap out the barrels, both zeroed at the same point.

You have to pull out the bolt throw. Just wiggle it while pulling on it and it will come out. Then the bolt won’t be blocked from sliding out the back of the barrel.

The Benelli store on their website should have them. I recently saw the .308 barrel listed there.