Best system for swaping bbl's on a Savage

[Baddog0302]

I'm planning to build a switch bbl system on a Savage action. Since the bbl.action has to come out of the stock, and the scope has to be removed to allow the bbl.nut wrench access to the nut, I'm wondering what is the best / easiest system to use; a bbl. vice and the wrench, secure the wrench in a bench vice and use either a through the mag. well action wrench, OR ???

Thank you

 

[tome]

Action wrench & nut wrench ...piece of thick carpet on the floor..position the action so as to be able to stand in the action wrench &hit the nut wrench with hammer..been no problem

 

[NorCalMikie]

I quit using an action wrench after finding that it squeezed the action enough that the barrel wouldn't move without squeaking till I loosened it up. (that was the last time. )
Nut wrench over the barrel, (action out of the stock and scope still mounted) positioned on a padded surface, one smack with a steel hammer on the nut wrench to transfer the "shock" to the nut.
Spin the barrel off and replace with the next (well lubed) one, snug the nut in the same way but different direction. First time the nut may be tight. After that, smooth as silk.
Small piece of masking tape in front of the nut to tell if it ever moves. Never had one move yet but I've only swapped about 15 so far. Double check your headspace after the nut is snugged. Done deal. 8)

 

[tome]

Your saying use just the nut wrench .... No barrel vice or action wrench

 

[NorCalMikie]

tome:
That's what works best for me. Got an action wrench but it hasn't been out of the box in years.
First time, maybe yes. After that, not needed IMHO. I don't make it a practice of trying to brake the barrel off tightening the nut up either. Snug works. Once the nut is snug, it won't back off. Keep an eye on it but over the years, I've never had one come loose and like I said, I've done a BUNCH and never had any problems.
I tighten the nut (with the nut wrench) by thumping it with my hand. Easy to brake loose and no movement "ever". I like doing it on the floor on carpet. No mars on the action or barrel.
I don't use headspace gauges either. Full length sized brass. Got rid of all mine. Don't plan to "ever" use factory loaded ammo so no issues with ammo not chambering. Super long brass life. Shoulder bump and neck size works for me. 25+ reloading and still going strong.
Just did two yesterday. Took all of 5 minutes. One 20 VT and one 20 VT "short".
Snug the barrel up on your brass, run the nut up and smack the wrench. Open and close the bolt to get the feel you want. Double check and go shooting.
Feel free to use an action wrench if it makes you feel better.
I've even swapped barrels at the range. The nut is never "too tight" that I havn't been able to brake it loose. Padded surface, nut wrench to brake the nut loose. Spin the barrel off and the new one on. Snug it up and check your headspace. Ready to shoot a different round. One action. lots of barrels. 8)

 

[Baddog0302]

THANK YOU,
N.C.Mikie, I like your way of doing this, espically "at the range part".
By using a dedicated FL sized case as your "go gauge" do you ever have problems with using neck sized brass when you come back to that Bbl.?
Example; you shoot a 223 bbl. than change to a 6x47 bbl. then come back the the 223 bbl.that you have neck sized and loaded the brass. Do you ever have and 223 cases that are "tight to chamber" ??

 

[NorCalMikie]

Same chamber, same brass. If the bolt will close on that fired brass, use it. Nothing has changed. Just set it up to the "feel" that you like when you snug down the barrel and you're shooting again. Neck sized brass may starting getting snug after maybe 4 or 5 firings. That's when you run them through a body die to bring it back to size. Still have the same neck size and shoulder position. Either full length resize or shoulder bump and neck size if needed. It's your choice.
Full length resizing works the whole case. IMHO, more than needed.
Next thing you know, it's trimming time. The more you work your brass, the shorter it's life is.
The full length die expander ball pulls the neck every time it's resized. It'll need trimming before too loong.
My brass hasn't been trimmed since it was new. It doesn't grow when shoulder bumped and neck sized.
When you first set your headspace, mark the barrel position. The next time you install that barrel, go back to that mark and you're REAL CLOSE. I happen to have nuts that stays on each barrel so there's not a lot of guess work. Maybe 1/8 th of a turn and the nut is loose.
Size a case, mark it and put it away for when you swap that barrel again. That's your gauge.
If the brass that was just fired in "that" barrel will chamber without any extra force to close the bolt, no extra sizing is neded. If it's snug, it needs resizing before you use it for a gauge.
Lots of folks think that full length resizing every time is needed. I'am not one of them. Good thing we all don't think the same way. Sure would be a dull world.
What it boils down to is what works best for "YOU".

 

[Nomad47]

I had been planning for the last five or six days to swap barrels on my Savage PTA today. After reading about NorCalMikie's method, I was anxious to give it a try.
First, my barrel nut wrench would not fit between scope and barrel (Mikie, you must have some very tall scope mounts). So I removed the scope. Next, my 20 MOA rail hangs over the barrel nut, so there is no way to get the barrel nut wrench on the barrel nut with the scope base still attached.
So it was back to my original way of swapping barrels - on top of my portable shooting/reloading bench, no vise. Bolt closed on the go gauge, would not close with one layer of Scotch Magic tape added to the back of the go gauge.

 

[Erik Cortina]

I'm planning to build a switch bbl system on a Savage action. Since the bbl.action has to come out of the stock, and the scope has to be removed to allow the bbl.nut wrench access to the nut, I'm wondering what is the best / easiest system to use; a bbl. vice and the wrench, secure the wrench in a bench vice and use either a through the mag. well action wrench, OR ???

Thank you

The easiest way is to sell your Salvage action and buy a Remington 700 or clone.

The next easiest way is to set it up like a Remington. Do away with the barrel nut and have a shoulder on the barrel and set up headspace that way. No need to remove scope or stock and will not need headspace gauges or brass. Clamp barrel in barrel vice, insert rear entry action wrench and loosen barrel with stock and scope still attached. Insert new barrel, hand tighten, clamp on barrel vice, and tighten using rear entry action wrench.

 

[1holeaddict]

Jim Briggs from Northland stated many times that if you dont use an action wrench sooner or later u will end up with a very expensive paper weight. Just quoting Jim

 

[NorCalMikie]

Sell your Savage and buy a Remington 700 or clone? That's one way to get it done but it's not a Savage action. You still have to have a "smith" set up the shoulder and headspace. That takes time and $$.
Not as easy as swapping barrels on a Savage.
High mounts and rings so the barrel nut wrench will clear? You bet!
One piece Bench Source mount and high rings. The mount "fits" the action and doesn't hang over either end. And "all" the holes line up and and the base doesn't cover any of the action opening. No "one size fits all" bases for me.
Rear action wrench? That's another way to go.
If you don't use an action wrench, sooner or later u will end up with a very expensive paper weight?
Not as expensive as a Remington 700 or clone. Not counting the cost of having the barrels set up by a smith and not taking into consideration the wait time to get the work done. In that case, you better plan ahead.
Like I said before, it works for me.
If you have any reservation about using an action wrench or not, get one and be done with it.
Mine is still in the box. Won't use it again. Swapping barrels without it and doing just fine thank you! ;D
If it takes two men and a boy to brake the barrel nut loose, IMHO it's too damn tight!
NEVER had one of my barrels come loose the way I do it and I also take pretty good care of them so they don't get beat up. And like I said before, it's a good think we all don't think the same.
As far as Jim Briggs (Northlander)? I'll leave him out of this. He's a good man. 8)

 

[tome]

I always take the scope & base off..savage doesn't give you much meat...so the front base screws might be in the barrel threads...NorCal ..as you know..breaking the factory barrel for the 1st time is the bitch..once you put whatever back on...you don't have to over tighten the barrel nut..it's easy from there on..I only have one eye..so I always use go/nogo gages

 

[Erik Cortina]

Sell your Savage and buy a Remington 700 or clone? That's one way to get it done but it's not a Savage action. You still have to have a "smith" set up the shoulder and headspace. That takes time and $$.
Not as easy as swapping barrels on a Savage.
High mounts and rings so the barrel nut wrench will clear? You bet!
One piece Bench Source mount and high rings. The mount "fits" the action and doesn't hang over either end. And "all" the holes line up and and the base doesn't cover any of the action opening. No "one size fits all" bases for me.
Rear action wrench? That's another way to go.
If you don't use an action wrench, sooner or later u will end up with a very expensive paper weight?
Not as expensive as a Remington 700 or clone. Not counting the cost of having the barrels set up by a smith and not taking into consideration the wait time to get the work done. In that case, you better plan ahead.
Like I said before, it works for me.
If you have any reservation about using an action wrench or not, get one and be done with it.
Mine is still in the box. Won't use it again. Swapping barrels without it and doing just fine thank you! ;D
If it takes two men and a boy to brake the barrel nut loose, IMHO it's too damn tight!
NEVER had one of my barrels come loose the way I do it and I also take pretty good care of them so they don't get beat up. And like I said before, it's a good think we all don't think the same.
As far as Jim Briggs (Northlander)? I'll leave him out of this. He's a good man. 8)

High mount and rings? So you have to have the scope a mile high just so you can change barrels? So you are compromising comfort and potentially accuracy just so you can save some money by using a Salvage with a barrel nut instead having a shoulder on your barrels like a Remington.

Sorry, I must have misunderstood, I thought he asked for the best system for swapping barrels.

 

[smoooth]

I feel very fortunate, my first ever try at removing my factory Savage barrel was easy as pie - just a light tap on the barrel nut wrench. I was very disappointed to see saw cut marks on the action (Monday or Friday action?), sounds like that is fairly common with some factory actions, though. I happen to have lathe so no problem truing up the face.

I did make oak action blocks for the vice, worked plenty well, but again, sounds like I lucked out with a lightly snug nut.

Thanks for the headspace info NorCalMikie, extremely helpful - planning to do the same. Tried it last night, before reading this, just to get a feel for the process.

And, yes, Jim Briggs is a very good man.

 

[tenring]

I have two Savage rifles and three other competition actions for switch barrels. I use a barrel vise for all of them. It works nicely in the Savage because as soon as the wrench breaks the nut free, it is simple to turn the action until it runs out of threads. I always remove scope and front base. And a go guage works good. Put a small piece of tape on the base and if headspace is set right, bolt should not close.

 

[NateHaler]

Erik, your comments about "Salvage" are sorta funny, but it's indisputable that Savage actions and rifles have plenty of advocates and success. That's what makes it a horse race.

OTOH, when Feinstein, Boxer, Pelosi, and Clinton are running for office, what you have is a whores race.

 

[Erik Cortina]

Erik, your comments about "Salvage" are sorta funny, but it's indisputable that Savage actions and rifles have plenty of advocates and success. That's what makes it a horse race.

OTOH, when Feinstein, Boxer, Pelosi, and Clinton are running for office, what you have is a whores race.

LOL

 

[kelbro]

Farrell bases and regular height rings. I have a notch cut out of my barrel nut wrench and I do not have to remove the scope/base to do a barrel swap.

Kelbly's through the action wrench, barrel nut wrench, a little push/pull and we're good to go.

I have plenty of headspace gauges and don't have any issues using them either.

 

[jonbearman]

I would suggest using the action wrench and I dont care if it squeezes the barrel threads alittle because the real concern is breaking the nut free and after you achieve that the barrel screws right out with the action wrench attached.You dont tighten the reciever wrench to 200 ft lbs either.I have never had a barrel not screw out with just finger pressure.I use 2 pieces of the soft strapping they use when shrink wrapping boats for the end of season storage.It holds real nice with the strapping as a buffer for the reciever wrench.Others use card stock or index cards.I have removed many factory tightened barrels my way without a single problem. Op please pm me and I will explain a solid way to remove and never leave a mark on anything.

 

[fm1947]

Rear entry action wrench works good as well