Building a takedown varminter

[HarryCallahan]

I am thinking about building a takedown bolt action varmint rifle, maybe similar to HS Precision's offering. Has anyone here attempted such a project or come across any informational resource that could help further define what it would take and gotchas to avoid?

Thanks!

 

[Fred Bohl]

Harry,

Unless you have some pressing need to shorten the stock for other reasons, this can be real simple. I've done two Remington 700 varmint models as follows: remove barrel, clean up barrel and receiver threads, pin recoil lug to receiver,correctly indexed - to action screw holes), apply good anti-seize to barrel tenon threads, reassemble action to stock and reinstall barrel either hand tight or maybe use a strap wrench to apply a little more torque.

To use as a take down, take along the strap wrench to remove the barrel,right twist rifling will tighten the barrel on the first shot) and also get a cap to protect the tenon threads when off the rifle,Sinclair International #21-200 for Remington tenon).

For both that I've done for others, the 26 inch barrels were just about two inches shorter than the full stocks. and easily fit in a take-down shotgun case.

 

[HarryCallahan]

Fred,

Thanks for the input. I have done the switch barrel technique you described and it works well for me too. I end up having to unscrew the action from the stock since the barrel contour doesn't leave much room,and still look good) to be unscrewed.

What I would like to do is a split stock takedown with interrupted threads and make it tool-less. If you key the break around a split recoil lug design it seems like it should work fine but I know there's probably more to it. I'm looking for those details that come from experience to keep the cost of mistakes down.