Changing barrels myself?

[thefitter]

I have a friend at the range that gets barrels cut and chambered sent to him that he just screws on himself. Everything is always perfect- headspace, chamber etc,.

The smith he gets them from stores all his data in his computer as well as his custom reamer, so when he calls the smith for a new barrel it’s all just a matter of inputting the data and it’s done.

What I’m wondering is will this work for any good action and barrel? Say a surgeon XL in .338 Lapua?

FYI this smith is one of the best bench rest smiths out there with all of the state of the art equipment

Thanks

 

[dmickey]

Maybe you should be asking the gunsmith this question. There maybe more to it than you know!

 

[Taildrag15X]

If the smith is good and has made a blue print of the action, lug and current barrel it shouldn't be all that hard to do, especialy if he was the original builder.

 

[watercam]

You don't even need to take a blueprint - make a ring with female threads mated to the barrel (that was mated to the action), use the head space from the barrel originally made. Can be done with any action as long as you pay to have the ring made and data stored. I have done it for two Winchester match rifles and it works. Just double check head space when you receive the barrel and install it. Or you can have the gunsmith leave the chamber short .020" or so and finish ream it yourself (slowly and carefully).

 

[Rustystud]

Can do and would do are two different answers..

If you have a Go and No Go gage set and have the knowledge you can safely test the fit of a barrel it is not rocket science.

A gunsmith/manufacture with liability insurance would never let a barrel out he had not personally gauged. It is clearly oultined in one policy.

If you fire a improperly headspaced rifle you are asking for serious problems and possibly death to the shooter or a bystander.
Nat Lambeth

 

[shortgrass]

Can do and would do are two different answers..

If you have a Go and No Go gage set and have the knowledge you can safely test the fit of a barrel it is not rocket science.

A gunsmith/manufacture with liability insurance would never let a barrel out he had not personally gauged. It is clearely oultine in one policy.

If you fire a improperly headspaced rifle you are asking for serious problems and possibly death to the shooter or a bystander.
Nat Lambeth

There's the best responce I've seen, to any of these related threads.

 

[fdshuster]

There are no shortcuts. I have numerous switch-barrel rifles/ receivers, but all their barrels have been fitted by my gunsmith with all the work being done in his shop, not by mail order.

And before he releases the newly barreled rifle(s) to me, he does a test firing.

In fact, my other gunsmith demands 2 test firings. He gives me the one empty, fired case ( I use it to take as fired dimensions to setup my dies), and he keeps the other fired case for his records.

I personally would not have it any other way.

 

[Steve Blair]

Kelbly's seems able to provide new barrels for their actions. So does Tubb for the 2000.

 

[watercam]

As does Brownell's, Midway, Shilen, Pac-nor, and every barrel maker who supplies Savage, Mauser, Remington and AR pre-fits.
Not saying it will be better but it is a choice for those of us comfortable with gauging our own head space...
Bear in mind I am an NRA competitor who shoots out a barrel every year or two. I am not the only one I know who swaps barrels for any number of reasons - switch barrels for different disciplines being the number one. The gunsmiths I know who I trust have fairly long lead times (as they should) and I want to SHOOT! If I can speed up the process and save some cash for bullets and match fees, I will. I will always need a competent gunsmith to help me.
Case in point is a Low Wall I picked up recently. Sold as 'junk' was an 1893 Low Wall with original wood and an action with 90% finish with a barrel installed by 'not-a-gunsmith'. MT Guns took me in and barreled it for me and now I have a shooter. Could not do it without them.
The next project is re-boring a .243 barrel to .260 and chambered in 260 Rem.. Rest assured there will be a good gunsmith involved in that one!

 

[dtucker]

The only time i have had barrels chambered and sent to me without an action being their are from Kelblys. I guess as long as it is the same smith and he has all the info he needs from your action and you do not change anything it can be done. I don't see why not but as far as i am concerned you are always taking a chance. You just never know and we all have had a bad day one time or another. That little word accident has happened alot of ways.

 

[fdshuster]

Yes, Kelbly and a few others are able to hold the required close tolerences since it's their receivers being used, but I doubt many would be able to do that.

A friend bought a used bench rifle built on a Panda receiver & got 2 "fitted" barrels with it. Was told he could remove the near shot-out one & screw-on the new, unfired one & go shooting. Didn't work. He had to take it ( the receiver) to a local 'smith & have the new barrel properly fitted.

 

[1066]

Glad I got a Savage action and a wrench - no problem changing barrels.

 

[hogan]

Gunsmith needs to know: Distance from boltface to receiver shoulder and distance from bolt nose to receiver shoulder to build you a switchbarrel with custom dimension chamber to your specs. I would specify a Go-gauge plus .0005".

Not like you have to torque hell out of the barrel to mount it either. Have fired magnum rounds in barrels only hand-tightened and accuracy has been fine. Probably minimum threshold for constant tension is in realm of 60 Inch pounds, about what many guys use for action screw tensioning.

 

[wapiti25]

I use GO/No-GO gages on barrels EACH time I screw them into my actions. I move/switch barrels on my actions frequently.

 

[Sully2]

As does Brownell's, Midway, Shilen, Pac-nor, and every barrel maker who supplies Savage, Mauser, Remington and AR pre-fits.
Not saying it will be better but it is a choice for those of us comfortable with gauging our own head space...
Bear in mind I am an NRA competitor who shoots out a barrel every year or two. I am not the only one I know who swaps barrels for any number of reasons - switch barrels for different disciplines being the number one. The gunsmiths I know who I trust have fairly long lead times (as they should) and I want to SHOOT! If I can speed up the process and save some cash for bullets and match fees, I will. I will always need a competent gunsmith to help me.
Case in point is a Low Wall I picked up recently. Sold as 'junk' was an 1893 Low Wall with original wood and an action with 90% finish with a barrel installed by 'not-a-gunsmith'. MT Guns took me in and barreled it for me and now I have a shooter. Could not do it without them.
The next project is re-boring a .243 barrel to .260 and chambered in 260 Rem.. Rest assured there will be a good gunsmith involved in that one!

SIR: Might I ask that when you install a new barrel into a receiver...what amount of torque do you use to "cinch it down".

Thanks

 

[Steve Blair]

SIR: Might I ask that when you install a new barrel into a receiver...what amount of torque do you use to "cinch it down".

[br]
I use 40 lb/ft. with Loctite C5-A copper-based anti-sieze compound on the threads.

 

[tripcrow]

Each of my 3 custom actions will see 10-20 barrel switches each year depending on the weather forecast. The most important things I’ve found are:

You want to be sure to use the same torque every time. Headspace will vary a good many thousands depending on the force you use. I like an older 75ft lb beam style torque wrench, less to go wrong, and torque to 70 ft lbs every time with a Davidson style action wrench. A 3’ pipe on the socket wrench handle when loosening the barrels makes for consistent leverage and a smooth easy break every time. I read somewhere that Remington recommends something like 200ft lbs on factory barrels. There’s no need for that on a custom gun with good threads and anti-seize.


Be sure to use a good anti-seize compound to help even the torque out and double torque after a second or 2. I like the Vibra Tite Sinclair sells. But buy it in a larger tube. Getting the right anti-seize according to the metals you’ll use is important. Especially if you’re going to be mixing metals. Use it on cleaned torqued action screws too.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UMPEI2/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B004UMPECI&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=11EM2ZAK6HS7VW5XMXRS

Also I like to store each of my spare barrels clean with a couple squirts of Ballistol in a Sinclair barrel bag. Just wish I could come up with a good easy labeling system for the bags other than the spray paint color coding system I use now.

 

[Sully2]

SIR: Might I ask that when you install a new barrel into a receiver...what amount of torque do you use to "cinch it down".

[br]
I use 40 lb/ft. with Loctite C5-A copper-based anti-sieze compound on the threads.

Thank ya much...mucho appreciated

 

[Sully2]

BillSlattery: Info greatly appreciated!