do you leave scope/stock on when switchbarreling?

[bsumoba]

just wondering if you guys leave your stock and/or scope on when swapping barrels.

I have a PR&T stock and because the stock is long, I take my action out of the stock as well as my scope.

I rather not take my scope off, but that means I have to clamp the barrel really far out in my vice and that a lot of weight hanging on the end. I use a rear entry PMA action wrench.

 

[Mark Walker in TX]

Yep, I remove barrel only, everything else stays put. One barrel is twisted off, I clean up the action threads and lug recess etc while barrel is off, then twist the next barrel on.

I try to completely break down and reassemble each of my rigs once a year or so, but I do not do it at the same time a new barrel goes on, and that is intentional.

 

[Lbart]

Like Mark I remove only the barrel. Stock & scope stay on. I also use PT&R stock. Rear entry action wrench. When flying to a match I take stock off and leave scope on action/barrel.

 

[bsumoba]

Good to know guys! i will try this next time.

I will probably just put a little rifle support (some kind of chair or box to hold the weight a litle while tightening up the barrel in the vice) right up until I start spinning off the barrel.

I assume it will look something like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_Ou4VPLjJ4

 

[Mark Walker in TX]

I assume it will look something like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_Ou4VPLjJ4

Pretty much exactly like that..

 

[Uthink Uknow]

I change barrels very often. I tighten the bench mounted barrel vice on the barrel and loosen the barrel about a quarter turn with the rear entry action wrench. Remove the barrel from the vice and twist it off by hand. Place the wanted barrel complete with a bit of Pro Gold lube on the threads to a hand tightened position in the action, tighten the vice on the replacement barrel and tighten with the action wrench again. With a proper action wrench, there is no strain on the scope.

 

[tenring]

I always remove the scope. I prefer port type action wrenches. When removing or tightening a barrel, I smack the wrench with a 3 lb. hammer, which is what my smith taught me. I remove the scope because I do not want to risk internal damage by smacking the action wrench so hard.

 

[Uthink Uknow]

Tenring
Who is your gunsmith?

I just watched that video. That is exactly how I do it. This is how known bench rest smiths, John Pierce, Dwight Scott, Kelbly, and almost every person I've watched while at matches does it. One of the important parts is to have the wrench fully into the action and then back off 1/8 - 1/4 inch or just enough not to score the end of the barrel with the wrench. In this way all the torque is applied right at the threads and the action doesn't have undue stress applied along its length. This is why the scope doesn't have to be removed.

 

[JRS]

Three very reputable, knowledgeable, and experienced accuracy gunsmiths (Al Warner, Dan Dowling, Bob Brackney) have always said "tighten the action by hand, then snug it up with your action wrench". Good enough for me

 

[johara1]

Center it, then tighten it …. no big deal. All barrels are marked with it's 100 yd zero ….. click and go. I know my come ups from 100 to 1000…. jim

 

[4xforfun]

I leave everything attached with my match guns.....just chuck up the bbl in the BBL vice and swap em out. But, with my rem action hunting guns with the smaller taper tubes I need to take the stock off . There is not enough room in the BBL channel when the tube is threaded out because the REM varment taper is fairly substantial after the first 2 1/2 inches and it simply will not fit in the bbl channel. But, I guess I don't swap those out that often.

as far as the "hitting the wrench with a three pound hammer"!!! NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!! Simply spin the tube till it snugs up to the action and then give a little twist with the wrench. DONE!!

 

[halfmoanut]

Would never trust leaving a scope on the rifle for barrel removal. Back an forth percussion is what they are designed to accept. Any other movement would concern me! JMO!

 

[BoydAllen]

There is no impact involved when I change a barrel. I apply pressure smoothly, using a rear entry action wrench that has a cross bar, and when the barrel is slightly loosened, perhaps a quarter turn or less, I remove the rifle from the barrel vise and remove the barrel by hand. When I am putting a barrel on, after applying a very thin layer of antisieze, I screw the barrel in by hand until it stops, put the rifle in the barrel vise, and finish tightening the barrel into the action. All of this is done with very smooth application of force. There is no stress to the scope since the wrench only engages in the front receiver ring, and cannot twist the action. Changing barrels that are not factory installed, with the proper tools, is really no big deal. The only reason that I would remove an action from its stock, or a scope from the rifle, to change a barrel, would be if there was a clearance issue. When I have used a port wrench on a benchrest rifle that had a glued in action, I supported the stock under the action with one hand, while I pushed down on the wrench with the other, so that the barrel was only seeing twisting force. The one exception to all of this is when a factory installed barrel is removed for the first time. In those situations, I take the barreled action to a friend who has the proper equipment to deal with the high forces that may be required, without damaging anything. Then I remove everything from the action, trigger bolt, scope base(s), and stock. On little tip...when I first started using my low torque aluminum barrel vise to work on my benchrest rifle, I decided that I needed to develop a system for limiting the torque that I applied to the four nuts that clamp the barrel. I had picked up a combination wrench to leave with the vise, and decided to tighten the nuts only as much as was possible using one hand, that was flush to the opposite end of the wrench that was being used. I have big hands, and have spent some time in my life twisting wrenches. That was about fifteen years ago, and the method has continued to work for me without a hitch, or slip.

 

[mr45man]

Good to know guys! i will try this next time.

I will probably just put a little rifle support (some kind of chair or box to hold the weight a litle while tightening up the barrel in the vice) right up until I start spinning off the barrel.

I assume it will look something like this?

I wouldn't prop up the rifle while tightening the vice, Just hold it in one hand and hand tighten the vice with the other.