How to Re-Barrel

[MVW]

Gents:

I was reading the article http://www.6mmbr.com/1000ydpg01.html and it got me thinking. I am sure there are VOLUMES on the topic of rebarreling, but I have no idea how to start the process of getting a new barrel for my Savage 308 F/TR.

It would appear that in addition to a good barrel, you need to select the right set of reamers for the bullet(s) that you plan to use and the right gunsmith to do the reaming and put the gun together. I don't have a gunsmith that does benchrest work in my area, so my question is how do I go about finding

1) A barrel & manufacture
2) The reamers
3) A gunsmith

This is a tricky question - I recognize that everyone has their favorite smith and parts manufactures. I have seen posts here suggesting that the workmanship on some barrels is inconsistent or not of particularly high quality - I want to avoid those. So, what I am looking for is a good set of options.

A couple of comments on my current gun. It is a 1/12 twist. I mostly shoot 175's (SIE & Berger), but I am thinking perhaps a 1/11 twist to better stabilize the 185's. I am not particularly trying to reproduce the factory chamber, but if memory serves me, a SIE 175 seated to the lands is 2.160". I like to clean up the neck thickness, but I don't want a tight neck chamber.

As a point of interest, in my area many of the top shooters appear to use Brux barrels, but they send everything to a machinist down south who puts it together for them. It is a year wait. I am too old to wait that long.

Thanks, Mike

 

[Gundoktr]

I do a lot of work in that area, where are you located? Email me if you are interested: Jkob60@msn.com

 

[wwbrown]

The previous poster does outstanding work, reasonable pricing, and the fastest turnaround of any gunsmith I know, what more could you ask for. Ship it to him if you don't live close it will be well worth it and shipping your own gun to a gunsmith does not require an FFL holder on your end.

 

[fdshuster]

(1) Lester Bruno stocks a large supply of Krieger barrels, so no need to wait a year. I can place a phone order & have what I need, in my hands in 7 days.

(2) One reamer is needed, not "reamers". A finish reamer only. If you want to specify dimensions then you should consider buying your own. Cost is about $138 with a floating pilot & if not needed for another chambering, could be sold for about 70% of what it cost you. Otherwise you are stuck with whatever the gunsmith happens to have available.

(3) A benchrest building gunsmith is not an absolute requirement, unless you're going for an all out, dedicated competition benchrest rifle build.

 

[GSPV]

Would Criterion, Shilen or Pac-Nor pre-fit ben an option?

 

[tiny68]

The beauty of the barrenutl on the Savage allows a humble person with basic mechanical skills to swap barrels with a few tools. I had never swapped a barrel or even considered a barrel swap until I got my first Savage 6-7 years ago. I always just sent my Remmies off to the smith and usually got a great product in return. Emphasis on usually. In my younger days I trusted a few smith that told me "sure I can put a new barrel on for you". Didn't always yield the results I wanted. I have a few chambers on custom barrels that looked much worst that an factory chamber I have seen. Chatter marks all in the chamber. Lessons learned.

I have purchased more than a dozen Savage Pre-fits. Some done by the barrel makers (Shilen, PacNor) and others done by some really good gunsmiths on custom tubes (Krieger, Shilen, Hart, PacNor). It all depends on what you want to do. Most of the barrel makers have a "typical" reamer they use which or may not fit your needs. I may have just have been lucky, but my pre-fits by Shilen and PacNor have turned out just as accurate as my pre-fits by well established accuracy gunsmiths. Again that is me shooting to evaluate. True "precision shooters" want the absolute top chamber job they can get with the chamber exactly matching their specs. This is not a job for a barrel makers. In will say that I sent Shilen 3 dummy cartridges for my 30BR barrel and they chambered the freebore perfect to match what I wanted. I don't know that I could have gotten better.

I will qualify this with what I am shooting - Savages. Not custom actions. I have tried to compete with true BR rigs with my Savages in point blanks BR. I enjoyed it and learned a lot. However, it was still not capable of agg. with the true BR rigs. I seems to always get that one flyer that ruins my run (24x several times --- still awaiting a clean run in score).

A pre-fit will run you $330-360 for a quality barrel. I blank for run you pretty darn close to that and you still have to pay ($150-250) to have it chambered.

I can afford to buy a pre-fit in a new caliber. If I like it I keep it. If I don't, I sell it and the next guys can still headspace it to his barrel. Of course a smith using your action can set it up with a nut-less option if you choose. Some people what that, but now you lose the flexibility to bounce between actions.

Luck in your choice, Tim

 

[jonbearman]

Call Jim Briggs at:1-763-682-4296 and leave a short detailed message and Jim will get back to you.

 

[M14AMU]

Go here and read:

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2011/11/voyeurs-guide-to-barrel-chambering-part.html

 

[MVW]

Thank's for the input. I have read many of German's articles, but had not seen this one. I'll chat with some of the folks recommended to me, but this is helpful.

Mike

 

[Catfish]

I just picked up a 243 Shilen barrel in 243 from Mid Way. It was ready to screw in, but I reamed out the chamber to 6 - 284. I`m waiting on another barrel to come in from E.R. Shaw that I want to chamber in 6mm-300 WSM and am then going to send in and have them nitrated before I screw them in. You can buy barrels on line that all you have to do is screw in and head space.

 

[huffmanite]

I bought a Shaw Savage replacement barrel in 6.5x55 to replace the factory 270 Win barrel on my Stevens 200. Borrowed a barrel nut wrench from a gent I shoot with at range we're members and did the barrel swap myself. What I used: a good bench vise to hold barrel, barrel nut wrench, a heavy hammer and two halves of PCV tubeing. Used the PCV between the factory barrel and the pipe jaws on vise to protect original barrel and at same time get a good hold on the barrel....helped prevent barrel turning in the vise. Few good whacks later with the hammer on the barrel nut tool, broke the barrel nut loose and able to install the Shaw barrel. Didn't have a go=no go guage/ headspace guage, so used a new round to headspace the barrel. Quick trip to range proved I'd headspaced it OK. Point of my story.....easy to install a new savage replacement barrel. Only problem you'd probably have is keeping the barrel from turning in the vise.....why I decided to use the halves of PCV tubeing and made sure I'd positioned it on lettering along the factory barrel to help grip it. Gent I'd borrowed the barrel nut wrench from had problem with barrels turning in his vise when hitting wrench with a hammer.....finally just clamped barrel in the pipe jaws of his bench. This worked, but sure did gouge/mar the factory barrel.

 

[Terry]

I have bought pre-fit barrels from Jim Briggs and Pac-Nor. You can get most anything you want this way.

 

[butchlambert]

I can recommend Jim Kobe also. He has done a lot of custom work for me and does BR work also. He is prompt. He doesn't sit around patting himself on the back saying how good that he is. He just produces great work.

 

[MVW]

Thanks, this has been very helpful. I am not to the point that I want to build a custom benchrest rifle, but rather to have a good F-class rifle. I see now that Jim Briggs carrys Criterion barrels and I am sorting through the other pre-fit options now.

Mike