Savage 223 to 6BR

[boltman13]

I am transitioning from F-TR to F-Open and would like to rebarrel my Savage 11 in 223 to 6BR Norma. What would you suggest I do to replace the bolt head with the proper one. I know there are places to send the bolt to get it done, but can I do it myself. I plan to go with an Xcalaber Savage pre-fit like the current 223 which has excellent accuracy. Would it be better to replace the whole bolt and have a switch barrel rifle to get all the life out of the 223. This will be a Mid Range and occasional Varmit for Score rifle.

 

[KenOath]

Personally I’d get a second bolt, keeps more options open for you.You could even have a 308 for FTR with the new bolt face for 6br.. JMO..

 

[boltman13]

Or a barrel for F-Open in 6.5 Creedmoor or even 284 Win. Any recomendations on who to go with?

 

[Terry]

You can buy a new bolt at Midway USA.

 

[KenOath]

Or a barrel for F-Open in 6.5 Creedmoor or even 284 Win. Any recomendations on who to go with?

And still go back to 223 if you desire... Not living in US so cant give advice on where to Aquire a new bolt sorry..

 

[Greyfox]

Pretty sure you can get another bolt head from Midway and Brownells. Swapping bolt heads is faster than swapping barrels. It's a 5-10 minute job. If you think that's worth getting another complete bolt, that's up to you but it really isn't necessary.

Rick

 

[boltman13]

I am seeing very mixed reviews on the PTG Savage bolt heads. Does anyone have experience with them? Are they really better than the factory one? Do they come with an extractor and ejector? Thanks again for your replies.

 

[DHuffman]

The PTG bolt heads do not come with extractor or ejectors. They are a nice upgrade but I doubt a lot of guys could see any difference on the target.

 

[Longtrain]

I put a PTG replacement head on my Savage F-TR rifle, worked great, no issues. Re-chambered to a 6BR, still worked fine. 10 minute job. Make any difference on the target... I shot better with it, probably was the amount of trigger time that really helped.

 

[memilanuk]

I am seeing very mixed reviews on the PTG Savage bolt heads. Does anyone have experience with them? Are they really better than the factory one? Do they come with an extractor and ejector?

I've had some pretty hit-or-miss results with them... out of spec depth on the bolt face, etc.

I think @Grimstod mentioned that there are a few changes internally where the firing pin passes through that are actually a bit of a down-grade from the factory head, depending on how you look at things.

Probably better off to just get another factory bolt head, and then send the whole bolt off to either him or Gre-Tan to have the firing pin holes on both bushed and the pin turned to match.

 

[Grimstod]

Yes the PTG is a nicely made bolt head however it is wholly a bad design. The firing pin is totally unsupported. If you have seen Greg video on youtube you know why this can be bad. It is better to get a regular one from savage and have either me or Greg at Gre-tan bush and true it up.

 

[memilanuk]

The firing pin is totally unsupported. If you have seen Greg video on youtube you know why this can be bad.

For those curious... here's a link to the video section in question.

 

[boltman13]

I would like to thank all of you who responded to this query for guidance. There have been many excellent suggestions. I have decided to purchase a factory Savage bolt and have it bushed and trued. I have a friend who has the barrel vice, barrel wrench, and 6BR Norma go gauge, to change the barrel, and set the headspace. It will take some time to assemble everything but when it's finished I'll try to post some pictures. Again my thanks.