Savage switch barrel change out

[chino1969]

Last night I was itching for something to do so I changed my old 1:10 Douglas .243 A.I. barrel that has approx. 1500+ rds. through it with a 1:12 Pac_nor .243 A.I. .270 nd. Super Match. I had been putting this off because the old barrel still shoots very well, in spite of alligator heat cracking from hot loads down the bore. The process is as easy as others have discussed on this and other forums. I used a fired case that had the shoulder bumped .001, which is what I resize my brass to, as the headspace gauge. I removed the firing pin from the bolt so that I could feel the case when the barrel was screwed in. When I felt the case had the right amount of 'feel', I snugged up the barrel nut and tightened with a wrench. This was simplicity itself; no trips to the gunsmith, no hassle. I have three other brand new Pac-Nors that I will be breaking in over the next several months. The rifle is a Savage single shot rifle originally put together by Fred Moreo. While I had the receiver apart, I examined the machine work, checked the dimensions of the recoil lug parallelism, etc. and all the work Fred performed was accurate and well executed.
Chino69

 

[tightneck]

I'm really not sure why it is considered by some easier and faster to switch barrels on a Savage with a barrel nut. I have six barrels for my 6ppc sporter Ive already set the headspace on all of them,your gunsmith will do the same for you). Now when I go to change one, all I have to do is unscrew the old one and screw on the new one. No more headspacing needed,ie. much faster and easier than headspacing every time you want to swap out). Now, if you dont have a lathe and want to do your own headspacing, for whatever reason, the barrel nut is an easy and economical way to do your own barreling,prethreaded and chambered barrels). However, if money isn't an issue, buy a Panda, Viper, Bat, Nesika and a few others that are made to exacting standards and when you need a new barrel, call up Kelbly's, or Jerry Stiller or or numerous gunsmiths and barrel makers across the country and have them chamber up a barrel for ya. When it arrives just screw it on. Also a good Smith will record the dimensions of a customers factory action and all barrels he chambers down the road for that action can be done without the action in hand. He sends you a new barrel and you screw it on.

 

[chino1969]

tightneck,
The reason I went with the Savage switch barrel set-up was because I don't have unlimited funds the way some do. When I was looking to build a custom rifle I was going to start with a Nesika action, Kreiger barrel, McMillan stock, Jewell trigger, chambering and gunsmithing fees, etc. Adding the costs up had me at the $3000 mark and I hadn't added a scope! I don't shoot competition but I do try to get as accurate as possible, and shoot live varmints at long range. I was able to have a Savage single action rifle put together at 1/3 of what that custom Nesika was going to cost me. Yeah, I know it's not the same but it's close enough for me and my purposes. It's also a hell of alot easier than calling my gunsmith, having him chamber,$175) a match grade barrel,$300) and send it to me. I can call Pac-Nor and have them put together and chamber a Super Match barrel for,$300+ change) in a Savage varmint profile. That is one hell of alot easier and cheaper.
Chino69

 

[tightneck]

Cheaper=absolutely Faster=sure Easier=I say no, if it were a remington, winchester, etc. you wouldn,t need to headspace every new barrel that comes your way. Keep in mind this is just my opinion and the real issue for me would be having to re-set your sizing die every time you got a new barrel as I feel it would be VERY difficult to achieve the exact same headspace every time you rebarrel.

 

[ReedG]

I agree with both of you!

The thing that makes it less expensive,therefore better) with a Savage is that you can buy prechambered barrels that do not need to be headspaced by a gunsmith, or yourself if you're capable. And with the Savage you can change bolt heads and barrels and go from .223 to .308 or magnum head size just as easily.

The Remchester actions are good, this is not an "us-agin-them" post. But the barrel nut is easier and less expensive for me to use. Plus I like the way the Savage bolt can have its head changed and the easy way the bolt can be disassembled for cleaning, etc.

I've had all of these actions and now have a Tikka,M595), too. Now that's a nice action! I also have a BAT on order. But the Savage, especially the Model 12 or 112 single-shot, is a fine, inexpensive action and even after having Fred or Nat go through one and true everything up it's still cheaper than Brand R or W.

Unless you can afford to go true custom action, the Savage makes the most sense to me.

 

[chino1969]

tightneck,
I can understand what you are saying about having to re-set my sizing die everytime I change a barrel and I've got that covered. What I do with my Redding full length dies is to take a skim cut,approx. .004 to .006) off the bottom of the die with a lathe. The reason I do this is that a standard non-custom die will not bump shoulders on my min. spec. chambers, even with the die solidly cammed over on the shellholder. Using Redding Competition Shellholders and/or die shims, I am able to bump my shoulders exactly .001 and minimally re-size the case. In the case of the new barrel I just installed, I used a shoulder bumped case to set my headspace for the new barrel. When the new brass is fireformed in this new barrel and gets hard to chamber, I measure the headspace. I know what my die is set to and either add a .001 or .002 shim or take them away; it's that simple. The new dimension is never more than +/- .002 which is easily compensated for by adding, subtracting shims, or changing shellholders. The brass is an exact fit for that chamber. I have Remington blueprinted, sleeved bolt, 40X switch barrel rifles with properly indexed and headspaced barrels and the Savage method I just described takes about the same amount of time for less money.
Chino69