questions about accuracy for savage swap barrel

[foreign]

hey im looking into doing the whole savage swap barrel thing.
have been emailing a local gunsmith at true-flite barrels here in nz and he says that id be better of not using the whole barrel nut thing. imn going to include the emails ive been sending him and the replys i give.
kind of going crazy thinking bout it.
sorry the conversation starts at the bottom of the post.
cheers all


Hi Rob,

You would still be better off without the barrel nut in a barrel swap situation, as we can mark both barrels to align with a mark on the underside of the receiver, in doing this you can gaurantee correct fitment every time. The only thing to consider is your extractor which I am not sure what model you have, but you need to be sure it will work on both calibres.

Regards
Grant.




Hi Grant
I realize that you can do the work nut i was aiming to have the option of swapping out the barrels myself. that way i can change between a .223 and .308. (changing the bolt face of course.
Cheers
Rob


Hi Rob,

if you are in NZ you just need to send us your rifle and we will fit the barrel for you. We can true the receiver face, or not at your request.

hey Grant

Thats a shame because I was saving to get a barrel of you guys. Really would like a nz product and the option of changing out barrels myself.
Could a gun smith thread a barrel from you guys and make it into a savage drop in barrel. Or could there be a method of trueing the reciever face of a savage action so that a more accurate face is made and then still use the barrel nut. I dont really want to go full custom at the moment. Other wise id have a bernard action and one of you barrels being set up at the moment. Or the 700 action i have being worked on.
thanks for you knowledge
cheers
rob


Hi Rob,

We have abandoned this plan for Savage prefits, as it has come to our attention that the savage receiver face that the barrel meshes with is apparently finished by holding the receiver in a jig, and it is then pushed into a linisher of sorts which creates a not-so-accurate face. In light of this, most people find it advantageous to accurise the receiver face and do away with the barrel nut, and resorting to a standard type barrel Tenon fit. The result is a much more accurate rig.

The cost of a .223 1-8" barrel is $540.00+gst for an Ultra Match.

Kind Regards
Grant.

Hi
I emailed you the other day asking about savage drop in barrels. i was wondering when you are likely to have the process up and running. i was also wondering how much a .223 rem barrel with a 1 in 8 twist would cost. Contoured in a varmit contour and of a length you deem suitable?
cheers
rob

​

 

[AJ Peacock]

I wouldn't have them do any work for me. I swap barrels on a Savage and have no problems with accuracy. I believe the floating boltface helps with squareness issues in the Savage.

You can have anyone thread/chamber a barrel for your savage that will use the barrel nut. the squareness of the face of the receiver has the same impact on the rifle, whether a nut is used or not. Think of the nut as a movable shoulder on the barrel.

AJ

 

[foreign]

thanks Aj.so i could get a barrel from them and then have the outside threaded and just go from there?

 

[AJ Peacock]

thanks Aj.so i could get a barrel from them and then have the outside threaded and just go from there?

Yes, or you could ask them again to chamber/thread a barrel to be used with the barrle nut. Any competent gunsmith should be able to fix you up.

AJ

 

[MachV]

If your gonna have a smith chamber/thread and true an action then any action can be set up for a switchbarrel. The bigest advantage of a Savage/Stevens is the nut!! YOU can change them back and forth yourself. Its easy and fast to swap out barrels...specialy if you say with the same bolthead. If you are gonna swap a couple of barrels back and forth often then just drill the nut for a set screw and mark the barrel and action so they go back to the same spot every time.
The scope will have to be reset with a barrel change but if you make a keep track of the scope settings they dont change very much.
I dont change barrels as often as I used to, actions are fairly cheap here so about the only time I swap out barrels these days is if I get tired of a cirtain calibar or a barrel whares out.

Just picked up another action/stock the other day, still trying to decide what barrel to put on it.....Leaning twards the 708 sporter barrel for a lite walking big game unit???

 

[bigngreen]

It seems allot of guys swap the recoil lug for a thicker machined one. I would think that having that machined surface between the receiver face and the nut would help keep things straight also.
I think I would have my smith true the receiver face when he cut the threads on the barrel, it should be a simple thing for him to do.
A nutless Savage is just not as good looking.

 

[AJ Peacock]

It seems allot of guys swap the recoil lug for a thicker machined one. I would think that having that machined surface between the receiver face and the nut would help keep things straight also.
I think I would have my smith true the receiver face when he cut the threads on the barrel, it should be a simple thing for him to do.
A nutless Savage is just not as good looking.

Good point, a machined recoil lug and machined nut (get them from savage shooters supply) are a great idea and help keep everything straight. The stock recoil lugs I've measured, were thicker on one end than the other (a couple thousandths).

AJ

 

[foreign]

thanks for replies.
machv could you send me some fotos of the set screw idea, assuming u have done it.cheers.

 

[yorke-1]

I don't think I'd have any work done by these guys. It just sounds like they're trying to stick you with more work to be done. Like the others have said, there are plenty of super accurate Savages out there using the nut. That's part of what makes the Savage such an easy platform to build off of. And the greatest benefit of the floating bolt head is that it doesn't need to be trued.

On top of that, $540 sounds like an awful lot for a barrel from a lesser known manufacturer. They might be great, and they should be for that price. But you can get pre-fits from Shilen, Douglas, PacNor, Lothar Walther, Brux, McGowen, and others for around $350. These are proven makers that have a lot of happy customers, and some have more than a few match wins to their credit.

I've never had any trouble getting a Savage to shoot accurately before or after a barrel swap. When ever I get a new rifle or barrel, I just set the head space so that the bolt just closes on a Go-Gage. Then whenever I want to swap barrels, I just set the head space to the same Gage the next time I install the barrel, and I've never had any trouble. All of my Savages shoot at least .5 MOA before and after a swap. And that's good enough for me.

Andrew

 

[deerkiller]

The only thing to consider is your extractor which I am not sure what model you have, but you need to be sure it will work on both calibres.

Regards
Grant.

Maybe you caught this, maybe not.
The last thing he 'said' tells me (and should you) he doesn't know Savage rifles as well as he should.
It's not a matter of extractors.
You need to change bolts or swap bolt heads.
He looses all credibility & causes me to wonder...
Was he just fishin' for business.
It sure sounds like "bait n switch" tactics to me.

dk

 

[foreign]

thanks for all the replies fellas
true flite barrels are a nz company. they have an impressive record and their barrels are ment to be really ggod. the price quoted by him was in NZ$ and was for a top match barrel. id get a sporter barrel. around 340 NZ. so thats around 200US i think.
im tending to agree with the general consensus on him fishing for business. but io guess he doesnt want me to end up with something that is less than it could be.
I sent him an email asking if he could just thread the outside of a barrel for me and id head space it my self.
well see what happens
i dont have any go guages at the moment and being in NZ makes them a hassel to get. could i make them on a lath easily.well it shouldnt be hard. but what dimentions would they need to be. The dimentions of the diagrames in the hornady reloading manaul for brass size??
cheers for all the info

 

[MachV]

You could use the specs for a givin cartriage and build a go-gauge but I use a resized case for a go-gauge and a piece of tap over the head of the case for a no-go gauge. Do NOT use a loaded round!!, I used a primed case when setting the last barrel and scared the bejesus outs me when it went pop.

 

[foreign]

haha machv that would definatly make you jump.. so you just meke sure that the case you use is a fully sized one im guessing then. cheers

 

[geargrinder]

haha machv that would definatly make you jump.. so you just meke sure that the case you use is a fully sized one im guessing then. cheers

Full sized cases work fine. That's usually what I use.

Setting off of a sized case tends to be on the small side of headspace. This is usually good, since you can FL size your brass without overworking them.