Rebarrelling

[Rem9671]

I am curious how hard it is to rebarrel a rifle and if I can do it without a bench mounted barrel vise,and just with hand wrenches and where I can buy a hand action and barrel wrench to do so.Also what other procedures such as head spacing etc are necessary to rebarrel.

 

[L.Sherm]

Are you talking a savage, remage?

 

[Rem9671]

Ruger M77 MKII,Remington 700

 

[L.Sherm]

You have to have a gunsmith thread, chamber, crown and headspace a new barrel blank.

 

[L.Sherm]

Savage and remages are more suited for the do it yourselfers.

 

[Rem9671]

What about a used barrel ?

 

[Mach 1]

Savage and remages are more suited for the do it yourselfers.

I actually think having multiple barrels spun up by a good Smith is better for the novice. On a remington 700 based action You can have several barrels spun up at the same time. The Smith can put a witness mark on each barrel so no need to torque them in. Just unscrew one barrel and screw on the next barrel to where the mark lines up. To me that's easier than dealing with barrel nuts. Granted prefit barrels are cheaper but usually when I go to the cost of a rebarrel I just buy a good cut rifled barrel anyway. My friend has a barrel vise that mounts into his pickup receiver hitch and uses a ptg action wrench to turn the action. Don't have to remove the action from the stock. That's about as fast as it gets and if you can line up to marks it's hard to screw up.

 

[Mach 1]

What about a used barrel ?

You just can't take a ruger or remmy action and screw a used barrel in it and go shoot. You can get a used barrel for sure but they need correctly head spaced. I've read that the big horn tl3 action and bolt tolerances are so close that a Smith can spin a barrel up for you without having your action but I've never had a big horn action.....yet

 

[Rem9671]

Is it possible for the do-it-yourselfer to set the headspace on a barrel?

 

[FURMAN]

Is it possible for the do-it-yourselfer to set the headspace on a barrel?

NO. Not unless its a Savage or similar using a nut. Factory actions are so sloppy there is little chance it will be properly headspaced. If you really want to swap barrels you need to get a Savage but it really sounds like maybe you don't have the aptitude? No offense but your questions lead me to my statement.

 

[Mach 1]

Is it possible for the do-it-yourselfer to set the headspace on a barrel?

. If I were going to attempt it I'd definitely buy go and no go gauges for that chamber. But they aren't all that cheap. Also i dont have a lathe. And the used barrel needs to be threaded to the action thread. If your just wanting to swap around barrels and be able to buy used barrels and have them work without a gunsmith as L.sherm mentioned above the savage barrel nut system would be the way to go.

 

[L.Sherm]

If your a novice I would recommend the savage, remage route to start. Later on you could do the switch barrel thing if you want to do different calibers on the same action

 

[birdiemc]

Think of setting headspace as how far you screw the barrel into the action, with a savage you screw in to your headspace gage then tighten the barrel nut, called a jamnut in other applications. That jamnut tightens up and prevents the barrel from being able to screw in or out. On a rem 700 or other such action the shoulder of the tenon tightens up against the lug/action and that being tight is what keeps the barrel from backing out or screwing in farther. So the distance the shoulder is cut back is where the headspace adjustment comes from on a rem700. And cutting that shoulder requires a lathe and some experience with precision matching and measuring. So when people tell you it's better left to a gunsmith, that is why. Most folks dont have a metal lathe sitting around so no way to fit the barrel to the action.

 

[Rem9671]

I already have a M77 and a couple of 700s.I thought I might be able to order some new heavy barrels made specifically the the 700 and M77, get a couple of barrel and action wrenches,float and glass the stocks,measure headspace with a depth guage or something,then put them back together but I looks like I may need to send these off to a Smith.