I have a vanguard in 257 Weatherby. Was thinking of getting a prefit barrel in 6.5 PRC. Is it as straightforward as a Savage job? I did my savage rifle and it turned out well. I used the action wrench from Northland Shooter Supply. Would that work on the vanguard?
Weatherby Vanguard Re-barrel
- Thread starter Dnk9444
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Ross1147
Well-Known Member
Biggest difference will be the 257 is shouldered and doesn't have a nut. You'll have to buy a savage style nut to go along with the prefit. Hardest part of the switch will probably be getting the stock barrel off. Once that's done it's the same as a savage. You'll need a barrel vise and action wrench to do that.
You'll probably have to open up the stock as well to accommodate the nut. I just switched over a Ruger M77 Mk ii no issues.
You'll probably have to open up the stock as well to accommodate the nut. I just switched over a Ruger M77 Mk ii no issues.
Ross1147
Well-Known Member
The howa/vanguard is flat on the bottom where a Remington is round. I think the 700 action wrench will work, not ideal but it will. I think the Mauser style would work better, but I just read a 700 one will still work. If you own a 700 one already I'd try it before buying anything.
BallisticsGuy
Well-Known Member
You can rebarrel pretty easily but nothing like as easily as a typical Savage. Your gunsmith will probably hate you for it in any event because the barrel threads are going to be metric and there's a bolt nose recess, both of which require more work. The metric threads usually peeve them off the most and some won't even touch metric threads. You could probably delete the bolt nose recess in the barrel tenon but that would reduce the number of threads engaged and a Howa already has a super short tenon so probably not a good idea.
My advice, don't even try to take the factory barrel off yourself. Let your smithy do it. Even if you have the Mauser action wrench and a barrel vise (I have both) it'll stand a good chance of defeating you (It defeated me and a 15lbs sledge). They have a 900lbs gorilla at the factory that does the barrel torquing as far as I can tell. The McGowan barrel nut works really well.
Here's my Howa with the barrel nut from McGowan. It cost twice what my Savages to to have the barrel set up.
My advice, don't even try to take the factory barrel off yourself. Let your smithy do it. Even if you have the Mauser action wrench and a barrel vise (I have both) it'll stand a good chance of defeating you (It defeated me and a 15lbs sledge). They have a 900lbs gorilla at the factory that does the barrel torquing as far as I can tell. The McGowan barrel nut works really well.
Here's my Howa with the barrel nut from McGowan. It cost twice what my Savages to to have the barrel set up.
Nice rifle. Thanks for advice. Everything I see on that says the barrel is hard to get off. The Savage was easy. I used the action wrench and a pipe wrench for the nut it was the smoothie Savage nut. Then went with a new nut when I installed the new barrel.
