Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters bolt action switch barrel rifles

Why are affordable bolt action switch barrel rifles not more popular? I know there a number of single shot rilfes that can be switched but why not bolt actions? I am thinking one rifle and 2 to 3 barrels you could hunt everything from small varmits to big game.

358win

Jackson Hole Arms made a version. I have one and it shoots very, very well compared to any bolt rifle. I have 22-250, 257 and 30-06 barrels for mine.

I've considered picking up a Savage as a base gun to use as a barrel swapper. I've heard it is simple and straight-forward to headspace properly with that barrel nut set-up. Is there anyone using a Savage as a barrel-swapper for multiple cartridges/cals on one action that can enlighten me?

It is easy. You need a couple of tools, an action wrench or a vise and a barrel nut wrench. I prefer the action wrench over the vise, because the factory barrels are gorilla tight and they often spin in a vise. After that you only need a barrel and a go gage if you are using the same action length and bolt head size. If changing bolt head sizes, you may need a magazine or mag box also.

So it would be easy to pick up a 110 in 30-06 and then swap bbls to 25-06, or 35 Whelen, yes? And if I want to move up to .532" case head, I need to get another bolt? Or do bolt heads swap out too?

EABCO will change the head for you, but I don't know if how easy it is to swap back and forth.

Mule Deer has at least one swap barrel built on some Remmy or other I believe, 7SAUM and 9.3 Barsness/Sisk or Barnes and Noble or something like that.

Not a writer, but I have had Blaser rifles in my stable for a long time. They do not really fall into the affordable bracket, by the way most of us think.

I had a .22-250 and a .270 barrel for my present stocked action, a R-93. The .22-250 twist seemed way too slow, so I traded it for a 9.3x62 thumper. Maybe another light caliber is in my future. Realistically, there is not much that 90 to 160 .270 and 250 to 286 9.3 fodder will not take.

Jack

True. And, most of us usually finally stumble upon the one rifle that "wins out" over the rest & the rest sit at home while it goes hunting. 300 WSM is my do-all cartridge.

T/C is making a switch-barrel bolt gun that is just possibly the ugliest gun I've ever seen. They have a real talent for oogly, but this time they really outdid themselves. I think its called Dementia, or something like that.

Because in this time period, it is just as easy and economical to own multiple platforms in different chamberings. What practical gain is there in having a switch barrel? NONE, unless you have regulations that are forcing the issue.

DakotaDeer, not if you are a lefty. And I can think of several other pluses besides the cost factor.

I've had a bunch of fun trying different cartridges on Savage actions.
With a new barrel, a die set and headspace gauges I have a new rifle. The season changes and I swap to the cartridge most appropriate.
13 different cartridges so far and the barrels fit in a smaller space and are cheaper than 13 different scoped rifles.
It's not necessary, 1 rifle would do it all but where is the fun in that?

Rick makes the slickest switch barrel system I've seem

http://extremerifleworks.com/Custom.html#thumb

Model 70 push feed actions make easy switch barrels as you can bed the action and leave the barrel floating and have as many barrels made as you like and change them out.

By using a detachable scope mount system, you can change out the pre-sighted scopes and check POI with a scope columator in camp before heading out in the field without firing a shot.

If you have a spare bolt so there is a pair in standard and magnum, your 'smith can square, lapp and face them off as a spec, so he can make future barrels already headspaced and ready to install.

Unless you want to travel with a take down rifle. Much easier to carry a short shotgun length take down case than a long rifle case. Slip it in the bottom compartment of a roller duffel, don't wear any camo clothing, add some yuppie accessory and you are incognito.

By golly, I thot I was the 'lone ranger' about that!!

The stock for an 'encore' looks like a piece of 2"X6" they glued to the frame and THEN decided it needed to be 'whittled' for a pistol grip.

You can do the same by taking the action out of the stock on a normal rifle.

Or even the buttstock off a Ruger No. 1, as I've done. Just about any rifle is a "take down" for travel purposes.

I've had a number of switch-barrel rifles over the years, using Remington 700, Winchester 70 and Savage bolt actions, and T/C and H&R single-shots. But today only have one switch-barrel bolt action, and am less and less enamored with the idea.

Even with the easiest barrel-change systems, the only really sensible way to change back and forth is with a scope mounted on each barrel, as can easily be done with a break-action single-shot. The Blaser system is the easiest bolt-action I've tried, but switching still takes far more time than a single-shot, and isn't cheap.

With typical bolt-actions screwing the barrel in an out takes time, and even if you have a scope in a detachable mount for each barrel the sight-in usually has to be tweaked after each barrel change.

You can save a little money by buying used or take-off barrels, but you still need headspace gauges, and unless you're happy only with one of the limited number of actions using barrel nuts, you'll often have to tweak the chamber with a reamer.

While there's nothing wrong with a Savage (or other barrel-nut action) another barrel and installation often costs as much as a Ruger American rifle or a Savage Axis, especially if you buy an American or Axis used.

I can understand the appearance of the Encore rifle given the design constraints of using an existing pistol action. However, considering how much time and money they've spent on various flops, a modification of the Encore into a proper rifle makes more sense to me. There are no flies on the Encore as far as strength, accuracy, etc goes, just not very attractive to my eyes. The old TCR was a nice rifle, but crippled by that silly safety.

Knight has an updated KP1, the KPX in its 2014 catalog, but nothing else about it on the website. If I was in the market for a rifle, I'd pursue it a bit more, but I'm pretty backlogged with projects for now.

The RAR has got to be affecting the sale of Encore barrels too; complete gun for about the same price.