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

I've been gravitating toward T/C Contender bbls, but I like the idea of being able to swap bbls. I know it is work, and can be a PITA, but for a leftie wanting a lefty action, the bargains are not to be seen.

Well, I've been cobbling up my own switch barrel rifles for some years now. I don't generally use a complete factory rifle, rather I buy Savage Precision Target Actions and new bare Remington 700 actions from Brownell's. The reason is that with the Savage short action I can make them into .204 Ruger's or .223 Remington's. I can barrel them with a .204 1:8.5" twist for Berger's 50 grain HPBT (now discontinued) or their 55 grain HPBT. Same barrel shoots the lighter lead free bullets amazingly well. Or I can use a .204 1:12" twist for the little 26 grain Barnes Varmint Grenade, or Hornady's 24 grain NTX Lead Free BTHP. Then another Savage action may be equipped with .223 Remington 1:9" twist polygonal rifled barrel - with Nosler's 40 grain BT Lead Free bullet this thing shoots UNDER a quarter inch. Now, swap out a bolt head and firing pin assembly, or set up another bolt, and I have a .243 WSSM with a Brux 1:8" twist barrel. It shoots little sage rats out to 350 yards - about as far as I can see them, making me happy. Change the bolt head and firing pin again, in this case I bought parts for a separate bolt, and I have a 6mm PPC with a 1:8" twist for the Barnes 62 grain Varmint Grenade or Nosler 58 grain BT lead free bullet.

Which barrel and cartridge I'm using depends on where I am going hunting.

Take the Remington 700 and I have a choice of the 22-250 Ackley or the .308 Winchester, so far. Both shoot at or under .5". The .308 Winchester barrel is a Pac-Nor 1:10" twist, polygonal rifled 24" barrel with a Vais Muzzle Brake installed. Both cartridges feed through either the internal or an external Wyatt box magazine. Both barrels use Pac-Nor's Rem Nut and swap with the Savage nut wrench.

Now comes the Remington 783, the first factory rifle I have purchased in years. It has a Savage style barrel nut, that the Savage wrench more or less fits. And we are lucky that Northland Shooters Supply provides Criterion barrels in your choice of contours and calibers. They also have the tools and stuff to make it work. I ordered a 24" 1:10" twist barrel in .25-06 Remington, something I have scoffed at for years - now I'll see if its better than the .257 Roberts Ackley. The 783 may be my new 788 plaything or something I use for a jack handle. Time will tell.

I won't even tell you about my M-4 platforms with swap uppers in many funny calibers.

So, if you want to experiment, learn new stuff and have fun, get to swapping.

In Europe they are rather popular. But as myself and many friends have find out all of us usually use it as single barrel rifle if you have a barrel in any of these calibers 6,5x55/308/30-06. So I sold mine and don�t regret it.
Reason to buy a switch barrel is because for instance in Norway and Sweden only 6 hunting guns are allowed including both rifles and shotguns.

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It's been over forty years ago since I saw my first switch (swap) barrel rifle at a national benchrest rifle championship. Lots of the competitors had sleeved Remingtons glued into the stock and had three barrels for the same rifle -- one for Light Varmint, one for Heavy Varmint, and one for Sporter class. The two Varmint class rifles were always chambered in a 222 variant and the Sporter was in 6 x 47 ( a necked-up 222 Rem Mag if I remember right ). The competitors took only seconds to switch from one gun class to another. They used Wilson or other hand dies, an arbor press or a mallet, and a B&M powder measure to reload their perfect brass shells between each five-shot relay. Many swaged their own bullets.

Since then I have had swap barrel guns on Montana, Remingtons, Rugers, Sakos, Savages, Weatherbys, etc.

Had one rifle with 150 barrels ranging from the 14 Walker to the 470 Capstick. That one rifle had five complete bolt assemblies.

On a single Weatherby Mark V had their 378, 416, 460, and a wildcat 500 and a wildcat 550 caliber. Don't recommend swapping barrels in the middle of a Cape Buffalo charge even if you don't have the optimum barrel on as the charge begins. The 500 might do even if the 550 would have been better.

There is no money to be saved by using a swap barrel gun as you just keep buying more barrels.

As to their difficulty in use, I am a little slow and take upwards of five minutes to change one in the field. Some of my friends can do it in half that time.

I used to use headspace gauges for swapping barrels, but there are other routes that work that don't require the gauges. ( How many of us buy chamber gauges for each cartridge we handload for in order to set our sizing dies in the press ? )

Today's scope reliability for returning to prior recorded settings is much better than scopes of yester year.

I don't recommend swap barrel guns for others. They are of no practical value. Most shooters only need a 223 and a 308. But I and some others enjoy swap barrel guns and the barrel makers tolerate us.

Heck, some of us are so far gone that we own more than one short-chambered 16 gauge side-by-side. It can be successfully argued that only one of those is needed, but don't tell my wife...


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Thanks for all the answers and pros and cons. I thought about pursuing this but after reading this I will not.

358win

I just don't see the purpose of a switch barrel unless you're trying to save weight or restrictions on another rifle such as in Europe or going to Africa. Then I could see something like a Blazer in 300 and 375 with easy to swap barrels and scopes mounted to the barrels. But what would be the purpose of a switch barrel Savage or remington that required a wrench and vice? You're not going to do it on a hunt and why would you do it between range sessions instead of just buying another complete rifle?

As for the T/C Encore it's one of the ugliest guns out there because of being built on a handgun action, they could make it look pretty nice if they made an action just for a rifle that didn't have the pistol grip on it.

They are a PITN. I have a CZ 455 with three barrels, and all three pipes require a sight-in every time you swap one out. It "might be different" with the cantilevered mounts on some of those switchbarrel guns, but it's even simpler with different rifles for different chamberings.
The barrel options typically aren't much less costly than a whole 'nuther rifle, and when you add in the price of another scope, you might as well HAVE two rifles.

I think there is a point being missed here. A switch barrel rifle does not have to switch in the field or have a perfect scope swap setup.

A more realistic option is to change the barrel for a particular hunt and prep and practice before hand.

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I think that people who do not see the need or have the desire for a swap barrel gun should not have one.

We should only have stuff we want.

But some of us do enjoy the more esoteric stuff and for some of us that includes swap barrel guns.

Heck, I have three complete barrel assemblies for a Kreighoff K-80, but cannot justify more than one on the basis of true practicality.

I like guns made in the likeness of Elmer Keith's Special #5, but I don't think everyone needs one. And if they did, I would probably lose interest in having mine.

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Some people who have tried swap barrel guns have had all kinds of problems and issues with them. Their problems are real and difficult.

I have had the extreme good fortune to not encounter those issues and can't say what I would do if I did.

With a little knowledge gained from a shade tree Diesel mechanic and no more tools than a K-Mart "tactical" screwdriver and mallet, one can change the barrel of most swap barrel guns in the field in about two minutes.

But, again, swap barrels should be avoided by 99% because they provide no enjoyment to them.

And we should enjoy our time with our guns.


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I have been tinkering with Salvage rifles for 15 years or so..tools needed are a barrel vise...nut wrench...action wrench...all available from Brownells or Midway...I use FL sized brass to set the headspace...bolt head swaps are simple..although Savage has made a lot of changes over the years..IE..action screw spacing changes...bolt release locations..firing pin diameters...barrel nuts are knurless on some...a special wrench is needed...or a Dremel to remove nut & then replace with regular nut..large & small shank diameter actions...Savage builds a Target action (large shank) which I prefer my my builds..LR p/dog guns...barrel builders offer many choice for aftermarket tubes...full custom which you may wait 6-8 months for a ready to screw on prefit or an 'on the shelf' prefit from CBI..Shilen...ER Shaw or McGowen to name a few...prices range from $200 to $500 depending on options...it takes a good hour to take a Savage apart...and reassemble & remount stock...scope rings & scope...then of course test fire & sight in...here's a pic of my 6XC totally taken down for a good cleaning...one cold day last winter...

Thank you, Tikkanut! I appreciate your response to my inquiry. My main reason for wanting a switch-barrel rifle system is that I'm a lefty, and lefty rifles aren't as prolific, and are not bargain-priced the way that rh bolt guns can be.

If I spend several hundred on a lefty platform gun and the tools to swap barrels, then I can buy more barrels at roughly the same price per as the cost of a bargain rh bolt gun. I may pm some questions to you as I focus on getting the project rolling, if you don't mind.

Sig made the SHR 970 available for a while. It was a solution, but the problem wasn't clear to Americans.

It's easy to change a switch barrel without re-sighting, it just requires an extra scope and high quality quick release rings. By then, you have enough extra money into the project, might as well just buy another gun.

Rugers are not hard to take a barrel off of, and to put another one on them....I've got a pair of them I swap barrels on, on a regular routine basis....

What got me going on rifles with a barrel swap, was over on Accurate Reloading.. there was a guy from South Africa, that was 'showing' the "rifles" that he had...

He had a couple of hand guns, and three Savage Actions.. he was a Professional Hunter, and was stating that in South Africa they are allowed to own 5 firearms total...

so he showed a picture of his two pistols, his three Savage Actions, and then had a long hallway runner rug, showing the 58 barrels he had for his three Savage Actions, chambered in about every commonly used round you could think of...

needless to say I was impressed with the versatility of that...

I have 3 barrels for my Savage 110. 6MM BR, 270 Win and 30-06. this week I shot all three at the range. In addition 2 scopes one for target use(6.5-20) and second one (3-9) for hunting, 2 Stocks, one for the 6MM BRwith varmint/target barrel and second one for the hunting sporting profile barrels. All kinds of options exist for reasonable cost. Head space gauges are best for setting up. The calibers cover a broad range of application.

Encores and Contenders are far from being flops and are super accurate.

Had one built about 25 years or so ago on a 700 action. Proved to be just another gimmick. Swap scopes or rezero & change barrels. Found it was simpler to just carry two rifles.

Re- read my post.

I didn't say the Encores or Contenders were flops or inaccurate, I said they were kinda ugly; which in my opinion they are, in particular when rifleized. I handled a blued and walnut .25/06 Encore the other day and it was actually kind of handy and lighter than others I've looked at.

The flops I was referring to are the Icon, the Classic .22, and whatever it is they call that switch-barrel bolt gun, which is so ugly it makes the Encores look relatively attractive. The Venture is a pretty good rifle, I've heard, especially at some of the close-out prices they've been offered at. It's not terribly ugly, just your average run-of-the-mill ugly.

Your assertion that Encores and Contenders are "super accurate", is just silly.

I've never shot an Encore. Have shot a few Contenders with several barrels, couple factory, most custom. If the barrel is good, then the gun is capable of super-accuracy.