Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing SAVAGE SWITCH BARREL QUESTION???????

Hi and Thanks in Advance,

I have been reading a lot lately about Savage Rifles and how good they are out of the box, and how easy they are to work with. Midway sells bolts and barrels to change caliber's and it seems interesting.

If I wanted a wildcat chambering that Midway didn't offer and say a longer barrel, is there any barrel maker that would make up a barrel and chamber it for me. What I am getting at is a father and son project, that my son and I can set up. We wanted to try the assembly ourselves.

Is this possible, and where would I get the proper gauges to headspace it?


Thanks
Frank D

demarpaint,

The man you need to talk to is Fred Moreo at Sharp Shooter Supply. He makes or sells everything Savage and is a nice person to deal with. The easiest way to get to his list is www.varminthunters.com and go to the sponsors page to locate Sharp Shooter Supply. They list an e-mail contact, address and phone number.

Regards.

demarpaint--Both Pac-Nor and Douglas will sell a ready to install barrel, and E. R. Shaw will send you one with a shoulder to get rid of the nut, and the chamber about .050" short.

I have used both Pac-Nor and Douglas and really like their barrels. If you don't mind reaming a little, the Shaw is a possibility, but I still prefer the previous two due to experience with them.

Vic

Hello Frank, If you plan on changing your own barrels Brownell's of Midway both has the reamers and headspace gauges you'll need for the most popular calibers. On the othe hand if you decide to wilcat, I'd suggest contacting any of the famous barrel makers (i.e. Shilen, Douglas, Cobra etc.) They'll be able to prove you withe the caliber bore and the desired twist rate. Now you'll have to come up with the most expensive part. The Clymers will be more than glad to make any reamer you wish, but at a cost. Then you'll have to have an set of headspace gauges made (Forester is who I recomend).
Hope this helps.............Good Luck ...........Terry

Any idea what the reamer and headspace guages would cost if I had to have them made up?

Thanks
Frank D

Frank,

I would check www.reamerrentals.com first to see if they have your wildcat reamer in stock for rent before I would shell out what it's going to cost to get a wildcat ground. They list dozens of wildcat reamers and you can rent headspace gauges as well.

If that doesn't work then I would call either of the two Dave's to see what they can do for you:

Dave Kiff @ Pacific Tool and Gauge (541) 826-5805 White City, OR.
Dave Manson @ Manson Reamers www.mansonreamers.com
Grand Blanc, MI.

Brownells has a decent selection of reamers and gauges but only a few wildcats.

Clymer and JGS also grind reamers for the gunsmithing trade. I e-mail them ocassionally for quotes on making reamers.

All of these people are professions and can help you with your questions. The length of delay in getting back to you will vary based on how busy they are, obviously. Ballpark costs will be between $80.00 - $200.00 for a reamer and $20.00 - $30.00 for a headspace gauge.

Let me know if I can help.

Regards.

Vic- Are you saying the Pac-Nor Savage barrels are ready to pop on without any reaming?!?!? Do they come with the barrel nut also? If that's the case, that'd be a perfect, inexpensive way to go for a switch barrel gun.

pointer--That's right, already fully reamed and contoured. It costs 75 dollars extra, and you will need some means of headspacing the barrel, but that puppy will screw right in and be ready to go. You will have to provide your own barrel nut, which will simply unscrew from the original barrel. Another thing about Savages is that the bolt head is interchangeable, meaning you can make your .473 based bolt into a .532 bolt for the cost of a new bolthead. Magazines may have to also be purchased for some caliber conversions, but they are readily available and inexpensive. So, if you wanted to, you could make your .30-06 into a .300 WinMag, or your .308 into a .300 WSM, or your .300 WSM into a .450 Marlin, etc.. That last one has been on my mind.

Vic

Thanks for the explanation, now I have to save some more pennies!

Hi Vic, and other members posting:

Thanks for the great info.....Let me see if I get this....... I can take my .308 Savage and make it a 300 WSM, or a 30-06 and make it a .300 RUM? All I would need is the barrel, bolt face, and a gauge to head-space it? I guess buying the proper gauge would be a must if the gun is going to be a switch barrel, (please forgive the lack of knowledge here). Do you have an idea of what the approximate cost would be to get the setup for a 300 WSM? I would use the 308. Is this something that could be done as a father son project without the need for a gunsmith, once all parts are in hand? Would a barrel maker like Pac-nor or Lilja chamber the barrel for me? I would be perfectly happy with a single shot rifle......

Thanks for all your help

Frank D

Demarpaint--I believe the RUM may be too long for the magazine of a 110 action, so a single shot would be what you would have with that chambering, but you could rebarrel to anything based on a .458 WinMag length case, such as the 7MM, .300WinMag, .338 WinMag, .416 Taylor, or possibly .300 Weatherby(may be too long) and have use of the magazine. Any of the WSM's are possible, as is the .450 Marlin. That would be a good alternative to a Siamese Mauser in .45/70 if you want a "thumper" on a short action.

For less than $300, you can get a pre-chambered, threaded, and contoured stainless steel barrel from Pac-Nor, tools to change the barrel are available from Midway for about $100(barrel vise, headspace gauge, and wrench), as are Adams & Bennett barrels for about $140, which are chromemoly and are finished and ready-to-install. Caliber selection from A&B is somewhat limited but does include a couple of wildcats and some classic chamberings. I think the magazine and bolthead will probably run about $25-$30 apiece, and whole bolts are available. Changing the bolthead takes about 5 minutes. Don't hold me to the Midway prices on boltheads and magazine parts as I am going from memory. I can't find my "Affordable Gunsmithing" catalogue at the moment, which they would be glad to send to you for free.

I don't have any experience with the A&B barrels, but from what I have heard they shoot as well as Savage factory barrels. Of course, Pac-nor would be top-drawer and available in a much wider choice of calibers, factory and wildcat.

One other thing I change whenever I do a barrel on a Savage action is the recoil lug. get a good aftermarket one. The factory one is stamped and may have some slight curvature and "flashing" around the edges.

Feel free to PM me and we can go into more details. Maybe I can find that durned catalogue by then. I just pulled an all-nighter at work and could be looking right at the damn thing and not see it.

Vic

Thanks Vic

Its nice to see how helpful people are and the vast wealth of knowledge that can be had for the asking......I am on a crazy work schedule as well....When I get some time I will take you up on that PM..........Thanks again!!!!!!!!

Frank D

Excuse me for butting into your thread demarpaint, but I had almost the same question.

Vic, would I be correct to assume that converting a Savage 110 270 to a 25-06 would be a barrel only and a very simple conversion? I recently got a Ruger M77 MKII 25-06 and have fallen hard for the caliber.

Dave

dawhip--That would be it, assuming you have the tools to R&R the barrel. And something to headspace it. Of course, a gunsmith could do it for you and you would not have to invest in tools. Anything on a .30-06 case would be a barrel-only conversion.

Vic

Thanks Vic,

I'll have to check into the costs. Probably not to bad at all. I suppose I could really do it up right and order a custom barrel of some sort?

Even if I don't actually do the switch immediately, I may very well order the barrel to have it on hand.

Dave

Dawhip:

No problem butting into the post, I am glad you did.......I read that you can head space a savage barrel with a fired case from the desired caliber. That's assuming you had the chambered barrel you wanted to switch too. Is this true????????

Frank D

I wouldn't use a fired case unless it was sized to SAAMI minimum. When you tighten up the barrel nut, it will seat the threads and you will have about .0015" to .002" headspace. If you use a fired case not sized to minimum, you may end up with excessive headspace. The best thing to use would, of course, be a "go" headspace gauge.

To check the headspace length on a fired or sized case, use an RCBS precision mic. These things are indespensible after you get used to them, especially if you are loading for an action other than bolt. Just set the shoulder back .002"-.003", and you will get optimum life out of your brass due to eliminating oversizing.

Vic

I wouldn't use a fired case either. But there is no reason why you can't use an unfired factory round of the type you are planning to shoot. Just be sure to remove the firing pin from the bolt to prevent an accident.
This would give you a minimum headspaced rifle for the ammo that you will be shooting.

Barry

I put an Midway barrel on a rifle, trued the action ect, only to find the barrel copper fouls in 4 shots.

The next rifle I built was with a Lothar Waltar barrel, I am amazed at the quality. It is by far the most accurate rifle I have ever shot, stays clean, and does not loose accuracy when hot from fast shooting.

Life is too short to waste time with Midway barrels.

Savage 110, who would want one of those ugly beasts?

So you are the guys responsible for the cost of a used 110 these days! Couple of years back they were giving them away, now you might as well just buy a new one. Glad I got 4 in the safe back then.

I've used the A&B barrels on a couple of projects and learned quickly they need a lot of breaking in to reduce fouling. I put about 75 rounds of jacketed .358 pistol bullets through the 35 Whelen (cleaning early and often) to break it in. A little tedious to start, but it shoots great and doesn't foul any more than the Pac Nor I used on another one. This is certainly the simplest way to try out a few different calibers if you have more time than $.

Whatever you decide, enjoy your project!