Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Pinned recoil lugs........switch barrel rifles?

School me on the idea of switching barrels. I've several customs with "pinned" recoil lugs. I've never inquired on why they are pinned. Can I just order another barrel and have it installed on my current rifle? What equipment is needed and which is best?

If you want to use 1 of the Remington 700 family of actions for a switch-barrel rifle, you pin the recoil lug to the action so that is stays in the same position when you remove/install barrels to insure that the headspace is the same each time that you swap barrels. Since headspace is usually measured in increments of 1/1000th of 1", it doesn't take much movement, or misalignment, of the recoil lug to have insufficient or excess headspace issues.

The Savage 110 family of actions is an easier action to swap barrels on, as it uses a "barrel net" to lock the barrel to the receiver when the headspace is correct. Even though doing the switch-barrel thing on a Savage 110 series action is easier than most others, I have done it and don't think that it is worth doing. Unless you're going to re-zero 1 scope, you'll need a separate scope in QR mounts for each barrel, so you'll be carrying around extra barrels and extra scopes. If you add the cost of the barrels and scopes, you'll probably find that you could have bought a complete 2nd rifle for only a little more $$.

I thought that a Savage 11 with a 1-8" 22-250 barrel and a 260 barrel would be a good combination for varmints and medium game, so I bought some A&B barrels from MidwayUSA and put them together. The whole thing worked well, with the 22-250 shooting smaller groups than a $120 barrel has a right to do, but the novelty quickly wore off and I ended up buying another Savage 11 and installing the spare barrel on a permanent basis. I'm sure that others have done the same thing and had different outcomes, but this is my story and I'm sticking to it!

Jeff

The only advantage to pinning a lug is to not have to take the barreled action out of the stock to switch barrels. Otherwise a $20.00 dollar lug alignment tool is all that's needed when changing barrels, along with a vise and action wrench. The lug position itself has no bearing on headspace.

Well heres my idea of switch barrel rifle and pinned lugs

I cant see how moving the recoil lug would change headspace, the recoil lug is surface ground parralel, and should not change headspace at all even if installed 180 degree's upside down. However changing the amount of torque when changing the barrel will have some degree of altering headspace.

Best reason to pin the lug on a switch barrel is to keep it in the same location so that it fits in your epoxy bedded stock the same every time you switch barrels.

Now I think a switch barrel gun is a bad idea, why you ask, mostly do the the epoxy bedding of the action and barrel to the stock. If, you epoxy bed part of the straight chamber on the barrel to the stock when doing a bedding job, both barrels would have to have the same exact diameter where it is bedded to work, I know alot of gunsmiths that cant even set back a factory barrel one spin and have the factory stampings end up in the same location as prior, much less get two barrels to work with the epoxy bedding correctly, not saying it cant be done. I believe your far better off with two complete rifles.

There are other options such as a contenter frame with a bunch of different barrels for it.

Now thats just my openion and didnt post that to argue or say someone elses openion is wrong.

It does if both sides of the lug aren't parallel, which is the case more often then not as they come from the factory, or if they are out of alignment and the bedding surface of the stock is not parallel to the face of the action. I always surface mill my Remington factory recoil lugs so that they are parallel.

Jeff

It still does not affect headspace when swapping barrels. The reason for pinning is, as was stated earlier, to insure that the lug is repositioned in the correct location in the stock.

"The only advantage to pinning a lug is to not have to take the barreled action out of the stock to switch barrels. Otherwise a $20.00 dollar lug alignment tool is all that's needed when changing barrels, along with a vise and action wrench. The lug position itself has no bearing on headspace."

+1

I have quite a few switch barrel, only had one pinned(the first), never again.

On switch barrel guns, I never bed underneath the barrel. All the guns shoot very tiny groups.

OK, you're right, except that your "right" is in conflict with my experience with a recoil lug that was not milled so that both sides, front and back, were parallel and that a "high spot" on the back/rear of the recoil lug resulted in excess headspace if the recoil lug was not returned to exactly the same alignment as it was when the barreled action was bedded into the stock.

If the recoil lug was out of alignment, the "high spot" prevented the recoil lug from being in full contact with the face of the receiver, which prevented the barrel from being turned in far enough to return to its correct headspace. A pinned recoil lug will always go back in the same alignment, so even with a "high spot", the headspace would be correct, because special attention to the alignment of the recoil lug is not required.

Just because you haven't experienced something doesn't mean that that "something" doesn't exist or hasn't occured. If you don't keep an open mind to new things, you'll never improve the process.

Jeff

I have been swapping barrels for 30+ years on Rem's, 40-X's, customs, Win, and Rugers.

Some Rem actions have 3 barrels for them, I screw them on and off at will with fireformed loaded ammo ready to go.

I have been using a Kliendorf lug locator(I think that is the correct spelling), available from Brownell's for Rem factory lugs.

Jeff, I know your theory well having a machinist background. If your rifle was headspaced with a recoil lug that was NOT surface ground, when you take the barrel off and on and locate the recoil lug with the Kleindorst lug locator, the 1-3* of cant introduced does not mean spit when it comes to headspace difference(you should try and remember that there is a front and back to the recoil lug). You may get the slighest bit of shaving of one side of the lug bedding if you have fully bedded the lug on all 4 sides, and of course, the bottom of the lug should always never touch. If the sides of the bedding in the recoil lug area were relieved, then an extreme of 3* cant would be a moot issue. Many custom gunsmiths only have the rear of the recoil lug touching for this very reason.

It is always best to use a recoil lug that has been surface ground was used when a new barrel is chambered, that way you don't have to remember that there is a front and back to the recoil lug.

The Kleindorst lug locator that I have has about .005 clearance on the sides of the recoil lugs, which is about the same clearance as the pin hole in the receiver(or recoil lug) has that accepts the pin. Some very sharp drill bits will drill a hole with tighter clearances, but .002 tighter pin alignment does not buy you spit in the real world.

What does pay off is a recoil lug that is has been surface ground, then using a lug locator or pinning is a moot issue.