Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Rem 760 barrel take down

New here so I apologize if this question has been addressed before. I recently bought a first year production (1952) Rem 760/30-06. I have not done so yet but I see by the disassembly instruction in McPherson's book, Accurizing The Factory Rifle, the barrel is removed from the receiver by unscrewing the action tube assembly with a modified 3/16 shanked screwdriver. This takedown procedure seems simple and easy enough such that the 760 (and the current 7600) could conceivibly be treated as a takedown or even a switch barrel if the additional barrel had a compatible multilugged barrel extension to the bolt locking lugs. In articles on takedown/switch barrel rifles, I do not recall the Rem 760 ever mentioned as a canidate. That leads me to suspect that there are problems with the takedown concept with this rifle. Any insights based on experience? Headspace and/or return to POA/POI issues? Thanks.

carbon12,
Remington's pump and auto rifles can be disassembled with a minimum of fuss. However, you can likely forget any sort of return-to-POA when doing so. There are just too many parts involved. It is also likely that slop(excessive wear & tear) will be an issue if the action is repeatedly taken down, and reassembled. This should only be a once-every-few-years process, or when repairs are needed. That way your action will stay nice & tight.
While they are not known for MOA accuracy, I have fired many that shot surprisingly well. Just use and enjoy your fine rifle.

The multi-lugged barrel extension should make you think twice before attempting such a thing!
My hair just turned gray thinking about it!
GWN

Thanks for the responses Bug and GWN. Points appreciated. As far as I can tell (with no mechanical engineering knowledge) what maintains the 'tightness' between the barrel assembly and receiver is the spline headed bolt, that extends out of the receiver, and the torque applied to the nut which is the proximal end of the action tube assembly. So any wear from takedown/reassembly can be remedied by replacing the spline headed bolt and/or the action tube. Excluding the possibility of cross threading, I cannot imagine needing to replace either since thread wear would have to be quite excessive to require it. The POA/POI issue may be problematic. But should it be any more than other take down systems that separate the barrel from a receiver mounted scope? Perhaps a bore mounted optical colluminator would mimimize the error during reassembly. With a receiver mounted peep sight and a front sight at the barrel muzzle, the relationship between the POA and POI might be less affected. How much the barrel harmonics is affected by take down and reassembly remains a question. In response to GWN's comment that the muti-lugged bolt heads and barrel extensions should give one pause in considering a takedown system; isn't there a hair care product called 'Greatian Formula' that can take care of that? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I am not trying to be argumentative here. I am just continuing the discussion until someone that has tried it chimes in with their good/bad experience. Furthermore, I am just curious. I doubt that I will treat my Rem 760 as a takedown. When I travel with a rifle, it is simple enough to just do what at least one gun writer suggests. I remove the epoxy bedded synthetic stock from the barreled action of a Rem 700 and pack the two pieces in a short case. Reassembly with the help of the above mentioned colluminator makes return to zero easy. Thanks for reading.

"The multi-lugged barrel extension should make you think twice before attempting such a thing!
My hair just turned gray thinking about it!
GWN "

Why? The same multi-lugged barrel extension/bolt arrangement is used with great success on the AR15 rifles.

Stryker60

i forgot the reason my smith mention the 7600 is a better platform than the 760. it had something to do with the hardware attached to the barrel.

iirc the 7600 resembled a standard barrel after removal. the 760 looked like a 740/7400 with the "lug" attached out front...
woofer

On my 1952 Rem 760, there is no 'lug' on the barrel. What may be confused as a 'lug' is a part called the action tube guard which is attached to the action tube and impinges on the barrel. A 1958 Remington advertisement claims that the 760 barrel is free floating. However, on my rifle, there is nearly 20 lbs of up pressure against the barrel. I will see how well my rifle shoots as is. If it strings out the shots vertically as the barrel warms up, I will grind down the action tube guard to free float the barrel. The current Rem 7600 has a completely free floating barrel.

Carbon12,
In the book BIG BORE Rifles and Cartridges by Wolfe Publishing, there is an article you may find interesting.
It is "Wildcat Pump for the Alaskan Hunter" by Jay Turner.
He shares his love of the Remington Pump and sends it out to be rebored for 338-06. He states that the barrel assembly is considered a factory fit part because of the need to weld on the barrel extension. My thought is that you would need a bolt headspaced for each barrel if a switch barrel were desired. This could get a little spendy!
If money is no object than anything is possible. Not always practical, but possible.
GWN <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

GWN,
Thanks for the reference. I will try to find it. The more I learn about the Rem 760/7600 pumps, the more impressed I am with them.

DEar Carbon,
I have done several "switch-barrel" 760s and they seem to work fine. Mainly the old rebore/rifle of a 30-06 to 338-06 and then use the standard[whatever] The only problem I ever had was one barrel extension didn`t want to work with the original bolt so the guy got a different barrel and that one was fine. Sent it out to rebore and when it came back did the chambering/headspacing. Dick Nickel in Wa used to do my boring/rifling. I have a 760 barrel extension here someplace as I was planning on trying to make a 6.5/06 on one someday. Probably never now.

Aloha, Mark