caliber change

[dogman]

If you change your barrel to change the caliber say from 308 to 243 or vice versa can it be done by say the average person without a great impact on the accuracy given that you were using good barrels? Questions been bugging me and I couldn't figure out how to phrase it for a good search. Thanks

[Werewolf]

LOL that is the main point of our little club! Welcome to the madness. Search for switching barrels. Using a good aftermarket barrel and setting the headspace just right yourself has the potential to increase accuracy, but each action barrel combo is different. It is part of the fun.

[psharon97]

Absolutely! Savage is the tinkerer's rifle!

[BobT]

Welcome Dogman,

I have actually experienced accuracy increases removing and re-installing barrels, never had one shoot worse though!

Bob

[MaDa]

Just incase you were wondering, even if you kept the scope on(I doubt you can, during a swap) your point of impact would change going from one cartridge/barrel to a new cartridge/barrel. Someone with more experience may be able to chime in. But it would be considered almost necessary to sight in the rifle again after swap. There has been some discussion about the change of the point of impact and whether or not barrels can be swapped without removal of the scope in the past.

Good luck and have fun! welcome to the site!

[ellobo]

There are a lot of little nuances you have to pay attention to when swspping barrels, like proper setting of headspace, possible magazine changes (what magazine do you have/ Stagger feed, center feed, DBm?) Bolt head may have toi be changed out. You should get a good aftermarket recoil lug. Will the new barrel be free floated in the stock as well as the tang? All depends on what you are changing from-to. None of this is hard to do and how-to is available here.
Welcome to the brotherhood of the barrel nut. You are now officialy a "NUT".

El obo

[Blue Avenger]

If your willing to try you have half the battle won. The rest involves time and tools!

[Cycler]

There are a lot of little nuances you have to pay attention to when swspping barrels, like proper setting of headspace, possible magazine changes (what magazine do you have/ Stagger feed, center feed, DBm?) Bolt head may have toi be changed out. You should get a good aftermarket recoil lug. Will the new barrel be free floated in the stock as well as the tang? All depends on what you are changing from-to. None of this is hard to do and how-to is available here.
Welcome to the brotherhood of the barrel nut. You are now officialy a "NUT".

El obo
The OP sounds like he is thinking about the most straight-forward caliber change imaginable, a .308W to a .243W. Both use the same action length, same magazine, same bolt head and even the same headspace gauge. About the only problem might be if he chooses a barrel with a significantly different contour and has to modify the stock's barrel channel.

[dogman]

Well that was kind of the point to me. I currently shoot 223 and 308 however after reading some articles 243 interested me. Then I found out from the forum that 243 could use the 308 mag. I might think of a 223 barrel in the future as well. Might stick with the varmint contour to keep things simple. I like easy. On another note is this configuration doable in 338 or is that a whole new setup? Ordered a varmint action today from Jim at Northland. Lots and lots of possibilities popping into my head. I love all the support being given so far! This is one great forum!

[Cycler]

Well that was kind of the point to me. I currently shoot 223 and 308 however after reading some articles 243 interested me. Then I found out from the forum that 243 could use the 308 mag. I might think of a 223 barrel in the future as well. Might stick with the varmint contour to keep things simple. I like easy. On another note is this configuration doable in 338 or is that a whole new setup? Ordered a varmint action today from Jim at Northland. Lots and lots of possibilities popping into my head. I love all the support being given so far! This is one great forum!
The .243 Win is just the .308 Win case necked down to 6 mm so it's a very easy change. As to a .338, which one? A .338Win magnum reqiuires a long action and a magnum bolt head and won't work in your action. A .338 Federal is just the .308 Win necked up to .338 and is also an easy change.

BTW, the ".308 Family", all based on the same case, includes these standard factory rounds:

.243 Win
.260 Rem
7mm-08 Rem
.308 Win.
.338 Federal
.358 Win.

There are also dozens and dozens of Wildcats based on this case in standard or modified form so you could be busy for a long time.