What do you HAVE to have for Switch barrel?

[Ol' BW]

From what I have read, there are a lot of tools you need to take off the barrel for the first time. After you get your factory barrel off you only need a nut wrench and a set of gauges to swap barrels?

If that is the case, couldn't I take it to a gunsmith to have the factory barrel removed then swap at will with the nut wrench and gauges? Wouldn't that avoid the need to invest in the tools that I will likely only need once?

Am I full of bologna?

BW

[fgw_in_fla]

I use the same assortment of tools to remove & replace a barrel.
Action wrench
Barrel nut wrench
7/16 box wrench or allen to lock up the action wrench to the action
screwdriver or allen wrench for scope base
4lb hammer to loosen the barrel nut (if it's a first time)
Go - No Go set or sized brass to set the head space.
Big Book of Favorite Curse Words (again, if it's a first timer)

That's pretty much it. After you do it 2 or 3 times you'll develop your own set of procedures. I have it down to 40 - 45 minutes. My best was 22 minutes but it was an action I had replaced the barrel 2 weeks prior. It barely had time to settle in.
Take your time & have a go of it. Get in the groove like the rest of us. Become a Savage Barrel Swap Addict.

[Bigeclipse]

I use the same assortment of tools to remove & replace a barrel.
Action wrench
Barrel nut wrench
7/16 box wrench or allen to lock up the action wrench to the action
screwdriver or allen wrench for scope base
4lb hammer to loosen the barrel nut (if it's a first time)
Go - No Go set or sized brass to set the head space.
Big Book of Favorite Curse Words (again, if it's a first timer)

That's pretty much it. After you do it 2 or 3 times you'll develop your own set of procedures. I have it down to 40 - 45 minutes. My best was 22 minutes but it was an action I had replaced the barrel 2 weeks prior. It barely had time to settle in.
Take your time & have a go of it. Get in the groove like the rest of us. Become a Savage Barrel Swap Addict.

I have heard of heating the barrel slightly with a torch to aid release for first removal or soaking in something like wd40...

[darkker]

I use a nut wrench, bench vice, and factory ammo for a gauge.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

Barrel swap takes me 15 minutes, at the most. That's after it's been removed the first time. After that, it's a piece of cake. Nut wrench, barrel chucked in a padded vice. No need for "OVERKILL" when it comes to tightening the barrel nut. Snug is good with a little tap of a hammer. Never had one come loose.

[BillPa]

After a factory install

http://i40.tinypic.com/20iwen6.jpg http://i42.tinypic.com/2hz7sli.jpg

A rear entry action wrench, open ended nut wrench.

Bill

[drybean]

This Forum will not the correct words to be posted for first time barrel removal

[Ol' BW]

So basically you only need minimal tools after you take the factory barrel off and get the gunk cleaned out of it? That is what I gathered from the reading I've done. So there is really no need in investing in a bunch of tools if you have a smith you trust to remove the factory barrel.

I looked up the prices on Midway for the needed tools and the barrel I want at E.R. Shaw and it would be over $450 for it all together. For that price I could just buy another gun! I'd have to do a lot of barrel switching to recover that cost. That's when I hit on the idea of letting someone else do it that has the tools!

BW

[Bigeclipse]

So basically you only need minimal tools after you take the factory barrel off and get the gunk cleaned out of it? That is what I gathered from the reading I've done. So there is really no need in investing in a bunch of tools if you have a smith you trust to remove the factory barrel.

I looked up the prices on Midway for the needed tools and the barrel I want at E.R. Shaw and it would be over $450 for it all together. For that price I could just buy another gun! I'd have to do a lot of barrel switching to recover that cost. That's when I hit on the idea of letting someone else do it that has the tools!

BW

The cool thing about doing it yourself is after the initial purchase of tools you can often build a better rifle for cheaper than factory. Plus if you spend 400 or so on a nice barrel...it will most certainly out shot most factory rifles.

[shooterfpga]

I looked into doing a barrel swap myself as the rifle i want is not in stock. However the price was the same as what you looked up and i too came to the same conclusion that itd still be cheaper to buy another rifle. Even barreled actions are about the same as a new rifle considering the lack of budget actions available for sale. Most are all target actions or have upgrades prebuilt into em. Hardly anyone has a plane jane action. Ive seen quite a few builds off a stevens action which they say is pretty cheap so ill look into one of those. All i want is to get me a budget 6.5 creedmoor.

[Ol' BW]

The cool thing about doing it yourself is after the initial purchase of tools you can often build a better rifle for cheaper than factory. Plus if you spend 400 or so on a nice barrel...it will most certainly out shot most factory rifles.

Not trying to rain on the parade, I'm just not going into the business of building custom Savage rifles. I am all for this concept, I just want a couple of rifles that I could switch barrels on. I am talking about the tools it takes to get a factory barrel off without damage. I can see buying a gauge and a wrench to swap barrels after I got the factory barrel off, but not all the other expensive dodads that midway sells. If I could turn around and sell the tools for what I had in them or if I could use them for other purposes, this would be a different story. Also, if I had a friend or two that wanted to build a rifle and we could split the cost, that would be different also. Even if I could rent the tools at a cheaper rate like 4D Reamers rents their tools, that would be excellent. Over at Graybeards forum, they have reamers that the members can rent for a small donation to the server fund.

My experience has been that money can't buy accuracy, that is provided by practice and shooter ability.

BW

[foxx]

I think you can get by very easily with the nut wrench ad an action wrench. Your go-gage is about $30 or use an empty unprimed case for the go gage. Other than renting/borrowing gages and /or using fired cases, I have never used any other tools.

Other than that, MAYBE a 3-4 lb hammer. Total about $100. It might cost $35-50 for a smith to do it for you, but you will still need a nut wrench going forward for future swaps. Therefore, it seems to me unless you never plan to ever change it out again, or ay other rifle, you might as well cough up what ever it costs for the action wrench. (THat's about the same as 1 or 2 x by a gunsmith.)

Northland shooters supply Nut wrench $25 (need it whether its you first time removing it or 10th time, and for installing)
NSS action wrench: $60 (definitely need it for removing first time, good to have when reinstalling also.)

Total: $85 plus shipping

Note: Not trying to bully you, just not sure where you got the $400 price.

[shooterfpga]

If i could find someone to do it for 30-50 id rather do that all day long since im not a swapper addict.

[foxx]

I looked into doing a barrel swap myself as the rifle i want is not in stock. However the price was the same as what you looked up and i too came to the same conclusion that itd still be cheaper to buy another rifle. Even barreled actions are about the same as a new rifle considering the lack of budget actions available for sale. Most are all target actions or have upgrades prebuilt into em. Hardly anyone has a plane jane action. Ive seen quite a few builds off a stevens action which they say is pretty cheap so ill look into one of those. All i want is to get me a budget 6.5 creedmoor.

Shooter, the classified section here has $225-300 actions for sale all the time. And new take-off barrels for $50-80. Used barrels for much less. but that's not the point, really. I know. the point is the cost of removing the factory barrel when you don't have the tools. I am just saying that the tools are not as expensive as you might have figured.

[Bigeclipse]

Not trying to rain on the parade, I'm just not going into the business of building custom Savage rifles. I am all for this concept, I just want a couple of rifles that I could switch barrels on. I am talking about the tools it takes to get a factory barrel off without damage. I can see buying a gauge and a wrench to swap barrels after I got the factory barrel off, but not all the other expensive dodads that midway sells. If I could turn around and sell the tools for what I had in them or if I could use them for other purposes, this would be a different story. Also, if I had a friend or two that wanted to build a rifle and we could split the cost, that would be different also. Even if I could rent the tools at a cheaper rate like 4D Reamers rents their tools, that would be excellent. Over at Graybeards forum, they have reamers that the members can rent for a small donation to the server fund.

My experience has been that money can't buy accuracy, that is provided by practice and shooter ability.

BW

I dont get it...you need a barrel wrench...30bucks...action wrench 70bucks and a go gauge 30bucks. If you buy a brownells barrel kit you get a decent barrel and all the tools except the action wrench for 200.

[foxx]

I dont get it...you need a barrel wrench...30bucks...action wrench 70bucks and a go gauge 30bucks. If you buy a brownells barrel kit you get a decent barrel and all the tools except the action wrench for 200.

Yeah, Big. It really just boils down to one question: Do I buy a $60-70 action wrench now so I can change all the barrels I want at any time or do I pay a smith $30-50 each time and have all the hassle of taking it to him and waiting for him to do a simple task?

[Ol' BW]

$85 sounds a lot more like it. :cool:

Midway sells an action vice for $99, then you have to buy the blocks that fit your action, that's another $40, then $60 for a go/no go gauge set, then $25 for the Wheeler nut wrench, that is over $225 then the barrel from Shaw is $220 so that is where I was getting the $400. That's not counting shipping and handling!

Like I said, just need to know what I REALLY need!

[craigsoutdoorsports]

Do you already have a bench heavy bench vise? If so a couple pieces of leather to pad the jaws and or a set of wooden v blocks and a little rosin and you have a barrel vise.

Necessity is the mother if all invention. Sometimes with a little thinking and some ingenuity you can make things work without spending big bucks on the right tools.

The nut wrench is a must. Proper go and no go gauges in my opinion are a must. Everything else is debatable.

[Ol' BW]

The Brownell's kit does not come in the caliber I want. It also doesn't have an action wrench from what I understand. If I can get what I need for $85 bucks I can swing that!

BW

[foxx]

Do you already have a bench heavy bench vise? If so a couple pieces of leather to pad the jaws and or a set of wooden v blocks and a little rosin and you have a barrel vise.

Necessity is the mother if all invention. Sometimes with a little thinking and some ingenuity you can make things work without spending big bucks on the right tools.

The nut wrench is a must. Proper go and no go gauges in my opinion are a must. Everything else is debatable.

Yes. usually you can get by with just a barrel vice OR action wrench. I never could jerry-rig a barrel vice as Craig's says, but if you're more handy and skilled than me you might. After trying many different things, I eventually broke down and got an action wrench. I think that's most people's story. Never did get a "real" barrel vice. Don't need it. If I had one, I probably would not need the action wrench.