I want to convert from 308 to 223 or 5.56 and then get a stock more to my liking

[Twinsen]

What I have:

2015 10 FCP-SR in 308 Win
-Accurate Mag DBM (factory Savage DBM inlet)
-Accustock
-Accutrigger
-Top bolt release
-Small shank
-Smoothe barrel nut


What I believe I want:

24" 1:7 twist 223 barrel
-AICS 223 mag
-Stock with adjustable LOP (spacer method is cheap)
-Castle style barrel nut

I believe I need:
-Complete 223 bolt head - probably on the classifieds here as a take-off
-223 go gauge
-barrel
-Action block or barrel vice?
-Barrel nut wrench to tear off the smooth nut and put on a toothed one because I imagine the smooth nuts are a PITA


I think that's all I need. I'm clueless on the tooling to use. What's cheap?

[daniel87]

Well firstly i taped my action and the barrel with masking tape.then i used a pipe wrench with a small cheater tube to loosen the nut. easy peasy, put the barrel in a vise started to thread barrel with the nut and recoil lug on the barrel like the factory, then put the action half on the barrel threads opened the bolt, then put the go Gage in the chamber and closed the bolt. Finished threading the action till the actions stops turning, light firm ish turn don't damage the Gage. Then turn the nut to hand tighten the barrel, with the star style nut on new barrel use lots of masking tape on the new nut, then use the pipe wrench again to tighten the nut snug. then rap the handle with a rubber mallet check chamber with no go. Remove the tape from the nut. to hide the lost bluing i used cold blue that's what a man who has done many does.
Don't go monkey tight to the nut the mallet gives the nut the tightness


Ymmv do at own risk... blah blah blah :)

[Twinsen]

A pipe wrench. Good idea. That'll get the smooth nut off. It will be destroyed, but I don't need that thing anyway.

How did you clamp the barrel or receiver down to torque the nut off?

[daniel87]

A pipe wrench. Good idea. That'll get the smooth nut off. It will be destroyed, but I don't need that thing anyway.

How did you clamp the barrel or receiver down to torque the nut off?

Honestly i usually use a barrel vise but my new barrel was the hog hunter and to time the barrel needed the sights on and dint have the right shim. So i used a big old vise with wood blocks drilled hole a little smaller than the barrel i want to vise and then cut the block in half. Used resin to seal so barrel don't move in vise

hope i am helping.

[Twinsen]

Yeah, you're helping a lot. The Wheeler Barrel Vice and Davidson Barrel Vice are what I'm looking into now. One has hardwood blocks, and I'm not sure what the other has.

I'm shooting out the barrel on my Mossberg MVP using M193. I can only get the little sucker out to 600 yards if it is hot and dry. A day after a storm they tumble around 550, and the other day I found out they do the same about an hour before a storm. It has a 1:9 twist so it won't shoot 77gr bullets that I have a lot of. I figure I should ditch that platform and go with Savage so next time I burn out a barrel it'll be easier.

I tried some Nosler 77gr bullets and couldn't hit a 14x7 plate at 330 yards with it. Pathetic.

[daniel87]

Haven't shot past 100. nowhere to shoot near me.

[GaCop]

You might be better served by a 1 in 8 twist barrel, that will allow you to shoot up to 80 grain bullets.

[Mozella]

A pipe wrench. Good idea. That'll get the smooth nut off. It will be destroyed, but I don't need that thing anyway.

How did you clamp the barrel or receiver down to torque the nut off?

I made a barrel vise. Here's how. buy a 2"x2" stick of oak at Lowes or Home Depot. They come 3 feet long. Do not use fir. You need something strong and dense. Go to the metal bin and buy a 3' length of 2" wide steel bar stock. Get the thick stuff, about 1/4" thick. Then shop for some big bolts, nuts, and washers. Get them as large as whatever equipment you have to drill holes with; 7/16" will work but 1/2" is better and 3/8" might work especially if you get a strong bolt. If you MUST use a small diameter bolt, go to an automobile parts house and ask for grade 8 or something similar..

Cut off about 7 inches or so of your oak. Leave the other piece long. Cut two pieces of steel about as long as the short piece of oak. Drill the steel with the holes a little further apart than your barrel diameter; say roughly two and a half inches on center. Make a sandwich with the steel on the outside and the two pieces of oak on the inside. Clamp everything together and drill the oak for the bolts. Now put a piece of thin cardboard between the oak pieces and clamp everything together again. Using a Forstner bit, drill a 1" hole (assuming a 1" barrel) centered on the edge of the cardboard and half way between the bolts. When you're done, discard the cardboard spacer.

If this doesn't make sense, Google an image of a barrel vise. Most of them look and work the same way.

Because of the cardboard providing clearance while you drill, the wood should clamp the barrel firmly before bottoming out. You will probably have to ease the hole a bit and make it slightly oval and you might have to plane down the short piece of oak if you need more clamping force. Fiddle around with the shape of the hole until you get a good shape for clamping. Then grease the bolts, nuts, and washers and really get serious with your wrenches. You need a LOT of clamping force to remove a Savage factory barrel nut 'cause they're put on REALLY tight at the factory.

You'll find that the long end of the oak piece will come in handy when you're looking for a way to hold the vise. I just clamped it to my sturdy workbench and because the vise is nearly 2.5 feet long, it's easy to hang the business end off the end of your bench so that you can maneuver your wrench, keep the action clear, etc.

Good luck.

[JASmith]

Since you are going to need a new bolt face anyway, have you thought of going to the 7.62x39 bolt face and getting a barrel chambered for the 6.5 Grendel (7.5 or 8 twist)?

[Twinsen]

You might be better served by a 1 in 8 twist barrel, that will allow you to shoot up to 80 grain bullets.

I do plan to go with a 1:8, but assumed 1:7 was more common. It is with AR15s anyway.

I haven't figured out what chamber to go with. 223 Rem, Wylde, or 556. I've been looking for a source for a barrel threaded 1/2x28 in 1:8 or 1:7 that is 24 or 26 inches long. It's what I'm doing this evening.

Shilen - $420 chrome moly, $508 stainless
Criterion - $370 + $100 threading
Apache Gun Works (who isn't taking orders) - $305 for X-Caliber blank, $255 for whatever other blank they use
Black Hole Weaponry - $299 and they'd do a custom stepped taper for no extra cost, but I'm too dumb to figure that out
Gun Shack - $289 + $100 threading
Stainless Criterion through NSS - $300 + $100 threading
Stainless Shilen through NSS - $339 + $100 threading
Sin Arms - $500

And BHW looks like the winner.


Since you are going to need a new bolt face anyway, have you thought of going to the 7.62x39 bolt face and getting a barrel chambered for the 6.5 Grendel (7.5 or 8 twist)?

I believe 6.5 Grendel to be superior to the 223. I'm sticking with 223 as I already load it for Service Rifle competition. Also I can use cheapo M193 out to about 620-630 yards in perfect weather and maybe 400 in anything else.

[swadiver]

What I have:

2015 10 FCP-SR in 308 Win
-Accurate Mag DBM (factory Savage DBM inlet)
-Accustock
-Accutrigger
-Top bolt release
-Small shank
-Smoothe barrel nut


What I believe I want:

24" 1:7 twist 223 barrel
-AICS 223 mag
-Stock with adjustable LOP (spacer method is cheap)
-Castle style barrel nut

I believe I need:
-Complete 223 bolt head - probably on the classifieds here as a take-off
-223 go gauge
-barrel
-Action block or barrel vice?
-Barrel nut wrench to tear off the smooth nut and put on a toothed one because I imagine the smooth nuts are a PITA


I think that's all I need. I'm clueless on the tooling to use. What's cheap?


you not happy with the way your 10 .308 is shooting?

[Twinsen]

My FN is a better 308. My Mossberg MVP's barrel is on the way out. I figure I should cut my losses on the MVP and swap over to Savage so I can do easy barrel swaps.

[GaCop]

I do plan to go with a 1:8, but assumed 1:7 was more common. It is with AR15s anyway.

I haven't figured out what chamber to go with. 223 Rem, Wylde, or 556. I've been looking for a source for a barrel threaded 1/2x28 in 1:8 or 1:7 that is 24 or 26 inches long. It's what I'm doing this evening.

Shilen - $420 chrome moly, $508 stainless
Criterion - $370 + $100 threading
Apache Gun Works (who isn't taking orders) - $305 for X-Caliber blank, $255 for whatever other blank they use
Black Hole Weaponry - $299 and they'd do a custom stepped taper for no extra cost, but I'm too dumb to figure that out
Gun Shack - $289 + $100 threading
Stainless Criterion through NSS - $300 + $100 threading
Stainless Shilen through NSS - $339 + $100 threading
Sin Arms - $500

And BHW looks like the winner.



I believe 6.5 Grendel to be superior to the 223. I'm sticking with 223 as I already load it for Service Rifle competition. Also I can use cheapo M193 out to about 620-630 yards in perfect weather and maybe 400 in anything else.

The Wilde chamber will allow you to shoot either commercial or military ammunition. The throating is a bit longer too so that would be a plus being able to seat heavy bullets out farther in the case to save powder space.

[Twinsen]

Ok, so I grabbed my cousin's 11 Trophy Hunter in 223 to see what works with what. I want to get him a stock also.

His recoil lug is too thick to use in my Accustock. So I can't mount his receiver in my stock to check loading with these dummy rounds I just made. It also means the aftermarket recoil lug I just bought is worthless to me.
So I just put his bolt into my rifle. It doesn't go back far enough in my action to clear the rounds in the magazine, so it can't load.

It looks like what is probably at fault is the front bolt baffle. So I took his bolt apart to find out it isn't the same as mine, and I wasn't shocked because it seems no two savages have compatible parts. Also the parts in his bolt are very rough. You literally can use the large diameter portion of the firing pin as an effective emery board.

His bolt internals look like this, but with a much longer front bolt baffle:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d145/82boy/boltdisasembled.jpg

And mine look like this:
http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p563/RedSoloCup/SavageBoltParts3-12.jpg

So I put the front baffle of my 308 bolt onto his 223 bolt and it looks like it will work because the bolt will strip dummy rounds out of the mag. So if the replacement 223 bolt head I'm trading for tomorrow has the same kind of extended front bolt baffle, I guess I also need a 308 bolt baffle for the 308 to 223 conversion.

So FYI:
-Accustocks won't fit on the Trophy Hunter
-The Trophy Hunter has an Axis magazine
-The Trophy Hunter has a weird bolt
-The 223 savage rifles have a huge bolt baffle that prevent the use of 223 AICS magazines
-This is frustrating

[Newsshooter]

I converted a 6.5X47 to .223 on an LRP action, 1 in 7 barrel, a 30 inch f class take off. Shooting 77 SMK's to 1K, shoots great, stays right with my creedmoor to just past 600, 11 mils at 1K. I've been using accurate mags and they function great. It's mounted in a Mcree chassis like my 6.5.

[Twinsen]

I'm just blown away that every one of their guns is so different. I plan to get him a stock for his for Christmas. I know I'm going to get it and find out it won't work. "Merry Christmas!"