• Got Nuts? Savage Barrel Nut Options

    A recent discussion on our forum about Savage barrel nuts evolved into a detailed account of all the various options and styles currently available for the Savage platform from aftermarket manufacturers. Aftermarket barrel nut options are nothing new, but in the past they tended to be specialty items designed exclusively to work with a given stock and/or barrel configuration. It's only been in the last 5-10 years that custom Savage barrel nuts have become more mainstream and prevalent, primarily due to the fact that a number of aftermarket "custom" actions have adopted the Savage barrel thread specifications to take advantage of the wide availability of pre-fit barrels for the Savage.

    That of course raises the question: Do you need a custom barrel nut?

    The obvious answer to that question is no, but as with most things we tend to tinker with many people want to do something different or unique and thus the reason the aftermarket exists. The factory Savage barrel nuts, while not perfectly "true" on the mating face, are typically only out by two to three thousands at most, and the floating bold head design of the Savage system can easily accommodate any smidgen of concentricity variation that small of a variance could cause in the barrel to receiver alignment. In fact, that's the whole design principle behind the floating bolt head. Furthermore, in the 20+ years of my running this site and watching as folks endlessly debate the benefits or lack there-of of an aftermarket or "trued" barrel nut, I have yet to see a single definitive example of switching from a factory nut to a trued or aftermarket nut make any measurable and verifiable difference in the accuracy of a Savage rifle.

    For those who dare to be different or just want to add a little flare to their rifle, the following list should give you plenty of options. There may be other options currently on the market and new options may come to the market in the future, so don't consider this as a definitive, all-encompassing list.


    OEM Barrel Nuts
    The OEM (factory) barrel nuts can be sourced directly from Savage Arms, through one of the larger parts retail outlets like Brownell's or Midway USA, or from several smaller "specialty" retailers like Gun Shack and Sharp Shooter Supply. OEM Nuts are offered in two sizes, Standard Shank (1.055" x 20tpi) and Large Shank (1.120"x20tpi).


    Trued OEM Barrel Nuts
    To my knowledge, nobody currently offers "trued" OEM barrel nuts making this a DIY option. Truing your own barrel nut is a very simply process that only requires a flat surface (like a piece of glass) and some fine grit emery cloth or sand paper. Simply lay the paper down on the flat surface, then rub the mating surface of the barrel nut in a figure eight pattern over the paper until you see a uniform finish on the mating surface.


    Aftermarket Barrel Nuts
    Aftermarket barrel nuts come in various styles and finishes. Stylistically, they may feature flats allowing you to use a standard mechanics wrench with them, or they may be slotted similar to the factory barrel nuts. On the latter slotted nuts, it is important to note that most such aftermarket options will require a proprietary wrench which is typically purchased separately which greatly increases the overall cost - especially when you also factor in the cost of a standard Savage barrel nut wrench to remove the factory nut.

    NOTE: Not all aftermarket barrel nut manufacturers offer their nuts in both the Standard and Large Savage shank sizes. Some also offer their nuts in other thread sizes/pitches for other brands of rifles (Remington, Tikka, Bergara, etc). As such, be sure to pay attention and read the descriptions/options before purchasing.


    Northland Shooters Supply

    Patriot Valley Arms


    Tromix Lead Delivery Systems


    Oregon Mountain Rifle Co.


    Black Collar Arms


    Southern Precision Rifles (aka Bugholes.com)


    Alamo Precision Rifles


    Zermatt Arms


    Ultimatum Precision


    International Barrels



    *Special thanks to forum member Dave Hoback for doing the leg-work of putting this list together.

    Comments 10 Comments
    1. Dave Hoback's Avatar
      Dave Hoback -
      Great article! Makes me happy to see more & more being offered for Savage. The stronger the aftermarket, the stronger the staying power of the platform.
    1. Tparrish's Avatar
      Tparrish -
      Great job on compiling the list.

      Tom
    1. ragsflh's Avatar
      ragsflh -
      awesome work on barrel nuts
    1. Txhillbilly's Avatar
      Txhillbilly -
      X-Caliber barrel's also have one that is nice.
    1. jims's Avatar
      jims -
      good information
    1. sharpshooter's Avatar
      sharpshooter -
      Nuts are nuts, they are a non moving part and only have one job. There is nothing wrong with factory barrel nuts despite contrary belief that they are not square. If you have ever seen them manufactured, you could see that they could not be anything but square and true. After market nuts are for nothing more than cosmetic enhancement.
    1. Dave Hoback's Avatar
      Dave Hoback -
      Quote Originally Posted by sharpshooter View Post
      Nuts are nuts, they are a non moving part and only have one job. There is nothing wrong with factory barrel nuts despite contrary belief that they are not square. If you have ever seen them manufactured, you could see that they could not be anything but square and true. After market nuts are for nothing more than cosmetic enhancement.
      Contrary belief? Who’s

      Where are all these people with “contrary belief”? LOL! I’ve never really read anything other than aftermarket barrel nuts being for aesthetics. I said precisely that in multiple threads, as have many others. My contention is the claim of caring nothing of looks, only how it shoots, yadda, yadda. Humans are expressly visual beings. We care very much how our possessions appear. We enjoy things which are aesthetically pleasing. Our homes, our cars, our cloths & shoes. And yes… we care how our firearms look! I believe saying “I ONLY care how it shoots!”, is disingenuous. And rebuking others for being honest about making & enjoying their firearms looking a certain way is quite telling. I for one, enjoy the differences in our various rigs. I enjoy very much, seeing member’s builds with their own styling cues. If every one of our Savage rifles was built using factory parts, it’d get pretty boring. But that’s just me.
    1. sharpshooter's Avatar
      sharpshooter -
      Re read the article, Dave.
    1. Dave Hoback's Avatar
      Dave Hoback -
      No, thank you, that’s quite ok. I’ve read it in full already.
    1. PatrickD's Avatar
      PatrickD -
      Well the barrel nut is only one variable of many. Hopefully, the barrel itself was threaded true to itself, the recoil tang is perfectly square and flat, but just as important as the nut, possibly more important is the receiver trueness. If I was going to invest in a true nut and recoil tang I'd also true the face of the receiver.