One action/stock, multiple barrels?

This has probably been asked many times...I did a search but didn't find exactly what I was looking for...

Are there folks here that have one action/stock host and regularly use multiple barrels on it based on need/purpose/way wind is blowing? If so, do you experience any accuracy decrease when you go swapping barrels like that?

Maybe its not a big deal, but I'm concerned about taking the time to work up a load the barrel likes, rolling a bunch of them, taking the barrel off for something else, putting the barrel back on and having the pre-loaded rounds work to the same level of accuracy that it did before.

Thanks!

Doing what you are asking about is done by many, many of the guys who regularly haunt this forum. I have never heard of accuracy problems from doing it. Checking headspace seems to be what is the only thing done to the barrel but rezero may be needed. I do not recall hearing any discution about loss of accuracy by swapping barrels.

El Lobo

I doubt there would be any loss, I have never had any. The most important thing to do, IMHO, is to make setting headspace as consistent as possible, such as the amount of force used to set the barrel against the go gauge, the amount of torque on the barrel nut, etc.

I don't have any switch barrel savages setup at this time, but as to reseting the headspace on the barrel, I would just make a dummy round as the go/no go gauge.

I tried it at first but found out it really didn't work for me. So now I just use one barrel per action and keep a couple of spare stocks laying around depending on barrel contour I use. Unfortunately this has caused me to start seeking a larger safe to keep all of my rifles in.

I have four barrels and one action. I switch out as I desire. I use either a go gage or a dummy round I have made up for headspace purposes.

I have got to the point where I dont even take my action out of the stock to change barrels. I use a brass drift to remove and tighten the barrel nut. It works great!!!

There was thread in recent months that talked about locking a nut on every barrel, then you just swap and the headspace should repeat. The only trick is getting the torque on the nut the same each time.

Bill

I have several barrels and I change them around on my actions, to start the scope will not be zeroed from one barrel to another, because of diferences in the barrel. Even when shitching from a barrel of the same caliber to another barrel of the same caliber, even if they are the same brand, and one was made right after the other with the same tooling.

Now let me ask you a few questions, Why would there be any diference?

Your not changing the chamber of the barrel are you ?

The only thing your changing is headspace, if you set the barrel up using the same tooling, why would it be diferent?

Why would your load be different? At the very worse, the only absolute possible thing that I can think of, is you may be changing seating depth, if you set the barrel off of sized brass, and for some reason the brass was slightly long or shorter in the shoulder area, and then you would only be changing the seating depth a couple of thousands, (.001 to maybe .003) and then to boot seating depth will change more than that as the gun is fired and wears out. The other thing that would change the load is the barrel length, and just screwing it on and off will not do that.

So, with all that said why would accuracy change?

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Originally Posted by 82boy

So, with all that said why would accuracy change?

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I don't know...which is why I ask the question to see if my concern is valid or not.

I've got a 10FP sitting in a Manners T2 with CDI DBM and wearing a 26" Criterion 260 Rem barrel. It shoots 130 Berger VLDs loaded to 2.94" very, very well. I'm thinking of using the action/stock as a switch barrel setup.

I just would hate to have a bunch of 130 VLDs loaded up, pull the barrel, throw it back on and not have them shoot very well.

I do switch barrels back and forth, but I usualy keep a barrel on for a season. With anything switching back and forth constantly will place wear on the threads of the action. Now granted it would take a lot of switching, but I try to keep it down as much as I can. I would say if I found my self in need to switch the barrels out more than twice a season I would look to build another gun.