Converting a 12 LRVP Left Port

Hello all,

I have a 12 LRPV Left Port (#18145) chambered in .223 1-7 twist. I am thinking of swapping it over to 6.5 Creedmore and i'm just wanting to make sure that everything will work. I've had the LRPV for several years and well.... it just doesn't get shot as i have other .223's that i shot more. Since i haven't spent a lot of time with the LRPV i just want to make sure it is possible and what i would need to change.

I know i would need to change the bolt head (.223 - 0.384 & 6.5CM - 0.470) and barrel, anything else? Any internals to the bolt need to be changed?

Who are the recommend suppliers of bolt heads?

Of course i may just keep the .223 barrel and bolt head so i could switch back. If i was to keep the old parts, would you recommend just getting a whole new bolt for the 6.5CM?

Thanks for your time
Brgipple

Make sure you get a left eject bolt head. It is the same one as a left handed rifle. When looking at the bolt face the ejector is at the 7:00 position.

You might have to get it from Savage.

Of course don't order just on my word, but I believe you can use a "std" left eject Savage bolt head like the one sold by Pacific Tool and Gauge for seventy bucks. In addition to the barrel, you'll need a barrel nut wrench, a barrel vise, a go gauge, and a torque wrench; that's about it.

I made a cheap barrel vise with a 36" stick of 2"x2" hard oak from Lowes, a 1/4" x 1.5" piece of steel strap, and some big 5/8" bolts, nuts, and washers. Chop off 8 or 10 inches of the oak, but leave the other piece long. The vise should be on one end of the remaining long piece, not in the center. Reinforce the top and bottom with pieces of the steel strap, drill for the bolts and then drill a hole for the barrel. Use a corrugated cardboard spacer between the upper and lower pieces of wood when you drill the barrel hole so that the two pieces have a cutout on each half which is less than a full semi-circle. You need some clearance to properly clamp the barrel. Expect to use a LOT of clamping force to remove a factory Savage barrel; less torque to put on the new one. Lubricate the bolts, nuts, and flat washers with grease.

The long leg of the vise makes it easy to clamp to a stout table or other surface and will help you handle the considerable torque required. In other words, if you orient the long leg of the vise correctly, you need not bolt it down to the table, an ordinary clamp will do.

Buy only the "go" gauge. Fit up the barrel/action combination using the go gauge and then put a piece of clear packaging tape on the back of the gauge and try to close the bolt on your DIY "no go" gauge. Trim the edges of the tape with a razor blade first. You should feel definite resistance when you try to close the bolt, but you can force the bolt closed if you try hard enough. Double check to be sure your bolt will easily close on the go gauge, but won't close on the same gauge with the tape shim. Of course, do all this with the extractor and ejector removed.

Then buy fifteen types of powder, four different kinds of primer, twelve different boxes of various bullets and go to the range for some load development. Don't worry, you'll find the perfect recipe just about the time you wear out your new barrel. :o

Bolt head, short LH standard. Savage p/n 104882
There's no such thing as a "left eject" bolt head. It is a bolt head for a left hand action.
You will get a long pause on the phone and a "sorry, we don't make anything like that" if you ask for a "left eject".
I recently had a guy ask Savage Customer Service for that and ended up calling them myself.
Sometimes you gotta wonder what common sense is on the other end of the line. Every right port left eject action has a left eject bolt head...

Having just done this, Make sure you get the 308 size extractor as well. The 223 extractor is longer. For the bolt head you will need ejector, spring and pin, extractor, spring and ball.

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Originally Posted by dskogman

Having just done this, Make sure you get the 308 size extractor as well. The 223 extractor is longer. For the bolt head you will need ejector, spring and pin, extractor, spring and ball.

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wouldn't I be able to just use the ejector, spring and pin, spring and ball from the .223 head? Thanks for the heads up on the extractor.

Brian

Quote:

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Originally Posted by brgipple

wouldn't I be able to just use the ejector, spring and pin, spring and ball from the .223 head? Thanks for the heads up on the extractor.

Brian

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I have an LRPV that I converted from .204 Ruger to 260 Rem. I was able to reuse all those parts. I bought a PTG bolt head. Seems to work great.

I bought the action wrench from Jim @ NSS, though I had already made an barrel wrench. Either would work.

Let us know how it works out for you.

I'm not sure about the LRPV, but most Savage 223s use an extended baffle to shorten the bolt stroke. For the Creedmore, you might want to be sure you get the standard 308 baffle.

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Originally Posted by dfrosch

I'm not sure about the LRPV, but most Savage 223s use an extended baffle to shorten the bolt stroke. For the Creedmore, you might want to be sure you get the standard 308 baffle.

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Very true. I've yet to replace mine. It is a little annoying when you need to extract a loaded round as you just need to remove the bolt. No biggie, but looks like that'd be the cheapest part of the swap.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dfrosch

I'm not sure about the LRPV, but most Savage 223s use an extended baffle to shorten the bolt stroke. For the Creedmore, you might want to be sure you get the standard 308 baffle.

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You can't just roll the baffle 180*?

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Originally Posted by Robinhood

You can't just roll the baffle 180*?

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Tried. There is a little ridge that the longer side of the baffle has that rides in a groove so you can't rotate 180. Good thinking though.