Savage Newb Begins Journey into Switch-Barrel Land -- read all about it (and laugh)

[flangster]

Greetings all. Like a lot of lurkers here, I have a few very accurate Savage centerfire rifles sitting in my safe. Something that another new member wrote made it sound like I am not the only one in that position. My joining here actually started over on rimfirecentral.com. As many of you probably already know RFC has an active Savage rimfire section, as well as CZ fans, Ruger 10/22's and a general rather than Savage-specific centerfire subforum. Three things to know about my (ongoing) participation there. 1) I like the switch barrel feature of CZ bolt-actions -- experimentation is half the fun, 2) I have a Savage BTVS, which I restocked, shortened the barrel on and recrowned (proof that I am not afraid to take hand-tools to a perfectly good rifle) , and 3) a quest to get a particular CZ 527 in .223 to shoot well at 100 yards lead to reloading as a separate hobby, which in turn lead to purchasing a Savage Model 12 F/TR in .223, which in turn lead to more experiments and a whole lot of perfectly good cash being turned into the bits of steel and wood that take up much of my free time these days. I know this is the Savage 10 etc. forum (which I will get to in a moment), but just for laughs here is the BVTS modification thread from RFC (don't click if pictures of barrels and hack-saws turn your stomach -- but do know that the project turned out well).

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums...d.php?t=585073

The other thing about RFC is that you get other shooters with too much time on their hands who aren't afraid to try something different for a laugh. The experiments of one fellow there got me thinking about building a rifle on a Savage target action. A switch barrel centerfire system? Shoot! Where'd I put my no-go gauges? . . .All the switchbarrel fun of the CZ 455 rimfires and all the accuracy of the Savages? Where do I sign up? Well, right here, of course.

Around the same time, I bought my Savage Target Action I also found two used Savage .223's at LGS prices too low to pass up -- a Model 110 (long action, I know) and a Model 12 LRPV. Now I was in for it. The Savage Target Action is a 4.4-inch large shank action with three action screws and no magazine (single shot), the 110 was a long action blind mag (modded for .223 by the prior owner) with stagger feed small shank action, and the Model 12 was a short action single shot. And so the fun began. Or almost. As luck would have it I also found a Savage 11, blind mag, stagger feed 4.27 action pre-Accutrigger (just) chambered in .243. That last was a beater. I mean, ridden hard and put away wet. Noticeable rust in the bore and the barrel nut is still hanging on for dear life, despite stripping the paulings out of my first action wrench with a cheater made of 4 feet of steel pipe (don't ask--that was a mad scientist moment, let's just say that the torque you can put on a barrel nut with a pipe that long is greater than the shear strength of 1/2 inch plywood and leave it at that). This was before I found this very informative site and got some sober advice about heating the barrel and nut first. Still, I got the action off that last one, only to find that eye-balling the distance between the action screws compared to a 4.4-inch stock was . . . well, a mistake you only make once. I once heard an "educational experience" described as one that you wished had happened to someone else . . .you get the idea.

All of the above is to say that the smart way to go would be to read everything you can here about long vs. short shank-length, stagger vs. center feed magazines, 4.4 inch vs. 4.27 inch action screw spacing, barrel nut removal methods, bolt head conversion options . . . and then carefully make one purchase. Me? I went the other way.

So after this shaggy dog story here is the planned switch-barrel battery. Like recent member kimberkook (also a visitor from RFC . . . hey, kimber), I have been looking at a variety of barrel makers. The Savage Target Action is going to get a McGowan .222 barrel (straight, no taper should be here in a couple of weeks, although not in time for Christmas I think) and is going to sit in a Choate Tactical stock. It will be my only long-shank barrel I think, so that barrel may stay planted. The Model 12 may switch between a Shilen .222 barrel and an as-yet unpurchased Criterion in .223 Wylde 1:12 (I think, gotta rebuild the hobby fund). The Model 11 action rescued from its .243 barrel will also sitting in a Choate Tactical Stock (least expensive I could find with bedding blocks) and be hosting a Douglass 6.5x55 Swede, a Shilen .260 Remington and a Savage Varmint .243, mostly purchased used here on SavageShooters (thanks, SKoger, Foxx), And I may try to re-hab the .243 sporter barrel that came with it just for laughs (strip the home-made camo paint off, recrown, and clean the bore with a Big 45 rust pad and some Flitz or JP Bore paste for the carbon ring in the chamber). All in all, the cold months are going to be verrrry fun. Pics and targets to come in the warmer months.

I have gotten a good amount of helpful (and patient) advice here. I think the results will be a lot of tiny holes in paper a football field's length away. Cheaper to buy a hole-punch. But not nearly as much fun.

flangster

[RC20]

Welcome to the group and I thought I wrote lengthy of treatise (I had to look that one up)

Good write-up indeed.

Sounds like you are well on your way and will look forward to the reports.

As a thought, go with the 7.5 Swiss and join an even more exclusive club (modern rifle in 7.5 Swiss)

Brass from Lapua and 308 bullets (actually if you order you will get a real 308 barrel with the 7.5 chamber.

Lothar Walther is the only one that offers that off the shelf as far as I knew. I like one stop shopping as it were rather than a barrel blank and than having it worked over.

[kimberkook]

Flangster, I think you're way ahead of me on the Savage centerfire learning curve, but thanks for thinking we're at the same place. I'll appreciate that as a compliment :-) My head spins at reading about how many balls (barrels) you have in the air at one time. I can't imagine, let alone do the actual juggling. Best of luck. I'll be eagerly watching for your updates. Have fun!