I bought a Model 10 TAC at Cabela's (exclusive model) and I really like it. I do have one question about it... Savage seems to be known for easy barrel swaps, but my Savage has a smooth barrel nut, not one with cuts for a wrench like I have seen on other Savages. Anyone else see anything like this? Is this going to be a problem when I try to spin on a new barrel?
Take it off with pipe wrench. They themselves can't torque it so it's loosely held together . Then go to NSS and get a nice nut and recoil lug. I will say though, don't go anywhere else to buy that nut - quality is there at nss. I bought one from a member here saying it's machined - I didn't even ask for photos assuming machined meant "nss quality" lol. It wasn't!
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Btw that oversized knob (I'm sorry I lack terminology this am) really helps with loading rounds!
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The problem can be if you get one of those really tight buggers, then a pipe wrench may not be able to clamp it and not damage the barrel. The bigger (longer) the pipe wrench the wider the jaws.
In that case heat would be the next option, but you need to know what you are doing
Then its cutting off with a dremel tool, but you also have to have a good hand with that so you don't cut barrel threads. They can be cleaned up but that's annoying.
Yours also has the bottom bolt release, it works, mine was plastic and I found it annoying. I converted mien to top bolt release.
That also is a bit tricky.
The pipe wrench trick works best when the action is held in the barrel vise or action wrench. This allows the barrel to turn with the nut. Make sure the recoil lug is free from contact with the jaws as turning the lug with the action locked in place is bad business.
The Dunning-Kruger effect is alive and well.
Actually... I'm not a big fan of the thing. They could have made it half that size (length-wise of the knob itself) and rolled it down a bit to help clear the scope bell. As it is, it sticks out too far and catches on everything.Originally Posted by MRCHIRO
The bolt release was a bit tricky at first, but now that I have the hang of it, I don't mind it so much. That isn't to say I wouldn't mind something a little simpler, and something that didn't require 3 hands...
If I'm taking the barrel off, it's done anyway... why would I worry about buggering up the barrel threads? (That's a question, I'm not being cavalier.)
Resale sir.
Selling take off parts can be lucrative.
The proceeds off the factory barrel can sometimes 1/2 the cost of your new barrel.
INFERNO
I have a nut wrench for smooth nuts and works awesome. It doesn't even scratch the smooth nut.
Someone is bound to still make them.
If I lived in the USA I'd be getting all my barrel nuts and recoil lugs from NSS. But I'm in Canada so things are pretty shitty now. Used to get the castellated barrel nuts from Brownells, same as recoil lugs and top bolt release sears. Now they got nothing.
Wheeler makes a kit that has wrenches for both the notched and the smooth barrel nuts. they are around $27, I think Midway has them back in stock now.
SSS makes a combo nut wrench too.
The pipe wrench method is crude and I believe I buggered the barrel threads getting the nut completely off the barrel. I think I put enough pressure on the pipe wrench that I got the nut out of round. Threads are not ruined, just buggered enough that a new nut will not spin on. Solution is a 1 1/16x20 die or a thread file. I am going with the die. We were just changing calibers and the old barrel is a "keeper".
Bill
The original was exactly what you described. I wasn't a fan at all and the lift was a struggle. Now with the new larger bolt handle, leverage is 2-3x easier.
My 300wsm (large shank) had the larger bolt handle on it so that's why I upgraded my original knob.
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As noted, I sell the barrels when they are taken off.
Good enough barrels but not what I am after.
I have a NSS action wrench , pipe wrench (loosely done as noted by RH) and it came off fine.
Heat may help but that was based on a locktite on the threads. We are accuracy informed that there is nothing but polishing residue, heat might still help but heat is directed at locktite to turn it to ooze.
I had no problems, but the nut came off pretty easy even with an 12 inch pipe wrench.
I had a faceted nut that took the long barrel nut wrench, a breaker bar on it and my sadly too much weight to break loose.
You get one of those hard ones off by cutting most likely.
I cut a small groove in my smooth stainless barrel nut and used a hammer and a chisel to spin the nut off and that way I can still reuse it when I go to headspace my 7.62x39 build soon
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Hit that action with a hammer and chisel! "Why does my rifle shoot 6 inches to the right at 200 yds?"
The Dunning-Kruger effect is alive and well.
Not the action. The nut. It's not under much toque
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Just had the same problem. I put it on my barrel vise with the smooth nut in the vise and with an action wrench removed the nut without damaging it. I can still use it but bought a new nut from northland
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In the industry I work in we catagorize some behaviors as risks. Depending on a persons tolerance for risk determines their potential for damaging assets or getting injured.
The impact is transferred through the nut and the recoil lug into the action via the barrel. Depending on how it is supported damage can happen. I'm not saying your method will not work. I'm just pointing out that the hammer method, although used by more people than it should be, it has inherent risks.
The Dunning-Kruger effect is alive and well.
I used an action wrench, pipe wrench, and a rubber mallet to get the barrel nut loose. Worked like a charm.
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
Early on in my working life I worked in a shop that produced precision pieces for aeronautical R&D. Tolerances were as close to zero as humanly possible. Funny thing, everyone in the shop had a poured lead "hammer" in one size or another. As the lead became deformed we just sent them off to another shop where he heads were melted down and new hammers were re-poured. Got a new shipment of fresh hammers almost every week. Was a standing joke in our shop.
As for using pipe wrenches to remove the smooth nut, very tempting and probably successful in most cases. The problem with a 'Stillson Wrench" aka pipe wrench, is that as you pull on handle the tighter the jaws get. More pull, more tight. Barrel nuts aren't all that thick and you are increasing the pressure on two points 180 degrees apart. My personal choice would be a set of Vise Grips with the radiused jaws that would be close in radius to the OD of the barrel nut.
I used a pipe wrench to get my smooth nut off.
I was careful and no problems.
Idea was to start easy and escalate if needed but it was not.
I don't know how they tension their smooth nuts, but you can bet Savage as a setup that does it.
There is a photo of the factory Smooth Nut Wrench on page 69 in their 2017 catalog.
Looks expensive.
You can throw that smooth nut out the window - garbage! Well unless you like the looks of the smooth nut vs the regular. If you don't plan to change out your barrel, then by all means but you delinquents (me included) like to try new cartridges and brands of barrels often; thusly the smooth nut hinders our purpose haha.
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No, keep the smooth nut as a thread protector on one of your spare barrels.
Never throw a potentially useful object away!
Agreed - I toss them out by means of ridding them but keep them to protect threads on other barrels.
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