Savage 116 Weather Warrior--338 Win Mag to 270 Winchester

[SparkyLB]

This 116 in .338 WinMag is about to become a .270 Win.

Barrel to arrive shortly. Got the barrel wrench and decided to build a barrel vise. After seeing Midway's version with oak blocks, I went to work. I hoped I could make my own barrel vise for about $10. The wood was free at Lowes. It's a 2x4 of hardwood that they use to bundle lumber. Plenty strong for the purpose.

Here's my reloading bench. The work surface is 1/4" steel.



The Rockchucker on the right is mounted with 3/8" holes. I'll bore them out to 1/2" to mount the vise. So I won't have to make any new holes in the workbench; and when I'm done with the Savage, I can remount the RCBS press.



Holes bored to 1/2".



Here's the 1/2" Grade 8 bolts, washers and nuts.



Oak 2x4', cut to length.



Holes drilled in wood, and everything checked for proper alignment.



Now a pilot hole that goes all the way through, so the hole saw will produce a channel that's fairly concentric.



I didn't take any pictures of the wood in the vise, but mounted vertically allowed me to use my pilot bit hole saw kit to go right through the center. Half way through I flipped it and began again from the other side. Turned out pretty well. I used a 7/8" saw. I think an inch would have been too big for a barrel that's 1.055 at the threads.

Next I found an old scrap piece of 1/8" steel barstock, and used the wood as a template to drill two 1/2" holes.



Here's the competed vise. Didn't have to buy the steel, and having a 1/4" steel bench surface helped. The wood was free, so total cost was the fasteners--about $7. If this wasn't temporary, I would have cut the steel to match the top block, but it's already drilled and tapped to mount a water filtration unit, so I'll keep it whole. I'll put some anti seize on the bolt threads since I'm going to be torqueing this down with a 4' cheater bar






Barrel and action inserted. . .. The top steel is deformed from the pressure exerted upon it, I have no idea how tight, I could hear the wood settling as I tightened up the assembly. I don't think this barrel is gonna spin.

Here we go. I'm apprehensive, first time; and this rifle is almost 20 years old. Moment of truth--don't know what to expect. I stood the barrel against the wall and ran a bead of oil around the barrel nut every day for two weeks. Each day the oil was gone, so it's been seeping into the nut/threads. If the oil doesn't do it; I'll take a torch to the lock nut and neutralize the thread adhesive.




Good mother of god! That was easy. The nut gave up the ghost on the first blow with a 3lb. rubber mallet. I was ready for "Savage's built in aptitude test" with a real steel hammer if need be, but wanted to give the rubber a try. All went well, thankfully. The barrel doesn't have a mark on it. I'm pleased with the way things turned out.




Here's the barrel after a wipe-down. The recoil lug and barrel nut are in fine shape. Anybody looking for a stainless 338 barrel off a 110?





When the 270 Win. barrel arrives, I'll have more to come.