Really dumb caliber question

[BackofBeyond]

I've been tending that way for the last year or so, but that barrel checks a lot of boxes... and have you priced out rifles lately? Holy cow!

Hey buddy, get a rifle. You deserve it. You’ve EARNED it.

It’s not a want, it’s a full blown need.

 

[LuketheDog]

There's a great detailed list here which combines bolt face size with action length.

Like noted above Tikka only makes a long action, Remington and others couple action length to cartridge.....but you can almost always put a short action cartridge in a long action.

Bolt Face & Action Database - LoadDevelopment.com

Our bolt face diameter database helps to determine which new caliber or cartridge will work with the bolt face diameter and action length.

www.loaddevelopment.com

@neffa3, thanks so much for falling on your sword and asking these hard questions so the rest of us troglodytes didn't have to. And thanks to this glorious trove of data from @jryoung, now I can't wait to shoot out my barrels and get some hot new ones!

 

[Irrelevant]

Hey buddy, get a rifle. You deserve it. You’ve EARNED it.

It’s not a want, it’s a full blown need.

I'm currently riding the couch over and 1/4 the costs of a new rifle for a bird hunting trip coming up. I think rifle is of the table.

Also, have you seen the fire sale on tech stocks lately, hard to not keep throwing all my money on those.

Lastly you're welcome @LuketheDog sometimes we all have to take one for the team. In this case, team dunce.

 

[BackofBeyond]

Also, have you seen the fire sale on tech stocks lately, hard to not keep throwing all my money on those.

I hear ya. My boy’s calf check couldn’t get here fast enough.

 

[brockel]

View attachment 247823

He’s under a different name now

 

[nhenry]

I've been tending that way for the last year or so, but that barrel checks a lot of boxes... and have you priced out rifles lately? Holy cow!

Yeah rifles are expensive and that barrel is 1/3 the price of a full custom with 5% of the wait time

 

[nhenry]

Hey buddy, get a rifle. You deserve it. You’ve EARNED it.

It’s not a want, it’s a full blown need.

Stop blowing this sale for me

 

[BackofBeyond]

Stop blowing this sale for me

Man, swap the bolt face and build your .25x7mm PRC. Call it the “.25 SUYBH.”

 

[JLS]

Man, swap the bolt face and build your .25x7mm PRC. Call it the “.25 SUYBH.”

Or the 25 Neffa

 

[brymoore]

Having bought many new rifles, seeing the results of a custom barrel on a factory rifle makes me want to rebarrel my current rifle.

 

[p_ham]

Having bought many new rifles, seeing the results of a custom barrel on a factory rifle makes me want to rebarrel my current rifle.

I know a guy..

 

[ImBillT]

Ok that the "answer" is that yes, esp with a tikka, I can pretty much switch to anything based on a 30-06 casing.
And that I do need to take it to a smith.
And that you can't just swap out the barrels for the weekend.

Once you have two barrels that are fitted to the action you can just swap them back and forth at will. Each barrel will usually print pretty close to where it did the last time it was on, so if you write down your scope settings you can go back and forth. With a match rifle that has a fat barrel, you can easily leave the rifle in the stock placing the barrel vice past the end of it and using a torque wrench on an internal action wrench. It takes under a minute. Guys switch barrels on the bench during and between benchrest matches. With a hunting contoured barrel you would have to remove the stock and scope in order to place the barrel vice in a safe location. When you’re removing the scope every time the time and hassle of remounting and the time and ammo of re-sighting in definitely negate any advantage of having a switch barrel. Don’t do a switch barrel on a hunting gun. It could be done. You could use a heavy contour barrel to avoid removing the scope. Still, I don’t find it reasonable to bother with for a hunting rifle.

There’s a successful benchrest competitor that was known for chucking his barrels in the trash can after shooting a bad group and spinning on a new one during a match. A guy at our local range would take the other guy’s barrels out of the trash can, and use them. When the original owner found out that he had been beaten by a barrel he had previously thrown in the trash, he transitioned to cutting them in half with a chop saw.

 

[nhenry]

Still, I don’t find it reasonable to bother with for a hunting rifle.

I did it with a hunting rifle and it was great. I technically have one again but I’d want to pin my recoil lug if I did it on my 700.

 

[Carl]

With a hunting contoured barrel you would have to remove the stock and scope in order to place the barrel vice in a safe location.

What makes using a barrel vise in the middle of a hunting contour unsafe?

 

[Farmerj]

What makes using a barrel vise in the middle of a hunting contour unsafe?

Taper leads to a poor clamping surface for the torque you could apply. Especially for a factory installed barrel.

 

[Farmerj]

There’s a successful benchrest competitor that was known for chucking his barrels in the trash can after shooting a bad group and spinning on a new one during a match. A guy at our local range would take the other guy’s barrels out of the trash can, and use them. When the original owner found out that he had been beaten by a barrel he had previously thrown in the trash, he transitioned to cutting them in half with a chop saw.

Makes you wonder how bad those barrels really were when he tossed them.

I know I had a NM M14 barrel installed that was a match shooters take off. Only had like lifetime of 1500 rounds pushed through it. Still shoots sub 1/2 MOA all day long

 

[old roper 42]

Once you have two barrels that are fitted to the action you can just swap them back and forth at will. Each barrel will usually print pretty close to where it did the last time it was on, so if you write down your scope settings you can go back and forth. With a match rifle that has a fat barrel, you can easily leave the rifle in the stock placing the barrel vice past the end of it and using a torque wrench on an internal action wrench. It takes under a minute. Guys switch barrels on the bench during and between benchrest matches. With a hunting contoured barrel you would have to remove the stock and scope in order to place the barrel vice in a safe location. When you’re removing the scope every time the time and hassle of remounting and the time and ammo of re-sighting in definitely negate any advantage of having a switch barrel. Don’t do a switch barrel on a hunting gun. It could be done. You could use a heavy contour barrel to avoid removing the scope. Still, I don’t find it reasonable to bother with for a hunting rifle.

There’s a successful benchrest competitor that was known for chucking his barrels in the trash can after shooting a bad group and spinning on a new one during a match. A guy at our local range would take the other guy’s barrels out of the trash can, and use them. When the original owner found out that he had been beaten by a barrel he had previously thrown in the trash, he transitioned to cutting them in half with a chop saw.

When I was shooting BR I had Kelbly 6ppc and I could call them and order barrels chambered. Once edge was gone I sold them to local gunsmith. He cut thread off rechamber for varmint rifle. I used to buy 2nd's from Walt Berger with understanding I wouldn't shoot them in a match. He sold some to another shooter and he post something about had bad Walt bullets shot . That end buying 2nd from Walt.

 

[Buckbrush]

I didn't know that the Tikka's we're that simple to change barrel's on. I knew the savage were pretty simple. I would like to build a 257 bob AI. Maybe I need to look at the Tikka. I just like the Winchester 70 because I'm more familiar with those.

 

[Farmerj]

I didn't know that the Tikka's we're that simple to change barrel's on. I knew the savage were pretty simple. I would like to build a 257 bob AI. Maybe I need to look at the Tikka. I just like the Winchester 70 because I'm more familiar with those.

A lot of the new actions you can get a pre-fit barrel for them even on something like a Remington 700 clone

 

[Carl]

Taper leads to a poor clamping surface for the torque you could apply. Especially for a factory installed barrel.

View attachment 247899

But...if you don't get enough torque it just slips, and you figure how to get more grip and tighten it up. Also, the vises I've used pivot enough to make good contact on a tapered barrel.

I was just curious as I've probably done it 100 times without issue, leaving the scope on the action and the action in the stock or chassis.

Actually tried to crush a muzzle on a light contour barrel with a vise a while back, unsuccessfully.