HI guys, been busy so have not been online as much as i would like.
Anyway here comes a question that was asked of me and for the life of me i could not give them a proper answer so here goes.
Changing out a rifle barrel can you just buy one to suit your rifle caliber, and make and just change it out like chaning a tyre or do you need lathes, head space gauges etc and need to send it to a gunsmith???

Phil,
In a regular bolt action, as long as the bolt face is the same diameter for both cartridges, you need a barrel vice and headspace gage plus a finish reamer to fine tune the chamber if a short chambered barrel. Best left to a gunsmith. That does not cover the diameter of the two cartridges and the feed lips of the magazine, the diameters should be the same.

If the rifle is a gun with a barrel change system, like an Encore, you just buy another barrel and away you go.

The Savage 110 barrel can be changed with a headspace gage as long as the new barrel is chambered for a round with the same head diameter to fit the original bolt face and will feed through the action without modification. Example you could buy a 243 barrel to replace a 308 barrel.
Best,
Ed

Even if you buy a "prechambered" barrel you generally still need to finish the chamber as its cut short of what it should be, and/or change the sholder to adjust the head space.

So no its sadly not like changing a tire.

Dimitri

thanks for that. i thought that was the case but i wasn't going to open my mouth with out knowing what i was talking about. He told me it was a Tikka 308 and was loosing accuracy, i suggested that it might be copper fouling i don't think he was to happy about me saying that must have thought i was saying he idn't clean his rifle properly.


phil

Phil,

One can never clean their rifle too much.

Dimitri

I would almost like to put money on you being right about needing to be cleaned. Many people think they are cleaning rifles when all they are doing is removing the residue, not the copper. I like people like that. Not long ago I picked up a Ruger #1 in 22/250 that the owner was honest and told me only shot 4" groups. Since the price was only $250 I jumped on it figuring that even if it needed rebarreling I was ahead of the game. After a severe cleaning routine that removed a remarkable amount of copper fouling, it produced sub-half inch groups and gets to stay a 22/250.

Unless your friend shoots an awful lot, it is hard to believe that he has "shot out" the barrel.

Gidday Phill. I agree totally with SSL and 'Mitri. I reckon a thorough clean with Sweets or a similar product will most likely restore the accuracy.

It wasn't until after I joined the Army that I learned to clean a firearm properly...I never gave a thought to a buildup of copper fouling in the bore...although up until that time I had only ever owned a .22 rimfire.

To avoid accusing your mate of not cleaning his rifle properly, maybe you could offer to "have a look at it" for him and run a patch or two, soaked in Sweets, through the barrel. When you see the nice blue colour on the patch, keep cleaning, then oil it up in preparation for a bit of accuracy testing.

Cheers, Vince

Vince wrote:

To avoid accusing your mate of not cleaning his rifle properly, maybe you could offer to "have a look at it" for him and run a patch or two, soaked in Sweets, through the barrel. When you see the nice blue colour on the patch, keep cleaning, then oil it up in preparation for a bit of accuracy testing. Cheers, Vince

Well Vince old son i did exactly that i ran Sweets 7.62 throught it ( i lost count of how many times) cleaned heaps out of the barrel. It cleaned up nicely gave it back to him and told him to try it again, he came back a very happy little camper but he still reckons i was giving him a hard time about not cleaning his rifle properly. Oh well he will get over it.
Thanks guys

Sweets 7.62 is the ticket
Joe

Phill wrote:

Well Vince old son i did exactly that i ran Sweets 7.62 throught it ( i lost count of how many times) cleaned heaps out of the barrel. Shocked It cleaned up nicely gave it back to him and told him to try it again, he came back a very happy little camper Smile but he still reckons i was giving him a hard time about not cleaning his rifle properly. Confused Oh well he will get over it. Thanks guys

I figured that might be the case mate.

If he is really serious about you taking the mickey outa him, and he isn't happy about it, then you could always tell him that you learned the hard way and its no reflection on his ability to maintain his rifle, because you can't really see the copper in the bore.

Well done mate.

Cheers, Vince