For those who have done it...

[Keystone7mm]

Who has replaced their own barrel on a Remington 700 in a different caliber? I'm thinking of converting my 243 to a 6CM simply because I'd have more room for the longer boolits. My understanding of the process is that I would need a barrel vise, an action wrench, and go/no go guages for the new caliber. The bolt face is the same.

I have a custom rifle on an old 700 action. It is an absolute tack driver, but the gunsmith blueprinted the action and the bolt. Can I expect the same precision without blueprinting? I'm not a machinist. Just a regular guy who loves rifles that shoot exceptionally well, has a limited budget, wants "new" guns, and has a wife who watches the checking account closely. If you have experience and can relate, please share. (Yes, I'm looking for a friend )

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Who has replaced their own barrel on a Remington 700 in a different caliber? I'm thinking of converting my 243 to a 6CM simply because I'd have more room for the longer boolits. My understanding of the process is that I would need a barrel vise, an action wrench, and go/no go guages for the new caliber. The bolt face is the same.

I have a custom rifle on an old 700 action. It is an absolute tack driver, but the gunsmith blueprinted the action and the bolt. Can I expect the same precision without blueprinting? I'm not a machinist. Just a regular guy who loves rifles that shoot exceptionally well, has a limited budget, wants "new" guns, and has a wife who watches the checking account closely. If you have experience and can relate, please share. (Yes, I'm looking for a friend )

Hey there.
Buy your wife a day at the Spa!
If your .243 is already a Tack Driver why change to a 6CM?

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Are you talking about a remage setup and are you talking about your blueprinted action or a different action?

Personally I hate barrel nuts and think they're halfassed. Trying to align a 700 recoil lug without a jig is also a PITA.

I'd sell the Remington or leave it as is and buy an aftermarket action. It's well worth the investment to be able to run shouldered prefits plus have a much more square action and not dick around with the recoil lug alignment. An Origin or coup de grace can be had for $900 and an Aero Solus for even less.

 

[Keystone7mm]

Are you talking about a remage setup and are you talking about your blueprinted action or a different action?

Personally I hate barrel nuts and think they're halfassed. Trying to align a 700 recoil lug without a jig is also a PITA.

I'd sell the Remington or leave it as is and buy an aftermarket action. It's well worth the investment to be able to run shouldered prefits plus have a much more square action and not dick around with the recoil lug alignment. An Origin or coup de grace can be had for $900 and an Aero Solus for even less.

Remage barrel is what I was looking at.

 

[Keystone7mm]

Larry from Midway USA makes it look so easy!

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Remage barrel is what I was looking at.

Not what I'd do but it's your money.

 

[Keystone7mm]

Not what I'd do but it's your money.

Have you done this before? What was your experience?

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Have you done this before? What was your experience?

I've replaced a lot of barrels, mostly shouldered prefits. My experience with remage barrels is that they're half assed and I wouldn't do it again. An R700 should go to a gunsmith to be blueprinted and a barrel fit to the action and at that point you could have a better custom action and a prefit for less money.

 

[Keystone7mm]

Thanks for explaining.

Can you describe what you mean by half-assed. I have no experience. I'm trying to learn, so I appreciate it.

 

[HandgunHTR]

I've replaced a lot of barrels, mostly shouldered prefits. My experience with remage barrels is that they're half assed and I wouldn't do it again.

What is your experience with Remage barrels? That was the question that you didn't answer.

From a mechanical standpoint there is no appreciable difference between a shouldered barrel and one with a barrel nut. A barrel nut barrel allow for you to vary your headspace without having to do machine work.

I have done 4 Remage barrels and a couple of Savage builds. All shoot very well. I have used McGowan, Wilson (through Ragged Holes), and X-Caliber barrels in my builds.

@Keystone7mm, the problem that you are going to have is that since your action has been blueprinted in the past, the tenon threads in your action have probably been opened up, so a standard barrel nut prefit is not going to work for you. Since you are going to have to have custom tenon threads cut anyway, your best bet is to just sell your rifle and get one in 6CM if that is what you want.

 

[Keystone7mm]

What is your experience with Remage barrels? That was the question that you didn't answer.

From a mechanical standpoint there is no appreciable difference between a shouldered barrel and one with a barrel nut. A barrel nut barrel allow for you to vary your headspace without having to do machine work.

I have done 4 Remage barrels and a couple of Savage builds. All shoot very well. I have used McGowan, Wilson (through Ragged Holes), and X-Caliber barrels in my builds.

@Keystone7mm, the problem that you are going to have is that since your action has been blueprinted in the past, the tenon threads in your action have probably been opened up, so a standard barrel nut prefit is not going to work for you. Since you are going to have to have custom tenon threads cut anyway, your best bet is to just sell your rifle and get one in 6CM if that is what you want.

Sorry. I was talking about two different guns in my OP. One is a custom build that was blueprinted and rebarreled by a very good gunsmith.

The build in question is a stock Remington 700 243 Winchester that I am considering converting to 6CM myself via a remmage barrel.

With that information, is it worth doing the remmage? You've done 4, so I'm interested to hear your experiences.

 

[DUCKMAN11]

A "prefit" will cost you around $750 + go gauges+ nut werch+ barrel vise + carving into your stock to get the barrel nut to fit.

A brux barrel will cost you $400+$300 chamber job.

I'd buy a blank and send it to a smith.

 

[MagnumManiac]

To do what you want, the action will need truing, all aspects blueprinted, recoil lug pinning and probably an upgrade to a 1/4" thick ground precision lug. After this, any barrel can be turned up the same and fit. This was my specialty on REM 700's, Win Model 70's and Kimber actions. I also made switch barrels on all of those actions and CZ 550 Safari actions for ELR. Just doing a re-barrel is no drama, but it will only be as good as what the factory cut…

Cheers.

 

[cajun]

I've done 2 Rems and a savage. Check out Northland shooters supply. They sell an action wrench and a jig that bolts to the wrench to locate the recoil lug. They sell criterion and shilen barrels and usually have some in stock. Removing the factory barrel can be a biotch. If your not worried about saving the factory barrel you can use a big pipe wrench on the barrel. People will tell you that you need to have the action trued etc but you can get a plenty accurate rifle without spending the $$ on the action. Before I went that route I would look at a bighorn or other cheaper custom action.