Savage Barrel Upgrade- .243 to .308

[Rflshootr]

Dutch, mind if I ask what you'll be paying for the factory barrel?

 

[Dutch Jennings]

I don't understand why you would swap from 243 to 308 it's like swapping a cheetah for a mountain loin.

I like 243 but have never used it that much. I hunt in fairly heavy woods and prefer a bit heavier short range round. Also it's cheaper and easier to find in supply around here and online. Other than for that, I do agree 243 is a fine cartridge for many things.

 

[ARlife4me]

Thanks much for the post and the offer. I have several Savage rifles and various barrels for them now so I am going to buy the tools and gauges I need to do it right. I don't reload as of yet, and I'm finding that 30-06 and .308 are much cheaper and more available so for now those are what I'll be shooting mostly. Thanks.

It's always great having you own tools! Most all came from PT&G. I have uni-throaters for 24, 26, 30 and 33cal, so the fun begins?

 

[Dutch Jennings]

Dutch, mind if I ask what you'll be paying for the factory barrel?

Seller has yet to name his price. The bore is good and no rust at all, yet I'm going to have refinish the outside because it's similar to like a parkerized flat black right now. I'd probably be willing to pay 85-90, but not more than 100 certainly.

 

[ntsqd]

watching ...

I starting piling in savage stuff from multiple sources to build one ... a savage 110 action, new machined barrel nut and recoil lug, a new take-off savage factory barrel in .22-250, and a used "should fit a savage no-name found" take-off barrel.

The action, nuts and barrels are all small shank, 20 tpi threads (measured with thread gauge), but the barrels turn into the action a half turn or so before they start to bind up. The factory nut and the after-market nut both turn onto both barrels about a half to 1 full turn before also starting to bind up.

In my younger day, I would have just applied bigger hammer/more torque and then regretted it. I'm looking for some help to figure out what's up.

Searching through all the online videos on swapping savage barrels, after breaking loose the barrel nut and action with a sharp rap on the wrenches, everything seems to easily spin apart.

Lightly bungled up action threads can be fixed with a tool like this:

BARREL/RECEIVER TAPS | Brownells

Clean and chase dinged or imperfect threads, either on the barrel or in the receiver. Real lifesavers for any rebarreling job, especially good when installing any of our “no-lathe”, pre- threaded barrels. Thanks to Walt Warren for his suggestion. ...

www.brownells.com

I would NOT expect to "blue-print" an action using this tap, just to clean up some slightly mangled threads.

 

[Rflshootr]

Is it a used or new take off barrel? If it's used, my mind says there must be a reason it was taken off...just a passing thought.

 

[Tidus56]

Seller has yet to name his price. The bore is good and no rust at all, yet I'm going to have refinish the outside because it's similar to like a parkerized flat black right now. I'd probably be willing to pay 85-90, but not more than 100 certainly.

I wish it was a long action you had, I would just send you a 30-06 barrel I have two take offs sitting around.

 

[Dutch Jennings]

I wish it was a long action you had, I would just send you a 30-06 barrel I have two take offs sitting around.

Thanks, that would have been dandy all right. I do have a Savage 111GL in .270 Win. that I picked up a nice used 30-06 barrel for this spring as a hedge against unpredictable ammo supplies. I really like the 30-06 round and hunted with it for years (my first deer rifle) but I've really fallen in love with the .270 as a white tail cartridge in recent years even though my average shot in these wooded mountains tends to be only 150 and in.

 

[Three44s]

Make sure the barrel you have or are buying is a small shank.

The member who heard that a Savage and a Rem Sendero can interchange barrels is wrong. No dice.

Go to the Savage Shooters forum to learn about Savages.

Three44s

 

[ARlife4me]

Make sure the barrel you have or are buying is a small shank.

The member who heard that a Savage and a Rem Sendero can interchange barrels is wrong. No dice.

Go to the Savage Shooters forum to learn about Savages.

Three44s

That wasn't exactly what I said. NOT the barrels, but thread pitch and shank diameter. I was trying too find a PR barrel for a savage110 and the place somewhere in south Texas was telling me that. I didn't buy it, because it was too hard to believe? I see barrels for specific barrel to action, so yeh hard too believe.

 

[Three44s]

Thread pitch and shank diameter is what interfaces between the barrel and receiver. A Remington Sendaro is a Remington 700 and its thread pitch and diameter on the barrel and by association the receiver is different than a Small shank Savage.

The other member with a barrel that just catches a thread needs to access just what barrel they are dealing with. A large shank? Or a barrel for another brand of rifle? Or something damaged?

I have done a lot of Savage barrels and once they are cleaned up and lightly lubed they go on by hand until they are just about jammed by the barrel nut.

One thing crossed my mind however, did that member loosen up the receiver wrench? It is wise to loosen the receiver wrench to finnish removing the old barrel and to start the new one.

Three44s

 

[Old Rooster]

Thanks much for the post and the offer. I have several Savage rifles and various barrels for them now so I am going to buy the tools and gauges I need to do it right. I don't reload as of yet, and I'm finding that 30-06 and .308 are much cheaper and more available so for now those are what I'll be shooting mostly. Thanks.

When I left the south I had 2 243 rifles both were Remington 700 adl and 1 BDL.Knowing I would be hunting Big Muley's and Elk I sold the 243's and got a 308 so I could shoot bigger bullets instead of 100 gr for the 243.Great rounds for the south but here the animals are a lot bigger.
Just my opinion
Old Rooster

 

[Dutch Jennings]

When I left the south I had 2 243 rifles both were Remington 700 adl and 1 BDL.Knowing I would be hunting Big Muley's and Elk I sold the 243's and got a 308 so I could shoot bigger bullets instead of 100 gr for the 243.
Just my opinion
Old Rooster

Exactly, and that's why I'm going to keep the .243 barrel in case I ever want to use it for varmint/predator use but rebarrel that 110GL to .308. I took a doe last season with the .243 at only 125 yards in heavy brush with a well placed neck shot. A bigger bore would have killed her instantly or quickly. She went down but unfortunately I was disappointed in the performance of the Hornady 100 gr AW soft point and she did suffer. Not doing that to an animal again.

 

[Old Rooster]

I appreciate ethical hunters like you Dutch and like you I chose to use bigger bullets also.
I feel we owe it to the animals we take for food to do so in a humane fashion.
Have a great day