Switch barrel Remington 700, let’s talk options,

tekmann2377 · Jul 22, 2024

Unless you have a talented machinist who will also work basically for free, this project has a reasonably high chance of failure. In addition it would almost certainly ending up costing more than the other proposed ideas here, even with the use of the 700 actions you already have.

If it was me and I wanted a compact rifle but wanted to use some of the random 700 actions you had floating around, I would just put together 2 rifles, one in each caliber, with a Remage barrel nut and a lightweight folding stock/chassis.

Mike Casselton · Jul 22, 2024

DannoXYZ said:
DIY varies depending upon project. In this case, he's already got everything. Maybe $500 of machine-shop services max and he's done.

If you're still living in the mid-80s, I might agree with that figure. It's gonna cost a lot more than that in this economy.

A WTO switch lug installed with the Remington actions is the easy button.

Some of the cartridge choices aren't gonna work due to the action and bolt head diameter. That's a whole nuther issue.

Rob01 · Jul 22, 2024

Dieseldaddy said:
I asked this question earlier to another commenter, now I will ask it to you. Where do you see this supposed money going that I would be wasting? The only supposed difference is having a Remington action cut for interrupted threads, which isn’t a certainty, just an option. So tabling that point completely, why would I need to buy a new action to make a switch barrel rifle? What do you see as the costs involved and where do you see them going? Few guys, including you keep saying it, so please educate me as to where 2,000.00 is going to be needed into working a 700 action to accept a prefit chambered barrel for a switch barrel? You can’t include the barrels. Those costs are the same with any action. So please, where is this “ton of money” going?

Your "ton of money" will be going into polishing the turd that is a 700 action to do some odd ball idea you have. Gunsmiths are not cheap. Doing all that polishing will cost more money than you think. Not sure where this $2000 number comes from but you can do it for much less and almost a push if you sell those 700 actions you have sitting around and buy a custom action that can easily have shouldered prefits made for it. The whole interrupted threads things sounds great and looks cool in movies of a hitman climbing on a building but for a precision rifle it's again a turd of an idea. If you wanted to use the 700 then get the WTO lug installed as mentioned and go that route.

https://westtexordnance.com/home-extended/switchlug/

And stop trying to make this an old guy versus young thing. It's not. It's a people who have been doing this and learned a better way versus people who have a good idea and don't realize it's not.

Baron23 · Jul 22, 2024

IMO is not just "oh, the new thing" Its a simple fact that technology has moved on including CNC machining that supports the accuracy and precision needed to allow prefit barrels to be made and installed at home with no worries about head space (well, unless you got a barrel from a smith who doesn't know what he's doing.

But the OP should do what he wants...his money, his rifle. Go for it.

Dieseldaddy · Jul 22, 2024

Rob01 said:
Your "ton of money" will be going into polishing the turd that is a 700 action to do some odd ball idea you have. Gunsmiths are not cheap. Doing all that polishing will cost more money than you think. Not sure where this $2000 number comes from but you can do it for much less and almost a push if you sell those 700 actions you have sitting around and buy a custom action that can easily have shouldered prefits made for it. The whole interrupted threads things sounds great and looks cool in movies of a hitman climbing on a building but for a precision rifle it's again a turd of an idea. If you wanted to use the 700 then get the WTO lug installed as mentioned and go that route.

https://westtexordnance.com/home-extended/switchlug/

And stop trying to make this an old guy versus young thing. It's not. It's a people who have been doing this and learned a better way versus people who have a good idea and don't realize it's not.

So what you’re saying is Remington can’t have shouldered pre-fit barrels made for them?

Rob01 · Jul 22, 2024

Dieseldaddy said:
So what you’re saying is Remington can’t have shouldered pre-fit barrels made for them?

Oh it can if you get the recoil lug pinned and then have the smith make them at the same time or if the smith will keep the measurements of your action and can make it later. If you just plan to do basically one barrel each for two calibers and never plan to use any other or want any other caliber then you can make that work. The WTO lug is the way to do this if that is the plan. Get it made with the WTO lug.

supercorndogs · Jul 22, 2024

I switch barrels around with sevral remington actions. I use remage barrel nuts. I like you have actions to use. Seems to me the waste of money would be not using the actions you have.

The only thing I have done to any of them is get a bolt handle welded and timed.

hlee · Jul 22, 2024

He’s already been mentioned, and the OP is apparently already a customer so… Paging Chad Dixon to the white courtesy phone. @LRI

Dieseldaddy · Jul 23, 2024

hlee said:
He’s already been mentioned, and the OP is apparently already a customer so… Paging Chad Dixon to the white courtesy phone. @LRI

I’m going to be calling this morning to discuss this project with them. I’ve spoken to one other smith that is willing to take it on.

Charger442 · Jul 23, 2024

Dieseldaddy said:
I’m going to be calling this morning to discuss this project with them. I’ve spoken to one other smith that is willing to take it on.

damn im interested. sounds great

kthomas · Jul 23, 2024

Rob01 said:
If you don't think switch barrels are popular today then you have your head in the sand. LOL Shouldered prefit barrels are what most like to use when building a rifle so you can change barrels at home. A 700 action would be the last action I would use to do this though. You want to start with something easy then get an action that can take shouldered prefits and you can change the bolt face. The Bighorn Origin or TL3 are like that.

Not that big of a deal if he has a regular gunsmith that spins up his barrels.

Having a 'smith keep your actions measurements on file (after an initial measurement) is no big deal at all.

If starting from scratch, yeah, there's definitely better options.

Taylorbok · Jul 23, 2024

I just switch barrels on my regular rem 700. Action wrench and a barrel vise, takes about 5 minutes.
There's actually a video on the hide here somewhere with a guy who's got wrench flats machined into his barrel.

kthomas · Jul 23, 2024

Taylorbok said:
I just switch barrels on my regular rem 700. Action wrench and a barrel vise, takes about 5 minutes.
There's actually a video on the hide here somewhere with a guy who's got wrench flats machined into his barrel.

There's more than a few people that have wrench flats machined in, to make the process a little simpler.

The video you are thinking of may be Jacob Bynum and one of his AIs?

Rob01 · Jul 23, 2024

kthomas said:
Not that big of a deal if he has a regular gunsmith that spins up his barrels.

Having a 'smith keep your actions measurements on file (after an initial measurement) is no big deal at all.

If starting from scratch, yeah, there's definitely better options.

And I said that in a later post.

kthomas · Jul 23, 2024

Rob01 said:
And I said that in a later post.

Yeah, I hadn't got that far in the thread yet when I made that post.

The guy already has R700 actions on hand, so no real reason to acquire new actions for this pet project, as obscure as it is. I do agree, starting from scratch he would be better served with a more modern action that has the functionality he desires already built in.

Rob01 · Jul 23, 2024

kthomas said:
Yeah, I hadn't got that far in the thread yet when I made that post.

The guy already has R700 actions on hand, so no real reason to acquire new actions for this pet project, as obscure as it is. I do agree, starting from scratch he would be better served with a more modern action that has the functionality he desires already built in.

Yup his time and money so if he wants to mess with the Rems then he can have at it. Learned that lesson long ago though and won't again.

hlee · Jul 23, 2024

Interrupted threads have long been a solution to take-down guns (shotgun and rifle) as well as quick change barrels on machine guns. This is not unheard of tech, though I can’t think of a well known use of interrupted threads in a precision rifle. That said, I’m not Forgotten Weapons.

We haven’t heard what Longrifles Inc has to say on the matter.

kthomas · Jul 23, 2024

Rob01 said:
Yup his time and money so if he wants to mess with the Rems then he can have at it. Learned that lesson long ago though and won't again.

Given his obscure project objectives, I don't think there's any real great solution here.

Taylorbok · Jul 23, 2024

Rob01 said:
Yup his time and money so if he wants to mess with the Rems then he can have at it. Learned that lesson long ago though and won't again.

I've still got mine and it shoots great, however I've got so much into it that I'd have been much farther ahead (dollars and features) to buy a custom action and ditch the Rem but I didn't know squat back then

Rob01 · Jul 23, 2024

Taylorbok said:
I've still got mine and it shoots great, however I've got so much into it that I'd have been much farther ahead (dollars and features) to buy a custom action and ditch the Rem but I didn't know squat back then

Yeah I still have my 700 from 1993 that I got trued and has had 9 .308 barrels on it also but everything else is custom. I had a couple other custom 700s in the early 2000s but sold them.

oldrifleman · Jul 23, 2024

I also still have one that was trued and sleeved and has had numerous barrels, but it was a lot of work to get what I can just but buy today.

Dieseldaddy · Jul 27, 2024

Parts were sent off to smith working on the project. I’ll post some pictures when it’s back and complete. Shouldn’t be more than a couple weeks.

alexunderfire · Aug 25, 2024

It appears that you are the only individual in this forum with experience in 12.7x57.
Many years ago, I was a satisfied user of this caliber. Now that I am retired, I am considering building one myself

Dieseldaddy · Aug 25, 2024

alexunderfire said:
It appears that you are the only individual in this forum with experience in 12.7x57.
Many years ago, I was a satisfied user of this caliber. Now that I am retired, I am considering building one myself

There are a few US made cartridges that are very similar to include the 510 whisper. I just prefer the Anthis as there is factory brass still available if you know where to look.

oldrifleman · Aug 25, 2024

Dieseldaddy said:
There are a few US made cartridges that are very similar to include the 510 whisper. I just prefer the Anthis as there is factory brass still available if you know where to look.

Any updates on the progress of your project?

Dieseldaddy · Aug 25, 2024

oldrifleman said:
Any updates on the progress of your project?

Everything has been sent off to the gunsmith and I think he should start on it this coming week. I believe that’s what I heard. So as soon as I have update pictures and information I’ll start feeding it to you guys here.

alexunderfire · Aug 25, 2024

Dieseldaddy said:
Similarly, I lean towards preference. The serve the specific purposes was quite useful. Unfortunately, I had no wisdom to collect any single brass from it. Now I have to start from square one.

Dieseldaddy · Aug 25, 2024

I brought a box or two home but have since found a dealer that had a few hundred pieces of brass.

hseII · Oct 27, 2024

oldrifleman said:
Any updates on the progress of your project?

This.

Bump

Mauser48 · Oct 27, 2024

For guys that use your rifle as a switch barrel, do you ever remove the barrel while leaving the action in the stock? You'd have to obviously use the barrel vise further up on the barrel but that still seems like a better way to do it than using a wrench all the way out at the muzzle.

carbonbased · Oct 27, 2024

Mauser48 said:
For guys that use your rifle as a switch barrel, do you ever remove the barrel while leaving the action in the stock? You'd have to obviously use the barrel vise further up on the barrel but that still seems like a better way to do it than using a wrench all the way out at the muzzle.

For those interested in field swapping barrels...The Ross Vise

*** Special thanks to hide member reubenski who's setup with barrel flats inspired this rabbit hole. *** The last couple of years I've moved to a modular rifle system that uses Bighorn actions and a pile of interchangeable barrels in various chamberings and states of wear. The weak link in all...

www.snipershide.com

Look at the pics carefully.

He has a variation where you use an internal action wrench suspended with a bungie. On the other end, instead of the Ross portable vise (no longer available) just imagine you have barrel flats machined in and you use a crow’s foot and torque wrench (or a stout adjustable wrench).

The breaker bar attached to the action wrench presses against your leg as you turn on the flats. You don’t have to remove the action from the stock as the internal action wrench is taking the stress.

Again, imagine that instead of that little Ross barrel vise, instead he’s wrenching on barrel flats near his top hand.

So look at the link at top; there’s lots of pics.

Full disclosure: I do not yet use this system I described but am working towards it. I just need barrel flats and a crow’s foot.

This technique closely mimics removing a barrel on an AI.

Mauser48 · Oct 27, 2024

carbonbased said:
For those interested in field swapping barrels...The Ross Vise

*** Special thanks to hide member reubenski who's setup with barrel flats inspired this rabbit hole. *** The last couple of years I've moved to a modular rifle system that uses Bighorn actions and a pile of interchangeable barrels in various chamberings and states of wear. The weak link in all...

www.snipershide.com

Look at the pics carefully.

He has a variation where you use an internal action wrench suspended with a bungie. On the other end, instead of the Ross portable vise (no longer available) just imagine you have barrel flats machined in and you use a crow’s foot and torque wrench (or a stout adjustable wrench).

The breaker bar attached to the action wrench presses against your leg as you turn on the flats. You don’t have to remove the action from the stock as the internal action wrench is taking the stress.

View attachment 8533439
Again, imagine that instead of that little Ross barrel vise, instead he’s wrenching on barrel flats near his top hand.

So look at the link at top; there’s lots of pics.

Full disclosure: I do not yet use this system I described but am working towards it. I just need barrel flats and a crow’s foot.

This technique closely mimics removing a barrel on an AI.

Yep that's basically what I was thinking. I don't need to do it in the field so I could just use my viper barrel vise on the bench and use the rear action wrench.

hseII · Oct 27, 2024

Mauser48 said:
Yep that's basically what I was thinking. I don't need to do it in the field so I could just use my viper barrel vise on the bench and use the rear action wrench.

Is there a preferred action wrench that would work with 700 Pattern/ 700 clones, or will this need to be specific?

Mauser48 · Oct 27, 2024

hseII said:
Is there a preferred action wrench that would work with 700 Pattern/ 700 clones, or will this need to be specific?

I have a bighorn origin action and I use the bugholes action wrench. I believe that wrench will do most 700 pattern actions.

Rob01 · Oct 28, 2024

carbonbased said:
For those interested in field swapping barrels...The Ross Vise

*** Special thanks to hide member reubenski who's setup with barrel flats inspired this rabbit hole. *** The last couple of years I've moved to a modular rifle system that uses Bighorn actions and a pile of interchangeable barrels in various chamberings and states of wear. The weak link in all...

www.snipershide.com

Look at the pics carefully.

He has a variation where you use an internal action wrench suspended with a bungie. On the other end, instead of the Ross portable vise (no longer available) just imagine you have barrel flats machined in and you use a crow’s foot and torque wrench (or a stout adjustable wrench).

The breaker bar attached to the action wrench presses against your leg as you turn on the flats. You don’t have to remove the action from the stock as the internal action wrench is taking the stress.

View attachment 8533439
Again, imagine that instead of that little Ross barrel vise, instead he’s wrenching on barrel flats near his top hand.

So look at the link at top; there’s lots of pics.

Full disclosure: I do not yet use this system I described but am working towards it. I just need barrel flats and a crow’s foot.

This technique closely mimics removing a barrel on an AI.

Did he offer a Ross barrel bag so you could carry all your spare barrels and all those tools into the "field" to do all these barrel changes? LOL

This is one of those things that sounds cool and no one does.

Charger442 · Oct 28, 2024

Rob01 said:
Did he offer a Ross barrel bag so you could carry all your spare barrels and all those tools into the "field" to do all these barrel changes? LOL

This is one of those things that sounds cool and no one does.

i was also cornfused when he's using a torque wrench to REMOVE the barrel..... i was raised that thats a surefire way to ruin a torque wrench. but maybe im not a cool kid doing barrel swappers standing on a mountain.

Taylorbok · Oct 28, 2024

Mauser48 said:
For guys that use your rifle as a switch barrel, do you ever remove the barrel while leaving the action in the stock? You'd have to obviously use the barrel vise further up on the barrel but that still seems like a better way to do it than using a wrench all the way out at the muzzle.

I’ve swapped barrels that way. Saves a couple minutes for sure

carbonbased · Oct 28, 2024

Rob01 said:
Did he offer a Ross barrel bag so you could carry all your spare barrels and all those tools into the "field" to do all these barrel changes? LOL

This is one of those things that sounds cool and no one does.

Yeah, I agree. I’m not one of those guys who wants to field swap.

When one adds wrench flats to his process, I just like the way it makes my other guns work similar to my AI. Wrench flats just make sense.

carbonbased · Oct 28, 2024

Charger442 said:
i was also cornfused when he's using a torque wrench to REMOVE the barrel..... i was raised that thats a surefire way to ruin a torque wrench. but maybe im not a cool kid doing barrel swappers standing on a mountain.

Apparently some torque wrenches have a lock off so you can use it to loosen too, and some are meant to work both ways without adjusting anything on the tool.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/torque-wrench-for-undoing-nut.351149/

Heck, they all should work like that! Handy.

Here’s a test. Spoiler, you really shouldn’t remove stuff with a torque wrench that isn’t designed to do so. But he shows a Tekton model that IS designed to work that way.

Heck, here’s the first installment:

Months ago when I first watched these two, I learned a bunch of stuff. And then promptly forgot it

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