Arc Mausingfield - New Barrel or Sell for an Impact 737R or AI AT?

[Fattygabbiee]

Hi all,

I have an early generation Arc Mausingfield 6.5 Creedmoor setup: KRG Whiskey 3, 22" Benchmark barrel, and Timney trigger that was built by LRi (awesome work as usual). This is the non-DLC, non-shouldered Mausingfield that accepts Savage small shank prefits. It currently uses a Benchmark barrel and I would like to get a 26" Bartelin, Rock Creek, or Proof as a replacement. It's a great rifle and I have no complaints. I only use it for punching steel and paper. No PRS or rifle competitions. I will be signing up for long range classes and to become a better shooter.

Forgive my ignornace but since I don't have the tools at home, in order to do a barrel switch, it's highly recommended to send my barreled action to a reputable gunsmith (PVA, Bugholes, LRi, CORE. etc.) and have them install and headspace the new barrel to the action. Is that correct? Any other gunsmith recommendations? I live in the PNW so if there's a local smith in WA, I could drive it there.

Or, would you sell this setup to fund a new Impact 737R or AI AT build? I will lose about 50% of the investment but that's okay as I am selling it to good friend and his son. I am not trying to make money off of them. I would be lucky to get $2000 for my setup. Is that a fair price?

Getting a whole a new rifle will be much more costly, $4k or $2k if I sell the Mausingfield vs a new barrel which would be under $1k.

Thanks!

 

[chrismartin]

I would not trade the mausingfield for anything if I were you. Unless you just really have to have that AI.

Changing the barrel on a Mausingfield or an Impact (or just about any other action) would be the same operation and require the same type of tools (barrel vise and action wrench if shouldered or barrel vise, barrel nut wrench and go/no-go gauges if using a pre-fit savage with barrel nut).

Your Mausingfield can take shouldered or barrel nut barrels. The "savage pre-fit" barrel is just to let you know the type of threads used for the barrel. Shouldered screws into the action and stops, barrel nut requires you to use a separate nut to lock things down. Does your action have a barrel nut?

LRI can spin up any barrel for any action they have on file. If they built your action, you could have them replace the barrel if you have the tools or send it to them and they will do it. Since LRI made the thing, I would just use them.

If you want to be able to switch barrels at home with minimal tools and hassles, you can do this with any savage pre-fit, the ARC Barloc and a set of go/no-go gauges.
If you don't want to deal with go/no-go, have LRI spin up shouldered barrels for you. Once they do one, they can do others without the action. You will still need a barrel vise and action wrench to torque the barrel on. You can also do a shouldered barloc setup. That would negate the need for a barrel vise/action wrench and possibly go/no-go, however, I always like to check gauges when I swap barrels as it's cheap insurance.

I went with a savage pre-fit barrel nut barloc setup and was able to install the barrel in my living room with an allen wrench (no vise needed). It's not as fast as a quick barrel change setup like the AI, but it's not like I need to do it that often. I already have all the tools, vise and gauges, but I wanted to try the barloc to see how easy it would be. It's easy.

ETA: From ARC's website:

Mausingfield actions with serial numbers of M5A3-00005 through M5A3-00024 use a 1.125” x 20 UN 2B thread, making them compatible with commercially available Savage large shank barrels and locknuts.


Mausingfield actions with serial numbers of M5A4-00025 and higher use a 1-1/16” x 20 UN 2B barrel thread, making them compatible with commercially available Savage small shank barrels and locknuts.

...

The Mausingfield can also be fitted with threaded and shouldered barrels that do not require a locknut. Such barrels should have a minimum shank diameter of 1.20 inches (30.5 mm), unless they are to be installed on a Mausingfield action having a serial number between M5A3-00005 and M5A3-00024. For actions with any of those numbers, the barrels should have a minimum shank diameter of 1.25 inches (31.7 mm).

 

[Fattygabbiee]

Thnak you. Very helpful. Will read up more on the barrel nut / shouldered Barloc setups. Sounds like a great middle ground and when it's time for the third+ barrel, the process will even be easier. I will look around for gunsmith that have Savage prefits that work with the Barloc. Who spun your barrels?

One other concern is if my gen 3 Whiskey will fit a Barloc (didn't see anything on their site).

Fun times ahead.

 

[chrismartin]

Thnak you. Very helpful. Will read up more on the barrel nut / shouldered Barloc setups. Sounds like a great middle ground and when it's time for the third+ barrel, the process will even be easier. I will look around for gunsmith that have Savage prefits that work with the Barloc. Who spun your barrels?

One other concern is if my gen 3 Whiskey will fit a Barloc (didn't see anything on their site).

Fun times ahead.

If you end up going barloc (barrel nut version) for barrel changes, you can get any savage pre-fit from anyone. Very versatile and you can buy what is in stock if needed. That's why I went that route. For the shouldered barloc version, Patriot Valley Arms (PVA) and LRI are offering shouldered barloc barrels (maybe others too) and can do just about anything needed. LRI is pretty fast, PVA is currently pretty backed up.

If you don't want to deal with the barloc (or can't because of the chassis or something), you'll just need an action wrench and barrel vise. It's not difficult either way. Changing barrels with these are really pretty simple once you get all the parts and tools together.

There is a thread here on the barloc and a bunch of people post what chassis they are running. It works fine with the MPA chassis.

I have barrels from several people. LRI did my RPR barrel, Criterion Rem/Age barrel nut barrel on another rifle and I'm running a Bison Gunworks savage prefit barrel (non-shouldered) with barloc on my ARC Nucleus right now. However, my next barrel will probably be a Hawk Hill savage pre-fit (again, non shouldered) for that action. Since I already have the non-shouldered barloc, I'll be sticking to normal savage pre-fits (rather than shouldered barloc pre-fits)

Chris

 

[Ripdog28]

Barrel nut/Bar Loc is easier to change barrels than the 737 but I absolutely love my Impact. Although I had no complaints after shooting a friends Maus, I like the smoothness of the 737 and the intregral rail and lug over the Maus.
IMO, if you are not financially strapped, I would hook up the friend and kid and test out new waters. But I am biased.

 

[physguy88]

Stocky's has a variety of Proof Savage pre-fits in stock and on sale. These are not shouldered and would require barrel nut or barloc (barrel nut version) with go/no-go gauge.

https://www.stockysstocks.com/barre...bon-fiber-barrels-pre-fit-savage-barrels.html

 

[Dthomas3523]

Doesn’t sound like you run it in any extremely harsh conditions.

If you just want a change, go ahead.

If you’re not running comps and the action feels good to you, stick with it.

You can do profit stuff with go/no go gauges. I’m lazy, so I prefer to have shouldered barrels.

 

[kthomas]

You have one of the best modern actions currently being made, IMO. Rather than take a 50% loss, I would put the money back into the gun and get it DLC coated (if you want to make it a bit better).

As already mentioned, LRI should have your specs on file and should be able to spin up your barrel and ship the barrel to your house. You are lucky to have access to such a great gunsmith and be able to get barrels shipped to your door!

Tools for changing out barrels is minimal. For a shouldered barrel, you need a barrel vice, action wrench and torque wrench (as well as anti-sieze for the threads). I swap between 6BRA and 6.5 Creedmoor barrels on my Mausingfield all the time.

 

[SkyScrapin]

Thnak you. Very helpful. Will read up more on the barrel nut / shouldered Barloc setups. Sounds like a great middle ground and when it's time for the third+ barrel, the process will even be easier. I will look around for gunsmith that have Savage prefits that work with the Barloc. Who spun your barrels?

One other concern is if my gen 3 Whiskey will fit a Barloc (didn't see anything on their site).

Fun times ahead.

My 591r with Barloq fits the KRG Whiskey Gen4. Gen3 should be fine.