Gunsmithing Ballpark me a $$ for simple barrel swap?

[earthquake]

I have a local smith who seems kinda pricey, so I'm just wanting to get an estimate from some other smiths maybe or other's who've had this done.

I just need to spin the barrel off a Rem700 .22-250, and spin on another Rem barrel in .308 and time a brake. Make sure it shoots/works of course, but that's it.

Is this a sub (<$100) job, or ....?

Thanks in advance.

 

[deadly0311]

if the barrel headspaces right and nothing needs to be done to the muzzle shoulder to time the brake it shouldnt be that expensive. Worst case scenario is that the barrel doesnt head space and has to be chucked up in the lathe and some machine work done to it.

Just out of curiosity is this barrel already chambered for this particular action?

 

[earthquake]

Just out of curiosity is this barrel already chambered for this particular action?

As far as I know yes. I'm taking the barrel off my Rem700 .22-250 VS and the .308 barrel I just got is off a Rem700 AAC-SD.

 

[deadly0311]

Sorry I wasnt clear, was the 308 barrel chambered and threaded for the action you are wanting to put it on? If not you may run into problems and he may be shooting the price high with the possibility of having to do some machine work to it to get it within a safe head space range. If everything checks out when he spins it on, then it shouldnt be more than 40 bucks for a barrel swap.

 

[earthquake]

Sorry I wasnt clear, was the 308 barrel chambered and threaded for the action you are wanting to put it on?

Yes. The barrel is chambered/threaded and unless Rem changed anything with their 700 SA receivers in the 20 years since I've had the .22-250, I think it should fit.

I was kicking around the idea of doing this myself. Let me ask this: A buddy of mine is buying a vise and action wrench and has a machine shop with lathes etc. (He's going to start cutting chambering his own barrels) Is this as simple as getting the proper headspace and go/no-go gauges and using an action wrench and vise? I thought it might be a good learning opportunity. This isn't going to be a comp rifle, just a shorty play rifle I want to mess around with, and I need a .308!

 

[slayer_21420]

yep it is as simple as using an action wrench, vise, and go/ no go if you don't have to adjust the headspace.

 

[MikeeBooshay]

And if you have to adjust headspace, you'll need a reamer and maybe a lathe.

I suspect for your gunsmith, he does not want to take the risk of a "comeback" unless he does it his way. Many guys, won't touch a "project", unless someone supplies a new barrel and price accordingly. They've simply been burned too many times by the guy that "just wants XXXXX", but the job becomes a never-ending tar baby.

Understand that for a smith that does work for the public, every single rifle that goes out, has his reputation on it, whether it is a "project I don't care about" or not.

Like a lot of other things, it takes a long time to build, and a single careless moment to lose.

 

[Kebo57]

very seldom is a barrel swap between 2 different receivers a simple off-on proposition. Those of us that fit up barrels know how critical the dimensions are that we need to work with to get a barrel fit and chambered correctly. A quick look at the difference between the length of a go gauge vs. a no-go is a good example. Then there's the super dooper thread locker crap that you have to fight. Just because you have a vise and an action wrench doesn't mean that barrel is just gonna spin right off!

 

[bigngreen]

Is this a sub (<$100) job, or ....?

Thanks in advance.

In short no, I sure would not do it for that. Remove a barrel without marring, clean up threads on both action and barrel, install and check head space, it may head space close may not but I would shoot you a price for putting it in the lathe and dialing it in and resetting the head space. You have a snowballs chance in hell of the brake lining up so you'll have to chuck that end up, dial in and time the brake and crown.

 

[Killswitch Engage]

Buy a barrel vice, action wrench and go gauge. Swap it yourself. If it headspaces then you can go on about timing shoulder for a brake. I've swapped quite few and most headspace ok but some don't.

depending on the protrusion of the headspace gauge you may be able to make up your dimension in the lug shoulder if it headspace is loose. If it's tight you can get a .200 lug from ptg and set shoulder to that if it's tight. Remington's bolt nose and lug clearance is usually very generous anyhow.

 

[Idaho CTD]

I'm with KE. Probably 75% of Remington barrels swap and headspace correctly as long as you don't care where the caliber designation is. If it's off it won't be much. The timing of the brake will require a lathe but it's pretty quick too. The whole job could be as quick as 15 minutes or well over an hour to do depending on the headspace of the barrel.

 

[Straight Shooter]

15 minutes is a NASCAR pit stop job. That will get the barrel on there and the first try with the gauges. Depending if it's short or long it takes at least 20 minutes to an hour get the chuck swapped and the barrel dialed in before it's ready for it's first cut or it's possible a new lug and some surface grinder work to bring it into spec. If the reamer is needed then it's close to fitting a whole new barrel. If it was my rifle I would be reluctant to put on a barrel someone took off. If it was so good why did they take it off?

Timing a brake usually is a bit more to that then just timing it. Do the threads fit right? Is the hole centered to the bore? If this is one of the budget brakes about 1/3 of them need everything done to them so it's a full job by the time you get it right. While you are there this is a great time to freshen up that crown. It all takes time and that is a gunsmiths most precious commodity. Just pay the guy and move on. It's got to be a lot cheaper than having to send it out.

 

[Rem40xb1]

I have done several factory barrel swaps on Remington 700 actions almost all of them have not required any special work at all. It is just a matter of screwing the barrel on the action and checking it with a go and no go gauge. I have also timed several hundred muzzle brakes and it is a 10 minute job. The complete job is not complicated at all. It all comes down to ( Whats in your wallet)