Do the Alternut that Shilen makes and the Remage at Northern Shooters supply work well on the R700? Are their any cons to these systems?
-
Having trouble using the site?
Contact support
Barrel Nut Systems for R700
- Thread starter para1505
- Start date
You lose free barrel weight by going with a nut
But you can order a barrel and slap it on to a plain jane R700 in a few minutes with the right tools
The remage system, and the original savage barrel nut, have worked for years and years and I doubt their popularity will go down any time soon
But you can order a barrel and slap it on to a plain jane R700 in a few minutes with the right tools
The remage system, and the original savage barrel nut, have worked for years and years and I doubt their popularity will go down any time soon
Only con is you have to set its headspace yourself when you screw it in and tighten it down. Other than maybe having to do it a few times to get it right it’s fine.
And I’m personally finding that I like the barrel weight further out in my set ups so I don’t really miss the extra barrel contour thickness right there at the action. A straight contour nut set up is pretty great imo. Thinner than a proof comp contour at the action but thicker out at the muzzle.
That’s all personal and dependent on my chassis and weight set up/balance.
So suffice it to say, they can work as well as anything else.
And I’m personally finding that I like the barrel weight further out in my set ups so I don’t really miss the extra barrel contour thickness right there at the action. A straight contour nut set up is pretty great imo. Thinner than a proof comp contour at the action but thicker out at the muzzle.
That’s all personal and dependent on my chassis and weight set up/balance.
So suffice it to say, they can work as well as anything else.
I bought a McRees Precision Barrel Kit years ago and it was amazingly accurate right out of the box, it shot better than I could. Like Spife said it was a little challenging to install and hold in place while tightening and took a couple of tries but not hard. They were using Nor-Pac barrels at the time.
They don't look quite a nice as a shoudlered barrel for sure. But a $350 Criterion that shoots sub .5 min is hard to beat for us poors.
Another advantage of headspace nut barrels is that they allow DIY barrel changes on mass-produced actions that can't use shouldered pre-headspaced barrels because those mass-produced actions don't have the dimensional consistency of low volume "custom" actions.
That's a pretty minor tradeoff for the ability to do your own barrel changes if you own a mass-produced action that isn't as dimensionally consistent as a custom action and so you can't use shouldered pre-fits.
While true, the net effect can't be that much for two reasons:
- The nut adds some weight back
- The weight loss is where it matters the least from a weight and balance (leverage) aspect
A remage barrel nut and a criterion prefit is probably the cheapest, easiest way to a half moa (maybe less) rifle with minimal turnaround time. A ~$25 remage nut, $60 worth of forster go/no go gauges and a $300 barrel from NSS and you're good to go.
Shilen's probably great too for another $40.
I think it is an outstanding option for 700 guys. I do not object to the asthetics at all and the install is really straight forward. It gave me the option of piecing the rifle together over time using a stock ADL Varmint as a base and then adding the barrel as the last big piece that I could do myself. I can also recommend Jim at Northland very highly!
I did a 233 on the cheap with a Remington action and a barrel brothers barrel about five years ago . It shoots .4-.6 depending on the bullet. I probably wouldn't do it again due to the Remington action having a large firing pin and I think the timing is off.
I've moved on to custom actions and profits, and that is working out very well.
I've moved on to custom actions and profits, and that is working out very well.
I've done two Remage builds on factory Rem 700 actions with Criterion prefit barrels from Northland Shooter Supply. Both are in KRG Bravo chassis and shoot sub MOA. It's a straightforward system that is easily user serviceable with a few tool and a GO gauge.
Remage system is great, works well and can get you there for less money as others have stated. On the other hand, you can go with the bugnut system. It works the same, but leaves more barrel diameter near the chamber.
Just put a new barrel on a friend's Rem 700 action this weekend. I've done multiple Rem 700 clones, and savage actions but never an actual Rem 700.
And, I'll say. How in the hell do you keep the recoil lug from slipping....! I always liked the pinned recoil lugs, but damn, it took half a dozen tries to get the nut tightened and the lug "mostly" straight. In the end, it still was slightly crooked, but not enough to really matter. Drove me nuts though....
And, I'll say. How in the hell do you keep the recoil lug from slipping....! I always liked the pinned recoil lugs, but damn, it took half a dozen tries to get the nut tightened and the lug "mostly" straight. In the end, it still was slightly crooked, but not enough to really matter. Drove me nuts though....
Put
NSS TAPER LOC RECOIL LUG SYSTEM | Northland Shooters Supply
Northland Shooters Supply Taper Loc Recoil Lug System allows you to hold the NSS Recoil lug when installing a barrel on your Remington 700 receiver.
northlandshooterssupply.com
into this
NSS ACTION WRENCH | Northland Shooters Supply
Northland Shooters Supply (NSS) designed an action wrench called the NSS Action Wrench which corrects the interference issues created when Savage went to the 4.4″ short-action action-screw spacing.
northlandshooterssupply.com
I highly recommend the folks of nss. They’re great and will walk you through everything that you need. I can’t stress the importance enough of a precision ground recoil lug and nut. As y’all know Recoil lugs just look flat and can cause alignment issues with the barrel. I really wished I hadn’t tried to save that precision ground recoil lug and nut money. I’m still not sure which one got me but my savings ended up costing me shipping twice and hell of lot of aggravation.
They shoot great and they keeps your money in your pocket instead of the gunsmiths pocket. The balance point of the rifle is a bit different but hopefully the extra coin in your pocket will help balance other things out enough you don’t even notice. Lol
I ran barrel nut barrels exclusively till this year, they are a really good option.
All were heavy Palma or med varmint.
Run a good recoil lug with it.
NSS is where all my button rifled barrels and tools came from and I definitely recommend hem.
I have used regular nuts and the ARC system.
All were heavy Palma or med varmint.
Run a good recoil lug with it.
NSS is where all my button rifled barrels and tools came from and I definitely recommend hem.
I have used regular nuts and the ARC system.
Excess headspace is far more dangerous than not enough. If you're going to be so cheap that you won't buy a proper set of gauges, at least buy the no go. You can set go with a case sized its full length.
Yeah stay safe, the price of a gauge isn’t worth getting hurt over or worse. I’m sure there’s YouTube videos of what’s left of the rifles that had headspace issues. You don’t want a new screen name like “Lefty or Patch”. Just saying
Me too.
You can make a go a nogo. You cant make a nogo a go.
How the logic of "too long is worse" when one is starting with something thats shorter works I cant explain but whatever.
What exactly happens when you have too much headspace? Let's say .020" for example...
I can't say that 0.020" specifically will get you there, but case failure is the primary concern with excessive headspace. A bad day from case failure could be caused by blowback of powder into the shooter's face, or even more catastrophically a mechanical failure of the bolt or action that then hits the shooter (also in the face).
The way I see it, there's plenty of folks out there who use the scotch tape method and it works fine for them. I went ahead and sprung for the NO-GO gauge as well, because it was like $30, isn't subject to variations in different brands of scotch tape thickness or whatever, and will be with me forever. It was worth it to me, but if someone wants to save $30-40 on a gauge, that's fine for them and it obviously works for lots of folks.
This is another one of those things that comes down to personal comfort level, and there's a different right answer for everyone. I thought about going the tape route, then when I was buying the gauge I realized I'd rather just have the plug-and-play set, no question marks that way. But others like the tape, and I say go for it if you want to, again, it works for lots of folks.
This is another one of those things that comes down to personal comfort level, and there's a different right answer for everyone. I thought about going the tape route, then when I was buying the gauge I realized I'd rather just have the plug-and-play set, no question marks that way. But others like the tape, and I say go for it if you want to, again, it works for lots of folks.
You still have plenty of questions going in blindly with a gauge. If you were thorough you would measure them both and compare... you know, like you would when using the scotch tape.
Been running shilen savage barrels for many years. At first on savage actions , now elusively on zermatt actions. Shilen barrels freakin Shoot GOOD! I have experience with a few CBI also they shoot good too but seem more picky , as in, they like a certain load and only that load. The shilens seem more forgiving to me.. always been easy to find a good .3”-.2” load in every shilen I’ve personally had.. with all loads tried being .5” or less for the most part . Can’t go wrong with either option. NSS carry’s most all the popular calibers in stock ready to ship.
I ordered a remage from nss late last year and they had some chamberings in shilen and others in criterion. The chambering determined which barrel manufacturer you would get, I think. They might let you pick but I’m not sure of how they do it now. Maybe someone else has talked to them recently. I have nothing but praise for nss, they know this stuff and cover everything to get you squared away. Like one guy said, it’s the fastest way to a 1/2moa rifle available.
To the guys that are using Remington 700 actions, are you using the prefits on actions completely stock without any trueing and still getting good results?
Yeah.
If you do get it trued just have the faces touched to line up with the threads and dont open up the threads themselves. Having the factory thread pattern is whats important there. Like with any screw, having the male and female dimensions paired together is important.
Ya I figured you wouldn’t want to mess with the threads. I just see a lot of factory rem 700 actions with remage barrels and I always wondered if they do any trueing work before hand. I’ve always been told that most of the mechanical accuracy is in the quality of the barrel and the chambering.
Wait, are you asking about prefits, or Remage barrels? Prefits are generally understood to be shouldered, versus a barrel nut system which by design should be able to be headspaced properly on basically any action that shares the barrel's tenon thread pattern.
Sorry, mixing up terminology, I am talking about remage barrels on out of the box rem700 actions.
Ah, ok, gotcha. Honestly, once I started getting into the truing/blueprinting considerations, I think I'd scrap the project, sell the action and go straight custom. But yeah, as @spife7980 stated, great results can be had with a factory action and a Remage barrel.
Great results with remage barrels and old/used factory Remington actions. If you wanna run remage barrels don’t change your actions threads from the original. If you change your threads you can still get prefit barrels but you’re Smitty will need your action so he can measure your first one.
Yes, two different stock Rem700 SA's that I just screwed a prefit Criterion barrel into, then dropped them each into KRG Bravo's.
To add another data point to this thread: I used a Shilen Match barrel on a Savage 12 build circa 2013 that is an absolute hammer for 1.2k rounds thus far. I've "cleaned" it only twice , which was only one wet patch, followed by two dry patches. No copper fouling and the second dry patch was pristine clean.
