Custom 700 Clone Action w/barrel swap

[Maxim0]

***There are a lot of similar threads, please skip if that bothers you

Hello,
I've been searching around for build threads that are similar but have not found one that hits all the desires.
I'm looking for an action with the following-

• 700 clone (more specifically worried about the trigger)
• ability to change barrels without a gun smith or significant tool investment
• ability to shoot 6.5 cm or 6mm dasher(or one of the other 6mm specials)
• not back ordered months
• ability to buy new off the shelf shoulder barrels from somewhere like PVA
• no feed issues with the above calibers
• smooth action.... little obvious

My goals with this rifle is to start getting into some competitions F-class and possibly prs if I can get my back fixed. Are there any actions out there that you can swap the barrel on without having to take the scope off? If I go with your suggested action is there any need to have a gunsmith involved? (i.e. buy action from company A buy barrel from company b and trigger from company C)

From my searching it seems TL3 will probably be the best fit, but wondering what other actions have these attributes

 

[b6graham]

impact. tl3. origin. axiom. vector. nucleus. mausingfield. archimedes.

how do you want it to feed (crf or push) and eject (plunger or manual). do you want a 60 or 90 degree bolt throw? do you want AW or AICS mags?

rear entry action wrench. barrel vise. easy peasy

shouldered from PVA, LRI, Keystone, Core, WTO, Bugholes

 

[Kimber.204]

I did a similar build as what you're looking for...

Bighorn TL3
JAE-700 stock
American Rifle Company Barloc ( NON-shouldered type)
Savage Pre-fit barrels - each with it's own Barloc nut
Go/No-Go gauges for each caliber (some folks use fired brass - I like to check with actual gauge)
.223 and .308 bolt heads
<<<< edited to add: I'm presently using a Timney Calvin Elite two stage trigger - it fits with no issue and it's a great trigger >>>>

The scope rail on the Bighorn required some modification to accommodate the ARC BarLoc. The nice thing about the BarLoc is that all I needed to swap barrels was a small torque stick. In order to be able to leave the Barloc nut on the barrel I removed a couple thousandths from the JAE-700 just in front of the barrel nut - not much more than removing the anodization.

I have three barrels that I use the most:
- .308 Win - savage factory barrel purchased used on this forum - typical groups are under 0.5moa with known loads - no specific load development for this barrel.
- .223 Rem - savage factory barrel, 1-9 twist, 26in, shoots around 0.5moa with known loads for my AR-15 service rifle (80gr Noslers loaded long) - no specific load development for this barrel.
- 6mm Competition Match - 28in Medium Palma Krieger with 1-7 twist. set up as a savage pre-fit by gunsmith Dave Bruno.

When I swap barrels I hand tighten the barrel down onto the GO-Gauge, then tighten the Barloc nut, then torque the BarLoc to the required value. Double check using the NO-GO gauge and get ready to shoot. Once I became confident in the barrels and the process I decided to keep the Barloc nuts in place, so I repeated the above process, but I added blue loc-tite to the threads under the barloc. When everything was tightened/torqued/checked the nut, now lightly glued to the barrel essentially created a shouldered barrel - but with two benefits.
1. I could still use just hand tools and change barrels at the range, without a barrel vise/action wrench/large torque wrench.
2. I could use cheap/used savage take off barrels for practice time and keep my 6mm Comp Match barrel for matches.

Please keep in mind that with this setup I can do barrel swaps with the scope on, still in the stock, with just a small light hand tool a gauge that easily fits in my range bag. Check out the For Sale area, there are always a lot of Savage Pre-fits for sale.

Feel Free to PM me if you have more questions.
Regards,
Ross

 

[Maxim0]

I did a similar build as what you're looking for...

Bighorn TL3
JAE-700 stock
American Rifle Company Barloc ( NON-shouldered type)
Savage Pre-fit barrels - each with it's own Barloc nut
Go/No-Go gauges for each caliber (some folks use fired brass - I like to check with actual gauge)
.223 and .308 bolt heads
<<<< edited to add: I'm presently using a Timney Calvin Elite two stage trigger - it fits with no issue and it's a great trigger >>>>

The scope rail on the Bighorn required some modification to accommodate the ARC BarLoc. The nice thing about the BarLoc is that all I needed to swap barrels was a small torque stick. In order to be able to leave the Barloc nut on the barrel I removed a couple thousandths from the JAE-700 just in front of the barrel nut - not much more than removing the anodization.

I have three barrels that I use the most:
- .308 Win - savage factory barrel purchased used on this forum - typical groups are under 0.5moa with known loads - no specific load development for this barrel.
- .223 Rem - savage factory barrel, 1-9 twist, 26in, shoots around 0.5moa with known loads for my AR-15 service rifle (80gr Noslers loaded long) - no specific load development for this barrel.
- 6mm Competition Match - 28in Medium Palma Krieger with 1-7 twist. set up as a savage pre-fit by gunsmith Dave Bruno.

When I swap barrels I hand tighten the barrel down onto the GO-Gauge, then tighten the Barloc nut, then torque the BarLoc to the required value. Double check using the NO-GO gauge and get ready to shoot. Once I became confident in the barrels and the process I decided to keep the Barloc nuts in place, so I repeated the above process, but I added blue loc-tite to the threads under the barloc. When everything was tightened/torqued/checked the nut, now lightly glued to the barrel essentially created a shouldered barrel - but with two benefits.
1. I could still use just hand tools and change barrels at the range, without a barrel vise/action wrench/large torque wrench.
2. I could use cheap/used savage take off barrels for practice time and keep my 6mm Comp Match barrel for matches.

Please keep in mind that with this setup I can do barrel swaps with the scope on, still in the stock, with just a small light hand tool a gauge that easily fits in my range bag. Check out the For Sale area, there are always a lot of Savage Pre-fits for sale.

Feel Free to PM me if you have more questions.
Regards,
Ross

View attachment 7011442

That sounds like its exactly what I'm looking for. Approximately how long does it take to switch? under 15min? Also do you run into any feed/extraction issues in any of the calibers. Didn't know they worked off the savage prefits. sounds like an economical smart way to do it.
Appreciate your comment

 

[Kimber.204]

It takes maybe 5 minutes to swap a barrel, that includes the time to store the pulled barrel and get the new barrel out of the bag/case. Takes another minute or two to swap the bolt head. I'm not trying to set barrel swap speed records, but even taking your time, it's pretty fast after you've done it several times.

I have had zero extraction issues with the Bighorn TL3 - in any caliber that I ran it.

I have had one feed issue - I jammed a 223 Rem round during the prone rapid fire stage at a local NRA High Power match. I didn't take time to look close at it, I fingered the round into the chamber and finished the string...still got all 10 shots off and scored in the mid 90's (out of 100 possible). The issue was that I use different magazines between the .223 and the 308/6mm Comp Match/6.5 Creedmoor. The J Allen JAE-700 allows you to adjust the height of the magazine catch - effectively tuning the magazine/cartridge height. After that match I tuned the height to accommodate both the .223 magazines and the .308 magazines. Since then I have not had any issues with feeding.

I'll be putting the feeding issue to the test again this year, I'm planning to do a .224 Grendel, which will require different magazines and bolt head.

Regards,
Ross

 

[Maxim0]

It takes maybe 5 minutes to swap a barrel, that includes the time to store the pulled barrel and get the new barrel out of the bag/case. Takes another minute or two to swap the bolt head. I'm not trying to set barrel swap speed records, but even taking your time, it's pretty fast after you've done it several times.

I have had zero extraction issues with the Bighorn TL3 - in any caliber that I ran it.

I have had one feed issue - I jammed a 223 Rem round during the prone rapid fire stage at a local NRA High Power match. I didn't take time to look close at it, I fingered the round into the chamber and finished the string...still got all 10 shots off and scored in the mid 90's (out of 100 possible). The issue was that I use different magazines between the .223 and the 308/6mm Comp Match/6.5 Creedmoor. The J Allen JAE-700 allows you to adjust the height of the magazine catch - effectively tuning the magazine/cartridge height. After that match I tuned the height to accommodate both the .223 magazines and the .308 magazines. Since then I have not had any issues with feeding.

I'll be putting the feeding issue to the test again this year, I'm planning to do a .224 Grendel, which will require different magazines and bolt head.

Regards,
Ross

Thas awesome you can try out no calibers for so cheap. This may be a problem for me lol. Ill end up have 12 barrels for different calibers

Thanks Ross, I'll be messaging you for some tips when I start my TL3 build

 

[Danco411]

I build a lot of Remages on nice actions like Stiller TAC 30's. There are some really nice Remage prefits out there like Criterion, McGowen and Shilen that are sub MOA shooters. A nice PTG barrel nut and a go gauge and your good to go with whatever caliber you choose. If for some reason you can't stand the barrel nut then by all means buy the more expensive shouldered barrels but they won't shoot any better. I mostly build chassis rifles so the barrel nut is buried anyway. Here is my newest Remage in a Cadex Dual Strike.

 

[Kimber.204]

Thas awesome you can try out no calibers for so cheap. This may be a problem for me lol. Ill end up have 12 barrels for different calibers

Hahaha, yeah, I get it. I always see different barrels pop up on the forums and think...that would be fun! But then I come to my senses and remember that I don't have enough time to shoot all the guns (or barrels) that I already have and that my time is best focused on becoming more proficient with what I've got....so I just switch between 223 and 6mm Comp Match for practice and matches respectively.

I considered doing a similar setup as @Danco411 with my Defiance Mutant action in my Eliseo Chassis....but I was told that the Mutant has a longer threaded section and that there wouldn't be much room for the barrel nut.

Good Luck.
Ross