New Custom Switch Barrel hunting rifle set up advice

[TXcoach]

I’m planning a new custom build as I have not seen a production rifle out there that offers what I want. The goal is to build a rifle that I can hunt everything from Texas White Tail deer to Alaska coastal Brown Bears with. I want to accomplish this by using 1 stock, trigger, action and scope and being able to swap out barrels. I’m planning on a long action and probably loading for 7 SAUM and 300 PRC (before you tell me about some other cartridges I already have a few other bolt guns from .243 to .338 Win Mag and I’m sure there are tons a pluses and negatives for a bunch of different rounds) the 7 SAUM is what I want towards the lower end and who knows where I will go from there but I’ve looked at the 300 RUM, 300 Win Mag, 300 Norma and 300 PRC as well as a couple of the 338 rounds. The 300 PRC seems like the right round but I’m definitely open to re-thinking that one if it makes sense. I’m planning on a manners stock, either a Bix’n Andy or Trigger tech trigger, probably a ZCO or NF scope. Not sure about the barrels but definitely carbon wrapped and with Cortina tuner breaks on each. Probably Hawkins bottom metal and AICS mag. Now please chime in with any thoughts on any of this as I could really use some guidance from those with more experience than I. The actions I’m looking at is a Terminus with their quick change feature or a Impact or Defiance with a WTO switch lug installed. I’m not trying to find a way to use a short action as I want to use a larger magnum round for the larger game. Before someone asks, yes I have rifles in my safe that will accomplish everything I’m trying to do here. BUT I WANT A NEW GUN and this gave me the perfect excuse to get one built the way I want it and the wife said to do it so I’m not letting this chance slip by lol. Plus a bunch of my other guns I’ve started doaling out to my 4 boys so clear room in my safes, make sure they had plenty to use when we go hunting and allow me the excuse that I need this new gun.

I like the idea of the same stock, trigger, bolt and scope on most if not all my hunting rifles kind of like my PRS and NRL22 rigs. So if nothing else what do you think of the actions and the way they switch the barrels?

 

[4O6shootist]

I would stay away from anything 3 lug due to the tendency to have heavier bolt lift and in the case with 2 of the 3 terminus I own, show pressure earlier than they should. I would build off a bat igniter, they're essentially the same action as a bat hr without all the frills/options and are considerably less $$. They offer extreme consistent headspace action to action. I have a friend running one in 7saum on a long action with excellent results(cfe12 mag box) . Having a switch barrel in 300prc would be very simple. I'm about to do something similar, using a bat vampire and having a 7lrm and 338 prc switch barrel system put together. Ag composites alpine hunter, m5 oberndorf bottom metal, cfe9 mag box. 7mm is bartlein carbon rem varm 8.5tw, and the 338 is an 11tw brux rem varm for 250 bergers.

 

[Simia Dei]

Have you chatted with Clayton at WTO? He will point you in the best direction.

 

[BND2763]

Pretty sure Terminus are timed for Trigger tech, if you go that route.

Sounds good. Looking forward to following the build.

 

[HenryTheAce]

Could go with something like a lone peak or impact. Pre-fits are doable you’ll just need a torque wrench and action wrench set up. Not a “quick barrel change” but can definitely swap barrels around.

 

[jakelly]

How are you planning on handling the LA and SA dbm issue?

 

[wadebrown]

If thinking about coastal brown bears you may want to put bigger holes in them then a .308 will. For big bears the parent case for the 300 PRC, 375 Ruger, is a great solution. My bear gun is a 375 Ruger and I only hunt black bears but really like two holes and two holes that are bigger. Plus 375 R gives the ability to get to the boiler room of a bear from any angle it offers me if a trophy won't give me a braid side shot, and still give me two holes.

The 375 Ruger is not bad to shoot and I have had three shoulder rebuilds, not due to shooting, on my shooting shoulder so most should not have a problem. The bear gun just got some surgery it now sports a 19.5 inch barrel instead of the 24 inch I originally put on it, it will swing faster and the distances for bear hunting the 4.5 inches lost will not be notices by the bears.

 

[4O6shootist]

How are you planning on handling the LA and SA dbm issue?

You run a Hawkins hunter dbm with the long action magazine, it'll run 7 saum to 338 rum.

 

[Mech Eng]

I'm doing something similar. I went with the ARC Archimedes action because of the way it extracts a case.

 

[TXcoach]

Could go with something like a lone peak or impact. Pre-fits are doable you’ll just need a torque wrench and action wrench set up. Not a “quick barrel change” but can definitely swap barrels around.

I'm trying to avoid needing a vice and action wrench for this rifle. I have the set up for my 6 dasher on my impact.

 

[41thunder]

I did this last year. Had 5 barrels spun up on a bighorn action. From a 22 creed to a 338 Sherman short mag. Good enough for anything in North America. I used to on my polar bear hunt and anchored a 10 footer

 

[41thunder]

I did this last year. Had 5 barrels spun up on a bighorn action. From a 22 creed to a 338 Sherman short mag. Good enough for anything in North America. I used to on my polar bear hunt and anchored a 10 footer

What I also did was order another bighorn action and a rimx. I have a Gunwerks Magnus stock, a xlr magnesium folder, and a ultralight McMillan. My scope options for these too are a ZEISS v4, tangent theta 315 lrh and a pmII. Can swap them all around in about 10 min to prep for hunts. Gives me a lot of configurations and really, I don’t think I’ll need much more. I do also have a fierce ct that wasn’t shooting and I sent it to my gunsmith to make a 300 Norma. Well, it turns out the original barrel was hand tight from the factory, so now that one can be swapped between the two calibers as well. Have an x5 on that one too. So really if I wanted to I could swap all my scopes between rifles pretty fast

 

[NewsShooter]

How are you planning on handling the LA and SA dbm issue?

What issue? My 7 saum rounds won't fit in a SA? But you can run SA length rounds in a LA just fine.

 

[Matt_3479]

The terminus actions are nice and there Zeus make it simple for barrel changes.

I would stay away from anything 3 lug due to the tendency to have heavier bolt lift and in the case with 2 of the 3 terminus I own, show pressure earlier than they should.

The heavier lift doesn’t bother everyone, my terminus bolt lift is very reasonable and the bolt close and action is so smooth it doesn’t bother me at all. Any chance your barrels are causing pressures not your action. Seems a little strange

 

[ZY100]

As posted…so you dont miss it. Call Clayton at WTO and have a chat with him. It will help you decide if a switch lug is the way to go.

 

[KnowNothing256]

OP, one other thought: you can avoid a barrel vise by having flats machined into the barrel too. Just another option.

 

[B-P-UU]

If it were my money...

LP Fuzion medium action (Ti if you want Gucci). 6.5 PRC for the low end work and .300 WSM throated long for bigger stuff.

Or do your preferred cartridges on a LA like you originally stated.

Whatever you decide, go direct thread. Switch lugs, bar-locks, etc. are all dumb. They literally take the simple mechanics of a threaded fastener and make it more complex and less reliable.

 

[41thunder]

For the biggest animals in North America. All you need is a 338.

 

[HenryTheAce]

View attachment 7850794For the biggest animals in North America. All you need is a 338.

Damn congrats! This looks expensive

 

[41thunder]

Damn congrats! This looks expensive

Lol cheaper than hunting sheep.

 

[Winny94]

Any action is a switch barrel with an action wrench and barrel vise.

 

[GeoHog]

I’m planning a new custom build as I have not seen a production rifle out there that offers what I want. The goal is to build a rifle that I can hunt everything from Texas White Tail deer to Alaska coastal Brown Bears with. I want to accomplish this by using 1 stock, trigger, action and scope and being able to swap out barrels. I’m planning on a long action and probably loading for 7 SAUM and 300 PRC (before you tell me about some other cartridges I already have a few other bolt guns from .243 to .338 Win Mag and I’m sure there are tons a pluses and negatives for a bunch of different rounds) the 7 SAUM is what I want towards the lower end and who knows where I will go from there but I’ve looked at the 300 RUM, 300 Win Mag, 300 Norma and 300 PRC as well as a couple of the 338 rounds. The 300 PRC seems like the right round but I’m definitely open to re-thinking that one if it makes sense. I’m planning on a manners stock, either a Bix’n Andy or Trigger tech trigger, probably a ZCO or NF scope. Not sure about the barrels but definitely carbon wrapped and with Cortina tuner breaks on each. Probably Hawkins bottom metal and AICS mag. Now please chime in with any thoughts on any of this as I could really use some guidance from those with more experience than I. The actions I’m looking at is a Terminus with their quick change feature or a Impact or Defiance with a WTO switch lug installed. I’m not trying to find a way to use a short action as I want to use a larger magnum round for the larger game. Before someone asks, yes I have rifles in my safe that will accomplish everything I’m trying to do here. BUT I WANT A NEW GUN and this gave me the perfect excuse to get one built the way I want it and the wife said to do it so I’m not letting this chance slip by lol. Plus a bunch of my other guns I’ve started doaling out to my 4 boys so clear room in my safes, make sure they had plenty to use when we go hunting and allow me the excuse that I need this new gun.

I like the idea of the same stock, trigger, bolt and scope on most if not all my hunting rifles kind of like my PRS and NRL22 rigs. So if nothing else what do you think of the actions and the way they switch the barrels?

Its been a year.

What did you decide to build?
How did it come out?

I'm looking to build a rig with multi caliber options. It seems like you need to pick 1 chamber length though, and of course the calibers I want are both short and long action.

 

[4O6shootist]

Its been a year.

What did you decide to build?
How did it come out?

I'm looking to build a rig with multi caliber options. It seems like you need to pick 1 chamber length though, and of course the calibers I want are both short and long action.

Have you saw the new switch barrel system from Mac Bros? Its stupid fast and bolt head swaps look just as easy. For a magnum setup, a guy could run long action Hawkins mags for long action, then they have spacer kits to run short action magnums through the long action magazine. If you wanted to run say a creed case, contact Hawkins and see if they make a spacer to run in their long action 30-06 mag to run short action cartridges. This way all you'd need is multiple config mags, vs having to swap chassis or stocks. Hawkins mags run the best from a M5 inlet stock with their hunter dbm. The hunter dbm also works well with aics mags for higher round count, but when caliber swapping this will be the choke point of modularity. I personally don't like the idea. I like dedicated rifles, but I get the quick change format from say a 7 saum in a lw hunting stock or long range system, going to a 6gt swap for matches in a chassis.

 

[Andielouroo]

I have to be honest and say that I didn’t read every word of your original post because it’s a massive wall of text. That said, I was in the same boat a few years ago and ended up with the Desert Tech SRS-A2. Small package, easy barrel swap, great trigger, and shoots lights out. Not the lightest, but with a vortex AMG on it, it’s a bad ass hunting rig.