Switch Barrel Concept ? Anyone done one or have one ?

bdb.hunting

bdb.hunting

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Hey All,

So I am looking for advice and thoughts on doing a switch barrel setup.

Currently I have a Christensen Arms Mesa in 6.5 PRC which I am looking at selling and replacing with a Tikka T3X CTR in 6.5 prc.

Now my hope is to turn it into a switch barrel from 6.5 PRC to 338 RCM seeing as they have almost identical case designs and the same parent case I am not worried about the magazine (will actually allow me to seat the 338 RCM long) Now with that being said am I better off doing this on the Mesa (Rem 700 Clone) or is tikka the way to go ? I love my tikkas and miss them and want to switch back just wondering if it makes sense.

I figured having a smith setup the new barrel then I can swap back and forth on my own without any issue? Eventually I am likely too build an entire separate gun but for now this is what works for me.

Just curious on everyone's thoughts ?

I am waiting on 338 RCM dies once they arrive in store I will have them plus 3 boxes of brass shipped to me.

Cheers,
B

hornady-hornady-338-rcm-225-grain-sst-superformanc.jpg
 
I imagine you could do it with either one if the barrel is headspaced via a shoulder.
All you'd need is an action wrench & a Viper barrel vice or similar to swap barrels.
I'm not as familiar with the Tikka, but I'm sure someone can chime in.
 
nothing wrong with the tikka, and swapping shouldered barrels is a walk in the park. If the factory magazines won't work for you one can always upgrade to new bottom metal and IACS style magazines. Aftermarket support for the Tikka is still growing and I am sure it won't be long and someone is going to offer aftermarket bolt bodies so that cartridge swaps become even easier and more cost effective
 
yodave said:
nothing wrong with the tikka, and swapping shouldered barrels is a walk in the park. If the factory magazines won't work for you one can always upgrade to new bottom metal and IACS style magazines. Aftermarket support for the Tikka is still growing and I am sure it won't be long and someone is going to offer aftermarket bolt bodies so that cartridge swaps become even easier and more cost effective
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That's kind of my thought! Im not a fan of the pencil barrel on my current setup. Great for hunting but not for target shooting as it gets hot fast.

From what I can tell the CTR is a little easier for accepting mags.

scourge18a said:
I imagine you could do it with either one if the barrel is headspaced via a shoulder.
All you'd need is an action wrench & a Viper barrel vice or similar to swap barrels.
I'm not as familiar with the Tikka, but I'm sure someone can chime in.
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Thats my thought! I figure I buy a fixed shoulder prefit or have a smith spin up a blank for me seeing as not many people do a 338 RCM barrel anymore. Then once I have it fitted its easy enough to spin them on and off maybe with a witness mark as well?
 
bdb.hunting said:
That's kind of my thought! Im not a fan of the pencil barrel on my current setup. Great for hunting but not for target shooting as it gets hot fast.

From what I can tell the CTR is a little easier for accepting mags.



Thats my thought! I figure I buy a fixed shoulder prefit or have a smith spin up a blank for me seeing as not many people do a 338 RCM barrel anymore. Then once I have it fitted its easy enough to spin them on and off maybe with a witness mark as well?
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you don't need a witness mark on a shoulder, torque to the same spec every time and your good to go, witness mark with a barrel nut, yeah, but with a shoulder, your not going to crush anything enough to mess with headspace, and if you do, well you're an ape that should have bought a good torque wrench LOL
 
I don't know if you can buy a shouldered prefit for either rifle, I think you need to go with something more consistent like an Impact, Lone Peak or Zeus for that. But I'm sure any competent Smith can do one or two for you and maybe even keep measurements on hand if you wanted another.
Changing shouldered barrels is super easy, as mentioned, you just torque em down. You'll likely need an action wrench and barrel vice unless you want to Jimmy rig something.
 
yodave said:
you don't need a witness mark on a shoulder, torque to the same spec every time and your good to go, witness mark with a barrel nut, yeah, but with a shoulder, your not going to crush anything enough to mess with headspace, and if you do, well you're an ape that should have bought a good torque wrench LOL
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Perfect. This is sounding better and better tbh. Making my dream of using one rifle for everything more possible. :D

Its easier to buy and store barrels for me in my current situation. (No room for a bigger gunsafe thats already busting at the seams.
 
scourge18a said:
I don't know if you can buy a shouldered prefit for either rifle, I think you need to go with something more consistent like an Impact, Lone Peak or Zeus for that. But I'm sure any competent Smith can do one or two for you and maybe even keep measurements on hand if you wanted another.
Changing shouldered barrels is super easy, as mentioned, you just torque em down. You'll likely need an action wrench and barrel vice unless you want to Jimmy rig something.
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I know preferred barrels down south makes them for tikkas but im not sure if I can get one of them up north. Just looking into it currently.

An my thoughts are exactly that. have a smith spin them up and keep the measurements so I can go back or to another smith if I move and have it done.
 
I did that with a Rem 700 in an AICS chassis, for two short action cartridges, but to be honest, I don't switch back and forth very often. I have two barrels of course, two bolts, an internal action wrench, and the AICS mags that fit the two cartridges. Next time I switch back, I need to make notes on the scope adjustments to go back to zero for each. Either that, or have a scope for each barrel.
 
Grizzlypeg said:
I did that with a Rem 700 in an AICS chassis, for two short action cartridges, but to be honest, I don't switch back and forth very often. I have two barrels of course, two bolts, an internal action wrench, and the AICS mags that fit the two cartridges. Next time I switch back, I need to make notes on the scope adjustments to go back to zero for each. Either that, or have a scope for each barrel.
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Yeah the setup I am looking at would be able to house both rounds with the same mag and bolt. That's why its a benefit for me. because trying to find a 338 RCM in left hand is basically impossible in a rifle i like or want.
 
Between those two actions, the Tikka is a much better choice. EM Precision can do shouldered barrels but as mentioned, you would need a barrel vise and action wrench for swaps. The Tikka gives a better OAL, they can open up a standard boltface to magnum and can easily swap out the bolt stop from short to long action. They are extremely true actions and wouldnt require any additional work for that. EM just did a dual carbon barrel swap build on a tikka.
 
The tikkas have good enough tolerances to swap shouldered prefits, like mentioned already there are a bunch of people in the US making them as well as IBI here in Canada.

I would still buy or borrow a set of headspace gauges to check.

Action wrench and a barrel vice and your good to go. FYI the factory Tikka barrels are on quite tight. I've never wrecked one taking it off but there are some examples if you go digging around on the interwebs. I've always heated them up to help.
 
IMHO, if I were going to make up another ''switch'' barrel rifle, I would go the route of using a "Savage" jam nut, rather than a shouldered tenon.

Switching out the barrels can be quick and easy but when you're snugging up the shoulder of the tenon the face of the receiver, you always get some ''crush'' distortion.

I did up a Remington 700, switch barrel rifle a three decades back, after reading an article in "GUNS" magazine.

I made up four barrels for this experimental, to me, system.

The four switch barrels were chambered 8x57/270Win/30-06/7-08.

These cartridges were chosen because I had new take off barrels on hand and they were what I was using mostly at the time, other than the 338-06, which I didn't have a spare barrel for at the time.


Every time a barrel was swapped out, it was like starting all over again, even though nothing was changed in between.

I'm not saying it didn't work well, because it did.

The thing is, every time a barrel was taken off, it never went back on to exactly the same location, because of the minor amount of crush, from the last install. The indexing creeped.

This really isn't a huge issue but it was always more time consuming than what I had hoped for.

I ended up selling that rifle and its four barrel set. I believe the fellow that bought it, sold off three of the barrels and kept it as a dedicated 270Win.

The Savage Jam Nut method of installing a barrel is IMHO much more repeatable and with mate marks can easily be indexed to exactly the same spot every time, which lessens the amount of work up needed to find the accuracy sweet spot again.

Yes, it's nit picky. When push comes to shove, I'll take a dedicated to one cartridge, shoulder/receiver face matched rifle every time.

That way, if I feel the need for a different cartridge, which can and does happen regularly, I just pick up the rifle built for the job from the safe and grab the appropriate, previously loaded/sighted ammo and go hunting, with confidence in my eqipment.

My go to hunting rifles, at this time are 338-06/338-08/8x57/30-06/7x57/6.5x55/257Rob/244Rem/243Win/22-250Rem and a few more down to the 22Hornet, then the rimfires.

None of them are switch barrel rifles, although some of them no longer wear their original barrels.
 
JayCarver said:
The tikkas have good enough tolerances to swap shouldered prefits, like mentioned already there are a bunch of people in the US making them as well as IBI here in Canada.

I would still buy or borrow a set of headspace gauges to check.

Action wrench and a barrel vice and your good to go. FYI the factory Tikka barrels are on quite tight. I've never wrecked one taking it off but there are some examples if you go digging around on the interwebs. I've always heated them up to help.
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IBI doesn't make a prefit with a shoulder, they use a barrel nut.

I have a few dedicated long range rifles, and short range benchrest rifles, swapped barrels many times and never had accuracy issues, scope settings haven't changed, and loads/bullet seating has been unaffected, I guess things really do work out right when you don't start out with a remington action.........
 
Virtually every rifle I own is a switch barrel, since they all have multiple barrels fitted to them. Some have more than one stock as well. If using a barrel with a nut, the nut can be glued to the barrel when it is set up the first time and it becomes a shouldered barrel.
 
Tikka is a super easy design or the switch barrel design.

The biggest issue is finding bolts to accommodate the new calibers.
Cost of bolts, if found, males it difficult to justify.

That being said - my platform is built off the t3 because of its ease in the switch barrel design.

Look at the Ross Vise for if you want quick barrel changing abilities.
I had a local machinist replicate the vise for me - and I can go from .308 to .223 in about 5 minutes.

The actions as you're probably aware are all the same size.
The only difference is the bolt stop.
A small action bolt stop can be filed down to accommodate larger rounds - or aftermarket/replacements do exist.

As mentioned, there is no need to witness mark anything. Just torque and go.

Factory torque setting is ridiculously stupid, so breaking the barrel off the first time can be frustrating.
50 ft/lbs seems to be plenty to retain the barrel, and easy enough to crack off in the field.

The tolerances are so tight, you can generally have a barrel maker or smith set up for a Tikka thread and it will be fine for headspacing.
Albeit there are a lot more options for prefit Tikka barrels now
 
I just want to say thankyou to everyone who supplied me with the info. It is making me feel much more confident in what I am trying to do.

I am definitely going the Tikka Route. I am not worried about bolt faces at this point in time as the two barrels I am putting on will be for pretty much the identical case with different calibers. An I might even add a third Caliber one day.

Eventually I will run 6.5 PRC, 300 RCM and 338 RCM all from the same action with different barrels.
 
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