Budget custom Lapua?

hunter-4-life

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Alrighty folks, I know "budget" and "lapua" don't go together, but in this case im going to try. I have a savage 111 300 win mag I dont use. Just a safe queen, found a 338 lapua barrel off a savage 111 LR hunter and bolt face for sale. I have the headspace gauges and all the goodies to do it, now the question is will it work. By work i mean can i change my bolt face on the 300 I have now, and screw the barrel to the action, put a nice boyds stock on and go shooting? Or am I totally dreaming of having a lapua for under $500?
 
I don't know about if it will work, but it will definately be interesting to see your results. A couple of thoughts/suggestions:

Since they are both 111's the components should fit, but I doubt that will be the case (not trying to be rude, but I think there would be more on the subject if you can pull it off - I'm hoping you do, and I am not trying to detract you from the idea). My guess is you will have to find out things like shank diameter, how deep recesses are for a magnum bolt head versus a standard long action bolt head, by that I guess I mean depth of the actual bolt lugs themselves and where they fit in to either receiver or barrel~ Again not sure as I am not a smith. My dream machine is putting a 6.5 SAUM barrel on my .308 and I know I need the bolt head but I don't think it is just a quick swap over... Although I could be wrong as I am not a gun smith. Best of luck man, I hope you find the answer you are looking for and maybe someone else a little more knowledgeable then myself chimes in. Also a good place to look up might be the Savage shooters forum - seperate website and see what kind of info they have available on the idea.
 
For sure, I will report back when I know more and see how the project goes, just trying to see if this is even a realistic possibility before I start ripping a good gun apart.
 
That barrel is large shank and the bolt head is 0.550 lug.

Figure out what shank your action is and measure your bolt lugs and youll know if it will work.
 
the action is a small shank, but you could have the barrel threaded down to fit your action. As far as bolt head, your talking the face? If so then yes I know I would have to change it, thats why I would buy the 338 lapua bolt face (0.585") and swap the 300 win mag (0.550) bolt face out.
 
A Lapua for "under $500" sounds a little dicey. But I love reading about cool stuff like this so if you do it please update on the progress.
 
I myself asked many questions about this back when PT&G started making bolt heads for Savages. I talked to many reputable smiths and was told by every single one that it was a BAD idea. The 338 Lapua actions from Savage are not your standard 111 action. They have a beefier and longer tenon(if I remember correctly) and most definitely use a different heat treatment to handle the higher bolt thrust. The lugs on the 338 Lapua bolt head are also thicker. Besides all that, your action will be a small shank and the Lapua barrel will be a large shank so it won't fit. And the advice to have it turned down to a small shank is really asking to have your face blown off in my opinion. There would be very little meat left surrounding that chamber.

If you want a cheap 338 Lapua just go buy the 111 long range hunter in 338, that's as cheap as it gets.

Not trying to rain on your parade just passing along info that told to me by people that know what they're doing. I would hate to see someone get hurt because I was too lazy to type a response.
 
I myself asked many questions about this back when PT&G started making bolt heads for Savages. I talked to many reputable smiths and was told by every single one that it was a BAD idea. The 338 Lapua actions from Savage are not your standard 111 action. They have a beefier and longer tenon(if I remember correctly) and most definitely use a different heat treatment to handle the higher bolt thrust. The lugs on the 338 Lapua bolt head are also thicker. Besides all that, your action will be a small shank and the Lapua barrel will be a large shank so it won't fit. And the advice to have it turned down to a small shank is really asking to have your face blown off in my opinion. There would be very little meat left surrounding that chamber.

If you want a cheap 338 Lapua just go buy the 111 long range hunter in 338, that's as cheap as it gets.

Not trying to rain on your parade just passing along info that told to me by people that know what they're doing. I would hate to see someone get hurt because I was too lazy to type a response.

And then his name would have to change to hunter-4-short-life.
 
turning the threads down on the barrel is a bad idea, but turning the threads larger on the action is a solid idea
 
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