Choosing actions for a build

I love the irreverence of this video. And Jacob can shoot. I've always liked his stop the BS myth busting approach.

The shouldered barrel will "shoulder" up to your action. Generally you will go to a pre-determined torque as specified by your gunsmith. Some bench rest shooters even just go hand tight. I torque mine 80-100 ft-lbs.

No need for go/no go gauges. An action wrench, torque wrench and barrel vice is all that is required. You can even get flats machined near the muzzle of the barrel, and use a big crescent wrench to take your barrel on and off.


It's really simple, takes me probably no more than 2 minutes to do. I swap between my 6.5 Creedmoor and 6BRA barrel on my match gun all the time.
 
Jacob is the man. I trained at Rifles Only a few yours ago in their PR I&II course shortly after getting into the precision rifle game. I really admire his approach to precision rifles, his focus on fundamentals and simplicity, and as you state his propensity to cut through the BS.

He also has the AI rifle with the highest round count in the world. He's got over 120,000 rounds through that specific action and I believe he's over a dozen barrels on it.
 
Lets talk economics in the way that it would affect the vast majority of shooters

Wast majority of shooters can't possibly afford one tenth of your expenses. The reason the forum is full of "Tikka this, Howa that, my Savage axis rocks". Everything that can potentially bring cost down will work. Majority of shooters trade sub $1000 rifles all the time because they can't change barrel or chambering so if they fancy something new they trade the whole rifle. Majority of shooters shoot less than 300 shots a year from a rifle, they would gladly buy 1 moa used barrels and they don't give #### about competitions.
 
As far as i can find for pricing, gbt (site sponsor) has a preorder for pva and a cut rifled shouldered prefit is starting at just over $1000. A canadian barrel maker who also does cut rifling sells blanks for $425 and the last time i had a barrel installed it was $300 without any muzzle threading. He also sells savage style prefits built to spec, for a 22" rem varmint ss with threaded muzzle was $550. I haven't mentioned the barrel maker cause he isn't a sponsor but google canadian barrel maker and he is near the top. That's as close to an apples to apples as i can find. I don't know the lead times of any of those right now as im good for awhile yet.
 
Wast majority of shooters can't possibly afford one tenth of your expenses. The reason the forum is full of "Tikka this, Howa that, my Savage axis rocks". Everything that can potentially bring cost down will work. Majority of shooters trade sub $1000 rifles all the time because they can't change barrel or chambering so if they fancy something new they trade the whole rifle. Majority of shooters shoot less than 300 shots a year from a rifle, they would gladly buy 1 moa used barrels and they don't give #### about competitions.


This is 100% truth. There are far far more gun guys than there are shooters.

You are also proving that the only true advantages of a barrel nut is that they are fast, cheap, and easy. You are what you shoot (or something like that)
 
and you gotta love his video of a Savage barrelled action taped to a 2x4 to 1000 yards on target. Hilarious ! Says far more about him than the Savage, that's for sure. Would love to train at RO.


Jacob is the man. I trained at Rifles Only a few yours ago in their PR I&II course shortly after getting into the precision rifle game. I really admire his approach to precision rifles, his focus on fundamentals and simplicity, and as you state his propensity to cut through the BS.

He also has the AI rifle with the highest round count in the world. He's got over 120,000 rounds through that specific action and I believe he's over a dozen barrels on it.
 
For FClass and BR nobody uses prefits as they are inferior. Winning is the goal - not saving few bucks.

Quite a number of F class shooters in the US are running prefits... winning at the State level. Might have placed well at the US Nationals? A Savage actioned rifle was 4th for sure but unsure how the barrel was put on? Shot by a US FTR team member

A few NRA records set recently.

Not for everyone for sure but they are used and in surprising numbers.

Jerry
 
Brake.JPG

For those who understand this picture, here is a solution for owlowl and kthomas. Initially headspace the barrel with the go/no-go gauges. With both nuts tightened together, you effectively have a shouldered barrel. Now for barrel changes, being only hand tight, or by about 40-100 lb/ft, one can use kthomas' quick change barrel methods.

Now this thread can go on for another 100 posts as the fashion conscious howl about how one barrel nut on a rifle was ugly enough. Two barrel nuts will surely cause widespread #### loss.
 

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This thread is epic. If anyone wants to rent a used barrel pm me, I’ll pull one out of the garden for you. I have an ironclad minute of barn guarantee.

My last shouldered barrel gave me so much grief, I had to phone up this dude who mailed it to me. Then it took me 10 minutes of work with a barrel vise and a torque wrench, so exhausting.
 
This thread is epic. If anyone wants to rent a used barrel pm me, I’ll pull one out of the garden for you. I have an ironclad minute of barn guarantee.

My last shouldered barrel gave me so much grief, I had to phone up this dude who mailed it to me. Then it took me 10 minutes of work with a barrel vise and a torque wrench, so exhausting.

Well, believe it or not people rent cars and planes and boats. Just because you are not trustworthy and want to sell junk for the price of a decent thing, it doesn't mean that everyone is. Moreover if you look at europe with sauers and blasers and all the other drop in barrel rifles it is quite common for people to trade barrels. It makes ordering a barrel much easier for many people once they know that they can sell it.
 
Well, believe it or not people rent cars and planes and boats. Just because you are not trustworthy and want to sell junk for the price of a decent thing, it doesn't mean that everyone is. Moreover if you look at europe with sauers and blasers and all the other drop in barrel rifles it is quite common for people to trade barrels. It makes ordering a barrel much easier for many people once they know that they can sell it.
Laugh2
Do your parents know you are in the basement using the internet irresponsibly.......please go to bed you have school tomorrow.
 
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I would like to point out that opposing side brings no arguments against anything I said except personal insults.
 
I would guess no one should wait on you to have any worthwile input in this discussion. Or is it going to show up? Give input that might mean something. You honestly come across as the one in your parents basement. Just quit already.

Laugh2
Do your parents know you are in the basement using the internet irresponsibly.......please go to bed you have school tomorrow.
 
I don't know how I missed this painful abortion of a thread!

For the small increase in costs, a shouldered barrel is completely worth it.

I think the reality here is that certain people like to think about nickels and dimes, and how they can recuperate a few dollars by selling a junk shot out barrel to some guys who is also concerned with saving a few pennies.

When you start playing with $2000 actions, $1500 stocks, and completed firearms that run over 5k with optics (on the low end), I can't conceive of any reason to save a few dollars by going with a pre-fit that holds some theoretical resale value. If I ever did want to sell a shouldered barrel for say a Big Horn action, anyone else with a Big Horn could buy it and be out and shooting 20 minutes after receiving it. But what's the point? As mentioned, I'd rather shoot out my barrels until they're done and then make them into a door stop or polished pry-bar.

I'll agree pre-fits and barrel nuts have their place.. even if they are ugly as sin and more time consuming to set up. If I ever want to save a few dollars, i'll look into it (actually no, I never will).
 
Tl3 action is absolutely worth having once you have it. Slightly nicer feel with the bolt than the defiance. I like both a ton but for a hunting/target rig all in one I’d go tl3. Just wish I had gone with a lighter barre contour than mtu. I may take it off and sell the 24” benchmark 223 barrel to somebody with a tl3
 
Actual economics? You will never sell this 6BRA Krieger. Everything you've paid is gone.

If it was prefit you could sell it any time for a significant value. I would never buy 6BRA Krieger new. But I could buy it for half the price if I could use yours.

Actually, a barrel that has been machined to fit one action can still fit in many other actions. It's just a matter of how well it will match dimensionally to your expectations. If you are willing to accept the fit tolerances of a pre-fit barrel, then you might be pleased with it.

Of coarse if the thread on the barrel is larger than the thread on your action it would not fit, but all you need to do is try it.

Then there's the head space thing... again, if you get it to thread on, check the headspace. it might be ok. If too short, that's not much of a problem if you have a reamer, you can run it in a little deeper by hand to get it right.

This is not what I personally would want to use in an F Class match, but then again, I'm not a guy in the market for a per-fit barrel.
 
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