Savage 110 re-barrel

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An old friend asked me to purchase his Savage 110 in .243 Win a number of years ago. It has sat in storage for years because I have multiple .243 Win and I have no real need for it.

I got to thinking about having the rifle re-barrelled with an interesting caliber. My initial exploration shows that a competent gunsmith should not have any issues re-barrelling the rifle. So now it comes down to choice of caliber which admittedly is a personal thing.

Off the top of my head I am considering 250/3000, 7mm-08, or 25-06. Son in law suggested a 6.5 Creedmore which might be interesting although I have a 6.5x55. I have a 7x57 and a 257 Roberts but I suppose 2 of either of those wouldn't hurt much....lol

In the last few years I have become quite interested in the quarter bore calibers so I haven't considered a .308. At this point I am leaning toward the 250/3000.

Thoughts?
 
I don't know this stuff but if you rebarrelled it to anything but 308 wouldn't you need to change the bolt as well? And aren't some of those calibres too long for the relatively short action? Just asking out of interest
 
25-06 will work but it'll be single feed and you'll have to release the bolt to eject a live round, not ideal. 250-3000 will work but not much different than the roberts. If you like the 250-3000 case how about a 6xc.
 
razorbeck said:
I don't know this stuff but if you rebarrelled it to anything but 308 wouldn't you need to change the bolt as well? And aren't some of those calibres too long for the relatively short action? Just asking out of interest
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The savages only require a simple bolt head swap. The 110(3 digit)series are the long actions, the 10(two digit)series are the short action models. With a the bolt head he has you could go with ,Edit:but In a newer, true LA 110
225 Winchester
22/250 Remington
6mm Norma BR
243 Winchester
250 Savage
260 Remington
6.5/284 Norma
7/08 Remington
284 Winchester
300 Savage
308 Winchester
338 Federal
35 Remington
358 Winchester
220 Swift
6mm Remington
240 Weatherby Mag
257 Roberts
25-06 Remington
6.5x55 Swedish
270 Winchester
7x57 Mauser
7x64 Brenneke
280 Remington
30/06 Springfield
8mm Mauser
338/06 A Square
35 Whelen


cdn shooter said:
25-06 will work but it'll be single feed and you'll have to release the bolt to eject a live round, not ideal. 250-3000 will work but not much different than the roberts. If you like the 250-3000 case how about a 6xc.
Click to expand...

Should be good to go, 25-06 is 3.250"


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Haha, that wouldnt work to well now would it. I was under the impression the first short action chamberings they did before moving to an actual short action were just regular 110s, I assumed that being on a LA the early ones came with LA magazines as well. I stand corrected, 25-08 it is :p
 
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The little bit of research that I did indicated to me that all of the earlier Savage 110's were LA and that they just adjusted the mag wells shorter for shorter calibers. Now that could very well be just me (mis) interpreting the info that I read.

For reasons that I do not understand I have a weird interest in the .225 Winchester and I constantly struggle with the logical side of my brain that says "WHAT?? WHY??" Almost obsolete caliber, tough to find ammo and it really wouldn't accomplish much that my .223 is already doing.

Having said that, really none of the calibers that I could change the rifle to will accomplish anything significantly different than the calibers that I already own. So...leaving that discussion behind because we ALL know that the guy with the most toys wins in the end...or some other similar weak logic....a new barrel is to be found.

Thanks to RRH.01 for posting the info, very informative.

Right now I am leaning towards the .260 Remington. Wiki says that it was also called the "6.5-08" so if it is based on a .308 cartridge it should fit in this LA....yes no?
 
Switching from .243 to .260 is as easy at it gets. And you really don't need a gunsmith. A prefit barrel chambered by the barrel maker can be had for just a little more money than a blank. You'll need a barrel vise, barrel nut wrench and a .260 go gauge. You can probably get set up with the prefit and tools for the same money as having a gunsmith do the work.
 
So everything that I understand says that there is negligible difference between the 260 Rem and the 6.5 Creedmor. The 6.5 is currently enjoying it's "moment in the sun" until the next flavour of the month comes along. But that doesn't mean that the caliber is without merit. Someone suggested to me that commercial 260 Rem ammo is not very easy to come by anymore? Anyone with any knowledge on that topic? I simply have not paid attention and noticed any.

I know that I have seen 6.5 Creedmor ammo on the shelves when shopping for my 6.5x55 so it is available.

Lots of info on line about barrel changes with the Savage 110 and they make it sound fairly straight forward. Something to think about...
 
6.5 creed, 6.5x55, 260, flip a coin they're all the same. Hard to say what you should have without knowing what you already have but if it was me, I would likely go with a 338 federal for no reason other than I like the thumpers. 450 bushmaster with a carbine length barrel would be another option but would be a bit more work getting to feed properly and a new bolt face. Hard to go wrong with a 7mm08 for an "all-around" rifle but then again 308 will do it all too. If it is an older 110 you could do a 338-06 and really be onto something.
 
All good options but I lost interest in the heavy calibers years ago. And you are correct, a 7mm-08 is a great all around caliber with reasonable recoil. There are not many calibers that I don't have, or the calibers left would be so close that there is no practical difference. But I have a large family with many shooters so none of my rifles will ever get left in a dumpster. With a dozen grandchildren growing up a selection of reduced recoil rifles would be a great way to get a new generation of youth shooting imho.
 
I was going to suggest a 358Winchester but I note that you are not interested in a med. bore.

How 'bout a fast twist (1:8") 22-250 for heavier bullets? If would be a good choice for all the young shooters you have to teach. :)
 
250 savage. I'm going to be building 2 this year. Just waiting for the right deals on actions. I have a 25/06 and it's awesome but I'm going to rebarrel it and use it for wolf and deer instead of a dual purpose rifle. The 250 savage will replace it as a varmint rifle but twisted fast enough to be used with heavier bullets if need be
Other choices would be a 300 savage for mild recoil. It's a great deer cartridge.
 
brybenn said:
250 savage. I'm going to be building 2 this year. Just waiting for the right deals on actions. I have a 25/06 and it's awesome but I'm going to rebarrel it and use it for wolf and deer instead of a dual purpose rifle. The 250 savage will replace it as a varmint rifle but twisted fast enough to be used with heavier bullets if need be
Other choices would be a 300 savage for mild recoil. It's a great deer cartridge.
Click to expand...

Are you a handloader or where are you finding ammo? I did a cursory look through some of the usual places without any luck so far. Not having any luck finding 257 Roberts food either.
 
Because a few people have said that re-barrelling the Savage is not a big challenge and that I should do it myself I did some investigation. While I have a few mechanical skills, as in I repair my own farm equipment, and I have monkeyed around with a few firearms basically "assembling" them I certainly do not pretend to be a gunsmith. I don't have the tools or the proper knowledge to do most gunsmithing jobs correctly or safely.

Having said all that, I went to YouTube and watched a video on changing the barrel on a Savage 110 and, with the proper tools, it certainly doesn't appear very difficult.

I priced out a custom barrel and install at a regional gunsmith and almost choked on my coffee. Let's just say that I could buy 3 more Savage 110's for the price they were asking.

But if I attempt this re-barrel myself I will need to acquire a barrel vise and bushings, barrel nut wrench, and headspace gauge(s). Not sure if I need both Go and NoGo gauges? Any other tools? Where do I find these tools? Any guess how much $ I am looking at? This thread might better be located in the Gunsmithing section now, but I have no idea how to move it??

Again, input or advice welcome.
 
Here's the vise I made, just a couple pieces that were kicking around. Drilling the 1" holes through the 1" flat bar is the toughest part. A machine shop would do this for you cheap enough. The "bushing" is just oak, drill a hole in it and split it with a saw.

Other than that, you need a go gauge and a barrel nut wrench. The wrenches run about $50 bucks and you see them turn up in the EE now and then. For a no go gauge just put a piece of masking tape on the head of the go gauge.


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