DIY or Pay Gunsmith

[aBetterTomorrow]

Should I pay a gunsmith to put my rifle together or buy the tools to do it myself? This is my first build.

Fit barrel to action and chamber $300
Cut and thread/ crown $160
To shoot the rifle and zero it $125

vs

Bug Holes Pre-fit barrel + $160
action wrench $80
PTG Chamber Finish Reamer $122.50
go gauge $54.99
no go gauge $54.99



Thanks

 

[...]

whats the lead time on the gunsmith?

also, ide skip having him shoot and zero it...fucking getting paid to shoot someone elses gun......you can do that yourself for free

 

[aBetterTomorrow]

I haven't asked for lead times yet because I am still waiting on the action.

Are Savage Pre-Fit barrels finished Chambered?

 

[spife7980]

Yeah. Savage prefits are finished. As are remage barrels. Anything with a barrel nut setup.
Skip buying your own reamer and just tighten it on yourself.
Skip the no go and just put a layer of scotch tape on the back of the go as a substitute.
You’ll also want a barrel vice and depending on the barrel nut situation a nut wrench. Some are just box end or crow foots which is convenient.

 

[b6graham]

I haven't asked for lead times yet because I am still waiting on the action.

Are Savage Pre-Fit barrels finished Chambered?

Uh...

You should be able to not a savage small shank pre fit and fit for headspace with nut and be good to go. Idk why you'd best a reamer

 

[aBetterTomorrow]

I wouldn't need an action wrench either, correct, just a nut wrench?

 

[XLR308]

I skipped the gunsmith part as well, bought the action and barrel from Bugholes and sent the barrel to Kelblys for finish and chambering to atlas action.

When I finally make up my mind on a stock I will do the bedding myself as well.

 

[b6graham]

I wouldn't need an action wrench either, correct, just a nut wrench?

Youd want an action wrench. Easy enough to find

 

[spife7980]

You would want both an action wrench and a nut wrench. The vice holds the barrel static, the action wrench keeps the action oriented correctly to the barrel and the nut wrench does the torquing.

 

[XLR308]

Depending on the action you buy, you can just screw the barrel on without dicking with a barrel nut. Setting up a savage/ ramage prefit isnt hard but this sounds like it might be your first experience with this. The absolute easiest, excluding fitting and timing your credit card to a gunsmiths cash register, is a TL-3 and a shouldered prefit. You will still need, torque wrench, action vise, rear entry wrench thingabob, and a go gauge (just to check).

Check out keystone accuracy and zermatt bighorn.

It's the same with any Kelbly action, you can have a barrel machined and chambered without having to send the action.

 

[aBetterTomorrow]

I might have to use the BugNut since I already bought the barrel which has a larger breech than the savage

 

[dannySH]

Just buy the prefit barrel and barrel nut from @Bugholes , buy the nut wrench, a barrel vise and only the Go gauge. You don't need anything else. If you like you can buy an internal wrench but is not esential for putting a barrel with a nut (you can use the vise for clamping the action)
For the last three years I change three rifles to a "swap barrel systems" Since them I've saved hundreds and most importantly gunsmith's WAITING TIME.

 

[mi223]

Vice, nut wrench and go gage is all you need. I have never used a gunsmith. Bolt actions are starting to be like ar's. Buy your parts and bolt it all together.

 

[supercorndogs]

You would want both an action wrench and a nut wrench. The vice holds the barrel static, the action wrench keeps the action oriented correctly to the barrel and the nut wrench does the torquing.

I haven't used my action since removing the factory barrels. Stick the barrel in the vice and its all you need. Make sure to use some anti seize on the face of the nut and the recoil lug.

 

[spife7980]

I haven't used my action since removing the factory barrels. Stick the barrel in the vice and its all you need. Make sure to use some anti seize on the face of the nut and the recoil lug.

You dont find that it slips any? I guess Ill try it this weekend. Hoping the viper vice is up to popping a factory rem barrel loose.

 

[FUNCTIONAL]

You dont find that it slips any? I guess Ill try it this weekend. Hoping the viper vice is up to popping a factory rem barrel loose.

My viper vice doesnt pop factory barrels. But you can put the action wrench on and a big ol pipe wrench on the barrel and it cracks easy. Might scuff up the barrel finish but nothing crazy... and you likely won't ever put it back on.

 

[Ledzep]

There's also the Barloc as a substitute for action and nut wrenches, vise, etc. Allen wrench and headspace gauge would be all you need.

 

[aBetterTomorrow]

There's also the Barloc as a substitute for action and nut wrenches, vise, etc. Allen wrench and headspace gauge would be all you need.

who can thread a barrel I already have for a shouldered barrel version Barloc. "Barrel must be threaded specifically for recoil lug"

 

[NWnewguy]

You dont find that it slips any? I guess Ill try it this weekend. Hoping the viper vice is up to popping a factory rem barrel loose.

Factory Remington barrels can be hard stuck like you wouldn't believe. I have seen heat used to some effect, but I'm not sure what that would really do for the actions heat treat. Some come off without too much of a problem, but just a heads up that you could be in for a real pain.

 

[spife7980]

My rem barrel popped easy. It was too hot under the shed so I mounted it to the scrap trailer outside with a breeze. Used a toilet paper roll on the barrel. I barely pushed on the action wrench and could tell I was too skinny so I went and got a breaker bar. No sweat, came right off.

And I feel that not holding the action wrench when tightening the new barrel nut allowed it to slip a thousandth. After torqued the go gauge had just a slight hair of drag as opposed to perfectly free. Not enough for me to bother undoing it again though. Scotch tape on the back worked great as a no gauge again.

 

[NWnewguy]

Great picture. It shows the mechanical advantage of leverage in both the breaker bar and the grip clamps used to hold the vise to the trailer.

Glad it popped pretty easy. I've seen them easy and I've seen them ridiculous. Glad yours was pretty easy.

 

[1clicktrick]

Yeah. Savage prefits are finished. As are remage barrels. Anything with a barrel nut setup.
Skip buying your own reamer and just tighten it on yourself.
Skip the no go and just put a layer of scotch tape on the back of the go as a substitute.
You’ll also want a barrel vice and depending on the barrel nut situation a nut wrench. Some are just box end or crow foots which is convenient.

Exactly what he said. Save your money on a no-go, I used tape. Be sure and disassemble your bolt so you don't feel any false contact signs. Remove extractor and plunger. I bought a savage prefit shilen and did it myself. I ordered my stuff from Jim at Northern Shooters Supply, really friendly peeps full of info. Just be patient snugging the nut, the barrel may walk with it just a bit. I learned to loosen the barrel just a bit to compensate for the movement.

 

[hereinaz]

Watch a bunch of videos on Youtube how to swap a Savage barrel. Its the same for any rifle, but the Savage barrel nut system was the only one around, so there are mostly videos on that. I have some videos I did messing around with my Nucleus and Barloc. They are in the Nucleus Videos post or you can subscribe to the youtube channel Long Range Student. If you have questions, feel free to PM me, and I'll try to do a video to answer it. I have done a lot of Savage barrels and messed around with assembling the Barloc quite a bit already.

Any good gunsmith can thread the barrel for the Barloc, they just need to put the bevel on the shoulder to match the collar.

You may be better off selling the blank you have and just buying the prefit you want. What you lose on the barrel blank will probably be a wash with the gunsmithing charges.

 

[1clicktrick]

Vice, nut wrench and go gage is all you need. I have never used a gunsmith. Bolt actions are starting to be like ar's. Buy your parts and bolt it all together.

I agree. I bought tooling to do my savages. I have done three of them now. So easy and quick now.

 

[Average guy]

You can’t go wrong with a prefit with a nut. It takes a matter of minutes for a barrel change. I’m officially done paying gunsmiths for barrel work. Call Northland shooters supply. They are experts on prefit barrels and their prices are damn good. I just dropped over a grand today for 2 projects with them.

 

[b6graham]

You can’t go wrong with a prefit with a nut. It takes a matter of minutes for a barrel change. I’m officially done paying gunsmiths for barrel work. Call Northland shooters supply. They are experts on prefit barrels and their prices are damn good. I just dropped over a grand today for 2 projects with them.

even better is a shouldered prefit