Sorry, I also don't have any "here's how it worked for me" data for you.
But here's an idea for avoiding packing around a vice: Barrel nut wrench AND some sort of action wrench. From my late teens when a bicycle mechanic'n article I read clued me into ho to avoid banged knuckles when breaking nuts loose, I picked up this gem: Two wrenches (or wrench and a section of the frame) placed close enough together that you grab them both with one hand and just squeeze the daylights out of them.
1. When it busts loose, no fingers are in the danger zone. Movement tends to be self-limiting on the safe side of life.
2. The forces are balanced. Beats chasing your wrench all over the shop as the bike/rifle/whatever wants to move away from your force (and if it's really tough, you can put opposing palms on each, fingers out and away from danger, and put even more force on them).
3. I find that hitting a wrench/whatever arrangement with a death grip often allows more force application than everything except putting the work into a....VICE...and pulling up against the floor. Think steering knuckles for this, exactly what you want to avoid in the field. Beats having your brother-in-law or son stand on the work while you beat the wrench with a small sledgehammer (was in a very, very small town parking lot Sunday afternoon for THAT one).
But a question--why not just a high-quality folding stock chassis, and enjoy your Savage's barrel-change functions without it being a full take-down? Or is it just impossible to remove the barrel without also taking it out of the stock? Sorry for such a noob Q, but I just haven't spent any time with the Savages.
