Switch Barrel Rifles

[David Nissen Kahn]

Gents/ladies.

Here's question that follows from a recent discussion in the Rimfire Section under Vudoo versus RimX.

I can see at least arguable advantages to switch-barrel rifles, and if you're leaning toward them, pre-fit barrels would seem a reasonable way to go, at least to me as a non-engineer and non-gunsmith. Might be interesting to have a discussion of pros and cons, reasons to want to swap barrels (e.g., research, such has been reported and discussed elsewhere in the rimfire section on 22 LR twists and suitable barrel lengths for various applications), and so on.

If the general topic has been fully aired out theoretically and practically elsewhere, I can't find it. Chipping in my utterly speculative judgments based on thought and not on oily hands and dirty fingernails, such a setup makes some sense in the practical/field general purpose rifle, particularly rimfire. If there were increasing numbers of rimfire matches allowing other cartridges (17 HM2, say) or other than bare lead projectiles, then being able to enter without a whole new rifle system would be appealing. And of course, that would lead to ongoing research that would be eased with barrel changeability. And rifle folks do like to fiddle with mechanical things.

How do the various systems compare (e.g., Anschütz's pinch barrel, Savage's barrel nut, screw-on, possibly others)? Advantages and, especially, disadvantages? Real world utility versus riflists' love of gadgets and mechanical quirks? Centerfire applications versus rimfire?

FWIW.

Cheers and salaams,

David

Quote Reply

 

[KnowNothing256]

Rimfire adds a complication for prefits: the extractor cutouts in the breech have to be timed along with the standard headspacing considerations. I asked Vudoo about swapping my barrel out for a longer one, and they essentially told me they or someone else would have to fit it to the action for that reason, no off-the-shelf prefits feasible. Barrel nuts don’t help this issue, you have to set headspace, then cut the extractor recesses timed to the barrel position after headspacing. Once it was set, you could swap them yourself with a standard barrel vise and action wrench setup, but it’s not a prefit, just a switch-barrel setup.

I have a Berage setup for my Bergara B14, and I like the flexibility. Barrels headspaced for my action (a “prefit,” but a smith would need my action to measure the first time) would be simpler, you just crank ‘em on and validate headspace rather than having to actually dial in the headspace. Eliminates the finicky nature of the barrel nut setup, but for a non-custom action it typically requires some setup. Additionally, I miss out on discounted prefits that come up on the Hide all the time.

Honestly, if you’re gonna burn out centerfire barrels, the markup on a custom action pays for itself through that discount alone over the course of only a few barrels.

 

[David Nissen Kahn]

Well, one application that makes sense is high-volume centerfire, which usually implies a dedicated practice routine and lots of competition.

I guess that I'm looking for the reasonable place that switch-barrel rifles occupy. Something like a Blaser system for a wide-ranging hunter who has to scale ballistics up and down for the quarry selected, perhaps on the same hunt. On my one African hunt, 7.62x51/308 sufficed for all the plains game I chased, but it wouldn't be useful for, say, dik dik, nor for really big and irritable animals. And for rimfire, using up a barrel seems to take a long, long time with lead bullet 22 LR. The 17 calibers, the newer 22 rimfires, and the spun copper bullets for ultra-long range could change that, I suppose.

I'm also interested in the mechanical analysis. If you're going to do it, what's the best system, or pros and cons of each. Probably makes a difference whether we're discussing rimfire or centerfire. I'm just not mechanical engineer enough (at all!) to have an opinion.

Cheers and salaams,

David

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

Just about every modern custom action today accepts shouldered pre-fits. Pick an action you like and go to town.

Its 100 year old technology, There really insist much to it. Barrel nuts are dumb.

Definace, Impact, Lone Peak, Terminus, Bighorn, ARC. Proof and about half a dozen other places make barrels for them. Takes 2 minutes to swap a barrel with a barrel vise, action wrench and torque wrench.

Don't overthink it.