Switch bolt .223/.308 Rem 700

W

Wm Cook

Member
Is it possible to have a switch bolt set up on a 700 BDL. I have a lot of time and effort on my 700 VS for .223 and I want to use the same platform (stock, bedded action, scope, trigger etc.) to shoot .308.

And I'm tired of buying rifles that stack up like cord wood in my gun safes.

In my simple mind I believe if a smith checks lug contact on the locking lugs on an already trued .223 bolt action he would be able to tell me if the .308 bolt I bought from PTG will A) work, B) will kind of work but accuracy could be effected or C) that, that particular bolt will not work with the way the lugs have been trued for the 223 bolt.

Surely someone has done this already......haven't they?

My background is that I was a live varmint shooter back in the 90's (thus the .223 bolt face), started shooting short range Benchrest in the mid 90's with the PPC's and I have a high degree of confidence in my ability to hand load and get the best out of any bolt action rifle I own. But I am not a gunsmith. Thanks, Bill. Stl Bench Rest Club.
 
I agree.

And no downside.

I have a big AL double/double guncase that holds 2 scopes, 7 barrels, 2 bolts and some adapter plates/mag blocks which allow it to hunt/shoot/compete in pretty much any venue in North America. It's got 6PPC and 22BR barrels capable of winning a short-range BR Match. A shortened .308 that's capable in the (essentially discontinued) HBR venue or VFS. A 6BR that's competitive to 600 and a 6X47L that's competitive to 1000 and some hunting barrels....

I say this only to validate your thought process........ really, the sky's the limit.

And if you're super plan-ahead-y then when you get sick of switching components you can re-use most of them elsewhere if you so desire....... As I said, no real downside.
 
Al, I guess

"shortened .308 that's capable in the (essentially discontinued) HBR venue or VFS. "

you have not been to a NBRSA Score Nationals in a lot of years. There is NOTHING "essentially discontinued" about HBR. The only change in the game in the last 10 years is the case capacity. Still a 10# gun, 6X scope, 2.25" foreend.

There are more people shooting HBR today than there was 10 years ago. And most of them are shooting both HBR and VFS.

Come out and play with us sometime, you might have fun.
 
Thank You David.... I've had trouble finding a venue here in WA/OR

I try to keep tabs on Tacoma,Tri-County, Wenatchee, Rattlesnake and the other Tri-Cities clubs and LaGrande and I'm not aware of any actual HBR within 200mi of myself.

I'll keep checking
 
A lot of switch barrel benchrest rifles are out there.

I have one.

One of the biggest requirements is a flat shoulder for barrel to action fit.

Any number of actions do not have an actual stop when the barrel is screwed into the action.

Final chambering was done after barrel installation with an interference fit on the barrel to action threads.

The last few threads on the barrel tenon would be deformed as the barrel was screwed on.
 
alinwa said:
SO MUCH I don't understand here...... please explain further?
Click to expand...

Barrels arrived to be mounted on actions with a short chamber.
Since the final position of the barrel as it was screwed into the action was set bu the torque the machinery used and not a stop on the barrel or action.

By deforming the last few threads of the barrel as it was screwed in it made it very unlikely it could ever come lose even under GI exertion to unscrew it.

Some guns assembled this way will resist even modern removal methods with barrel clamps and action wrenches.

Between the interference fit of the threads and a lot of years of hidden corrosion they are just not going to be unscrewed without damaging the action or barrel.

Since barrels are far easier to replace you can often machine a relief cut in the barrel barely clear of the receiver and then cut the reminder of the tenon in the receiver free.

I have generally cut them out to almost the top of the threads using a boring bar and then either picked the remaining bit of metal out or used an internal threading bar setup to actually clear out some more of the metal.
 
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