First Tension Tube attempt

[Chisolm]

My first attempt at a tensioned tube.

Savage 12 SS Single shot action.
Barrel 26” .284 10 twist.
Tube 1.375 OD by .083 wall 2024 T3 aluminum.
SSS recoil lug
Stockade Long Range Benchrest money saver stock.(two thumbs way up on this one)
Chamber Custom 7mm SAUM no-turn neck throated for 162 A-Max
Rifle Basix trigger (huge improvement over the accutrigger).
Evolution Gun Works 20 min. Picatinny Rail Mount
B-Square medium rings
Sightron SII 6x24x42 scope

This part sucks, it only weighs 11lb. 4oz., I had originally planned to put a brake on it so I had Kevin put on the thin recoil pad. I am having second thoughts now.


I still need to bed the action and do some load testing but everything so far has turned out far better than I could have expected, so it probably is going to shoot like crap so I thought it best to post it now or I likely will be too embarrassed to post it later. That is after seeing how it actually shoots.

Personally I think it looks SWEEEEEEEET.
Too bad there are no awards for aesthetics.
You know I may in fact like the gun better if I never shoot it and just ponder at what it might be capable of.

James

 

[bl4ckd0g]

Looks Great

That rifle looks great. I'm about to have Kevin built up a Savage 12 Target Action and he heavily pitched his tensioned barrel. I just might have to consider that option a little more.

Did he clean up your barreled action for you? I might PM you with a few questions.

 

[Jay Idaho]

How do you put tension on the barrel? Is the tube in contact with the barrel at the chamber end?
Give some details on how it is built, what is threaded, etc.

 

[Chisolm]

Blackdog
The only thing I got from Kevin was the out of the mold stock. I was very impressed that there is very little work that needed to be done to the stock to finish it. I had a 6mmBR barrel on the action previously and it shot so well I was afraid to mess something up by truing the action so I left it untouched.

I did get advice from Kevin on the tensioned tube but ignored most of it, in fact for all the questions I asked in the past I did things differently than most recommended.
From my conversations with Kevin he seems to know what he is doing and knows his way around a Savage action.
A friend of mine has a 7mm WSM that he had Kevin put a tensioned barrel on and I think it shoots very well.

Jay
The tube butts up against the recoil lug on the back and has a nut I machined on the muzzle end that is threaded to the barrel 5/8 x 24.
I machined O-ring grooves in the barrel shank and about 2" from the muzzle and one on the OD of the nut. I wanted to have good heat transfer between the barrel and tube so to transfer heat and prevent electrolysis the void between the tube and barrel is filled with de-ionized water and antifreeze.
The barrel is a A&B light sporter contour it copper fouls terribly but I think shoots well for what it is. I used the cheap barrel to make sure that my concept would work mechanically before ruining a $300 barrel.
Because of the small diameter muzzle there isn't as much thread strength as there would be with say a 1" dia muzzle so there is tension on the barrel but not as much as most are using.
The barrel is off right now (I put the 6BR barrel back on to see how it shoots with the BR stock) so if I get a chance I'll take some pictures of the parts.

James