How easy is it to rebarrel a Remington 700

[Deaf Smith]

Say from .243 to 308 Winchester? Or .338 Federal?

Since they are in the same 'family' how does one change the barrel?

Deaf

[Scorch]

Pretty simple once you know how (same can be said of brain surgery, I suppose). Unscrew the barrel, screw in a new one. Easy cheesy. If you buy a take-off barrel it is quick and easy. If you start out with a barrel blank, it's a bit more laborious but still pretty straightforward.

[tobnpr]

No one in their right mind is going to buy a fully chambered barrel unless they've got a lathe to set back the shoulder as needed to headspace correctly off the boltface.

No fully chambered barrel is going to torque onto your receiver and headspace with .001 clearance.

You would need to use a Remage conversion barrel with barrel nut ala Savage to do what you're contemplating as a DIY project. Or, you could buy a short-chambered barrel and deepen the chamber to spec by hand reaming. This would require more tooling- and expertise. Cut the chamber too deep and a lathe is required to make it right...

Or, take it to your local smith, or send it to me

[Don Fischer]

It's not all that hard. I did a 700 in 25-06 to a 6.5x06. Took it to a gunsmith and made sure it was done right.

[T. O'Heir]

"...Unscrew the barrel, screw in a new one..." Yep. Using a barrel vise and the correct receiver wrench, headspace gauges, etc. You can put any .308 based chambered barrel on. Must be a short action cartridge only though.
Take it to a smithy.

[shootbrownelk]

Take it to a GOOD gunsmith, not Bubba Jr. in his basement or garage.

[oldscot3]

I had an older 700 ADL in 30 -06 that I got in a trade. Since I already had two other 06's I decided to switch it to 270. I found a nice take off on GBr and ordered the Wheeler wrench. I could not even begin to budge the 06 barrel. I didn't want to mar it with pipe wrench marks, but none of my wooden block barrel vises could hold it.

While I was struggling with that project on an intermittent basis, I came across a first gen Weatherby Vanguard in 270. The nice man traded me even, although I paid the sales tax on what the 270 would have sold for.

The 270 barrel and wrench now live in a dark drawer. I guess what I learned is what post #6 says.

[Reloadron]

With the right tools and know how it is not all that difficult. For an individual lacking in the know how, especially how to use the correct tools it is a nightmare. That is about as simple as I can state it. Even with a pre cut "short chambered" barrel one really needs to have a handle on what they are doing. By the time you purchase the needed tooling, barrel vise, action wrench, headspace gauges and everything else you would do well to just have the work done by a good, experienced and reputable gunsmith. The key words here are good, experienced and reputable. Oh yeah, the word competent also comes to mind.

Ron

[kraigwy]

Lets see, I've done several Model 700 Barrels.

Strip the rifle.

Strip the boat.

Remove old barrel

True up the face of the reciever

Lap the bolt lugs

Insert the stipped bolt, measure the face of the bolt to the face of the reciever.

Stick the new barrel blank into the lathe.

If not already contoured, couture the barrel to suit you

Find the barrel shank dimensions, and cut the shank.

Thread the barrel shank.

Insert the barrel shank into the action to check for fit. Adjust if necessary.

Chuck the barrel into the preferrerably between centers. Use a steady rest instead of the chuck if possible. (This allows the chamber to fit the bore and not the outside of the barrel)

Take the measurement you got above and add .004 (crush fit).

Chamber the barrel to match, meaning the "go" head space gage sticks out of the chamber using that measurement.

Install the barrel, check to see the bolt closes on the Go gage, Check to make sure it doesnt close on the No Go gage.

Polish the action and barrel. Polish all the other parts. Toss the barrel and all other parts in the blueing tank.

Clean/oil and put the rifle back together. Again test with the go and no go gages. Test fire the rifle with factory ammo. Test the spent case to see if it fits a case gage.

Mount the Scope, take to the range and sight it in. If you used a good barrel, sighting the rifle in is all the "break in" you need.

Thats the short of it, (though I just wipped that out, so I probably skipped a step or two, maybe got them out of order.

But you get the point. Yeap its easy.

Of course I have thousands of dollars worth of machinery and tooling.

It would be a lot simpler and cheaper to take it to a good gun smith and tell him to re-barrel your rifle.

Edit: Told you I would forget something. The Model 700 barrel shank is has a cut for the bolt to start in the barrel a tad. The barrel shank isnt flush like other rifles.

[RC20]

First I do not know if a Remington needs all those steps.

Secondly it depends on if you are bui9lding a bench rest completion rifle (and for what competing type) and shooting matches. If not, then most of that is a waste. You would need to be better than your equipment. then you wind up with a custom made receiver.

I have done a number of Savages, my best one is shooing about 1/4 MOA, the next best about 7/16 MOA (most recently at 300 yards). The other one is 5/8 (least happy with and would not buy that barrel again, I just don't think it has the quality of the other two).

The Savage does have the flex bolt head that deals with most of the truing stuff up front.

Its not a bench rest class but Savage has competed in bench rest with their receivers and aftermarket barrels and been highly competitive.

It is doable, but it also take some tools and understanding.

If its a one off change then not worth it, have a gun smith do it.

If you do it:

First you need both an ACTION WRENCH and a Barrel Vice.

One of the through the back action wrench's is not a good idea as there is no support for the receiver (can you say twist) , so you need an NSS (Northland Shooter Supply) and not a wheeler (NSS is solid and very well done)

Once the barrel is off, then you need a Pre Fit REMAGE barrel. This has the Remington threads with the Savage type nut (and you will need the nut wrench) . Hand tools like combo wrench's and hex as well.

That's easy to head space and does not require a reamer. Your choice on a go and or no go gauge or use tape on the go gauge to make it a no go and check.

[tobnpr]

If using the Remage replacement spend the extra $25 and get the Taper-Loc Recoil Lug System and HD recoil lug along with the NSS action wrench.

http://northlandshooterssupply.com/tools/

It's the only way to get the lug correctly aligned as the 700 receiver is not notched for a pin like the Savage.Otherwise, the receiver needs to be notched on the mill, or the lug pinned permanently to the receiver by a gunsmith. For frequent/ fast changes in the field if needed pinning is preferable.

[cw308]

Accurate Ordnance changed mine in 5 weeks blueprinted & skim bedded. If you don't know how too , don't go any further. Its not just unscrewing & screwing a new barrel on , you don't want to end up with a rifle you can't hit the broad side of a ban from the inside. That's my advice if you love shooting an accurate rifle.

[RC20]

Or go with a Savage. I have been working myself down under 1/2 MOA with mine. Under $800 into all of them (glass is extra of course).

Even the glass on two is used Cabella scopes that happen to work well for me.

I installed the barrels myself, new stocks (kept one that was a TH) and have gotten some sub 1/4 groups.

Not bad for home made.

Ammo processing is not the full montey either. Good care, no neck turning, no run out checks.

[Kachok]

Yeah Savages are MUCH easier and you can count on perfect head spacing without having to hire a pro. I have been thinking about turning my old Savage 30-06 into a long barrel 6.5-06, or just picking up a donor action from a pawn shop for cheap.

[RC20]

Add into that you can match an existing head space as well.

I have a K-31, hard to segregate cases, so I set the 7.5 Savage to match the K-31.

Once its fire formed the same bump back works fine in both.

You want to extend powder a bit you can go long (might have to do it in a couple of steps if you went real long)

I won't claim world bench class but Savage competes with theirs and custom barrels and while they are not tops they are up there.

[tangolima]

You replaced your car's timing belt all by yourself? Remember the first time you did it? It is about the same order of magnitude in perceived difficulty. Could be 2 times as much.

That's replacing the barrel and do it correctly. Any accuracy improvement will be extra.

-TL

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[Picher]

I've had one rifle re-barreled and it took over 3 months to get it back. Cost of the barrel was about $300, gunsmith charged $150, as I remember. I could have sold the rifle, or traded it quicker than that and as cheap and would have a new rifle to play with.

Or, for about $450, could have bought another rifle. DUH!

JP

[Nunya53]

Picher has it right...If you are looking to change caliber on a hunting rifle, then sell / trade and buy....If you are looking for performance, then a good smith is your best answer....

[jdh]

There is more involved in re-barreling than might be thought. First look at the bottom locking lug of your Remington 700 bolt. It may have a punch mark or not. There are three different bolts Remington uses to headspace it's barrels as they are mass produced. If you have a barrel that came off a 700 that headspaces the same as your take off barrel you are in luck.

Remington taps their receivers and the barrels fit tight. They are not particularly hard to get off if you have a good barrel vise and a proper action wrench. Even if your barrel is the proper one you will still need at least a Go headspace gage to tell you if it is correct and that is if you shim the head .003 to make sure the bolt won't close on that to know it is correct or just get the No-Go gage. So it is going to cost either way. It is just simpler to take it to a good gunsmith and have it done correctly and While you are at it I would go ahead and spend the extra money to get a custom barrel.

The newer Remington actions are pretty straight from the factory so your gun should shoot pretty good without the highly touted action blueprinting assuming you get a good barrel on done by someone that knows what they are doing and can chamber it straight.

Good luck,

Joe

[tobnpr]

^^
If one doesn't need or desire the greater level of accuracy that comes with even partial blueprinting/truing of the action- you're better off just going with a Remage setup and DIY. For most, that will deliver acceptable accuracy.

For those that want to shoot itty bitty groups, it's penny wise and dollar foolish to spend $500 on a custom match grade barrel and not spend the couple of hundred dollars more to do the basic truing of the receiver ring and lugs/abutments (even if the boltway isn't done) to be sure it's all concentric.

I won't do a rebarrel without at least basic truing to the receiver and boltface and lugs. I want happy customers- not one that's just spent $500 on a rebarrel, and can't shoot better than minute of angle because the receiver work wasn't done.

[RC20]

Per above, that may apply to a Remington, don't know, don't have one.

You also have to actually be able to shoot a good group. Doesn't mean you are lame, just most hunters are not and don't need to shoot 3/8 inch groups, vast majority with 1.5 out to 600 yards are good (size of animal counts of course) - that was me back in the day.

Savage is a different story which is why I have them.

Ok, lets get over the head space thing.

Savage has a SN id on theirs, I can and have cross shot the two long action bolts in the other gun. But they say, carefully check and make sure its the same, otherwise its not good. Or you order an aftermarket one with no number............

Headspaces is blown totally out of proportions. Has become a magic mantra. Like the world ends if not right (shoot a British 303 if you want to see how far you can really take it)

one of three things happens with head space.

1. Its fine and shoots factory - good to go.

2. Its so long it won't shoot anything as the shoulder of the cartridge does not bump up against the chamber when the pin goes forward and it just goes deeper in the chamber when you try to fire.

3. Its long but shoots.

4. Its so short you can't get a factory round in (that needs adjust like 2 does)

Good to go, either you don't reload and its a one time deal or you do and you work with that longer headspace and bump the thing back minimal distance on resize.

How do I know, been there and done that. All three, not always on purpose (see number 2)

[tobnpr]

Headspace does affect accuracy. Depends on the rifle, and the shooter, whether or not they handload- and can shoot the difference.

From Redding's website:
http://www.redding-reloading.com/tec...with-headspace


The goal of every conciencious reloader should be to use proven and practical reloading procedures in order to ensure that the bullet/case combination is as perfectly aligned with the center of the bore as possible. The more centered up the cartridge, the more accuracy we can expect. However, if the cartridge is laying loose in the bottom of the chamber because of a generous headspace dimension, it's obvious that the bullet will be pointed closer to the bottom of the bore rather than the center. Consequently, accuracy conscious shooters will want to reduce headspace to the absolute minimum i.e. where the shoulder of the case is against the front of the chamber wall and the bolt/breech face of the firearm is very close to or even lightly touching the head of the case.

[Deaf Smith]

Well folks, I shot my Remington 700 XCR in 7mm-08 today while comparing it to my Browning A-Bolt II Stainless Stalker in 30-06.

At 100 yards that little 7mm put all three shots well inside an inch! The -06 was a bit larger group, just over 1 inch, but then I was using some eastern block (Perfecta) softpoints and not good stuff like Federal Fusion which is what I used in my 7mm-08.

Thus I will not rebarrel my 700!

Deaf

[disseminator]

Well, if you had said it was a 7mm08, I'd have told you to forget it anyways. One of the top game calibers IMO.

[RC20]

Headspace does affect accuracy. Depends on the rifle, and the shooter, whether or not they handload- and can shoot the difference.

I did not say the first shot had no accuracy affect.

I did say at worst your first shot fire forms the case and if you do the right reloading procedure (minimum bump back) then its irrelevant as you now have a tight fit.

And it takes shooing well under 1/2 MOA to see that.

The point is head space has gotten to be a huge bugaboo and its not.

Most mil surplus guns are out on the ragged edge of head space allowance and they do just fine.