How many of ya'll swap barrels in the field ?

That is, remove one barrel from the action and replace it with another.

Obviously, the rifle has to be set up for this beforehand.

Recently shared a hunting lodge with a fellow prairie dog hunter who did it numerous times during the day. When one barrel was dirty, it was removed for solvent soaking while continuing the shooting with another barrel.

Or if the range to good prairie dog shooting changed, he would change from one barrel, say a 22/250, to a longer range cartridge, say a 6mm Remington.

This is easy to do on a Savage with its barrel nut. If setup properly, a Remington or other action will also work.


So again, how many of ya'll regularly do this in the field ?

Hammer

Hammer: Unless its some kind of Contender set up where the scope, rings and mounts go with each barrel when switched - HOW - does one re-sight the Rifle in?
Are you contending that your friend uses one scope on the action of his Savage (??? - you are not clear on this part of your posting) and every time he changes barrels he is sighted in?
Or did he take the time to sight it in each time after swapping barrels?
I looked in to switch barrel Rifles back when the price of scopes first began to SOAR!
I decided against building one once I verified that maintaining sight in from barrel to barrel is the big problem (time consuming and inconvenient to the max).
This fact made the switch barrel Rifle concept useless for my needs.
I would be interested to know how your friend attained OR maintained sight in from barrel swap to barrel swap.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I shoot pds all the time and basically change barrels all day when shooting my Contender carbines. I also take my Savages that I 'could' do it with....never have.
Unless you have some serious mounting or scope problems you can sight in a scope in only a few rounds..............considering that a good pd shoot will get you at least 300 rds in a day. I can give up 2% of that for a sight in....besides the rifle range is just a part of the "killing fields".

The barrel swapping procedure does not require removing action from stock or removing scope from action.

While your experience will vary, with a good repeatable scope...

Notes can be kept where each load's point of aim and the necessary clicks for windage or elevation added/subtracted as loads or barrels are changed. Am sure the adjustments will not be perfect, but was having first shot hits out past 600 yards with the aid of range finder.


Again, your experience will vary.


Hammer

Skb2706: Not to belabor the point to much but I am not convinced or certain about your regimen (explanation)! I to, Hunt Prairie Dogs all the time, and have sighted in LOTS of Rifles over the nearly 5 decades now I have been shooting them!
HOW, do you sight in a Rifle on a Prairie Dog?
Especially a Rifle that has recoil!
I can see how you could "walk" a Rifle in to be close at 100 or 150 yards (or so), but for the kind of shooting I do on Prairie Dogs I don't even start shooting at them unless they are 200+ yards out!
If a person wanted to only shoot the close ones then yes I could probably sight in a Rifle "in a few rounds" that would take the real close Prairie Dogs but for 300 yard+ shots you had better have your Rifle pinpointed! Or even for 200 yard shots when the PD's are bridging across their den mouths with just their foreheads showing! I want a precisely sighted in Rifle for this type shot.
Out at 300+ yards there are just so many other variables (wind, mirage, distance estimation, animal movement and etc) that trying to make lethal hits on a Prairie Dog has simply got to be more than one can do without a "correctly" sighted in (pinpointed) Rifle.
Skb2706 if you can get'r done (sighting in new barrels "all day" on moving targets that don't show the last impact point, exactly) then more power to you!
So far (for the last 45+ years of my Varminting endeavours) I have had to suffer the idignity of buying individual Rifles and then a scope for EACH of them!
I wish I could get along with a single Rifle frame and scope and then simply (quickly) switch barrels (calibers) as the need be, and have that newly barreled Rifle/frame/scope be sighted in. I just don't think I know how I can do it.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Varmint Guy,

Sympathize with your plight completely.

Myself, in other pursuits, have studied various things for 40+ years just to have someone show me how to do it and find the procedure easy once one sees it. Sort of like beating the Cracker Barrel golf pin game. Impossible -- until you do it. Then easy.

Might want to communicate by email or PM with Skypilotbc on the Savage Shooters forum. He has an easy field expedient barrel swapping procedure. Offends all engineers, but diesel mechanics and ranchers would love its simplicity.

Might also check out Norm Johnson, writer for Precision Shooting. Norm has been playing with all kinds of swap barrel guns for years.

Again, experiences will vary.

Wish you the best.

Hammer

Hammer: You have me beat in another area it seems - The Cracker Barrel Game!
Cracker Barrel Rsetaurants are new to the Northern Rockies and I have only frequented them a few times.
Could not win that game - plus the service was so fast there I did not get to try to many times.
Maybe a neat gift for the VarmintGrandKids?
Now back to the switch barrel Rifles - I know they can produce Rifles that switch barrels quickly - I want to know if there is a way to switch barrels and have the new barrel "ready to use" (be sighted in immediately upon switching)?
The formats I have checked out in decades past were not able to accomplish this.
If you feel the folks you cited can do this I WILL check them out!
If not, then I am not interested in a switch barrel system. One that needs a trip to the range before use.
By the way over the many decades I have been Varmint Hunting I have probably Hunted and Safaried with 350 to 400 different Varminters - most of them tended to be the VERY SERIOUS type Varminters!
Exactly NONE of them used a switch barrel system!
I don't know why.
Thanks for your time.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

At no point did I say ....or mean.......I sight in 'on prairie dogs'. I just happen to do it at the same place. My prairie dogs and my rifle range are at the same place. I can walk over sight in my rifle and walk back....all in a matter of a few minutes. I do it all the time.........its the beauty of having family with thousands of acres from which to hunt on.

Sometimes its hard to pull yourself back in from left field..........

Skb2706: I don't care if you sight in on Prairie Dog Varmints (although that would be a bit of a stretch for a true sportsman in my opinion).
My point is, YOU still NEED to sight in every time you switch barrels on your system!
Thus (in my opinion!) making your system a waste of time and effort and questionaly not worthy of saving the involved money.
More hassle than its worth might be another way for me to say it.
I have sighted in Rifles out in Varmint Country several times due to various problems that pop up. If it only took a "few minutes" that would not be much of a loss of ones "real shooting time".
But walking out in the Varmint fields and putting up a target and then walking back and using ones ammo to sight in (again) and then walking out and retrieving the target and then getting out to set that Rifle up on Varmints that have not been disturbed is - for me anyway - more than a few minutes worth and more than a few Varmints "scare't off".
I find it much much simpler, quicker and less wasteful of ammo to simply switch Rifles.
Switching from one sighted in Rifle to another sighted in Rifle happens just about immediately with no wasted time or undue exposure to my quarry!
And if my memory serves me correctly it seems on those few times I have needed to re-verify the point of impact of my Varmint bullets, that the situation was inconvenient. Either the wind was blowing or the Varmints were spooky anyway or my targets were on the bottom of the gear pile or etc.
Like I said I am glad your system works for you but I still am not tempted to try a switch barrel any time soon.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Swap barrels are not for everyone. Not for most people. Probably only for a small minority. And we're nuts.

It is interesting to watch the results of the North Carolina Groundhog and Egg Shoot (the 2006 shoot is written up in the August Precision Shooting). The target is a lifesize groundhog paper target at 100, 300, and 500 yards. No sighters and no wind flags. Final target is a chicken egg at 500 yards. No one has yet shot a perfect score in 26 years of trying. But their scores do show what is possible with scope repeatability. To be clear, all shooting is done with one rifle and no swap barrels. Scope repeatability is the only issue for raising it here.

There, of course, is still the variability of swapping the barrels.

Have several complete varmint rifles with scopes permanently attached. Enjoy them too.

Wish all varmint shooters the best.

Hammer

I only said I could.........thus it would not be my system.


Again some folks head out to left field and just can't find their way back.......

From John Dustin, who has patented a switch barrel system, built many rifles on it, and has written about this and other subjects in Precision Shooting. Have a couple of his rifles with a dozen or so barrels...


"On numerous occasions, I have disassembled scope and barrel after firing a group, then reversed the procedure and fired a second group right on top of the first. I do not guarantee this, as there are variables in the procedure beyond my control (e.g., did a piece of dirt get in the works while being reassembled?). When switching between calibers, the best setup is to have a separate scope for each barrel, which obviates the need for knob twirling. I and others have tried this with excellent results, including another hunter in Africa. I have also recorded scope settings and been able to return to zero "blind", but here we introduce a new variable, specifically the ability of the scope to always accept adjustments reliably. I assume that by "sights" you mean scopes.

Kind regards, JD"

the blaser r 93 is capable of accuraly switching barrel the scope is mt to the barrel. and barrel are removed and swaped under 60 sec.

Hammer a question on the groundhog shoot.What scopes do you fellows use for repeatability? The reason I bought a weaver 36 pr. and it wasn't all that repeatable going from 100 to 300 and back down.That is on a savage 223 10fp.Just bought a savage low profile varmit in 22/250 and I want a scope that is very repeatable by turning the turrets from one yardage to another.
Is this the groundhog shoot put on by Bullseye on Hwy 10 ? Thanks for any info you can give me about the scopes in advance.

First, with regard to the NC Groundhog and Egg Shoot, have not competed in it. Have followed the articles in Precision Shooting over the years, but have not shot in one myself.

In the articles concerning that specific competition, this year's winner in Custom Class used a Nightforce NXS 12-42X. The second place shooter used a Leupold boosted to 50X by Premier. The third place rifle has a Leupold Mark 4 boosted to 32X by Premier. Leupolds are mentioned a lot. Over the years have also seen Sightrons.

Weavers, especially the old T-models, have good reputations for repeatability and were used by lots of rifle silhouette shooters.

In swap barrel rifles, use higher end Leupolds, Bushnell 4200, and Sightron II and III scopes.

Know that swap barrel rifle builder John Dustin likes the Sightrons.

On an additional note, at the NC Groundhog and Egg Shoot, in Custom Class 36 shooters used the 6 BR. Eleven used the 6 PPC. No other cartridge was used enough to mention. In Factory Class, 308 Winchester is used a lot including the top three finishers.

Hope this helps.

Hammer

Thanks any info helps.
Was going to try my savage 223 this year at the one I spoke of but where we used to shoot long range was closed down and didn't get to zero for 500 so didn't shoot.Hopefully going to try this comeing year.
Thanks again