I have heard the term "switch barrel" used. can anyone tell me what is done to the action to make this possible.
Rich

Hello Deadeye,

Not speaking in particular about the XP (it may be different?), but I do not think anything "special" is done to the action. You just put the barrel in a barrel vise, put the action wrench in the action, unscrew whatever barrel is on there and screw a different one on. At least that is what I do with my Stolle action BR gun....

You would have to use cartridges that use the same boltface, or one close enough to work (my Stolle action works with 308 Win and PPC sized cartridge heads).

Regards, Bill

Bill,

How do you adjust for headspace when switching barrels this way?

Hello Sean,

On the Stolle actions, the barrel must be properly threaded and shouldered, and the headspace gage should be flush with the end of the barrel. There is a cone on the inside of the end of the barrel that "matches" the front of the bolt, and allows room for the extractor. The receivers are built so that the boltface to end of the action is consistant between actions, so that a properly threaded and chambered barrel should go on any "same" action with no problems. Basically, the barrels are headspaced off of the action. My gunsmith didn't even need the gun or action when he made a 6PPC barrel for me, we screwed it into the action and all was well. I'll try to find a drawing and post it later.

Like I said, I'm not 100% sure that this also works for the XP, and having the recoil lug between the action and the shoulder on the barrel may further complicate this. Seems to me that it should work, though.

Regards, Bill

Rich, I think tommyn had an XP set up the way you are talking about.
Jeff

You need to have the recoil lug pinned to the action face. The switch barrels are all headspaced with this set up and all you have to do is change barrels and tighen up a reasonable amount. Its not a big deal if you have a good gunsmith true the action and pin the recoil lug. About as quick as changing contender barrels. You have to use the same bolt face such as 222 head size or 308 bolt or mag bolt face unless you have more than one bolt. It requires a barrel vise and action wrench. I used a rear entry wrench. Others may know different ways for I'm not an expert. IMHO

I have had two built, first was a repeater in 35 rem.I had an extra small face bolt so I sent the following barrels, 2 17rem one rechambered to MKIV, 221, 223, 243,260,7-08, and 308. and had all headspaced to trued action. Then decided I wanted a solid action so bought old 221 and have sent it out to be matched to the other action all barrels and bolts interchamge. I had the 600 XP's tang extended so it will work in a rear trigger stock. The repeater has 2lb trigger, single shot has 2oz. I have a weighted 40x stock the single shot fits in, and a model seven sporter that both will fit in, depending on barrel length. Both action have pinned recoil lugs and stocks are set up to change barrels without removing action from stock.I now have an exta bolt will probably become 6.5WSSM

[ 10-23-2002, 03:46: Message edited by: Pokerplayer ]

Bill,

I'd be interested in knowing the consistency of your accuracy with the Stolle set up this way. You would need to index the barrel to a specific point in order to preserve the headspace setting. I would think the act of installing and removing a barrel over a period of time would produce enough wear to cause the index point to shift resulting in a loosened fit.

I had played around with the idea of quick detachable barrels for Rem 700's only to realize that materials wear and I could never assure a uniform lockup and therefore reliable accuracy. I even built a special threaded sleeve that kept the recoil lug in place requiring barrel insertion through this sleeve. The concept worked in that it required very little to change out barrels however, accuracy was inconsistent... I decided accuracy was better served by having a fixed barrel torqued and headspaced properly, 1 barrel, 1 action. Oops, I may have misspoken, I just realized that this is a 1 action and many barrel crowd... Which brings me to the Contender and Encore line of weapons. These rule where quick change barrels are needed.

Malm

OK, so it sounds like changing barrels on the XP is almost the same as what I do on the Stolle, except that the XP receiver IS modified to pin the recoil lug in place. Each barrel is separately headspaced for the action, barrel channel has enough clearance to fully unscrew the barrel.

G. Malmborg, Have not noticed any loss of accuracy, change in POI, or change of headspace due to swapping barrels on my Hunter gun. But, I have only done this a half dozen times or so. I leave the 308 barrel on until the Hunter Class match "season" is over, and then may or may not switch to the PPC barrel. You have to clean the mating surfaces carefully (Q-tip), and apply lube to the threads, so I do not think there would be a lot of wear. I do not "index" the barrels, fit is determined by torque applied by the action wrench. Just a firm down force on the wrench handle to tighten, and you kind of "pop" up on the handle to break them loose. No open sights, so nothing to worry about indexing there.

A guy that I shoot high-power silhouette with uses a Stolle action custom gun - his barrel is only hand tight, I've seen him loosen/tighten it at the range with no tools! I would think that if he had any problems doing it this way, it would not be like that anymore. He calls it "hanging loose"....

Sean, I can't find the treading/chambering drawing on the www, but I have an old magazine that has the drawing somewhere. I'll try to look it up and find it for you tonight.

Regards, Bill

My barrels are Hand tite and I have shot MKIV then switched to 223 Bullet impact on all my barrels is the same rt to left with-in 1/2 verticle is a whole different story. Need note book for velocity and bullet wt ie: 25 gr MKIV 3650 and 17 rem almost exact same, 40gr 223 at 3250 impact is 25 1/8 clicks High.

Tommyn e-mail me please at Bradyhawks@aol.com

[ 10-23-2002, 17:50: Message edited by: Pokerplayer ]

Bill,

Thanks for looking for the diagram: I appreciate it

Thanks to all who replied. Not sure what I will do. Most likelty will not make a switch barrel
Rich

Sean, Rich, you have PMs....

Bill

I have a good friend who has a Rem 40x switch barrel. Mike Bryant, a gunsmith in Texas, set it up and chambers all the barrels for it. Whenever my friend chooses a new barrel, he calls Mike, who keeps the spec for the rifle on hand, Mike chambers the barrel and mails it out.

He currently has barrels in 22-243, 6-284, 6.5-284 and 22 Dasher. All of these barrels are exceptionally accurate. I have seen numerous one hole groups at 300 yards from the 22-243 and the Dasher. I used the 6.5-284 to take a PD at 680 yards last year.

I suppose if the barrels were changed enough, there would be some wear, but this fella has had the rifle for over two years and I certainly haven't seen any problems, neither has he. It takes about as long to change barrels as it takes me to change a Contender barrel. I would have no reservations in having one, I just can't afford one right now.

Rick

I have a friend that was the national benchrest champ for 3 years running in both benchrest organizations. Before he made a custom action for himself, he ussed XP 100 actions for his br guns because of the rigidity of the action. He had several barrels(.22 PPC and 6MM PPC) that he only screwed in hand tight. We're talking extreme accuracy, goups of .100 and less !!! What I'm trying to say is that there's no reason for a switch barrel setup NOT to be accurate.

bowhuntr