My newly buildt takedown rifle.
Winchester M70 Classic with detachable barrel.




Barrel can be removed without removing the stock.

Open pistolgrip,checkering at 23 lines/inch and ebony gripcap. Stock is made from a piece of turkish walnut. Not very fancy, but quite dense and straight grained

Action with takedown barrel.
Point of impact is not affected when barrel is removed and reattached. I have shot 5-shot groups, removing the barrel between each shot,producing groups around 1 MOA.

The rifle is buildt by two Norwegian gunsmiths. Albert Rafdal has installed the barrel, takedown-feature and blued the action/barrel.
The stockwork is done by Ola Gujord.

.....very nice and very handy.....two questions,what do you undo the barrel with and what calibre is it in ?

Roger

The calibre is 30-06.
Barrel is only fastened with hand, no tools needed. The extractor on the bolt is going into the recess in the chamber-end of the barrel, locking it in place. Open the bolt, and the barrel can be removed.

The thing I like most about it is the shape of the stock. Nice and sleek and slim.

For a rear sight have someone install a redfield folding peep sight on the back of the rear scope base. I have several on my Pre-64s and they work great. The peep sight can usually be found on Ebay.

I like it.

Anyone ready to try this?

How does the barrel lock into the proper position once it is installed?

He said, it is just hand tightened and the extractor slot indexes it. Just make sure it is not one turn out!
I would put a positive lock on it of some sort; probably a locking screw in the barrel extension. Just to make sure.

dpcd,

can you do one of these for me...?

Seems very simple. I have an Extreme Weather .300WM I would offer to try this on. Is it done in the USA?

I like it!
Now I need one

What exactly would it take to create this?

Step one; machine the stub, thread it outside for the receiver and inside for the barrel. Step two; thread and chamber the barrel to fit inside the stub.
That's it.
Simple process that will take a day of work. Or set it up on your CNC lathe and crank them out by the hundreds.

Thanks. That makes it sound easy for someone who knows what they are doing. It looks like one could retain approx. the same length as the existing bbl. as a result of the length of the stub. I would think a QD mount lever could be used on the side of the stub to make an attractive lock for the barrel - sort of similar to the Westley Richards takedown lockup.

Question: could you take an existing rifle and convert it while maintaining head space on the original barrel?

Thought: years ago, it was popular to replace the bolt release on a 700 (for competition) with a spring loaded knob (of sorts) where the Lyman rear sight screwed on the left side. Just pull it, and the bolt slid out. Perhaps something a bit less obtrusive on the left front of the receiver?

Yes, it would require some thread timing and luck; best to use a barrel that didn't need timing. Easier I mean. The original barrel length wouldn't change. You do need enough barrel shank OD to make the new threads.
Any lock screw would work; you aren't trying to actually hold anything. Look at what the 1919 and M2 Machine guns use to hold the barrels in place; a little flat spring resting into little notches in the barrel.

Why is this any different than just screwing the barrel on?

Threw out all my old AR and G&A magazine but there was a guy that turned Mausers into Savages with a very long barrel lock ring. The barrel was straight at the stub and the lock ring had the profile of the stub.

It is no different, BUT; this way you do not have to remove the action from the stock as you are not moving the barrel shank forward. It is just something different.
Not as classy as the takedowns that have their own fore ends, but much easier to make.

I'll confess, I am jealous.

Very nice rifle, thx for taking the time to post it.

dpcd: I'm not playing the devil's advocate, and I love takedowns. You must have given this idea a lot of thought, but is there an advantage over the H&H system that leaves the barrel and action intact...looks like about the same over all length package?

Take downs are damn handy travelers. I had the boys at Tanzania customs befuddled...apparently they'd never seen a take down bolt gun. Had to assemble/disassemble three times just for their enjoyment

It seems to me that one of the advantages, if you were so inclined, would be to have two or more bbl in different calibers. That is what I found most interesting.

The gunsmith, Albert Rafdal, has also buildt som rifles using the same system, with some different solutions on the forend.

Mauser m98 with forend attached to barrel.


Winchester m70 with detachable forend in "the works"

I am planning on getting 2 more barrels fitted to my gun, one in 7x64 Brenneke and one in 240 Wby.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
It is no different, BUT; this way you do not have to remove the action from the stock as you are not moving the barrel shank forward. It is just something different.
Not as classy as the takedowns that have their own fore ends, but much easier to make.

How convenient can a switch bbl be made? Do you have to use wrenches and vises, or is there some way to install a locking system for hand removal? Removing the action to make the change would be no problem for me as it would be done infrequently.

The H&H system is best since the barrel to receiver interface is locked together as they are never taken apart. Just a different way to get to a takedown; really, every rifle is a takedown if you remove the barreled action from the stock, which the H&H does. Just faster. These things were developed before we had cars and airplanes; trains and horses were the only transportation; so making the rifle fit into as short a package as possible was a benefit. Remember, shotguns and double rifles already did that easily.
Anyway, Third; the OP uses no wrenches or vises; his barrels are hand tight. Relying on the extractor cut to index it. For a Mauser, yes, you would want a locking system and there are many variations of it. If you want to remove your action, and use a vise, then you don't need a quick takedown method anyway.
I personally like the Rigby method, where each barrel has a fore end attached to it; then you do not need this system at all; just use the receiver threads. All this method does is eliminate the need for a new fore end.
I place a different definition on "Takedowns" and "Switch Barrels". This one is more in the area of a Switch Barrel. But also a take down too. For the record, the barrels do need to be tight enough so they don't move when fired; that is not good for accuracy. But also remember, they were developed before scopes were commonly used. Every Winchester model was offered as a takedown. Iron sights on the barrel so some wiggle didn't matter, and they were also adjustable to compensate for wear.

I have wanted another CRF 300 H&H bolt rifle since about 15 minutes after I sold my OM 70 to a friend.

I have two viable candidates for a conversion like this.

An FN rifle in 375 H&H Improved, and one of the newer CRF model 70 Safari Express, originally a458 WM that was rechambered in 458 Lott.

dpcd,

would you hazard a guess as to which would be a better candidate? I would want to keep the original barrel, and end up with a two-barrel switch system.

thanks,

Rich

Thanks for your response dpcd. I probably did not make my question clear. I am most interested in interchangeable barrels that would be changed very infrequently. Can one make a hand tightened barrel that can be removed without vise and wrench without the use of a stub as the OP has? Would it need to have a locking screw that could perhaps be screwed into the bottom of the receiver ring and an indention in the barrel thread or could it be tightened by hand so that it would stay tight. The Rigby is great but requires not only the additional forend, but also the metal plates fitted at the front of the stock and the rear of the forend. That would by very nice if one was interested mostly in the takedown aspect, but also quite expensive.

3B,

I would think maintaining headspace would be an issue.

My CPA/Stevens 44 1/2 replica uses a headless hex bolt screwed into the bottom of the receiver front and maintains headspace exactly. The threads have to line up perfectly or the bolt will not thread all the way thru.

I was thinking an index mark would let you maintain the headspace and a screw such as you mention could fit into an indentation in the bbl so that it would not turn.

Headspace is not an issue if you make the lock screw sit into a matching indent in the barrel threads. No index mark either; you want the barrel to bear against the receiver, or stub, and stop there. It wouldn't wear much.
Oh, certainly you can just install and remove your barrel by hand, directly into the receiver; the issue is that if you want the inletting to be very tight at all, you have to remove the action from the stock; the barrel can't be unscrewed from the receiver if it is tapered. That is the only reason for the OP's design. Or only do it with straight barrels.
A small strap wrench might help.
Idaho, either one.

Randy Selby, out of Wyoming does a similar conversion. He converted my Ruger Alaskan, in 375 Ruger into a takedown model. Turn around time was quite reasonable. The work is very nice. I now have a packable, stainless, laminated stock, all weather rifle that I can fit into most duffle bags.

http://randyscustomrifles.com/

maral-

Please post a picture from the top, of the barrel in place at the chamber and a little forward. I'm curious if the taper in the chamber area of the barrel required extra clearance in the barrel channel of the stock to allow it to be backed out without scuffing the wood.

Barrel in place.


Barrel partly removed

Thanks. Very interesting.

Yeah, you can't have a tightly inletted barrel to do this.