Being left handed, it's always fun to find a desirable rifle. I've run across a .243 Savage 110, an older one I like, and wonder if it's possible to rebarrel to .300 WSM or such without much trouble? I understand that barrel switches on 110's are fairly easy, but don't know if the bolt face and mag will fit the WSM. Any help???

The bolt head will have to be changed (Savages have interchangeable bolt heads), as will the mag box. I don't know if these parts are available from Savage or an outside source as of yet. You should check the availability of these before you start. If you're lucky, these parts and a barrel will be all you need, but you will probably still have feeding problems that will have to be addressed. The WSM case is quite fat, and getting it to feed can sometimes be a bear. Oh one other thing, the old 110's are full length actions, so you could also use it for anything up to 300 Ultra-mag length. They make great switch barrel rifles. Good luck - Dan

PostDriver,

It's a relatively easy project, although you may need to work on cartridge feeding.

You'll need a new barrel (obviously), magnum bolt-nose with extractor, and possibly a new magazine follower.

George
(a fellow lefty)

Call Fred Moreo at Sharp Shooters Supply and get the mag bolt head for about 17 bucks. He'll also has the front baffle for the mag box ($2.25), and the barrel nut wrench ($38). Buy his competition trigger ($85) while you are at it. He also has quite a few snazzy, high quality stocks to choose from. 419 695-3179.

His barrels are all varmint contour, I believe, but Pac-nor will sell you a standard sporter contour, pre-chambered for about the same money.

Oh, and the 110 is the LONG action.

HTH, Dutch.

Wish I could ! This is a short action; that's why I'm thinking the WSM. It's one of the old Savage/Anschutz rifles; I've done a 7/08 on this rifle before and it turns out great. I'd like a little heavier caliber for the next trip to Africa, to go with my M70 LH .375

Ok, so it's one of the savage short actions they built before they decided to "economise" and only go with one action length. Not a lot of those around. The procedure will still be the same. Bolt head (incl. extractor), barrel, mag box, follower, and maybe the box buffer. And you may still have feeding problems. Good luck. - Dan

Midway is also selling the bolt nose, follower, magazine ..... necessary for the conversion. Check there website. Savage chambers the Short Mag in there short action so it must work (?)
John

I ordered a .300 WSM for a fellow a month or so ago and one of the first things I noticed was that it came with their "CRF" style bolt head with the blade ejector and bolt face opened on the bottom that is used in their dangerous game style rifles. I don't know why they used the CRF style head on the WSM but I guessed it had something to do with the feeding of the round. You might want to look into that, this conversion might be harder than it seems at first.

If you want to keep it as a 'switch' gun I would look for a second bolt, and just keep the magnum bolt set up all the time. As you already know, you reset the headspace every time you change barrels, so this would be no problem.

The only difficulty might be finding a short bolt -- I also have a short action (model 10) -- I didn't realize they didn't make many of them. I always thought it strange that nobody makes short action stocks; I guess now I know why.