Jeff i have a friend who had a ruger 458win mag in the early 90's but had it rebarreled to a taylor. he still has the barrel and i was looking at the gun shop and there is a tang saftey ruger in 300wm with the plunger ejector for pretty cheap. Could i just swap barrels? I know i would have to have it headspaced but the worst that could happen is the barrel stampings could be off from normal, is this right?

the thread and shank are the same length and pitch.

here's what I would do...

have a gunsmith mount the barrel, time the letter to proper location and then finish chamber/headspace it...

REALLY easy work, if no sights involved

jeffe