Recently went to the Gun Parts Inc website and found something interesting. They sell "take off" barrels. I think this means factory barrels removed by the custom shop.
Of paticular interest to me are the Remington 24" stainless steel barrels. My current Remington M700 .270 only has a 22" barrel and I have been wanting to go to a 24" barrel for a long time.
Are these barrels any good? Is it OK to mate a standard steel action to a stainless steel barrel?
Thanks in advance
ZM
Are

I did a similar thing. I picked up a Turkish Mauser (large ring receiver, threaded for small ring barrel), and a 24" stainless Remington take-off barrel, and had the barrel rethreaded to fit. I'm still breaking in the barrel, but it looks like it is going to be a good machine.

It is perfectly OK to put a stainless barrel on a blued action. It looks just a little strange, but works fine.

If that really bothers you, there are heat activited, extremely durable black coatings you can get for the barrel. You'll have to heat the barrel and receiver up and hold if for an hour. I opted to leave the barrel "native".

All that said, you'll only pick up 50-60 fps. It may be easier to sell what you have and buy what you want.

The reason there are so many new Remington take-off barrels around is that the Remington action is very popular for building custom guns. People buy a new gun, and immediately replace the barrel with an expensive custom barrel.

Forgot to mention... I paid $35 for mine, plus $5 postage. I was at a gun show yesterday, and they had a good assortment in the $40-50 range.

Thanks for the info.
I am looking for a slightly heavier and/or longer barrel to replace the paper thin barrel that came on my present rifle. The stock 22" barrel heats up pretty fast. I've been told stainless steel is more durable than chrome-moly. I am also looking for whatever velocity gain I can get(aren't we all?). A direct replacement Remington barrel might save me a buck or two at the gunsmith's shop.
Later
ZM

Its a crap shoot, If your lucky OK , but many take offs are because they wouldn't shoot!! If I'm going to that trouble and expense I just get a Douglas and have someone install it...

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

Ray is right,if you are not sure of the reason for the barrel take off it is just as good to go with a new barrel. If the barrel is NEW and you can accept FACTORY new accuracy go for it. Stainless to standard (chrome-molly) is no problem. Not all factory takeoffs will fit up with the lettering in the right place and still headspace correctly, get a smith that you trust to do the work don't take a chance.

MC

Another 2 cents worth...

I was fortunate to find an unfired barrel. I absolutely agree that a used barrel is a major crapshoot, and would really not recommend that route. There are nice custom barrels available, at surprisingly reasonable prices. If you can't find a very attractive price on an unfired Remington barrel, something from Midway (or other good supplier) is going to be a lot more satisfactory.

One good thing about stainless is that you don't have the expense of bluing it when you get done.

Zeke,
I bought a Rem 308 Varmint takeoff for $25. The guy had it taken off replaced because he couldn't get it to shoot anything.
I bought to turn it down to .810" and chamber it for a wildcat I'd been working on. After cutting the chamber off, it was easy to see why it wouldn't shoot. The chamber was not concentric to the bore. When looking in to the chamber, I could see that where the neck was cut was off center by almost .009" (measured with indicator, not eye). That's more than enough ruin the accuracy of any gun.
My point: it's better if you can look down the tube and see what you're getting. That's if your plan is to just 'stick' it on your action.
I agree with the other guys. Spend the money for a good barrel or sell your gun and buy exactly what you want.
Sorry so long winded.

I too am looking for a "new" take-off barrel for a Rem 700, a 26" 308 preferable SS fluted. I appreciate the above comments and will be cautious. Thanks -Matt

A few years ago I bought a new take-off barrel for my Remington 700 through a gunsmith in Shotgun News, and I am very happy with moa factory accuracy.