Building a custom Savage .223

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Peakbagger46

Peakbagger46

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I posted a bit ago about wanting a mid weight .223 bolt gun. My current .223 is a very heavy Savage 16 and is too much for the wife and kids to handle other than shooting prone.

I’ve read that Savage barrels can be changed out fairly easily. Can anyone recommend a barrel company that has decent quality and isn’t too expensive?

Ideally I’d like to end up with a sportser weight 24” tube with a 1-7” twist and keep the cost under $300. Once I figure the barrel out I’ll start looking at stocks.
 
Did you change the barrel on your Model 16? They don't come with a heavy/varmint contour barrel.
There are many aftermarket barrel makers that can fix you up,but if you like the one you have,I'd buy another rifle in 223 that your wife and kids could enjoy shooting.
Most quality Aftermarket barrels will cost you $300 - 400,so it's not much less than what a good entry level Axis or Model 11 would cost.
 
Peakbagger46 said:
I posted a bit ago about wanting a mid weight .223 bolt gun. My current .223 is a very heavy Savage 16 and is too much for the wife and kids to handle other than shooting prone.

I’ve read that Savage barrels can be changed out fairly easily. Can anyone recommend a barrel company that has decent quality and isn’t too expensive?

Ideally I’d like to end up with a sportser weight 24” tube with a 1-7” twist and keep the cost under $300. Once I figure the barrel out I’ll start looking at stocks.
Click to expand...
Ershaw makes savage prefits, and is a bit better than your average factory barrel. Ive got/had 4 of 5 shaw barreled guns and all are accurate.
 
Peakbagger46 said:
I posted a bit ago about wanting a mid weight .223 bolt gun. My current .223 is a very heavy Savage 16 and is too much for the wife and kids to handle other than shooting prone.

I’ve read that Savage barrels can be changed out fairly easily. Can anyone recommend a barrel company that has decent quality and isn’t too expensive?

Ideally I’d like to end up with a sportser weight 24” tube with a 1-7” twist and keep the cost under $300. Once I figure the barrel out I’ll start looking at stocks.
Click to expand...
I'll second Loonwulf with the shaw recommendation, should keep that under 300, if the wife and kid are part of the scope of the project, I'm going to throw in that a 22 in tube is a little easier to manage, and in an at-1 stock, you can get adjustable fit without breaking the bank.
 
Txhillbilly said:
Did you change the barrel on your Model 16? They don't come with a heavy/varmint contour barrel.
There are many aftermarket barrel makers that can fix you up,but if you like the one you have,I'd buy another rifle in 223 that your wife and kids could enjoy shooting.
Most quality Aftermarket barrels will cost you $300 - 400,so it's not much less than what a good entry level Axis or Model 11 would cost.
Click to expand...

It did come with the heavy fluted barrel. I believe it may have been a Cabela's exclusive when I bought it in 2011.
 
Peakbagger46 said:
I’ve read that Savage barrels can be changed out fairly easily.
Click to expand...

Yes and no. What makes them "easy" is the fact that you can set headspace on a pre-chambered barrel without the need for a lathe.

Actually holding the receiver and loosening or tightening the barrel nut is another story, especially with the smooth ones. And, of course, you need headspace gauges (or a dummy round loaded to your specs for a personal use rifle that you will handload for).
 
The tools to change the barrel and set up the new one (action wrench, barrel nut wrench, and headspace gauges) are going to cost you around $100 to $150, depending on how you do it. If you only do one barrel – it is probably not worth doing it yourself other than for the satisfaction that you get.

I’ve had OK luck with the Shaw barrels, and you can generally find them for under $250 plus shipping. Be forewarned that you’ll either pay an additional fee to have somebody mark the barrel for chambering or you’ll have a rifle with no visible external markings to tell anyone what it is safe to shoot - Shaw only marks the barrel on the breechface itself and it’s pretty hard to read once everything is put together. Locally, the cheapest I can get the barrel electro/laser engraved is $50, raising the price of the barrel as installed to just under $300.

There are a number of other companies that make prefit Savage barrels, most of them costing between $300 on the bottom end to, say, $900 or more on the top end. I have used Shilen, McGowan, and X – Caliber with equal satisfaction. For my non-critical needs, I have tended to gravitate towards McGowen or X-caliber simply because of the ease with which I can order a barrel online from a very wide variety of chamberings and rifling twist rates. Simply put, they make it easy for me to spend my money and their product is adequate to my needs.

As an aside - Shilen also only marks the pre-fit on the breechface, so a finished rifle using a Shilen barrel will have the same issue as the Shaw; either no visible chambering marks, or the additional expense to have the barrel marked.

There are many higher-end manufacturers that I have not used, because my needs don’t dictate the additional cost and/or manufacturing time. There are others on this forum who have experience with those higher-end barrels, and can provide you feedback if your timelines or budgets allow you to exercise those options.
 
rbernie said:
The tools to change the barrel and set up the new one (action wrench, barrel nut wrench, and headspace gauges) are going to cost you around $100 to $150, depending on how you do it. If you only do one barrel – it is probably not worth doing it yourself other than for the satisfaction that you get.

I’ve had OK luck with the Shaw barrels, and you can generally find them for under $250 plus shipping. Be forewarned that you’ll either pay an additional fee to have somebody mark the barrel for chambering or you’ll have a rifle with no visible external markings to tell anyone what it is safe to shoot - Shaw only marks the barrel on the breechface itself and it’s pretty hard to read once everything is put together. Locally, the cheapest I can get the barrel electro/laser engraved is $50, raising the price of the barrel as installed to just under $300.

There are a number of other companies that make prefit Savage barrels, most of them costing between $300 on the bottom end to, say, $900 or more on the top end. I have used Shilen, McGowan, and X – Caliber with equal satisfaction. For my non-critical needs, I have tended to gravitate towards McGowen or X-caliber simply because of the ease with which I can order a barrel online from a very wide variety of chamberings and rifling twist rates. Simply put, they make it easy for me to spend my money and their product is adequate to my needs.

As an aside - Shilen also only marks the pre-fit on the breechface, so a finished rifle using a Shilen barrel will have the same issue as the Shaw; either no visible chambering marks, or the additional expense to have the barrel marked.

There are many higher-end manufacturers that I have not used, because my needs don’t dictate the additional cost and/or manufacturing time. There are others on this forum who have experience with those higher-end barrels, and can provide you feedback if your timelines or budgets allow you to exercise those options.
Click to expand...
you can rent all the tools from 3d, and a set of letter stamps cost about 9 bucks for cheap ones....
I can also loan out.everything you need besides headspace gauges, and an action or barrel vice. I made mine from old leaf springs 5/8 bolts and teak blocks, but it's mounted to my bench and hard to remove.
 
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there are recesses in the lower plates and 5/8 bolts run thru the 4x4s that make up the side rails of my bench. The upright bolts are also recessed into the bottom plate


oops sorry those arnt leaf springs, think those were axel mounts for a trailer. used the leaf springs I found with them to make a couple big knives.
 
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Loon Wulf, thank you very much for your generous offer to loan your tools!

I spent a bit of time looking around today at barrels and stocks for this project; the cost quickly gets rather high.

Looks like the best option may be to keep what I have (a very accurate Savage 16 that LOVES 69g SMK over Reloader 15) and buy a 1-8” sportster weight bolt gun.

A Tikka T3X may be the ticket.

Thanks for all the advice and apologies for waisted time.
 
LoonWulf said:
there are recesses in the lower plates and 5/8 bolts run thru the 4x4s that make up the side rails of my bench. The upright bolts are also recessed into the bottom plate


oops sorry those arnt leaf springs, think those were axel mounts for a trailer. used the leaf springs I found with them to make a couple big knives.
Click to expand...
LoonWulf, what type of wood that you use for the barrel blocks? I made from 2x4 but keep slipping, end up with aluminum.
 
HankC said:
LoonWulf, what type of wood that you use for the barrel blocks? I made from 2x4 but keep slipping, end up with aluminum.
Click to expand...
teak, it's oily, pretty hard, and grabby. I leave about a 1/8 gap when I split the blocks so it can clamp pretty hard. The Abolt was the only action that spun bit it's got those big flats. Thus the Abolt blocks are epoxy fitted.
 
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I have found that the easiest way for me to work on Savage actions is not to clamp the barrel and twist the receiver off using an action wrench, but instead to use the action wrench as a receiver clamp (sans wrench extension), clamped in a bench vice, to hold the receiver while I simply spin the barrel nut loose. There is no need to clamp both the barrel and the receiver since they do not need to rotate relative to each other – you just need to be able to loosen or tighten the barrel nut.

BTW - the one nice thing about the Shaw kit is that they provide you with the barrel nut wrench – purchased separately, that would be another $30 expense.

E0465F28-8CD0-49C0-A5F5-844C82802ED6.jpeg
 
Rosin will make it so nothing spins in the barrel vise.

Still a hardwood is usually a better choice than something as soft as Borg dimensional construction timber. Red oak, beech, and birch are pretty common and cheap in small quantities.
 
rbernie said:
I have found that the easiest way for me to work on Savage actions is not to clamp the barrel and twist the receiver off using an action wrench, but instead to use the action wrench as a receiver clamp (sans wrench extension), clamped in a bench vice, to hold the receiver while I simply spin the barrel nut loose. There is no need to clamp both the barrel and the receiver since they do not need to rotate relative to each other – you just need to be able to loosen or tighten the barrel nut.

BTW - the one nice thing about the Shaw kit is that they provide you with the barrel nut wrench – purchased separately, that would be another $30 expense.

View attachment 862392
Click to expand...
that's how I do it too. Quick smack with a 3lb mini sledge and they break free no problems.
I generally do the same to regular barreled guns. tho I almost never save the barrels so just use pipe wrenches for removal since opposed pipe wrenches seem to separate barrels from actions better than the single sided barrel wrench I made.....also i have no idea where input it.
 
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