By Mark Hudson
This month we’re going to show you how to
re-barrel a Savage Model
110 bolt action rifle; one of the easier rifles to re-barrel. The
techniques apply
to the entire 110 series. All you need is a
Barrel
Vise (available with either steel or aluminum bushings) with
the appropriate
bushing for the barrel diameter that you are removing, and a
Barrel
Nut Wrench. By the way, this wrench works on both the old,
round notch and
new, square notch barrel nuts.
On the average bolt rifle, you establish correct headspace by
lathe-turning the
shoulder on the barrel. However, with the Savage, all you have to
do is remove
the firing pin and ejector from the bolt, insert a
GO Headspace
Gauge into the
chamber, screw the barrel into the receiver until the gauge bumps
up tight against
the bolt face, tighten the barrel lock nut and you have a barrel
that is set up
to minimum headspace. Let’s go through the steps, one
by one.
First, completely disassemble the rifle, remove the bolt from the
action, remove
the stock, and, if you have a scope, remove it, too. You can leave
the bases on;
they shouldn’t get in the way. Completely disassemble the
bolt; make sure
you remember how it came apart so you can reassemble it later.
Here’s a quick rundown on how to take the bolt apart.
Start by removing
the rear bolt plug. Depending on the age of your rifle, it will be a
large, standard
screw slot, on later models it will be an Allen head. Remove the
bolt handle,
remove the baffle assembly, pull out the cocking piece pin, and
remove the cocking
piece sleeve followed by the firing pin assembly. Now, pull the bolt
head off
the front of the bolt. Remember how the washer comes off so you
can replace it
the same way. Next, remove the front baffle. Remove the ejector
so when you are
setting your headspace you don’t feel the tension that it
adds against the
gauge.
You’re now ready to remove your old barrel. Slide the
Barrel Nut Wrench
down the barrel and onto the barrel nut. Clamp the barrel in your
barrel vise
and loosen the barrel nut with the barrel nut wrench. If your gun
is old or rusted
you may want to put some
Kroil
on the joint at the receiver and the joint between the barrel and
barrel nut.
Reassemble your bolt without the firing pin or the ejector installed.
Slip the
headspace gauge into the bolt face and let the extractor hold it in
place. Slide
the bolt into the receiver and let the bolt handle fall into the
loaded position.
Screw the barrel nut all the way onto the barrel, followed by the
recoil lug.
Next, start the barrel into the receiver and tighten it down until it
just “bumps”
against the gauge. Check the recoil lug to make sure it’s
locating protrusion
is in the recess in the action. Work the bolt handle. You should feel
a little
resistance at the very bottom of the bolt stroke. If the bolt is tight
all the
way, unscrew the barrel slightly. If there isn’t any
resistance at the bottom
of the stroke, tighten the barrel a whisker. When you get that
slight resistance,
your headspace is correctly set at the minimum.
Clamp the barrel back in the barrel vise. Tighten the barrel nut
against your
lug and receiver. Use a pretty fair amount of force turning the nut.
Remember,
you are bringing together four different pieces of steel. I like to
snug it tight
by hand, then whack it a good one with a rawhide mallet to put
the final "oomph"
on it.
Double check the headspace by making sure the bolt will close on
the go gauge,
this time without resistance. Put a piece of .001” or
.002” shim stock
between the bolt face and headspace gauge and again attempt to
close the bolt.
You should feel resistance or it may not close at all. That tells you
that all
is well in the headspace department.
After you re-assemble the bolt with all the parts, reassemble the
rifle and scope,
you’re ready to head to the range with the rifle you just
re-barreled yourself.