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700 Barrel Swap + Caliber Change

1.4K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  700Plumber  
#1 ·
I have a vintage old 700 SA BDL in .22-250 and the barrel is pretty much shot. I don't have much use for a varmint caliber up here, so I acquired a new-take-off .243 Winchester barrel. Assuming the recoil lug is the same thickness for headspacing, I should be able to screw-one off and screw-one on, right? Bolt face is the same for .22-250 and 243, so there's no issue there.

I'll double check with go/no-go, but what other issues might there be?

Oh, and scoped rifle so iron sight alignment isn't a consideration.
 
#2 · (Edited)
In a perfect world, yes. In reality, not likely. But, give it a try, and if your go/no-go gages tell you you're safe, then at least you know you are that close. The next factor will be to determine once it is safe if you are happy with the accuracy. I've built a number of 700s, and no two have ever been close enough that I could re-use the barrel from one on another with confidence. But, you could always have the action trued and a gunsmith add a thread to the barrel stub and set back the shoulder accordingly and clean up the chamber, if necessary. I did this on an old .243 and it turned out pretty well; shot better than before, but not as good as a new barrel blank would have. However, I did it on a .300WM 700 and it really improved.