Remington 700 barrel change

Remington1981

I have a Rem 700 .270 with a sporter barrel. My question is; Can I put a heavy barrel on that action even though it came from the factory with a sporter style barrel? Obviously you will have to modify the stock or replace it with a new one. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Geri

Yes. Have it headspaced

Remington1981

Thanks for the info? has anyone ever done this and modified the original stock?

perry shooter

Hello Yes I have done it the barrel channel will have to be opened up. some stocks like a mountain rifle will not be large enough to open up this far. Might not be what you want to hear but most likely you could sell your rifle and buy a heavy barrel complete rifle for less money spent.

nononsense

Remington1981,

"Can I put a heavy barrel on that action even though it came from the factory with a sporter style barrel?"

Yes, you can put any size barrel on the M700 action so long as the barrel tenon and chamber area is the right size. I have used 16-1/2" Ultralight contours all the way up to and including 36" x 1.5" diameter barrels.

The outside contour of the fore end of the stock will dictate just how big the barrel contour can be. You can get an idea by comparing the Remington Varmint or Magnum contour with the Sporter contour. There's quite a bit that can be accomplished. Brownells lists these sizes in their catalog or online.

Not to be disagreeable but you can't get another rifle with a heavy barrel for what you can change a barrel out for. You can find new takeoff factory barrels for $50 - $100 and you can do the inletting yourself. Brownells carries threaded and chambered Remington contour barrels for not very much money. Even if you went with a custom top-of-the-heap barrel with installation and fitting included, you can't touch anything but a less expensive rifle than the much better rifle that you'll have in the long run.

Best.

Highball

Taking the factory barrel off isn't quite like jerking a zipper...you need some special tools to do it without destroying that action.

You also need to do a bit of research, before tackling the job.

Much of the cost involved in a barrel swap is labor from a gunsmith. That cost buys you a completed job that is safe.

As mentioned, Brownell's sells barrel vices, action wrenches, headspace gauges, barrels, and books...all needed if you intend doing the job yourself.