Savage barrel nut used on non savage actions

From a simplicity stand point the way Savage uses a barrel nut to headspace and lock it's barrels to an action has a certain appeal to me. Discounting aesthetics are there other reasons not to use this system on non savage actions?

Rebarrel a Remington 7 without a lathe: McGowen’s Remage barrel conversion | Rifleshooter.com

Seems as though they shoot good! Save some money on a reamer.


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Hi!

I am new to this forum and happy to share ideas and discussions.

It seems to me the system is versatile and it works really well for most uses. Many brands are following suit with Savage directives for manufacturing.

IMO the only exception is when one might consider a heavy barrel where there is more need for meet around the chamber area and possibly a wider profile.
This could help with heat dissipation, rigidity and overall accuracy with certain calibers specially large magnums.
I think that is why the savage precision carbines and some magnums are chambered in the large shank.

The nice thing one always has the choice to choose and savage offers the parts to keep it simple and very versatile yet one might decide to use the
same action to install a barrel with a classic shoulder.

I do also believe a longer nut with a smother taper like the one offered by Pac-Nor looks a lot nicer but I am not sure about potential side effects.
I suspect none but again not sure.

Pac-nor barrel nut...

With a poorly made nut that was out of square you could be giving up rigidity on the barrel receiver connection, but with a well made nut that was threaded and faced in one chucking I do not see where you lose anything. A barrel nut can be used to mount other things. In the attached photos I used one to mount an sight holder which does double duty as point for attaching front hold down screws.

I helped a buddy do a Remage barrel nutted 700, with a McGowen barrel. Its a tack shooter. As long as everything is square there is no difference in accuracy between the two systems. I run shouldered barrels on my Savages just for the ease of swapping barrels, other than that there is nothing wrong with a nut.

I have seen some even offered for Howa's, win 70's, Mauser's. I do think on properly trued action a shoulder barrel should be more rigid, specially on really heavy barrels, and should be more accurate, but I have seen some very good Pre-thread setup rifles.

Savage introduced the large shank to resolve the issue with the largest magnums.
But they also use the larger section for their precision carbines with the heaviest barrels.
Once you get to the larger magnums up to the 416 rigby and children, there is the fear of wall thickness
for the massive forces at play.
There is two ways to resolve this. One is profile the barrel heavier specially around the chamber
and a bit in front of the chamber (the highest pressures and heat) or resort to a larger shank and
keep the barrel nut. There is also the option of keeping the long shank and still profile larger.

Savage actually HP tests and blow up rifles to make sure they give the most reliable option
and that is why rifles like the 338 lapua magnum will not come in small shank.

I think when someone is going to the extreme and/or heavy duty use every little additional measure is welcomed.

This is also the reason why high end rifles specially in heavy calibers are all chambered
with the largest possible shank and do not taper aggressively like average sporter and hunting rifle.

It doesn't mean the lighter rifle cannot be accurate, in fact they are. What it means is that there is
a good chance a heavier barrel (wider/bull profile) is going to be more accurate and consistent all other things
being equal. This is due to A) Harmonics B) Heat dissipation during large strings of fire.
A good example is the M40 contour.

Of course the rule nr. one is a well made barrel with a straight bore and good rifling. Top manufactures go
through a very elabore process to assure QC of the barrel and bore. Also the cambering and truing is very
important. everything adds up.

Savage has to be on the best value packages ever. Even for the budget barrel they give a lot out of the box
w/o the need for blueprinting nor truing anything. A huge part of the success relies on the barrel making too.
Their barrels are affordable and very good on average. 90% of my rifles are either Remington 700 or Savage 10/11
that are the most popular actions of the planet. Of course aside from the Mauser actions that I also like.
Also in terms of aftermarket options there is nothing that comes close to those legendary actions.