Thread: Switch Barrel - Barnard PL and the potential of melonite treatment

Any of you guys running a switch barrel setup on a Barnard action or any other standard actions that is generally not switch rifle actions like the Blaser and Hardy?

Would it be possible to get a action melonite treated in NZ? Just looking to minimize the potential wear and tear of screwing barrels on and of. Other treatment you would recommend?

The Barnards are nitride surface hardened. That works well. But mate u would have to do lots of barrel changes to cause any real wear on the receiver threads IMO. Ive thought of getting a receiver nitride hardened, like you do with FLS dies you ream yourself, from say 4140, a medium carbon steel. You can get Heat Treatments in Auckland to do that sort of work.

Some info here Barrel Change - ozfclass.com

The Ozzie discussion is more about the lube to use on that thread application. They mention grease with EP ( extreme pressure ) additives. Then some say anti-sieze, of which there are MANY types. The question here is about surface hardening methods ?

Originally Posted by LRP

The Ozzie discussion is more about the lube to use on that thread application. They mention grease with EP ( extreme pressure ) additives. Then some say anti-sieze, of which there are MANY types. The question here is about surface hardening methods ?

The OP's question mentioned mitigating wear and tear. If using the correct lube to reduce the potential of this happening what is the issue particularly when futher treating a Barnard action is probably neither feasable or practical?

Had a shooting collegue who switched barrels on his Barnard sometimes twice a day (depending upon ranges shot) every Saturday during the fullbore shooting season - 6mm to 6.5. He used a quality lube and I am not aware that he had any issues.

Maybe the OP would be better giving Steve or Matt a call at Barnard and ask their opinion? They would probably have a better idea than us keyboard experts.

@300LRH, keeping to the correct torque settings and not over tightening is the big thing.

Several of the Aus fullbore guys guys change barrels on the range, one caliber for shorts and another for mids & longs.

Barrel nut system ala Savage reduces wear on the tenon threads.

My suggestion to you is to invest in a well made internal action wrench. That's what I did on my Omark, or to use a lock nut.

Thanks guys. This is very helpful.

I'm running a switch barrel setup on a Bighorn TL3. Very repeatable and easy to change barrels. I use a torque wrench to set the barrel torque the same each time. No reason that a Barnard couldn't be setup the same. I'm actually tempted to do that with mine...

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Leaving aside the right lube to use in a barrel lock up ( which is an "EP" grease so Kelby's USA said long ago ) I can't even imagine living with the POI errors inherent with swapping barrels ? Barrel bores are NOT straight .....

Originally Posted by LRP

Leaving aside the right lube to use in a barrel lock up ( which is an "EP" grease so Kelby's USA said long ago ) I can't even imagine living with the POI errors inherent with swapping barrels ? Barrel bores are NOT straight .....

Hence the importance of using the same torque settings each time, When the barrel is chambered and the tenon threaded, the shoulder (barrel curve) is indexed..

Unless you have significant wear or either the tenon shoulder, or the back end of the tenon (when using a barrel nut), the difference is pretty much insignificant. Obviously you have different scope settings for different barrels and calibers, but all of that is again, pretty repeatable.

I guess it depends a lot on the type of shooting you do. In fullbore with 2 sighters and then at least 10 shot strings, it is not a major problem. Several of the top guys use QD scope mounts, remove barreled actions out of stocks etc and don't seem to suffer for it.

Originally Posted by LRP

Leaving aside the right lube to use in a barrel lock up ( which is an "EP" grease so Kelby's USA said long ago ) I can't even imagine living with the POI errors inherent with swapping barrels ? Barrel bores are NOT straight .....

I have about a 2cm poi shift at 100m when swapping between.308 and .338 barrels on my trg m10. Different kettle of fish, but it’s possible to get some very good repeatability with a well designed switch barrel setup.