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I'm converting a Savage 7mmRM to a 338 Edge.
I had a barrel vise with oak blocks & a straight 1" hole. Because of the taper on the Savage sporter barrel, no matter what I did that sucker would spin in the vise. So I built some blocks bored a hole and tapered it to match the profile (1" down to 13/16"). It still didn't hold.
OK, time to buy another one. Good barrel vises ain't cheap. One that looked good, with inserts for different barrel diameters, as well as an insert specifically for a Savage sporter barrel, was not in stock.
Came across the Bald Eagle vise at Grizzly. I'm not a fan of Chinese knock-offs, but the product is discontinued so it's $43 there. I thought "what the hell?" Their ground shipment is $14, Next Day Air is $18. Ordered it Wednesday, had it today.
Here's what it looks like:
They say it will handle up to 1.5" diameter barrels.
I installed it on my bench (1" x 36 x 48 steel plate).
Still have the same problem of an aggressive taper on the barrel. Went to Bi-Mart hoping to find the lead tape we used as kids to provide ballast on our model sailboats. Nope. However, did find coiled lead in the fishing department. $4.99 for 1# of coil.
Wrapped the barrel with the coil 2x around in 2 places on the taper, making sure both spots were larger diameter than the major diameter by the barrel nut. Reefed the clamping bolts home, figuring I cranked >800 ft-lbs of torque into those bolts.
It held. The barrel nut was "frozen" onto the shank. Removing the action was a job itself.
When I loosened the vise, the lead looked like thick aluminum foil on the barrel.
I have no affiliation with Grizzly, and I also hate posts by shills about a product. Reviews about this vise seemed to be full of that info. I was dubious, but thought $43 was worth a gamble. It paid off.
BTW, they also had one of the best stocked selections of go/no-go gauges that I've seen. They were the only place I found that had a 338 Edge Go gauge in stock (PT&G part). Slightly more expensive, but I'd rather pay $3 more than wait for a backorder.
I had a barrel vise with oak blocks & a straight 1" hole. Because of the taper on the Savage sporter barrel, no matter what I did that sucker would spin in the vise. So I built some blocks bored a hole and tapered it to match the profile (1" down to 13/16"). It still didn't hold.
OK, time to buy another one. Good barrel vises ain't cheap. One that looked good, with inserts for different barrel diameters, as well as an insert specifically for a Savage sporter barrel, was not in stock.
Came across the Bald Eagle vise at Grizzly. I'm not a fan of Chinese knock-offs, but the product is discontinued so it's $43 there. I thought "what the hell?" Their ground shipment is $14, Next Day Air is $18. Ordered it Wednesday, had it today.
Here's what it looks like:
They say it will handle up to 1.5" diameter barrels.
I installed it on my bench (1" x 36 x 48 steel plate).
Still have the same problem of an aggressive taper on the barrel. Went to Bi-Mart hoping to find the lead tape we used as kids to provide ballast on our model sailboats. Nope. However, did find coiled lead in the fishing department. $4.99 for 1# of coil.
Wrapped the barrel with the coil 2x around in 2 places on the taper, making sure both spots were larger diameter than the major diameter by the barrel nut. Reefed the clamping bolts home, figuring I cranked >800 ft-lbs of torque into those bolts.
It held. The barrel nut was "frozen" onto the shank. Removing the action was a job itself.
When I loosened the vise, the lead looked like thick aluminum foil on the barrel.
I have no affiliation with Grizzly, and I also hate posts by shills about a product. Reviews about this vise seemed to be full of that info. I was dubious, but thought $43 was worth a gamble. It paid off.
BTW, they also had one of the best stocked selections of go/no-go gauges that I've seen. They were the only place I found that had a 338 Edge Go gauge in stock (PT&G part). Slightly more expensive, but I'd rather pay $3 more than wait for a backorder.
