Savage Impulse rifle Upgrade

[Shoots100]

Since Savage has no plans to offer parts for the Impulse line of rifles and I wanted to have several quick change barrels for my short action Predator model, I took the initiative and hounded my mad scientist machinist friend and fellow coyote hunter to make it happen.

After shooting my Predator rifle, He bought one.

It took almost a year to get it done, but we did it and now I have 2- .243 and 1-.260 Rem quick change barrel assembly's for my rifle.

Since savage won't sell bolt heads for the rifle, we're limited to short action cartridges with a .473" rim dia.

We made a barrel nut with flats on it so it can be tightened with a big adjustable instead of a spanner wrench.

The red anodized barrel extension is the factory savage extension.

I treated the parts with gun black treatment for some protection.

The last pic is of the parts in the white.

It takes me around two minutes to change barrels.

Range and zero hold testing are underway and look very promising.

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Edited September 11, 2022 by Shoots100

[loworange88]

Pretty sweet.  What’s the plan for the scope every time you do a change over?  Full re-sight session?

[SpacemanSpiff]

Nice i like the options. I had plans to buy one for my wife because she had a serious hand injury and running a bolt can be problematic. However it was way to heavy. How does it shoot?

[Shoots100]

If you use good QD scope mounts, the rifle holds zero after changing barrels.

I swapped between .243 and .260 without much zero effect.

Here's a pic of the 50 yard target after full disassembly of the rifle and scope with the factory .243 barrel.

3 shots, disassemble, assemble and three more shots.

Last group was a hotter 38 grn load, as I just wanted to test them with the chrono.

Although the three shot group was nice, there were pressure signs.

The bull is 1-1/8" dia.

[Shoots100]

My only issue with the Impulse was it being very barrel heavy.

I had the factory barrel spiral fluted and while it looked cool to me, it didn't reduce the weight as much as I wanted.

The Carbon fiber barrel solved that issue, but it's a $700 barrel.

The rifle and my wallet weigh less now.

If it was just going to be used for hunting a couple of times a year, a cheaper thinner profile barrel would be my choice.

 

 

 

[Shoots100]

This is an example of how the rifle looks when disassembled.

I did this between every three shot's taken.

 

[Shoots100]

This is a 1.5" piece of foil tape I use for sighting in my thermal scopes.

That's 5 shots at 100 yards with the scope being removed between shots.

I don't keep my scope mounted on the rifle while traveling and between hunts, so I need to know it'll hold a somewhat respectable zero.