West texas ordnance switch lug system

One of the most common things I kept running into at the 2017 SHOT show were rifles equipped for switching barrels quickly and with a minimum of tools. It seems to be all the rage today, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Investing in a really solid action, stock/chassis, and optic is a big chunk of change. And even though I love my heavy barreled .308, it wouldn’t be my first choice for a precision rifle competition. Similarly, hot 6 mm loads are the hotness this year with the introduction of the barrel burning 6 mm Creedmoor, so the ability to swap out for a new barrel without spending an arm and leg in labor is welcome.

Jonathan Rubio from West Texas Ordnance was sharing some space with the folks from Hawkins Precision and was nice enough to show me his SwitchLug setup. The SwitchLug replaces your traditional recoil lug, and allows the end user to swap barrels back and forth as necessary. At the moment, WTO’s lug is designed for most Remington 700 pattern actions as well as WTO’s Claymore HD and Stiller’s Spectre. He was happy to demonstrate a swap for me, and I was pleased to see that it took right at a minute for him to remove the old barrel and replace it with a new one. Simply loosen the Torx, unscrew the old barrel, screw in the new barrel hand tight, and tighten the Torx. All this without removing the scope. 

The SwitchLug will not work with a standard Remington 700 barrel as it requires a slightly larger diameter shoulder and a 1 degree taper. Due to the larger shoulder, it might be necessary to relieve a bit of material from the stock of your existing rifle as well. Due to the thicker diameter (.350″), Jonathan also advises that some stocks need to be opened up around the recoil lug and bedded. This is especially true for chassis rifles.

As to repeatability, Jonathan says that they see a maximum of +/- .5 MOA shift between the same barrel with some barrel/action setups doing much better. At $135 for the lug and $375 for the lug and labor to have WTO true your action, the SwitchLug is a fairly attractive option for those looking to turn their Remington 700 or similar into a true switchbarrel setup.

Description

Many precision rifle competitors have built “trainer” rifles, usually chambered for a less expensive or more easily obtainable cartridge, to hone their positional and fundamental shooting skills. This allows them to keep the round count down on their actual match gun and prolong the life of a good barrel. With the SwitchLug, a second rifle is no longer necessary. You can simply have a second barrel chambered in your desired training cartridge and shoot it while prepping for matches (you’ll probably need a spare bolt and mag for .223 Remington of course). But instead of having to learn two separate rifles, you can now train with your actual match gun which means you get better behind the actual stock/chassis and optic that you will be running on game day.

Additionally, having a spare barrel available as your current tube runs out of life is made easier. Just have your spare barrel built, break it in and confirm your load and zero, then keep it on hand for a quick swap out if needed. No barrel vises or action wrenches are required, and complete disassembly of the rifle is not required. The action and SwitchLug remain installed in the rifle’s stock or chassis during barrel changes.  The only tool required is an inch-pound torque wrench, to loosen and re-torque the lug clamp screw.

Hunters benefit from the SwitchLug system as well. One rifle can be configured for multiple requirements; for example a flat shooting .28 Nosler can be built for a plains game hunt, but with a simple barrel swap can be turned into a .375 H&H for dangerous game use. Or, your lightweight 7mm08 deer stalking rifle can have a spare 22LRV barrel for long distance coyote hunting in the off season. As in the case of the competitor’s training rifle, the hunter can now gain confidence and ability by using the same rifle throughout different seasons, rather than having to learn a second rifle.