The following are some thoughts on the above subject. The ability to interchange barrels came up some time ago and was quite a popular item on the Handi 'wish list' of improvements. For me, as a Canadian, I don't have access to the NEF Barrel Program so for me interchangeability would be great, but then I got thinking about it.
At one point I was seriously considering the purchase of a G2 Contender ($800.00 CDN) but no one had them in stock in my area. I did however inspect three or four Encores and was favorably impressed.
I was just about to order a G2 sight-unseen but decided to wait. Good thing I did as I subsequently went to Bass Pro in Toronto to see what they had in stock. They too had no G2's but they showed me an Encore that looked pretty good until I checked to see if the barrel lock up was snug. It was loose, really loose. I later went on the GBO G2/Encore forum and found a complaint to T/C about a similar situation. Apparently someone received a loose Encore from T/C. They shipped the rifle back to T/C for repair. T/C inspected the affected parts and found them to be within specified tolerances. They returned the rifle 'as-is' to their customer with the aforementioned explanation( ie. within spec). Boy, what a happy customer!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Needless to say I didn't buy a G2. I bought a Handi at Bass Pro because I was so impressed with the fit & finish and price. Also, I could personally confirm tight fit up as they had plenty of them in stock.
The thing is, if you design for interchangeability, sooner or later someone is going to get a rifle at "minimum-material-condition' . This means maximum clearances and I think that is what happened in the case mentioned. What this also means is that buying interchangeable barrels is taking the risk of getting a loose assembly that is within specified tolerances. This may leave you without recourse to a remedy from the manufacturer under their terms of the warrantee.
Maybe NEF policy to custom fit extra barrels is not so bad after all. What is your opinion?
Quick, I was sure hoping to get a response from you on this one.