PROOF Research Launches Multi-Caliber Switch Rifle

Written by Jacki Billings

PROOF Research pulls the old switch-a-roo with its appropriately titled Switch rifle, designed to deliver more caliber options on a single platform.

The Switch gains its mystical changeling powers from its swappable barrel design and interchangeable bolt-head. Crafted so that owners need only hand tools to alternate between multiple calibers, no extensive gunsmithing is required to make the trade between cartridges.

PROOF details the process in an instructional video that, in total, takes around five minutes to complete. Users disassemble the rifle and bolt, switch up bolt face to desired diameter, trade barrels to preferred cartridge, then reassemble the system. Bolt faces come in either .390 or .480 diameter. With a simple mag change using any AICS pattern magazines, the transformation is complete.

Chambered in .223 Rem, 6mm Creedmoor, 6.5 Creedmoor, .260 Rem., or .308 Win the Switch ships with a stylish carbon fiber threaded barrel— so pop on a can or brake for a little added flare. PROOF supplies barrel add-ons in additional calibers such as .22-250 Rem and 7mm-08 in both stainless steel and carbon fiber styles.

Someone over at PROOF must really dig carbon fiber because the stock is, you guessed it, a carbon fiber construction with vertical grip.

The Switch maintains controlled feed action, according to the company, through its pillar-bedded, precision-ground mechanical ejector. Whether shooters want to keep brass nearby for later reloading or launch it at neighboring shooters (stop asking to borrow ammo, Steve), users are in control of where brass falls. The rifle tops out its features with a 20 MOA Picatinny rail.

The folks at PROOF define the Switch as the “ultimate do-it-all rifle” with capabilities spanning varminting to long range.

“This gives the serious hunter one rifle to hunt everything in North America short of Brown Bear,” PROOF Research Marketing Manager Chris Polley explained. “Going deep into the backcountry for elk, or to high altitude for trophy sheep? Install your lightweight, tack driving, carbon fiber-wrapped barrel. Planning to slay prairie dogs from the back of your pickup? Swap in your small-caliber steel barrel and get to work. Adaptability isn’t the only benefit though—as pros will tell you, becoming intimately familiar with one system pays off when that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity requires a high- pressure, time-constrained shot in fading light: To paraphrase past gunslingers, ‘Beware the man with one rifle, he probably knows how to shoot it.’”

Boasting PROOF’s 1/2 MOA guarantee, the Switch slips into the market in the sub-$4,000 category.