Well, I'm going to jump into my first big custom rifle I have ever done, er... well, I mean had a gunsmith do for me at least. I'm expecting to spend about $5,000.00 give or take, before glass, which I already have in my inventory.
I'm expecting this build to take at least 8-10 months, due to the time for the stocks to be built, parts to be imported, and the gunsmithing to be done, etc.
So, a brief history. I'm upgrading from my tried and Trusted Remington 700MLR in .338LM, which has served me well, but I just wanted to build something from the ground up. Don't get me wrong, that Remington got me to a kilometer many a time with ease, and even hit at the mile marker on a man sized target the two times I have ever tried shooting it out that far. That being said, it is, at very, very best, a 1/2MOA, 5 shot grouping gun at 200 yards, but is generally closer to the MOA area, and that is with top notch handloads suited to the rifle. The problem comes in that it is inconsistent in how it shoots, to the point where I know I am outshooting the gun some days, but other days it works perfectly with me. That is after I put lots of time and money into getting the rifle modified to be the best it could be without essentially starting from scratch. I want a rifle that I know it is me that causes accuracy problems, and not the other way around.
I feel I have reached the time for a full custom rig.
So, the story begins...
Here's the old girl I am aiming to replace.
Did the cheek riser myself. Tac-ord did the Fat Bastard muzzle break, bolt handle, and bedding.
So... on to the new build. She won't be a featherweight, that's for sure, but I am fine with that, I will only be benchresting, or much more often, prone with this gun. If I can keep it to about 15lbs or less once scoped, I am a happy guy, but I wont shed a tear if it is a wee bit heavier.
I have secured my first part of the whole project, a custom branded Defiance Action, built for Tac-Ord. What a sweet action! I got to fondle it for a while, and the thing is just a work of art. I could not ask for a better foundation for my dream build than this very action. Receiver is a machined one piece machined, pre-hardened SS, the picatinny rail is an integrally machined 20MOA slope. Full length lugways are wire EDM-cut to limit the stress in the receiver material. Bolt is .750", one piece machined, pre hardened 4340 chromemoly and threaded for interchangeable knobs. In short, just a beautiful piece of machining.
This is a pic of my actual action.
Now, on to my shopping list. I have not acquired these yet, but will be gearing up to order them. Most of the following are not my pics, just representations.
Barrel:
Bartlein .338 cal blank, Stainless Steel, 5R rifling, 1-9.35 twist # 18 - Whitley Medium Palma contour, 28" Finished length. Still debating on twist rate... any suggestions? I'll be only ever shooting 300gr projectiles, both 300SMK's, and also a bunch of the 300gr ULD projectiles such as the Lost River Ballistics, and the Chinchagas.
Muzzle brake:
American Precision Arms - Fat Bastard.
Had excellent experience with this muzzle brake, been quite impressed with it's recoil reduction and blast redirection characteristics over several of the competitors brakes.
Stock:
I love the fit and feel of a good old fashioned rifle stock. I have never found myself in love with the various chassis that I have tried. Maybe they just don't fit me, or maybe it is just some old hidden bias I have. (I bet you some AICS chassis insulted my mother when I was young) The options I have picked out are as follows: Sniper fill (ie. heavy fill through the whole stock, allowing you to add hardware if you desire, and increase weight a bit to decrease recoil), full custom inlet, 3 way buttpad, Thumbwheel adjustable cheekpiece, flush cups for sling, and picatinny rail for atlas bipod. Colour will be a marbled 25% black, 75% olive. Should be something along these lines when done... perhaps just going a bit heavier on the black side, but still less then 50/50.
Ideally, I will try to get them to install a folding stock hinge I have seen from a while back, but if not, then I will install it myself down the road. Never been able to find any info on this hinge, so it is possible it was a prototype or a custom build.
****EDIT****
Going to likely go with a Manners stock. They have all the options I want and a few extras.
The build list will be as follows:
Stock: MCS-TF3A
Special Option: Right Handed
Shell: Heavy Fill
Action: Defiance Deviant L/A
Trigger Guard: Accurate Mag DSSF .338LM 3.850 6 shot magazines **** I have contacted Manners and they are unsure if they have a match for this bottom metal, as it is a new product and double stack as opposed the standard single stack .338LM magazines. As such, I have attached the inletting specifications directly from Accurate Mag to check and see if they have an inletting pattern that matches it. If they do not, can you please see if it is possible for them to inlet to the specs? This would be ideal and save me plenty of time from having my smith do it. If they can or will not, then I'll have them pick an appropriate inlet that is smaller than the specifications in order for my gunsmith who is building the rifle for me to inlet, but this is only as a last resort and I would like to avoid it if possible.
Barrel Contour: Custom Barrel Inlet - Bartlein Whitley Medium Palma contour #18
Recoil Pad: ADJ BUTT 1" LIMB SAVER
Hardware:
Gear: MCS / STORM TACTICAL PRECISION RIFLE DATA BOOK
Bottom Metal:
Bottom metal will be the cool new Accurate-Mag Double stack, single feed bottom metal. I searched high and low for double stack mags compatible with my action before finding these, and lo and behold the are a match! Double stack, single feed mags are shorter than standard 5 round single stack box mags by about 3/4", but manage to hold 1 extra cartridge, for a total of 6 in the mag, using a shorter mag. They are also the longest .338LM mags on the market, with a whopping length of 3.850" OAL, as opposed to the very common average of 3.625" or the slightly longer 3.775" mags.
Win win win!
Trigger:
Trigger Tech roller trigger. These are the new kids on the block in firearms triggers, but they have made huge waves already, as PGW firearms are beginning to use them immediately in their firearms, and this is a massive vote of confidence towards their quality, coming from a manufacturer that holds the highest of tolerances.
Scope Mount:
SPUHR ISMS. I already have one, and it will be going on this rifle. The SPUHR Ideal Scope Mounting System is the best scope mount money can buy, period. Rugged, smart design, lightweight, what else could you want but a lower price tag? I won't have anything but this mount on my LR rifles. Currently debating getting another one if I can get one with more cant then the 20 MOA model I have at the moment.
Scope:
Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x56mm, MOAR reticle, zerostop. Again, another one I have and trust, that will be transferred over. Great riflescope, and it works very, very well with me.
So... that's the dream. I'm excited as hell to get this build underway.
Feel free to dig any holes in my build if you think I am making a terrible mistake somewhere, or am buying something entirely wrong for some reason, I'm open to opinions if they have a good thought process behind them.
Anyways, just figured you guys always like to see a build in progress, so here is my humble start!
I'm expecting this build to take at least 8-10 months, due to the time for the stocks to be built, parts to be imported, and the gunsmithing to be done, etc.
So, a brief history. I'm upgrading from my tried and Trusted Remington 700MLR in .338LM, which has served me well, but I just wanted to build something from the ground up. Don't get me wrong, that Remington got me to a kilometer many a time with ease, and even hit at the mile marker on a man sized target the two times I have ever tried shooting it out that far. That being said, it is, at very, very best, a 1/2MOA, 5 shot grouping gun at 200 yards, but is generally closer to the MOA area, and that is with top notch handloads suited to the rifle. The problem comes in that it is inconsistent in how it shoots, to the point where I know I am outshooting the gun some days, but other days it works perfectly with me. That is after I put lots of time and money into getting the rifle modified to be the best it could be without essentially starting from scratch. I want a rifle that I know it is me that causes accuracy problems, and not the other way around.
I feel I have reached the time for a full custom rig.
So, the story begins...
Here's the old girl I am aiming to replace.
Did the cheek riser myself. Tac-ord did the Fat Bastard muzzle break, bolt handle, and bedding.
So... on to the new build. She won't be a featherweight, that's for sure, but I am fine with that, I will only be benchresting, or much more often, prone with this gun. If I can keep it to about 15lbs or less once scoped, I am a happy guy, but I wont shed a tear if it is a wee bit heavier.
I have secured my first part of the whole project, a custom branded Defiance Action, built for Tac-Ord. What a sweet action! I got to fondle it for a while, and the thing is just a work of art. I could not ask for a better foundation for my dream build than this very action. Receiver is a machined one piece machined, pre-hardened SS, the picatinny rail is an integrally machined 20MOA slope. Full length lugways are wire EDM-cut to limit the stress in the receiver material. Bolt is .750", one piece machined, pre hardened 4340 chromemoly and threaded for interchangeable knobs. In short, just a beautiful piece of machining.
This is a pic of my actual action.
Now, on to my shopping list. I have not acquired these yet, but will be gearing up to order them. Most of the following are not my pics, just representations.
Barrel:
Bartlein .338 cal blank, Stainless Steel, 5R rifling, 1-9.35 twist # 18 - Whitley Medium Palma contour, 28" Finished length. Still debating on twist rate... any suggestions? I'll be only ever shooting 300gr projectiles, both 300SMK's, and also a bunch of the 300gr ULD projectiles such as the Lost River Ballistics, and the Chinchagas.
Muzzle brake:
American Precision Arms - Fat Bastard.
Had excellent experience with this muzzle brake, been quite impressed with it's recoil reduction and blast redirection characteristics over several of the competitors brakes.
Stock:
I love the fit and feel of a good old fashioned rifle stock. I have never found myself in love with the various chassis that I have tried. Maybe they just don't fit me, or maybe it is just some old hidden bias I have. (I bet you some AICS chassis insulted my mother when I was young) The options I have picked out are as follows: Sniper fill (ie. heavy fill through the whole stock, allowing you to add hardware if you desire, and increase weight a bit to decrease recoil), full custom inlet, 3 way buttpad, Thumbwheel adjustable cheekpiece, flush cups for sling, and picatinny rail for atlas bipod. Colour will be a marbled 25% black, 75% olive. Should be something along these lines when done... perhaps just going a bit heavier on the black side, but still less then 50/50.
Ideally, I will try to get them to install a folding stock hinge I have seen from a while back, but if not, then I will install it myself down the road. Never been able to find any info on this hinge, so it is possible it was a prototype or a custom build.
****EDIT****
Going to likely go with a Manners stock. They have all the options I want and a few extras.
The build list will be as follows:
Stock: MCS-TF3A
Special Option: Right Handed
Shell: Heavy Fill
Action: Defiance Deviant L/A
Trigger Guard: Accurate Mag DSSF .338LM 3.850 6 shot magazines **** I have contacted Manners and they are unsure if they have a match for this bottom metal, as it is a new product and double stack as opposed the standard single stack .338LM magazines. As such, I have attached the inletting specifications directly from Accurate Mag to check and see if they have an inletting pattern that matches it. If they do not, can you please see if it is possible for them to inlet to the specs? This would be ideal and save me plenty of time from having my smith do it. If they can or will not, then I'll have them pick an appropriate inlet that is smaller than the specifications in order for my gunsmith who is building the rifle for me to inlet, but this is only as a last resort and I would like to avoid it if possible.
Barrel Contour: Custom Barrel Inlet - Bartlein Whitley Medium Palma contour #18
Recoil Pad: ADJ BUTT 1" LIMB SAVER
Hardware:
- 2 Flush Cups (Left Side)
- Atlas Rail
- Install 9/16" Pillars
Gear: MCS / STORM TACTICAL PRECISION RIFLE DATA BOOK
Bottom Metal:
Bottom metal will be the cool new Accurate-Mag Double stack, single feed bottom metal. I searched high and low for double stack mags compatible with my action before finding these, and lo and behold the are a match! Double stack, single feed mags are shorter than standard 5 round single stack box mags by about 3/4", but manage to hold 1 extra cartridge, for a total of 6 in the mag, using a shorter mag. They are also the longest .338LM mags on the market, with a whopping length of 3.850" OAL, as opposed to the very common average of 3.625" or the slightly longer 3.775" mags.
Win win win!
Trigger:
Trigger Tech roller trigger. These are the new kids on the block in firearms triggers, but they have made huge waves already, as PGW firearms are beginning to use them immediately in their firearms, and this is a massive vote of confidence towards their quality, coming from a manufacturer that holds the highest of tolerances.
Scope Mount:
SPUHR ISMS. I already have one, and it will be going on this rifle. The SPUHR Ideal Scope Mounting System is the best scope mount money can buy, period. Rugged, smart design, lightweight, what else could you want but a lower price tag? I won't have anything but this mount on my LR rifles. Currently debating getting another one if I can get one with more cant then the 20 MOA model I have at the moment.
Scope:
Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x56mm, MOAR reticle, zerostop. Again, another one I have and trust, that will be transferred over. Great riflescope, and it works very, very well with me.
So... that's the dream. I'm excited as hell to get this build underway.
Feel free to dig any holes in my build if you think I am making a terrible mistake somewhere, or am buying something entirely wrong for some reason, I'm open to opinions if they have a good thought process behind them.
Anyways, just figured you guys always like to see a build in progress, so here is my humble start!
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