Building a Target rifle

Great_White_hunter

Great_White_hunter

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I am wanting to get an accurate rifle for longer distance shots with a .338 Win. Mag. Many of the accurate guns out of the box are at least $1300. I was thinking about getting something cheap like a savage 200 for $300, and getting a stevens .338 target barrel (if they have them) a Boyd's Stalk and a Sharpshooter Savage trigger. But I have not been able to find a stevens .338 barrel yet, and was wondering how much modification/approx. price would be needed to put a Thompson Center Encore Pro-Hunter barrel onto the Stevens Action? Or if i should possibly look for a different used action like a model 98 Mauser and go from there?
 
Great_White_hunter said:
I am wanting to get an accurate rifle for longer distance shots with a .338 Win. Mag. Many of the accurate guns out of the box are at least $1300. I was thinking about getting something cheap like a savage 200 for $300, and getting a stevens .338 target barrel (if they have them) a Boyd's Stalk and a Sharpshooter Savage trigger. But I have not been able to find a stevens .338 barrel yet, and was wondering how much modification/approx. price would be needed to put a Thompson Center Encore Pro-Hunter barrel onto the Stevens Action? Or if i should possibly look for a different used action like a model 98 Mauser and go from there?
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The parts you listed all together plus some 'smith time to true the action,(providing you buy a crappy stevens)a bedding kit etc will probably cost you more in the long run than buying out of the box accuracy. Been there.
 
Nothing really. Their quality is on par with Rem, Win, Ruger, whatever. Some folks just don't like inexpensive guns. The assumption of truing the action and rebarreling and restocking costing more then a $1300 gun is pretty close to the mark though, unless you do the work yourself. Having said that, I would bet that a trued Stevens with a quality barrel, bedded well and with a decent trigger, would probably out shoot quite a few of the high dollar guns out there. FWIW. - dan
 
Dan I would do the trigger and stalk myself, but to attach the action to the barrel I would get a gunsmith to do it (just so happens the small town I am from I know a guy that has been gunsmithing for himself and friends for the past 50 years, he gives me a good rate), do you have any idea about being able to use the Thompson barrel instead of a Stevens, or woudl i have ot get the Thomson re-threaded?
 
you can order prethreaded and prechambered barrels for the stevens look up mysticplayer or obtunded on this board either one of them should be able to help you out.
 
.338 win bah go for broke and make it in .338 lapua magnum lol.

lots of good rifles to choose from and you are correct, you don't have to drop a huge pile of dough. good shooters are good shooters, brand means little.
 
You want to build a .338 Win Mag target rifle and you think $1300 for "accurate guns out of the box" is too much money. Have you priced a box of .338 Win Mag ammo? There is no mention in your post if you are looking to just poke holes in paper at longer distances or use it for hunting. If it is just for paper a .308 or even a .223 will poke clean little holes at 1000 yards of more.
 
The project you describe will be very economical and I can supply Shilen match barrels that are a drop in fit. The Stevens work very well out of the box and are not saddled with the handicapps found in other solid front locking actions.

There is little reason that a Shilen match barrel in a chambering you want can't shoot as good as more expensive custom rigs. I compete with mine and the many that I have built all seem to work just fine.

None of my actions, including the feature on 6mmBR, has had any work done to true the actions. Simply not needed. I do adjust the bolt timing to make the bolt lift easier but that's it.

The barrel install is actually very straightforward to do and your 'smith friend will be able to get it done in a few minutes. I am not supposed to quote pricing in the general forum so just send me a PM. I also have an EE post that will be near the top for all the info you could want.

Unless you have very specific desires for the 338WM, there might be more options that could work better. Let me know what your end use will be and I can help with suggestions on barrel and chambering specs.

Dan and keegs, thanks for the kind words/referal.

Jerry

PS, sounds like a 300WM is a min and the 338 is nice for bear BUT a small case 338 is not a LR friend. You will get better LR performance with the 300 then you will with the 338WM. As for short range game stopper, neither is particularly big. I think 300WM ammo is more readily available if going overseas too.

Since this is mostly hunting, consider the SAVAGE with new center feed mag and accutrigger. The trigger is superb and will do all that the SSS will do and be safer ( 2 to 2.5lbs pull is a no brainer).

The Dmag is superb and run smooth. To add this feature, some are spending upwards of $800 for parts and labour to install in Rems

The Stevens trigger will go to around 3lbs pull which will be very crisp and no overtravel. Not sure if you want lighter in a hunting rig. Comes with a blind mag which is fine but I like D mags.
 
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OH and the accurate guns that are 1300 none come in .338 the closest is a Weatherby .340. The reason I want to get a .338 Win. Mag. is because I have shot a .270 Win all my life, and I did the research to find out about trajectories, speeds, drop everything, and the most similar are to my .270 Win is a .338 Win. Mag. the main difference is that the .338 has 6-8 inches less drop at 500 yards, therefore I don't have to do much to re-learn how to shoot this gun, and I can go from one to the other with relative ease.
 
Less drop at 500? I find that tough to see with bullets of equal SD. Perhaps you should go over your research again. And yes, I have a few 270s and numerous varieties of 338s. To achieve like bullet drop to a high SD 277 bullet at 270 speeds, you're looking at at least a 340 Wby, and more likely a Lapua or Lapua AI. FWIW - dan
 
Great_White_hunter said:
I did the research to find out about trajectories, speeds, drop everything, and the most similar are to my .270 Win is a .338 Win. Mag. the main difference is that the .338 has 6-8 inches less drop at 500 yards,
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I think I figured out how you came to this conclusion. A Barnes 185 gr MRX loaded in a .338 Winchester should make about 3030 fps and have a drop of 45" at 500 yards. This would prove to be a good big game load, and compares favourably as you said to a .270 loaded with a 130 gr MRX at 3200 fps which drops 39" at the same range (100 yard zero in each case).

There are a couple of problems with these assumptions though. First is that not all of the Barnes bullets shoot well in all rifles, although a match grade barrel like a Shilen should give you an edge. Secondly, 500 yards while a stretch in the hunting fields is 100 yards shy of where long range match shooting begins, and at really long range the low BC bullets will be surpassed by the high BC bullets despite their higher muzzle velocity.

From your post though it sounds like this will be a precision hunting rifle as opposed to a target rifle, and if longish shots are what you want this rig should fill the bill. If your barrel is finished long, and you choose a slow twist, you might even be able to coax a bit more speed out of the old girl.
 
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