I had this built over the past few months.
- Stainless ADL long action M700, 280 Ackley caliber.
- Action slabbed but no holes through to let the nasty stuff in. Factory shroud turned down, chrome silicon spring with factory firing pin polished, vertical mill on the mag box, tab installed on the safety to lock the bolt down, scope base screws tapped out to 8-40.
- Shilen trigger.
- Ted Gaillard in Saskatchewan trued the action and installed one of his barrels, a stainless 9-twist, 24" M700 mountain rifle contour with deeply recessed crown. 0.55" or so at the muzzle.
- The stock is a departure for me, it is an MPI kevlar M70-featherweight model than has had the foreend reinforced with two sheets of fiberglass running at right angles to each other. Brutally strong with no flex at all, I think it's stiffer than the Bansners and McMillans I have worked with. At least as stiff anyway. Aluminium pillar bedded with the barrel full-length neutral bedded like a ULA. 1/2" foam pad with endura paint, Swarovski green with heavy black and white webbing. The stock alone weighs 22.4 oz.
- Talley ultralights lapped with a matte 6X42 with Premier #4.
BRNO284 on the boards here oversaw the action surgery and did the stock work.
It weighs 6 pounds, 11 oz as she sits. I will have the bolt helically fluted and the bolt handle hollowed after season.
So far she is averaging about 0.7" with 140 accubonds at 3150. Most targets are 2 shots in one hole with one of the three out, I think a lot of that is me learning to shoot a rifle this light. Balance is awesome, 1/2" in front of the guard screw. I shoot it as well offhand as my 8-9 pound rifles. It just....fits. The only problem now is that I don't want to carry anything else, and my other rifles will be lonely while they collect dust in the safe.
I had a bit of an all-arounder in mind, otherwise I would have built it pretty much exactly like 280_Ackleys.