New Precision Rifle in the house!-New pics on post #52!

Crashman

Crashman

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Southeastern Ontario
I have just completed the final assembly of my most recent tactical style precision rifle. The goal of this build was to have a rifle that could be used for target/tactical style matches and fun shooting, and possibly as a back up hunting rifle for big game and predator hunting, with sub 0.5 MOA as the accuracy goal. The action and barrel were put together by our very own Juan Valdez from North Shore Barrels, and as usual he did an outstanding job. Turn around time was very good, especially considering we had to wait for a few new tools to arrive for him to complete the work! I must say Sean is great to work with; I can be a most annoying customer with all my questions, comments and concerns, when in reality I should just shut up and let him do his magic because in the end that is how it turns out anyhow! Here are the details…

Action and Barrel…
The action used in this rifle is a standard Remington 700 SPS short action with the normal BDL bottom metal. Sean trued the action and bolt lugs, chambered and head spaced a Shilen match barrel in 260 Remington with a 1 in 8” twist, and installed an EGW 20 MOA base for me. He also put a recessed crown on the barrel, and then put a parkerized finish on the barrel. Standard X Mark trigger is being used for now, and surprisingly it is a pretty decent trigger.

Stock…
The stock I used is a factory take off HS Precision from a Remington of some description, which I got off the EE here on CGN. It is the black and green colour scheme, which looks predominantly black to me but I like it and it seems to work well. I had to open the barrel channel a considerable amount though as the new barrel did not even come close to fitting in there. For this I used a 1.25” wooden dowel with 60 grit sand paper, about 30 minutes later I had the new barrel completely free floated. I then drilled the stock for a Tac Pro adjustable cheek piece, and then put on my Caldwell bi-pod up front.

Optics…
For optics I went with a Vortex Viper HS 4-16X50 with the BDC style reticle. I have been using Vortex exclusively for four or five years now and I have to say I am completely satisfied with their products. I have a PST 6-24, and a Razor 5-20, but I wanted a slightly smaller scope physically for now. The glass is very good on this particular example, and the reticle is extremely fine which I really like for better precision on the target. I also ordered the PMR rings which I really like for their durability and precise machining tolerances, but unfortunately the low rings are back ordered right now so I had to use the vertically split HS rings for now. I also installed one of Vortex’s 30mm bubble level to the scope to help me as I am habitually bad for canting the rifle both on the bench and while prone.

Planned Future Upgrades…
First and foremost, I plan to bed the action to this stock. This will happen very soon. I have a good friend who is experienced with this so as soon as he is done hunting, the rifle and I will be in his shop to do a proper bedding job. Next will be the installation of a decent detachable mag system. Either CDI, HS Precision, or possibly some other system. Possibly a trigger upgrade, but I need a few more range sessions to see if I can live with this trigger or not. And finally the rings as soon as the PMR-30-87 are available.

Range Session…
I had some left over loads from my previous 260 which was a Savage build. I had to set the bullets in a little deeper as the Remington has a shorter headspace and the loads as is would not chamber. Here is the load info…Lapua brass, 139 grain Lapua Scenars and 140 AMAX, H4350 and H4831SC, and CCI BR2 primers. The rifle really liked the H4831SC with the 139 Lapua Scenars, and I only had 26 rounds loaded of various recipes. The overall average for four 5 shot groups and one 6 shot group is 0.558” with the best five shot group measuring 0.398” but the group opened up to 0.575” when I fired a sixth and final round into it. This shooting was done from a wooden bench with a Caldwell bipod up front and no rear rest except for my fist under the butt stock for elevation control.

Conclusion…
I am very happy with this build so far, obviously a lot more work at the reloading bench and then the range is required to see if this will be a consistent sub 0.5 MOA shooter, but my initial range session looks very promising. A special thanks to Sean aka Juan Valdez at North Shore Barrels for the fine workmanship and speedy turn around time on the action and barrel, and for walking me through the final assembly of all the various parts. Here are some pictures…

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I love bug holes from bipods. Good on you and good shooting.

My barrel is being chambered in 260 rem at this time and I will reluctantly have to wait a little longer to get back on the range. What load are you shooting with the 140s? I will be starting with 130 bergers as I am optimizing my COAL for those beauties. 140s will also be on the menu down the road.
 
elkhuntr said:
I love bug holes from bipods. Good on you and good shooting.

My barrel is being chambered in 260 rem at this time and I will reluctantly have to wait a little longer to get back on the range. What load are you shooting with the 140s? I will be starting with 130 bergers as I am optimizing my COAL for those beauties. 140s will also be on the menu down the road.
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Thanks elkhuntr! My load for the 140 AMAX is 45.7 grains of H4831SC, which I think is max according to the Hodgdon website, but I have used this load for a while now and it gives no pressure signs at all. My rifle actually likes the 139 Scenars better, and I drive them a bit harder with a load of 46 grains of H4831SC. I haven't checked for velocity yet, but again pressure signs are non existent.
 
Sweet gun! Glad you were able to get yourself a new precision toy. I know I have been enjoying the savage you built in .260 :D

How is it for weight if you plan on bringing it into the field for hunting possibly?

Thanks for sharing with us.
 
The power ring lever is a Vortex product, works really well too.

The weight all dressed is 13.6 lbs, which I find to be a nice weight for both range work and not too bad for hunting. But I will be investing in a good sling...any suggestions?
 
Check out http://w w w.timberbutteoutdoors.com/index.html for slings. I have two of them and they work great! They even made one of mine in a color not previously offered. Great people to deal with!
 
Just had another range session today, results were very good despite the conditions. We had a steady 25 km/h wind from the left, and gusts up to 35 to 40 km/h. It made for a tough morning at the range, but I still managed to shoot some decent groups. Best 5 shot group was 0.415" with the average at 0.6".

Also checked the velocity and I am getting a five shot average of 2770 fps, with an extreme spread of 27 fps. I did notice a bit of cratering on the primer after I shot, but bolt lift was fine and extraction was good too. The bullets are seated so that I am getting about a 0.0010" jam into the lands, so I think I will try some seated just a bit deeper and back off the powder maybe 0.3 to 0.5 grains as the load is already compressed.

Bad news is my buddy provided the chrony, and after I shot my loads through it, he decided to checked his 220 swift loads. He has them loaded really hot, hot enough that while he was shooting and I was spotting, I thought the bullets were key holeing into the target. Turns out they were breaking up as soon as they left the barrel, and when he fired his second shot through the chrony a bullet fragment took out the the display screen! He was not happy to say the least!

Sorry no pics today, I forgot the camera at home. Next time. ;)
 
Crashman it sounds like your setup is working pretty decently. An honest average 5-shot group size of 0.6" is pretty good in real life, and a heckuva lot better than in Internet-world.

An E.S. of 27fps (for 5 shots, I assume?), is pretty decent. It is good enough to shoot 1000 yards with and be reasonably competitive (if you want to be able to win a world championship match you'd probably want ammo with a 15-shot extreme spread of 20-25fps - while you aren't quite there, you really are that close)
 
rnbra-shooter said:
Crashman it sounds like your setup is working pretty decently. An honest average 5-shot group size of 0.6" is pretty good in real life, and a heckuva lot better than in Internet-world.

An E.S. of 27fps (for 5 shots, I assume?), is pretty decent. It is good enough to shoot 1000 yards with and be reasonably competitive (if you want to be able to win a world championship match you'd probably want ammo with a 15-shot extreme spread of 20-25fps - while you aren't quite there, you really are that close)
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Thanks Daniel, I am trying very hard to do my best with this rig and I am very pleased with the results so far. Yes the E.S. is for 5 shots, I would have done another 5 shots, but as I said, the chrony did not survive! I still have a lot to learn, both at the reloading bench and the shooting bench. I noticed at my last several reloading sessions that my balance beam scale was acting a little wonky so I think I will look at picking another one to depend on, any recommendations on a scale? I was also looking into one of the various electronic powder dispensers, but they are a significant investment and I want to make sure I get the right one.
 
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