Rebirth of a precision Lion killer

[alberta tactical rifle]

After several years of faithful service and over 5000 rounds of ammo down range my trusted Sako based 300 win mag barrel finally bit the dust so to speak. Whilest rebarrelling it we decided to give it a fresh look as well as new optics.
Went with a Rock Creek M24 5R barrel 27" long, 1 of our custom gill brakes so recoil is nearly non existant, 5.5x22x56 Nightforce on an ATRS plus 25MOA custom Sako rail, I retained the old Recknagel single set trigger group.
Matte black Ceramicoated the barrelled action.

Before

After

And yes it appears to shoot not too badly. This is just initial load work up.

 

[carbonrod]

needs a half minute left.

 

[Onagoth]

wow, thats all I can say

 

[Wookie316]

Nice.

 

[alberta tactical rifle]

needs a half minute left.

True but as I was simply looking for the best load was not concerned about anything but group size. I am still tweaking the load for OAL but it is showing promise.

 

[Ryan j]

Nice looking setup ATR!

With 5000+ rounds through the origional barrel what kind of accuracy were you getting when you decided to retire it?

 

[alberta tactical rifle]

Nice looking setup ATR!

With 5000+ rounds through the origional barrel what kind of accuracy were you getting when you decided to retire it?

We`were out shooting 3 weeks ago and all was fine, then in the middle of the shooting I started missing the gong at 850 yards. I cleaned the bore and tried to shoot a group at 100 yards and was barely able to keep shots on paper.
Looking down the bore through the borescope, the firecracking is non stop from chamber to crown.
Up until the end it shot 1/2 moa consistantly then just crashed and burned.
This barrel should have died long ago, 5000 plus rounds from a 300 win mag is not the norm at all.

 

[Kevan]

Rick, thats a sharp looking rifle....what does it weigh field ready ?
Must be a fair bit lighter than the Nesika in my safe...eh ?

 

[alberta tactical rifle]

Rick, thats a sharp looking rifle....what does it weigh field ready ?
Must be a fair bit lighter than the Nesika in my safe...eh ?

It is NO light weight rig to be sure, same contour barrel just shorter than your Lapua.
It tips the scale at just barely shy of15 lbs as shown, but it is well mannered to shoot
I am getting 2985 fps with the 200 gr SMKs.
God bless Gun Juice!!

 

[MagnumPeanut]

Send me a PM. I want to get a break like that on my 7mmRM. Let me know what it will cost me installed.

 

[redman]

Hi ATR,

Can you please provide some more specific specs on thge rifle as it was before, including stock & optics? "Sako based 300 win mag" isn't cutting the mustard

Thanks

 

[alberta tactical rifle]

The rifle started off in the early 70s as an L61R Sako in 7 Rem Mag since the original barrel burned out the current barrel in number 9
The action I have merely faced off and then rebarrelled multiple times.
The bolt knob was installed a few years ago along with the Recknagel single set trigger.
The stock is a modified McMillan "Sako Varmit" the modifications include a palm swell that fits me as well as a cheek rest that is much higher and thicker, again to fit me.
For optics this time a NF 5.5x22x56 R2 in NF rings placed onto a custom made plus 25 moa rail that we made.
Hope that helps.

Magnum Peanut Our brakes installed and finished are $350.00

 

[redman]

1. Was the stock in the lion pic the factory Sako stock?
2. What was the scope in the lion pic? Doesn't look like an NF... Leupold? And the mount?

Just curious about this rifle's "past glory"

 

[wild1]

Looks good.

 

[alberta tactical rifle]

1. Was the stock in the lion pic the factory Sako stock?
2. What was the scope in the lion pic? Doesn't look like an NF... Leupold? And the mount?

Just curious about this rifle's "past glory"

Exactly the same McMillan stock it now wears, just in a different color scheme.
Fortunately I had a 3.5x10 Leupold MK4 on it for the lion kill. Things may have gone poorly for me if I had a higher magnification scope on the rifle at that particular point in time.
The Mk4 was in Sako optilok rings.

 

[2bad4u2]

Exactly the same McMillan stock it now wears, just in a different color scheme.
Fortunately I had a 3.5x10 Leupold MK4 on it for the lion kill. Things may have gone poorly for me if I had a higher magnification scope on the rifle at that particular point in time.
The Mk4 was in Sako optilok rings.

Forget the scope magnification. You should be thankful the lion couldn't shoot back.

 

[X-fan]

Looks nice Rick!

The groups you shot are unacceptable.....Too hard to measure!

I would suggest re-shooting at 300 yards where you could actually measure....without using a microscope.

Going back to Africa?

 

[alberta tactical rifle]

Looks nice Rick!

The groups you shot are unacceptable.....Too hard to measure!

I would suggest re-shooting at 300 yards where you could actually measure....without using a microscope.

Going back to Africa?

I hope to get out again soon to try some more loads and then see what it will do at distance.
Yup Africa again in the future, but my Bro down under is demanding I come help fix their buffalo problem 1st

 

[redman]

First Africa, now Australia... You shoud change your sig to read: "Stay thirsty, my friends."

Cool hunting and cool rig.

 

[alberta tactical rifle]

Had time to shoot a bit more last weekend.
The last load looks very promising, all are 5 shots at 100 yards.
Now to just zero it with the best load and I think it is ready to kill something.