Reimagining the Rook rifle, an all Canadian custom 3.75lb 5.6x50 Magnum

Thank you, no I had Martin (Hagn) nitride the action.

Well... shot it at 300 again today, with the new 22” barrel. There’s witchcraft with this gun, absolutely would not shoot the factory 50gr now. The 70gr wasn’t even on the 3x3 target. Praying that’s grouping well just have to resight in again.
 
Well this is the strangest behaviour I’ve ever had from factory ammo, or any load. No idea why the effect was so muted in 27.25” except that the weather has been consistently hot. Already mentioned how the sweet spot was so tight, with 1.4grs separating very tight groups from 4 1/4”.

Well after the barrel trim, shot the rifle today, and was rewarded with vertical dispersion of more than a foot at 300, in a dead straight line. Moved to 100 tonight (below) to figure it out. Talk about a sinking feeling. Well, checked everything that could cause vertical stringing, mounts, forend tension, primer pressure signs... then I noticed the box of fired brass had all different pressure signs on the primers, of the factory 50gr. Had two rounds left and decided to heat the ammo up, put the last pair in hot tea from the camp carafe. And bam, they literally touched. The second smaller group came out of my pocket, while the long skinny vertical pair had been from a cool box. I need to get some real powder up here. Never seen anything like this.

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Eyeing it up... to do or not to do. Roughed skeleton plate.

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the spank said:
I don’t think 25-30 lpi would take away from your grain at all? Imo opinion it would really give the rifle that little extra English hand crafted “best” look!
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In my opinion it would, quite a great deal. And as a mountain rifle checkering is rapidly dented and abused, any smooth surface I can just resand and refinish. Checkered the butt to save weight but still have some shoulder purchase on it.
 
Ardent said:
Well this is the strangest behaviour I’ve ever had from factory ammo, or any load. No idea why the effect was so muted in 27.25” except that the weather has been consistently hot. Already mentioned how the sweet spot was so tight, with 1.4grs separating very tight groups from 4 1/4”.

Well after the barrel trim, shot the rifle today, and was rewarded with vertical dispersion of more than a foot at 300, in a dead straight line. Moved to 100 tonight (below) to figure it out. Talk about a sinking feeling. Well, checked everything that could cause vertical stringing, mounts, forend tension, primer pressure signs... then I noticed the box of fired brass had all different pressure signs on the primers, of the factory 50gr. Had two rounds left and decided to heat the ammo up, put the last pair in hot tea from the camp carafe. And bam, they literally touched. The second smaller group came out of my pocket, while the long skinny vertical pair had been from a cool box. I need to get some real powder up here. Never seen anything like this.

PLdgCID.jpg

hmQNXPp.jpg

3yXe7pC.jpg
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Message to self, don't shoot factory ammo, and keep a Contigo full of hot tea handy. Turns out it wasn't a bad idea, but what made you think of heating the cartridges? Seems like uniform bullet weight, case volume, and bullet pull weight will be extremely important with this one. By the way Ardent, every time I come back to this thread, the rifle looks better and better.
 
Boomer said:
By the way Ardent, every time I come back to this thread, the rifle looks better and better.
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I agree... gorgeous little rifle... a unique and classy piece... we just have to find a slimmer, trimmer scope (with both turret caps)... Angus, how much magnification do you want on the top end? I think the Leupold 2-7X28mm RF would be just about the perfect size and the closer parallax will have little impact on your distance shooting, while the fine duplex will allow precise aiming... here is a picture of one on a Browning Buck Mark Sporter, and the Aluma caps are a good idea on this one.;
 
That’s a trade secret still Piker, doing something new.

hoytcanon said:
I agree... gorgeous little rifle... a unique and classy piece... we just have to find a slimmer, trimmer scope (with both turret caps)... Angus, how much magnification do you want on the top end? I think the Leupold 2-7X28mm RF would be just about the perfect size and the closer parallax will have little impact on your distance shooting, while the fine duplex will allow precise aiming... here is a picture of one on a Browning Buck Mark Sporter, and the Aluma caps are a good idea on this one.;
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Elevation cap is one of the Leupold customs, you send it in for engraving to match your load. Still settling on the load but plan to keep that 2-7x33, and then a really nice set of irons.
 
Ardent said:
That’s a trade secret still Piker, doing something new.



Elevation cap is one of the Leupold customs, you send it in for engraving to match your load. Still settling on the load but plan to keep that 2-7x33, and then a really nice set of irons.
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Sure... but when I got a chance to handle the 28mm version, I was surprised at how much sleeker and lighter the scope was compared to the standard 33mm version or the 3-9x33mm version that I had on previously... everything about your new little build screams; "SLEEK."
 
The Kurgan said:
I was going to suggest a VX-2 1-4x20 in a finer reticle. Light scopes, good glass, and adequate range for most practical shooting situations.
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It is the perfect size for sure, but 4X might be a smidge light in goat country.

It sure would be a pretty package though, especially with more streamlined rings.
 
One thing I can say about the VX-2's I've owned over the years--they can take a beating! I find that my older eyes seem to focus much better with lower magnification scopes. Don't know why.
 
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