baldie Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 Here's one I finished last week , and it gave pause for thought. More of which later. This was an old rem, used by its owner until the std barrel had gone. It came in with a jewell trigger [ set as heavy as it could be ] and that was about it. The brief was to rebarrel, restock, bed and paint. Deposit was paid, and work was mapped out. The customer then said he required a 1/2" moa guarantee with factory ammunition. i politely declined and offered to refund his deposit. After a chat, he was happy to proceed. Firstly, the action was stripped and basic blueprinted. This involves refacing the receiver, cutting the action threads oversize, recutting the abuttments and also recutting the bolt lug faces and bolt face. Then a Bergara sporter weight barrel was fitted at around 22" , screwcut 1/2" unf and fitted with an A-tec Maxim. The barrel is a 1 in 8" twist .243 calibre. A manners GAT stock was chosen, and a Third Eye floorplate milled out for and then bedded in. Pillars are fitted, and the action given a proper devcon bedding job, and NOT a bedding block. The stock was then painted in Danish Flectarn pattern and the metalwork in OD green. A matt lacquer was then applied to the stock to reduce glare...this is a stalking rifle after all. A stainless steel one piece 20 MOA rail completed the set up. Many people would turn their nose up at such a gun. Its built from so called "budget" parts such as.. Remington action Bergara barrel Lee dies used to load the ammo. Remington brass. These are the first 6 shots out of the gun, shot yesterday at Diggle in wet and blustery conditions, and witnessed by Vince. The large disc was bore sighted upon. The first two rounds went through the same hole, the third, i think, caught by a gust. This was with some old 70 grain SMK loads I had kicking around. The second group was with sierra SMK,s but they are 107 grain, not 105 as i,ve written on the target. Just a mid range powder load, chosen completely at random from the Lee manual and loaded at SAAMI length. Kinda makes you think how much crap is spoken about what an action, must or mustn't be, or do doesn't it? Same for brass, dies, bullets and fanning around with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 It also says something about the skill of the shooter I think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 I wouldn't hesitate using another Bergara barrel, the one I have shoots very well. Can I ask if you think the blueprinting plays much of a part in this rifles accuracy, if so to what extent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldie Posted December 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 I,ve always been of the firm belief that an action must have 2 things Al. A square receiver face and both bolt lugs bearing. After that its so much dick waving. Make everything square from front to back, and a gun will shoot regardless of what its made from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbal Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 Just when things were looking quiet for Xmas. Nice one ,Dave-this could be lively! It's likely-I think very well supported,really,almost without a negative-that skilled gunsmithing never does any harm,and generally improves.Premium components likewise,though the two (top components and smith skill) usually go together. Average assembly/average component rifles are available by the million. Top smith/average components are probably fairly rare ('average' essentially means 'factory',rather than custom.And the last option (custom components/ mediocre assembly ) is hopefully very small. So don't expect statistical answers(that we can have confidence in),but it could be interesting on one off's....and probabilities and experiences. Last time I tried it on a relatively small sample of rifles,but large sample of their performance,it was running about £1k for each .1moa gain (starting from 'factory' .5moa ),but that of course is only one measure of precision,and not of satisfaction of other kinds! gbal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveW Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 It also says something about the skill of the shooter I think! Absolutely, and the skill of the man that put it together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1971silversurfer Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 It will be interesting to see if the owner manages the half moa with factory ammo too especially with the heavier loads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mash67 Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 what's the weight like on this one Dave still haven't managed to get mine to the range after sighting in, perhaps this week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash72 Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 When I decide to build a semi-custom or full blown custom you will be the man I come to Dave. Always first class rifle builds on show!!! Just bought a Tikka T3 .204 so will start with a few modications next year :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onehole Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 It also says something about the skill of the shooter I think! Agree with this and also the build,,,,,,put the two together and straight ammo and 99.9% of the time its gonna work.,,,,Nice one Mr Valkryie.....O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggy Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 It's posts like this that don't help me at all to decide whether to go semi-custom on my Remmy, to spend a bit more and go full custom, or to just buy an AI AT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triggersqueezer Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 well i don't have a fraction of your knowledge dave but i think all the fanning around with bullets and brass and a good solid custom action will show more at 1000 yards than 100.i damn well hope so after all the money i have spent and time learning brass prep over the years . sure wasn't dick waving because thats nothing special and i'm poor . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhunter Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 Nice looking rifle youve put together there Dave. What more could be expected from a stalking rifle? Superb accuracy, wonder if the "owner" can achive this level of accuracy as we've seen what it's capable of in your hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meles meles Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 Impressive ! Makes us wonder what could be achieved with a little tweaking done to an old P14 target rifle conversion... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaz6br Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 Very nice Gaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay666d Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 Gives me faith in my old Remmy, I think it won't be too long before I get mine blueprinted and have a faster twist tube strapped on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orka Akinse Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 sure wasn't dick waving because thats nothing special and i'm poor . Depends on the size of your tool surely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunter87 Posted December 22, 2014 Report Share Posted December 22, 2014 Why doesn't Remington do all the extra little bits that Dave has done before they leave the facrory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDBenelliM1 Posted December 22, 2014 Report Share Posted December 22, 2014 Cost This was in reply to hunter87's comment. Wasn't asking how much the build cost as that would be cheeky! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted December 22, 2014 Report Share Posted December 22, 2014 Looks great Dave perfect for stalking. Did you test it with some factory as well - certainly a shooter with home loads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldie Posted December 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2014 No I didn't Andy...didn't have anything handy. To be fair, both reloads were middle of the range powder wise, chosen from what seemed most suitable, and bullets loaded at SAAMI length. Not a lot different to a factory load really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offroad Gary Posted December 22, 2014 Report Share Posted December 22, 2014 A proper hunting bullet will be the real test, it being a stalking rifle and all that.. Nice tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbal Posted December 22, 2014 Report Share Posted December 22, 2014 5 first shot,cold ,clean bore with hunting bullets that 'group' in 1moa...or.. 5 bench rest shot bug bullets in .2 moa bug hole group..... Some rifles might do both,but if not which one do you want? (does anyone stalk bugs?) :-) gbal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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