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Bighorn in Creedmoor


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Not put anything up for a while, so here is todays gun finished earlier.

Enjoy these sort of jobs, where I have a free reign to go at.

The customer wanted a Tactical style rifle to shoot tactical, McQueens and CSR with.

Calibre of choice being the 6.5 creedmoor.

Such a rifle needs to be portable, not overly long, and eminently usable from all positions especially.

The heart of the gun is the superb Bighorn TL3 action.

Its great feature, is that its controlled round feed. Doesn't jam...period.

Fixed lug, and removable bolt head to change calibre if required, giving a very versatile platform.

A 1-8" twist Bartlien was fitted, with 24" of bore.

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Muzzle threaded M18 x 1 and invisible capped.

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11 degree target crown.

Also, my 3 port brake.

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The trigger is a Bix n Andy Tacsport model, with the stronger spring in to 1.5 kg practical class weight, for CSR. 2 Stage.

All metalwork finished in Cerakote patriot brown.

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The stock is a McMillan A5.

First job was to machine out and bed in the Third eye floor plate.

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This went in, after I had set up the pillars. I like to do this with the barrelled action in the vice, and adjust to pillars to give the best feed/fit.

Its no good whatsoever, using the pillars that come with the floorplate. They are not a one-size-fits-all. I make my own to exact length, adding or subtracting to accommodate each different stock/feed height.

Once cured, the action is then machined out for, and bedded. This gives a continuous bed, all the way through the stock. The floorplate cannot then move , independent of the action.

Feed stays the same, irrespectively.

The ejection port had to be lowered and lengthened for this action.

Once done, it was onto the paint.

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The base is Coyote tan. Then the pattern is Patriot brown, AI dark earth, sand, and armour black.

Buried under matt lacquer.

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Magazines are the American Rifle Co , double stack, central feed units. These have shorter lips, and are designed specifically for CRF actions, but they work perfectly in push feed designs too. About the same depth as an AW 10 rounder too.

Enjoyed building this one immensely.

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On 1/25/2019 at 9:13 PM, Hobbit said:

Great looking rifle

Can those bighorn actions be used for multi-barrel rifles - and if so how easy is the barrel swap procedure?

Yes they can, we have just built two on Bighorn TL3 Long Actions.
One is a 6x47 & .284 the other a 6.5x47 & .284.
You use shouldered barrels, you dont even need to send the rifle away for a new barrel.
We can change barrels in the field with an Action Wrench and Torque Wrench.

Mark

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I've just built another up for myself. The first barrel is a .224 Valkyrie with a 6.8SPC bolt head. The second, i haven't quite decided on calibre yet, but am edging towards a 6mm Creedmoor. When the first one comes back from proof, i'll spin up another and send it back.

In theory, yes, you can make a barrel without the action, as the tolerances are that good, but you still need the action to proof it with.

From doing extensive testing of the Valkyrie in one of my AR15's in both 20" and 24" barrel lengths, its proved to be good...very good, but i couldn't help but think, a bolt gun would wring that little bit more out of the cartridge. There is a point in the AR where you start to hit hard extraction. i think a bolt gun would allow a little bit more powder. 

However, I think the weak point will be the brass.

Using starline at the moment, and its not bad, but have some federal coming, which may be just that bit better.

I can only live in hope, that one day, Lapua take it on. There are a lot of AR's and now American bolt guns, being chambered in it.

A very versatile action, is the Bighorn.

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Stunning rifle again. 

Really need to decide on wither to go with a custom rifle for my first centrefire or go down the off shelf option till I learn the ropes. 

Anyway love the idea of the bighorn action and I have a real hankering to have something similar to this once. I get my finger out. 

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13 hours ago, baldie said:

I've just built another up for myself. The first barrel is a .224 Valkyrie with a 6.8SPC bolt head. The second, i haven't quite decided on calibre yet, but am edging towards a 6mm Creedmoor. When the first one comes back from proof, i'll spin up another and send it back.

In theory, yes, you can make a barrel without the action, as the tolerances are that good, but you still need the action to proof it with.

From doing extensive testing of the Valkyrie in one of my AR15's in both 20" and 24" barrel lengths, its proved to be good...very good, but i couldn't help but think, a bolt gun would wring that little bit more out of the cartridge. There is a point in the AR where you start to hit hard extraction. i think a bolt gun would allow a little bit more powder. 

However, I think the weak point will be the brass.

Using starline at the moment, and its not bad, but have some federal coming, which may be just that bit better.

I can only live in hope, that one day, Lapua take it on. There are a lot of AR's and now American bolt guns, being chambered in it.

A very versatile action, is the Bighorn.

Hiya Baldie, just out of interest what does a .224 Valkyrie give you that a say a fast twist .22-250 doesn't in a bolt action?

I get it could be useful if you wanted a micro action like a howa or a CZ527 and don't want the issues of getting .223 AI to accurately feed but otherwise I'm stumped. Or is it you just want something new to play with? (And, let's be honest, who doesn't!?! ;) )

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What is doesn't give you...is recoil.

The valkyrie is very mild indeed.

Faster target re acquisition 

It also doesn't kill barrels like the 22-250. Federals test barrels were still going at 5000 rounds.

It was designed from the ground up, to shoot heavy bullets from an AR15 platform [mag length ] which it does very well.

I think it will work even better in a bolt gun.

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22 minutes ago, baldie said:

What is doesn't give you...is recoil.

The valkyrie is very mild indeed.

Faster target re acquisition 

It also doesn't kill barrels like the 22-250. Federals test barrels were still going at 5000 rounds.

It was designed from the ground up, to shoot heavy bullets from an AR15 platform [mag length ] which it does very well.

I think it will work even better in a bolt gun.

Fair enough sir!

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  • 5 months later...

That is a lovely rifle. When I buy my next one, I'm coming to you. Please will you PM me a ball-park figure for something with this spec--only in left-hand. Best wishes.

Jon

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Great looking gun !

We're intrigued by the choice of stock. Whilst  many people are going for chassis style, predominantly  aluminium stocks, a fair number are still sticking with the more traditional, if we can call it that, McMillan style. What are the advantages of that? We like the look of it, and it seems ergonomically similar to the wooden stock on our CG63, particularly the upright pistol grip.  Does it just suit some people's style of shooting better? Or is there some other advantage? 

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