DIY custom or semi custom rifle

[satchamo]

So this long, cold winter has found me getting more and more interested in long range shooting and hunting. I'm a tinkerer that loves a good project... Therefore I'm thinking of dipping my toes into a diy semi custom build of my own.

I would use this gun for hunting and punching paper with the hopes of becoming proficient out to 1000 yards. I'm not sure on caliber yet but I'm honestly thinking a heavier magnum round as I already own a 308 Kimber. That said I'm not looking for a feather weight gun but also not a 20 lb gun. But again, this isn't a thread isn't a "pick a caliber", just giving some background.

In my research I've read that a few actions use a barrel nut system and allow any old schmoe with a barrel vise and a few other tools to rebarrel an action. This is definitely the direction I'm going as budget is an issue and I'm certainly no gunsmith. So this leads me to a few questions.

Who makes actions with a barrel nut system that a guy could rebarrel?

Is a guy ok to just start with an old pawnshop gun or the like to build off or would I be better to foot the coin for a blueprinted action like the one here? (I'm not even sure if I could barrel this type of action myself so bear with me if I can't) http://pacifictoolandgauge.com/ptg-...ction-la-blueprinted-action-bolt-fp-assy.html

What tools would I need to barrel a gun?

I'm coming at this as a complete rookie so any advice is appreciated!!!

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[ckleeves]

Savage and Remington (remage) would probably be the easiest to use a barrel nut on.

I personally wouldn’t, you pay a premium for a pre-fit (remage) barrel, then your stuck to a few manufactures that make them and depending on what you want it chambered for they may not have offer it in a pre-fit.

By the time you pay the premium on a pre-fit, buy a action vise and barrel nut and wrench you probably have enough tied up in that to pay a good smith for a chambering job pretty easily.

I have a Remage 22-250 right now and as soon as that barrel is done I’m going back to a conventional barrel.


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[rayporter]

once a good smith barrels your action you can screw on a barrel yourself. you can change barrels faster than with a barrel nut, too.
if you want a new barrel or caliber just call a barrel supplier and have the barrel sent to your smith and he will chamber it an send it to you to install. easy. no mess, no fuss, and always, always on right with correct headspace.

you still need the vise and wrench, however.

 

[huntsman22]

I am doing the same thing you're asking about. I have a Bighorn TL3 action on order A Proof CF barrel(shouldered, not nutted), Triggertech trigger and a Manners EH6A stock. I also will get a magnum boltface and switch barrels as I want. Mine is in 6.5 creed and the second barrel will be 6.5PRC

 

[huntsman22]

just a heads-up. Bullets.com has the Bald Eagle barrel vice on sale for $49 bucko's

 

[N2TRKYS]

What cartridge are you thinking of going with? I always thought a 7 SAUM shooting 180 grain Bergers would be the bees knees.

 

[FURMAN]

What will you be doing with the rifle? Is weight a big concern? What is your budget? Savage will be a great option but due to the availability of aftermarket parts weight will be more difficult to reduce.

 

[satchamo]

What will you be doing with the rifle? Is weight a big concern? What is your budget? Savage will be a great option but due to the availability of aftermarket parts weight will be more difficult to reduce.

I'm looking for a gun that I can hunt with (all species of NA big game deer and up) but also dip toes into some real long range shooting (500+ yards). I currently have a Kimber Hunter in 308 so I already have the lightweight/short action niche handled in my safe. That said, I still don't want a 20 lb rifle but I understand that if I was to chamber in a magnum caliber, I need to keep it on the heavier side as far as hunting rifles go. I would say somewhere in the 8-9 lb range bare gun would be my goal.

Right now I currently don't reload though I plan to in the near future. So for the moment I'm thinking of a more common chambering of 300 win mag or possibly 300 wsm.

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[FURMAN]

You could make 8lbs with a Bell and Carlson stock and a #4 barrel contour at 26" on a Savage long action. The Savage mag box is somewhere around 3.6" which is a little short for the 300 WM. The WSM will cost you about 100 fps with 215 Bergers.

 

[satchamo]

You could make 8lbs with a Bell and Carlson stock and a #4 barrel contour at 26" on a Savage long action. The Savage mag box is somewhere around 3.6" which is a little short for the 300 WM. The WSM will cost you about 100 fps with 215 Bergers.

Thanks for the help!

So are all Savage actions created equal? Or is there a particular model I should be looking for? Or can a guy buy just a Savage action?

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[FURMAN]

I personally would get a centerfeed top bolt release. There’s not a lot of difference but some are harder to get stocks for.


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[coop2424]

I just built my second savage and couldn’t be happier. I am the same as you where I like tinkering with stuff and I personally get more pleasure doing it myself. For this one I picked up a savage 110 at pawnshop for $125 and had a barrel I had picked up from someone for $100. I already had the wrench and made a vise. The only other thing I had to pick up was the go and no go gauge which was $30 each. After a little load work this rifle is shooting 1/2moa with factory crappy stock and factory trigger. Plan on upgrading both of those soon. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[PathFinder]

Ultimatum Precision, Bighorn Arms, and American Rifle Company all make actions compatible with Savage prefits if you decide you want a custom action.

 

[wildcat33]

ARC Nucleus with barloc would be my first choice.

 

[satchamo]

I just built my second savage and couldn’t be happier. I am the same as you where I like tinkering with stuff and I personally get more pleasure doing it myself. For this one I picked up a savage 110 at pawnshop for $125 and had a barrel I had picked up from someone for $100. I already had the wrench and made a vise. The only other thing I had to pick up was the go and no go gauge which was $30 each. After a little load work this rifle is shooting 1/2moa with factory crappy stock and factory trigger. Plan on upgrading both of those soon. Let me know if you have any questions.

Coop I pmed you but your inbox is full

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[coop2424]

satchamo Should be good now!

 

[lcxctf2000]

I've built both a long and short action Savage. Fun, easy guns to build that generally are shooters. Aren't pretty, light, or fancy though.

You obviously have long or short action to choose from. Any 10 series (10, 11, 12, 14, 16) is short action with the variation being finish or features. Any 110 series (110, 111, 112, 114, 116) is long action with variation being finish or features. There was a short time where they only made long actions, even for short action calibers.

Some other variations/considerations particular to Savage:
- barrel shank size: small or large. Your WSM's, some model 12's (target) will have a large shank. The bulk of your actions and take-off barrels will be small shank.
- Bolt release: bottom or top. Bottom is newer and has fewer aftermarket stock options.
- Feed style: center or stagger. Stagger is older style. Not a huge issue b/c you can generally convert from one style to the other. The big difference is that stagger feed mags are attached to the action, while center feed are not. There are tutorials out there on converting between them to make a stock work for your action.
- Trigger: 2-screw, 3-screw, Accutrigger, and aftermarket.

PM if you need more on anything.

 

[FURMAN]

I've built both a long and short action Savage. Fun, easy guns to build that generally are shooters. Aren't pretty, light, or fancy though.

You obviously have long or short action to choose from. Any 10 series (10, 11, 12, 14, 16) is short action with the variation being finish or features. Any 110 series (110, 111, 112, 114, 116) is long action with variation being finish or features. There was a short time where they only made long actions, even for short action calibers.

Some other variations/considerations particular to Savage:
- barrel shank size: small or large. Your WSM's, some model 12's (target) will have a large shank. The bulk of your actions and take-off barrels will be small shank.
- Bolt release: bottom or top. Bottom is newer and has fewer aftermarket stock options.
- Feed style: center or stagger. Stagger is older style. Not a huge issue b/c you can generally convert from one style to the other. The big difference is that stagger feed mags are attached to the action, while center feed are not. There are tutorials out there on converting between them to make a stock work for your action.
- Trigger: 2-screw, 3-screw, Accutrigger, and aftermarket.

PM if you need more on anything.

The biggest difference between staggerfeed and centerfeed short actions is the bolt spacing.


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[lcxctf2000]

The biggest difference between staggerfeed and centerfeed short actions is the bolt spacing.

Correct, thanks for the reminder.

And by bolt spacing rfurman is referring to action bolt spacing which is another consideration with stock availability.

 

[FURMAN]

Correct, thanks for the reminder.

And by bolt spacing rfurman is referring to action bolt spacing which is another consideration with stock availability.

Yes. I should have added one is 4.4"(centerfeed) the other is 4.27"(staggerfeed).