6GT on a Defiance Classic SA, what bottom metal?

[SDHNTR]

Couldn’t resist the current Redhawk deal with free trigger so I just picked up a Defiance Classic. Planning a 6GT build. Has anyone built a 6GT on a Defiance? What bottom metal and how does it feed?

 

[khuber84]

You wanting bdl style or detach mag? M5 inlet footprint is prob gives most options. I don't know of many running bdl with the 6gt. It'll prob work, but I'd set it up with a spacer in rear to take up a bit the room. Mag fed would be best. 5rd accurate mags or 10rd ARC aics mags have all worked well for me.

 

[SDHNTR]

You wanting bdl style or detach mag? M5 inlet footprint is prob gives most options. I don't know of many running bdl with the 6gt. It'll prob work, but I'd set it up with a spacer in rear to take up a bit the room. Mag fed would be best. 5rd accurate mags or 10rd ARC aics mags have all worked well for me.

Thanks. I’m a hunter exclusively, so I’m used to BDL, but I’m not opposed to a detachable mag. My only M5 experience is with a Hawkins DBM and the rattle of the empty mag drove me nuts. Their flippant response about the rattle issue was off putting too. I’m open to a DBM, as long as it’s mostly flush and doesn’t rattle.

I think I need AICS mags with the standard Defiance Classic and M5 bottom metal. The options out there are rather mind boggling. Any idea who makes flush and rattle free?

 

[BradArnett]

Rattle of empty mag? What is that about? Who hunts with an empty mag? Or am I missing something here?

 

[Mojave]

Going to take a lot of smithing to work well as a BDL. Unless you are lucky.

Have a lot of experience with the 6mm BR. Never got one to feed out of a BDL/ADL system. Can work in a detach magazine.

I would put a HS Precision unit on the bottom if you want the BDL looks.

 

[khuber84]

Rattle of empty mag? What is that about? Who hunts with an empty mag? Or am I missing something here?

I agree with this. At least one in the mag, and no rattle. I would buy an accurate 5 rd mag, send to Justin at @ Kinport Peak Rifles, have him shorten it up for 4rds. Buy a mag kit from primal rights for 6br, thin and shorten the rear spacer to fit the 4rd dbl stack mag. You can tune metal feed lips far easier than billet aluminum on the hawkins mags. I'm about to go down the hinting setup of 6gt myself, fortunately through testing it already feeds well from Tikka 3rd M mags. Hopefully it works with the 5rd M mags.

I've run a lot of 6gt in match rifles, several barrels worth. I always run the 170fb chamber and jump a ways. But long bullets lika a 109 seated close to lands are around 2.7" coal, so around 22-250 length but much less case taper so you need to widen feed lips up front to get a nose up presentation as the round strips from mag box.

I've recently tested the mdt 3rd poly mags with the flush mount hawkins m5 hunter dbm, and it works, however the mag fits way too tight and requires a ton of effort to remove the mag. However the mag works perfectly in a hnt26 chassis and xlr element 4.0 chassis. However I favor a stock VS chassis on hunting rigs. If you chop down a 5rd aics mag to 3rd, it may sit flush. Pic of a 5rd mag in hunter dbm.

 

[SDHNTR]

Rattle of empty mag? What is that about? Who hunts with an empty mag? Or am I missing something here?

Yeah, it’s not a functional matter obviously. Not really a big deal, just bothers me. I’m of the opinion that nothing on a rifle should rattle, ever.

 

[SDHNTR]

I've recently tested the mdt 3rd poly mags with the flush mount hawkins m5 hunter dbm, and it works, however the mag fits way too tight and requires a ton of effort to remove the mag. However the mag works perfectly in a hnt26 chassis and xlr element 4.0 chassis. However I favor a stock VS chassis on hunting rigs. If you chop down a 5rd aics mag to 3rd, it may sit flush. Pic of a 5rd mag in hunter dbm.
View attachment 781119

Have you actually tried a Hawkins mag in their bottom metal?

Or do you think there’s a way in which you could sand/trim down that MDT aics 3 round to make it fit better?

 

[AZ_Hunter]

If someone gets one working in a BDL let me know…

 

[khuber84]

Have you actually tried a Hawkins mag in their bottom metal?

Or do you think there’s a way in which you could sand/trim down that MDT aics 3 round to make it fit better?

Since hawkins makes a 6arc kit, I'm sure that could be retrofit or modified for gt. Call hawkins and talk to a tech or Andy. Maybe there are guys already running gt. I can throw my rem varm 6gt on a tl3 into a stock with hunter dbm next week and test feeding. Keep in mind tl3 is crf action and usually feed more reliably than push feed.

 

[SDHNTR]

Since hawkins makes a 6arc kit, I'm sure that could be retrofit or modified for gt. Call hawkins and talk to a tech or Andy. Maybe there are guys already running gt. I can throw my rem varm 6gt on a tl3 into a stock with hunter dbm next week and test feeding. Keep in mind tl3 is crf action and usually feed more reliably than push feed.

Hawkins said their standard 308 magazine should work with a 6GT. Should, being the operative word, which doesn’t exactly instill confidence and is why I was asking if somebody here actually had personal experience.

 

[Lemhi]

I’ve got a GAP built 6GT that I hunt with that is setup with Hawkins hunter bottom metal and I have used both Hawkins flush fit mags as well as standard 5-round AICS mags with zero feeding issues.
2024 OTC public land buck taken with the 6GT

 

[Kimber7man]

I’ve got a GAP built 6GT that I hunt with that is setup with Hawkins hunter bottom metal and I have used both Hawkins flush fit mags as well as standard 5-round AICS mags with zero feeding issues. View attachment 781438
2024 OTC public land buck taken with the 6GT

Very nice, I may need to have George build me one. Which bullet did you use?

 

[Lemhi]

Very nice, I may need to have George build me one. Which bullet did you use?

Running 110 a-tips @2850 in this 22”

 

[khuber84]

Running 110 a-tips @2850 in this 22”

How has this bullet performed expansion wise?

 

[Lemhi]

How has this bullet performed expansion wise?

it’s been great! Just enough to DRT everything I’ve hit with it but it holds up well enough to prevent meat damage. I’ll continue using them for sure.

 

[khuber84]

it’s been great! Just enough to DRT everything I’ve hit with it but it holds up well enough to prevent meat damage. I’ll continue using them for sure.

Whats been your lowest impact velocity? Shooting to vitals or you going through shoulder?

 

[Lemhi]

Whats been your lowest impact velocity? Shooting to vitals or you going through shoulder?

I always shoot vitals. Lowest impact velocity to date is 2200fps @535 yards on a large bodied 3x3 mulie. I caught about 20 grains of lead on the offside hide and his lungs were soup.