First bolt build

[Clarson757]

Just snagged a short action model 307 for a great price and couldn’t pass it up. I’ve built plenty of ARs but wanted to build something new for myself.

Looking for advice. What to do/ not to do.

My preference is a 22 Creed or 6 Creed. I’m planning to hunt with this build. Factory loads.

Anyone have any recommendations for barrel length/ twist? I will not be running a suppressor. I’m not preferential to carbon wrapped or steel.

Lastly (at least for now), what prefits would work with this action? I looked around briefly here but didn’t find much.

 

[il_cop]

Weatherby 307?
Assuming it's the same tenon as their mark v, a few barrel makers will make pre fits. Preferred barrel blanks will, I know.

I'm not sure how much variety you will have in terms of picking a drop in stock. I believe McMillan makes one. Not sure what others, but selection will be limited

In terms of cartridge, pick your poison... Sorry not much help there, but plenty of opinions you can latch on to here on rokslide.

Barrel length is also a personal preference, I don't run suppressed, but I still like 20 in. or less for everything I shoot.

Either of those cartridges will be fine with short barrels.

Twist for both of those cartridges is spec'd well at SAAMI, no need to deviate there.

In terms of what to do/what not to do...

Start with the design characteristics of the rifle you're after. What do you want it to do for you? Is it a short, lightweight, handy rifle? Is it a heavy, stable long barreled velocity queen?
What will you be using it for, and what is the ideal design for that purpose?

Start there and build accordingly.

 

[KY_coop]

Figure out what you want the rifle to do best and build around that.
If your coming from shooting AR'S, you might not mind a chassis instead of a stock. Chassis give alot of versatility out of the box and most don't need bedding. ARCA built in is very nice.
I'd keep the barrel short "18-20" even if you don't have a suppressor now. If you've never shot suppressed, once you do, you will want one. And I don't think you will miss out on the extra velocity of a long barrel at regular hunting ranges.
Steel barrel will be cheaper unless you get it tricked out, then its a wash. I've read steel shoots better then carbon on avg but I don't personally have experience with carbon barrels. Just make sure you get a threaded barrel.
Triggertech triggers are pretty sweet. I've got two specials and two primarys. For hunting and general shooting, my opinion is the primary is the one to get.
When i ventured on my first build, I wasn't sure about buying some of the tools but im sure glad I did. It makes the assembly process much easier when you have the right stuff. Barrel vice, inside action wrench, torque wrench( ft lbs and in lbs), and good bits. The fix it sticks are expensive but their basic kit is real nice and the bits don't strip.
6 Gt could also be worth a look with hornady producing ammo now. Might gain a little barrel life if you think you will shoot the rifle alot.
There's so many options out there, you could get analysis paralysis looking into all the different parts, companies, accessories, etc. Knowing exactly what you want the rifle to be before going into it should help cut down on worrying about it to much.
Good luck with your build.

 

[.284reaper]

Just snagged a short action model 307 for a great price and couldn’t pass it up. I’ve built plenty of ARs but wanted to build something new for myself.

Looking for advice. What to do/ not to do.

My preference is a 22 Creed or 6 Creed. I’m planning to hunt with this build. Factory loads.

Anyone have any recommendations for barrel length/ twist? I will not be running a suppressor. I’m not preferential to carbon wrapped or steel.

Lastly (at least for now), what prefits would work with this action? I looked around briefly here but didn’t find much.

Not the best gun for a build gonna have trouble finding components. Always time to trade in for a Tikka 22 creedmore is badass.

 

[Clarson757]

thank you for that. The 307 is a newer offering from wetherby, a 700 clone. I know there are more expensive and trusted actions, but this one fell in my lap when I was thinking up the build.

Plans are to hunt southern mule deer and smaller. I’m no PRS shooter and all my shots are going to be inside of 500 yards. Looking for something lightweight but sturdy. Not going for looks necessarily and I’m not in a rush to build it. However, I would like to hear from the field here for some guidance.

I like your idea on short barrel offerings, I was thinking of a 22” but now I am thinking of bringing that down a bit.

 

[Clarson757]

Figure out what you want the rifle to do best and build around that.
If your coming from shooting AR'S, you might not mind a chassis instead of a stock. Chassis give alot of versatility out of the box and most don't need bedding. ARCA built in is very nice.
I'd keep the barrel short "18-20" even if you don't have a suppressor now. If you've never shot suppressed, once you do, you will want one. And I don't think you will miss out on the extra velocity of a long barrel at regular hunting ranges.
Steel barrel will be cheaper unless you get it tricked out, then its a wash. I've read steel shoots better then carbon on avg but I don't personally have experience with carbon barrels. Just make sure you get a threaded barrel.
Triggertech triggers are pretty sweet. I've got two specials and two primarys. For hunting and general shooting, my opinion is the primary is the one to get.
When i ventured on my first build, I wasn't sure about buying some of the tools but im sure glad I did. It makes the assembly process much easier when you have the right stuff. Barrel vice, inside action wrench, torque wrench( ft lbs and in lbs), and good bits. The fix it sticks are expensive but their basic kit is real nice and the bits don't strip.
6 Gt could also be worth a look with hornady producing ammo now. Might gain a little barrel life if you think you will shoot the rifle alot.
There's so many options out there, you could get analysis paralysis looking into all the different parts, companies, accessories, etc. Knowing exactly what you want the rifle to be before going into it should help cut down on worrying about it to much.
Good luck with your build.

Thank you. I have plans to pickup the vice and action wrench etc.

Barrels is kinda where I’m getting hung up. For example Proof seems to offer a ton of profit options for various actions. But I don’t see anything calling out my action specifically. Or, do I just buy a blank and have it spun up for my action? I was hoping to assemble it all myself without sending it off or taking it to a gunsmith.

 

[KY_coop]

How light are you wanting? All said and done 8- 10 lbs is pretty light IMO. Keeping it lighter then that can be expensive. Staying out of the ultralight category will make the rifle more pleasant to shoot as well.

 

[KY_coop]

If the 307 action uses a remington tenon, then remage barrels can be had from basically anywhere. Preferred barrel blanks has the 307 listed and their website is pretty easy to order off of. Should be plenty of other smiths/ companies offering prefits as well. A shouldered prefit would be the easiest install.

 

[N2TRKYS]

A Howa mini action would be hard to beat in the weight category. I’ve been debating a Carbon Stalker in 6 ARC for awhile now.

 

[Clarson757]

How light are you wanting? All said and done 8- 10 lbs is pretty light IMO. Keeping it lighter then that can be expensive. Staying out of the ultralight category will make the rifle more pleasant to shoot as well.

That’s my ideal range honestly. Not going crazy. Manageable is fine for me.

 

[Clarson757]

If the 307 action uses a remington tenon, then remage barrels can be had from basically anywhere. Preferred barrel blanks has the 307 listed and their website is pretty easy to order off of. Should be plenty of other smiths/ companies offering prefits as well. A shouldered prefit would be the easiest install.

I just found the preferred stuff a min ago and seems straight forward to me.

Dumb question- when you say shouldered, what does that mean?

 

[HandgunHTR]

I just found the preferred stuff a min ago and seems straight forward to me.

Dumb question- when you say shouldered, what does that mean?

A shouldered prefit is one that looks like the barrels that come with most guns. The shoulder of the barrel mates directly up with the action.

The other way to do it is to use a barrel nut, like Savage uses.

For the 307, if you got it from PTG, there is chatter out there that they are shipping them with 0.250" recoil lugs, whereas Weatherby uses a 0.187" recoil lug, so if you were to buy a shouldered prefit for the 307, you would have to get the 0.187" recoil lug for the headspace to be right.

My suggestion would be to just get a barrel-nut prefit. That way you can set the headspace the way you want it. It won't affect accuracy at all.

Also, if you got it cerakoted by PTG, check to make sure they didn't get cerakote in the action threads and to see if they cerakoted the bolt face. If they did, you will have to remove it from both places.

 

[Clarson757]

A shouldered prefit is one that looks like the barrels that come with most guns. The shoulder of the barrel mates directly up with the action.

The other way to do it is to use a barrel nut, like Savage uses.

For the 307, if you got it from PTG, there is chatter out there that they are shipping them with 0.250" recoil lugs, whereas Weatherby uses a 0.187" recoil lug, so if you were to buy a shouldered prefit for the 307, you would have to get the 0.187" recoil lug for the headspace to be right.

My suggestion would be to just get a barrel-nut prefit. That way you can set the headspace the way you want it. It won't affect accuracy at all.

Also, if you got it cerakoted by PTG, check to make sure they didn't get cerakote in the action threads and to see if they cerakoted the bolt face. If they did, you will have to remove it from both places.

Perfect, thanks. I didn’t want to assume that is what you meant by “shouldered” but makes sense.

I got the action from another Rokslider. Can I just take my calipers and see what I’ve got?

I’m hoping to make this build process as painless and simple seeing it’s my first build. The barrel nut prefit seems like the way to go. If I order a barrel from preferred for example, will that be the barrel nut route like you mention?

 

[Harvey_NW]

Perfect, thanks. I didn’t want to assume that is what you meant by “shouldered” but makes sense.

I got the action from another Rokslider. Can I just take my calipers and see what I’ve got?

I’m hoping to make this build process as painless and simple seeing it’s my first build. The barrel nut prefit seems like the way to go. If I order a barrel from preferred for example, will that be the barrel nut route like you mention?

Barrel nuts are ugly as sin and the 307 likely isn't tight enough in tolerances to trust screwing a shouldered prefit in. Your best bet is to either send it in to PBB and pay the extra, or get a blank and have a gunsmith fit it up to your action with guaranteed headspace so you can be off an running. In the end it's really not anymore expensive either way, I've got 2 PBB blanks at a gunsmith right now waiting to be done up.

 

[wind gypsy]

Personally i'd go 6 creed over 22 if you're a factory ammo shooter.

I'd also not consider going shorter than 22" if you dont intend to put a suppressor on it. 22-24" bare muzzle barrels are plenty handy IMO and I see little reason to go shorter for less velocity and more muzzle blast if a guy isn't going to have a suppressor on it. You can always chop/thread shorter if needed in the future.

I don't know enough about 307s to say whether i'd feel good about a shouldered prefit so i'd do a barrel nut or just have a gunsmith fit a shouldered barrel to your action unless you get enough feedback to feel good about a shouldered prefit. If you're not going to be swapping barrels around much the cost of a barrel vise, action wrench, and headspace gauges will be more than just having a gunsmith fit a couple barrels to actions. Nothing wrong with barrel nut barrels, they are just a little less aesthetically pleasing and actually more work to install than a properly fit shouldered barrel.

That said, there are some low cost remage barrel nut barrels out there that might help pay for the vise, gauges, action wrench. Criterion and Urban Rifleman are a couple that i'd consider that are closer to the price of a premium blank than a full chambered/threaded barrel.

Look at some of the snipershide posts on the 307 for help avoiding mistakes - one example: I wouldn't put a TT diamond trigger in it.

 

[Clarson757]

Personally i'd go 6 creed over 22 if you're a factory ammo shooter.

I'd also not consider going shorter than 22" if you dont intend to put a suppressor on it. 22-24" bare muzzle barrels are plenty handy IMO and I see little reason to go shorter for less velocity and more muzzle blast if a guy isn't going to have a suppressor on it. You can always chop/thread shorter if needed in the future.

I don't know enough about 307s to say whether i'd feel good about a shouldered prefit so i'd do a barrel nut or just have a gunsmith fit a shouldered barrel to your action unless you get enough feedback to feel good about a shouldered prefit. If you're not going to be swapping barrels around much the cost of a barrel vise, action wrench, and headspace gauges will be more than just having a gunsmith fit a couple barrels to actions. Nothing wrong with barrel nut barrels, they are just a little less aesthetically pleasing and actually more work to install than a properly fit shouldered barrel.

That said, there are some low cost remage barrel nut barrels out there that might help pay for the vise, gauges, action wrench. Criterion and Urban Rifleman are a couple that i'd consider that are closer to the price of a premium blank than a full chambered/threaded barrel.

Look at some of the snipershide posts on the 307 for help avoiding mistakes - one example: I wouldn't put a TT diamond trigger in it.

Much appreciated!

I keep going back and forth on 22 vs 6mm. I may have been swayed to a 6mm.

I was thinking of a 20-22” barrel but I’m planning to do a folding stock so might just end up with a 24”.

After some reading, I’m just going to bring the action to my gunsmith and have a barrel fitted.

I have been looking at Preferred, Bartlein, Benchmark and Proof.

Trigger, I have a rise armament reliant hunter I was going to use (I like the AR offerings too).

 

[TaperPin]

I think it’s a nice action and being compatible with Remington 700s isn’t a bad thing at all.

If the headspace tolerances that Weatherby puts out are close enough to do shouldered prefits, but I wouldn’t doubt many barrel outfits don’t trust the reliability of the printed numbers yet and would want to have the action in hand. I was never a fan of a barrel with a nut, and bought a 22 Creed Shilen out of spite just to have an example of what can be expected. Turns out it is a lot of barrel for $400 and shoots better than any factory rifle I’ve ever had. With shipping costs out the roof, it makes more and more sense to use a nut rather than pay extra for shipping and having the shouldered barrel installed.

The 307 is sort of Remington 700 dimensions, but not quite. The .715” inner diameter of the barrel counterbore is larger than what Remington used. On the bench is a factory Remington barrel from probably 2010 and its counterbore is .705”. However, in my new production Shilen with a nut, they must be anticipating uses for their barrels other than stock Remington 700s because it’s counterbore is .735”, more than needed for either rifle.

The counterbore measurement off the shoulder Weatherby publishes is also a little different from a 700. They list .740” which implies a more shallow depth of counterbore than Remington with slightly less of the case head exposed. The factory Remington barrel in front of me is .718” and a custom, which is usually closer tolerance to the bolt and lugs, reads .725”. Maybe the Remington prefits with a nut work just fine on the Wby without contacting the bolt. Idk. My Shilen prefit has a normal Remington counterbore depth of .150”, the same as factory Remingtons.

Dudes turning out prefits often don’t give a rats butt about tolerances around the bolt, and I picked up one barrel the gunsmith just didn’t cut a counterbore at all, just chopped the barrel square and called it good. lol

 

[Clarson757]

I think it’s a nice action and being compatible with Remington 700s isn’t a bad thing at all.

If the headspace tolerances that Weatherby puts out are close enough to do shouldered prefits, but I wouldn’t doubt many barrel outfits don’t trust the reliability of the printed numbers yet and would want to have the action in hand. I was never a fan of a barrel with a nut, and bought a 22 Creed Shilen out of spite just to have an example of what can be expected. Turns out it is a lot of barrel for $400 and shoots better than any factory rifle I’ve ever had. With shipping costs out the roof, it makes more and more sense to use a nut rather than pay extra for shipping and having the shouldered barrel installed.

The 307 is sort of Remington 700 dimensions, but not quite. The .715” inner diameter of the barrel counterbore is larger than what Remington used. On the bench is a factory Remington barrel from probably 2010 and its counterbore is .705”. However, in my new production Shilen with a nut, they must be anticipating uses for their barrels other than stock Remington 700s because it’s counterbore is .735”, more than needed for either rifle.

The counterbore measurement off the shoulder Weatherby publishes is also a little different from a 700. They list .740” which implies a more shallow depth of counterbore than Remington with slightly less of the case head exposed. The factory Remington barrel in front of me is .718” and a custom, which is usually closer tolerance to the bolt and lugs, reads .725”. Maybe the Remington prefits with a nut work just fine on the Wby without contacting the bolt. Idk. My Shilen prefit has a normal Remington counterbore depth of .150”, the same as factory Remingtons.

Dudes turning out prefits often don’t give a rats butt about tolerances around the bolt, and I picked up one barrel the gunsmith just didn’t cut a counterbore at all, just chopped the barrel square and called it good. lol


View attachment 910452

Lots of info here and I appreciate all the insights. Admittedly, I don’t know much about the details you shared but my take-away is that it sounds like the best path forward is to have my gunsmith fit the barrel to my action.

I did reach out to him today and he is glad I called. Once I get the build underway I will update the thread here as well.

I have another gun on the XLR element chassis and I think that I will go with XLR here for this build also.