BrushyHillGuide
WKR
I definitely agree with everyone on staying away from the Nosler calibers. The PRC series will get you almost as much with better barrel life, and I suspect, down the road you’ll have more ammo choices.
Since I shoot everything with a can, with their recoil reduction, big 30’s don’t bother me. But I respect you not being a fan if you don’t want to take your can hunting. So, what about building it in 6.5PRC and pushing the Berger 156gr Extreme Hunters? They would have plenty of energy past 500 for elk. I know you don’t reload and there isn’t a factory load available (yet) but you could simply have a custom load created by someone like DallasReloads.com for hunting and simply practice with the Hornady PH with the 146gr ELDX. Custom loads have the potential to get more speed and shoot the bullets of your choice. If you work with a Reloader AND your builder, you can design a chamber that gives you the best shot at your ballistic goals. To me, that’s the POINT of building a custom rifle. Honestly, I don’t see the point in building a custom rifle if you’re not going to shoot a custom load tuned to your rifle; to get more out of it than you could with another rifle. A custom load might get you the speeds you can’t get out of a factory load along with cold bore accuracy the factory can’t provide. There are plenty of top tier and semi-customs out there that are cheaper and will shoot factory ammo just as well and cost less than a custom build. Just a thought.
The 300wsm might be a good one for ya. The recoil is pretty light. I’m guessing it’s lighter than the 28N. I think you can get about 3Kfps out of a 24” barrel with a 165gr factory load. Again, with a custom load in the right chamber you should have no issue reaching your goal. Possibly even with a 22” barrel.
I know you said you don’t like to take your suppressor hunting but it might be worth rethinking that. It’ll sure make shooting more fun, even when hunting. I take mine on 22” and 24” barrels all the time and it’s not bad at all - my longest one is 7”. How long is yours? If you’re going to make a long shot, you’re going to have time to setup for the shot. So, why not carry the suppressor separately, if the extra length bothers you, and just screw it on during setup? It only takes 20 seconds at most to pull it out of a pocket and thread it on.
I’m building something similar or the SR3 action and I’m going to throw a suggestion at ya. It’d raise your cost slightly, but not much; and it’ll open lots of options later on that’ll save you money in the long run. The Bighorn actions are MADE for this with their floating bolt head.....put a WTO Switchlug on rifle! That way you can swap out barrels and run multiple calibers out of that one gun. I’ll never build another rifle without one. Why would anyone NOT want to be able to shoot one rifle for multiple calibers and configurations? You get used to one stock, action and scope setup. Just swap barrels and then just either adjust your scope or swap scopes. This gives you the ability to customize your rifle for various hunts and all it costs is the rate for turning a barrel. New bolt heads (with the face of your choice) are only $125-$175. So, for about $1k (Proof barrel, turning fee + new bolt head) you can turn your custom rifle into another custom rifle. Pretty darn cool! A shooting/hunting partner of mine had one built and it was STUPID accurate across 2 calibers so he had another built (in long action) to see if it was a one-off. Nope! It’s stupid accurate. Just as accurate as my custom built by renowned benchrest builder Mike Bryant. That’s when I was sold on the Switchlug.
Hope this is of some use.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Since I shoot everything with a can, with their recoil reduction, big 30’s don’t bother me. But I respect you not being a fan if you don’t want to take your can hunting. So, what about building it in 6.5PRC and pushing the Berger 156gr Extreme Hunters? They would have plenty of energy past 500 for elk. I know you don’t reload and there isn’t a factory load available (yet) but you could simply have a custom load created by someone like DallasReloads.com for hunting and simply practice with the Hornady PH with the 146gr ELDX. Custom loads have the potential to get more speed and shoot the bullets of your choice. If you work with a Reloader AND your builder, you can design a chamber that gives you the best shot at your ballistic goals. To me, that’s the POINT of building a custom rifle. Honestly, I don’t see the point in building a custom rifle if you’re not going to shoot a custom load tuned to your rifle; to get more out of it than you could with another rifle. A custom load might get you the speeds you can’t get out of a factory load along with cold bore accuracy the factory can’t provide. There are plenty of top tier and semi-customs out there that are cheaper and will shoot factory ammo just as well and cost less than a custom build. Just a thought.
The 300wsm might be a good one for ya. The recoil is pretty light. I’m guessing it’s lighter than the 28N. I think you can get about 3Kfps out of a 24” barrel with a 165gr factory load. Again, with a custom load in the right chamber you should have no issue reaching your goal. Possibly even with a 22” barrel.
I know you said you don’t like to take your suppressor hunting but it might be worth rethinking that. It’ll sure make shooting more fun, even when hunting. I take mine on 22” and 24” barrels all the time and it’s not bad at all - my longest one is 7”. How long is yours? If you’re going to make a long shot, you’re going to have time to setup for the shot. So, why not carry the suppressor separately, if the extra length bothers you, and just screw it on during setup? It only takes 20 seconds at most to pull it out of a pocket and thread it on.
I’m building something similar or the SR3 action and I’m going to throw a suggestion at ya. It’d raise your cost slightly, but not much; and it’ll open lots of options later on that’ll save you money in the long run. The Bighorn actions are MADE for this with their floating bolt head.....put a WTO Switchlug on rifle! That way you can swap out barrels and run multiple calibers out of that one gun. I’ll never build another rifle without one. Why would anyone NOT want to be able to shoot one rifle for multiple calibers and configurations? You get used to one stock, action and scope setup. Just swap barrels and then just either adjust your scope or swap scopes. This gives you the ability to customize your rifle for various hunts and all it costs is the rate for turning a barrel. New bolt heads (with the face of your choice) are only $125-$175. So, for about $1k (Proof barrel, turning fee + new bolt head) you can turn your custom rifle into another custom rifle. Pretty darn cool! A shooting/hunting partner of mine had one built and it was STUPID accurate across 2 calibers so he had another built (in long action) to see if it was a one-off. Nope! It’s stupid accurate. Just as accurate as my custom built by renowned benchrest builder Mike Bryant. That’s when I was sold on the Switchlug.
Hope this is of some use.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
