Rifle Build Critique

[Apollo117]

I know that there are dozens of rifle build threads, and they can get monotonous. To make this thread interesting, I want the theme of this thread to be critical. Tell me my ideas are bad and what I should do differently.

I am planning to assembly a Remington Model 700 rifle build. My goal is to assemble a rifle that is capable of ethical hunting shots of less than 500 yards on elk while also being capable of occasional long range (1,000 yards+) paper punching. It would be nice to achieve a total weight of than ten pounds and a total cost of about $1200 for just the rifle sans mounts and optic. I realize there are factory rifles that meet these goals, and I am aware that there are many cartridges that meet these goals as well. I may regret trying to assemble this rifle myself and may realize I should have bought a complete rifle instead, but I like to tinker and like the idea of assembling the rifle myself.

Here's the background. I recently bought a a used Remington model 700 long action Christensen Arms Carbon Composite Sporter stock from a member. I want to buy a stainless steel Remington model 700 long action with a magnum bolt face, and then buy pre-fit a stainless steel barrel chambered in 6.5 PRC, barrel nut and recoil lug. I'd have to get an action vice, barrel nut wrench, go/no-go gauges, etc. The gist of it is I want this to be a Remage system.

After a short amount of research, I see that Northland Shooter Supply sells Criterion pre-fits for Remington model 700's as well as the recoil lug, barrel nut and barrel nut wrench. They even sell Remington model 700 long action receivers. I could get most of the parts I need for this build in one place.

Lastly, I would like to top the rifle with either a Nightforce SHV 4-14 F1, or a SWFA 3-15. I haven't decided on a which rings I will use.

Tell me why my ideas for this build are poorly thought out and what I should do differently.

 

[gbflyer]

I’ll play.

Are you including the cost of your stock you just got in the $1200 or is it $1200 in addition to that?

 

[Apollo117]

I’ll play.

Are you including the cost of your stock you just got in the $1200 or is it $1200 in addition to that?

The stock is included in the $1200. The stock was $150. I guess the true number is $1050.

 

[gbflyer]

Got ya.

I believe you can come in on budget, especially if you can find a friend or a gunsmith with the tools so you don’t have to buy them. If you’re going to only do one, buying a barrel vise etc., isn’t worth it. Also, you can rent a go gauge from 4D Rentals.

NSS has a good reputation as does Criterion. I don’t think you can go wrong with either. Seems like a good idea to buy their trued action. If you don’t like the included trigger you could always change it later.

 

[Apollo117]

Got ya.

I believe you can come in on budget, especially if you can find a friend or a gunsmith with the tools so you don’t have to buy them. If you’re going to only do one, buying a barrel vise etc., isn’t worth it. Also, you can rent a go gauge from 4D Rentals.

NSS has a good reputation as does Criterion. I don’t think you can go wrong with either. Seems like a good idea to buy their trued action. If you don’t like the included trigger you could always change it later.

I'll probably use the action vice and barrel nut wrench for more than just this rifle. I've got a few Savage rifles that may get new barrels in the future. I didn't think about renting the gauges.

That's good to hear about NSS. I've been considering the trued action as well. It's not much of an increase in cost.

I appreciate the insight.

 

[JollyRoger]

I bought a barrel from NSS as well as some parts to do the build. They were great to deal with and my barrel shoots great. Mine was built off a Savage and the barrel nut makes things really easy.

I also have and have used both those scopes a bunch (the SHV lives on the rifle I built with stuff from NSS). Both are good and get the job done. But I much prefer the SHV due to the reticle and turrets. Depends on what you want to spend and how much weight matters. SHV is 30oz. SWFA 3-15 is 24oz.

The SHV lives in Nightforce ultralight rings. The SWFA is in Seekins Precision.




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[Cahunter805]

Keep in Mind you still need bottom metal, mag box, follower also.
You should be pretty close to your budget though. Some people just use a go gauge and then add a layer of scotch tape to the end to act as the no go.

 

[tdhanses]

Truthfully don’t use a rem 700 action, 500 isn’t far and many factory rifles will get you there and also out to 1000.

Personally a semi-custom sounds like what you want or something like a CA Ridgeline. Another option is a Tikka and have it rebarreled by Hell’s Canyon Armory and put a better stock on it.

unless your spending $3500+ I’d go the semi-custom route and stay away from a Rem 700 action, by the time the true and blueprint it you’ll have as much into it as a custom action.

i have 2 bolt guns a full custom and a semi-custom howa, if I knew what I know now I’d only have semi-customs.

 

[16Bore]

No sense in making it complicated. An off the rack Tikka will handle everything you wanna do.

The question is: Can you?

 

[Ndbowhunter]

i think you could find a Mesa prc for the 1200$ and save a big hassle.

jus sayin.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

As for the shv vs swfa... neither.. hurry as fast as you can and buy the last bushnell 3-12 Doug at Cameraland has for 650$

 

[Wrench]

I'm sure this isn't what you want to hear, but it's the truth.

You're not going to get where you want to be with that budget. I have all of my own tools, including the smith specific tools, coating equipment....everything. I could not do what you want to do with the budget you set.

You can make a little money on that stock. I'd sell it and buy a CA/Barrett/tikka and a stock....etc and not look back.

If you buy a budget vice you're going to buger a barrel and be pissed.....or ding the rail on the action. The tools alone will eat up a third of your budget and you'll still have mediocre parts to work with.

The action face and abutments suck. The lug need to be surface ground or tossed, the bolt should be replaced if your time is worth anything.

You'll end up with a scrap box sandwich that you can't break even on and have good odds an off the rack gun will out shoot. So....if this is for skill building, rock on. If this for a finished product on a budget.....I'd change either your budget, plan or expectations.

 

[Wrench]

Those are brand new never fired rem 700's side by side. One as I tore it down, the other after being trued. The bolt work is a time eating sob. All the work to square it up and it still needs to be timed, built up and spun back to size to fit the raceway reamer.....it's a LOT of work.

 

[gbflyer]

Wrench, nice setup. Wish I had that milling machine!

What you’re doing there is fantastic and your skills way beyond mine. I’d suspect that the NSS idea of action truing is a pass at it with Manson or PTG piloted action truing tools. I don’t know this for a fact though. I doubt anything is done with the bolt diameter. I’d think twice about bushing a bolt for a hunting gun anyway. I’ve got a Borden that’s borderline too tight if there’s much crud build up.

I’d imagine you would agree that what you put into a Remington 700 is on par with the cost of a custom action that’s true to start with. Maybe more even. So for sure if you’re shaving thousandths off a group size it’s gonna go over the OP’s budget. I’m not sure that the effort or $$$$ is necessary for the OP’s 500 yard hunting gun. An honest MOA gun is really good enough in all practical purposes. The rest is bragging rights. I think he can get there on budget without a problem. Like someone also alluded to, the same thing can be accomplished now off the shelf. Easily. But what fun is that? Hahahaha.

Great discussion. Enjoyable challenge.

 

[Apollo117]

I bought a barrel from NSS as well as some parts to do the build. They were great to deal with and my barrel shoots great. Mine was built off a Savage and the barrel nut makes things really easy.

I also have and have used both those scopes a bunch (the SHV lives on the rifle I built with stuff from NSS). Both are good and get the job done. But I much prefer the SHV due to the reticle and turrets. Depends on what you want to spend and how much weight matters. SHV is 30oz. SWFA 3-15 is 24oz.

The SHV lives in Nightforce ultralight rings. The SWFA is in Seekins Precision.




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That's another vote of confidence for NSS and Criterion pre-fits. Sounds like everything I've read about both is true.

I was thinking the same thing about the Nightforce vs SWFA. The Nightforce is more expensive and heavy, but has better features. I doubt I can really go wrong with either.

I appreciate your insight.

 

[Apollo117]

No sense in making it complicated. An off the rack Tikka will handle everything you wanna do.

The question is: Can you?

You make two good points. I've already got a Tikka T3 Superlite in .270 Win. It shoots very well and weighs less than 7.5lbs.

I'm no Ryan Cleckner, but my fundamentals are good and I've shot these distances before.

 

[Apollo117]

i think you could find a Mesa prc for the 1200$ and save a big hassle.

jus sayin.

That's a good suggestion and one I considered. However, I wanted a slightly heavier barrel than the Mesa comes with. And by using a barrel nut for this build it opens up the possibility of different calibers in the future.

IMO, in my price range, the Mesa is very tough to beat.

 

[Apollo117]

As for the shv vs swfa... neither.. hurry as fast as you can and buy the last bushnell 3-12 Doug at Cameraland has for 650$

Do you have a bad experience with either the SHV or SWFA? I've read many good things about both scopes. I've also read good things about the Bushnell LRHS. I've just read more good things about the SHV and SWFA.

What am I missing out on by not considering the Bushnell?

 

[Wrench]

Do you have a bad experience with either the SHV or SWFA? I've read many good things about both scopes. I've also read good things about the Bushnell LRHS. I've just read more good things about the SHV and SWFA.

What am I missing out on by not considering the Bushnell?

I have a pile of swfa and lrhs scopes. I prefer the lrhs to everything I've used.

 

[Wrench]

Wrench, nice setup. Wish I had that milling machine!

What you’re doing there is fantastic and your skills way beyond mine. I’d suspect that the NSS idea of action truing is a pass at it with Manson or PTG piloted action truing tools. I don’t know this for a fact though. I doubt anything is done with the bolt diameter. I’d think twice about bushing a bolt for a hunting gun anyway. I’ve got a Borden that’s borderline too tight if there’s much crud build up.

I’d imagine you would agree that what you put into a Remington 700 is on par with the cost of a custom action that’s true to start with. Maybe more even. So for sure if you’re shaving thousandths off a group size it’s gonna go over the OP’s budget. I’m not sure that the effort or $$$$ is necessary for the OP’s 500 yard hunting gun. An honest MOA gun is really good enough in all practical purposes. The rest is bragging rights. I think he can get there on budget without a problem. Like someone also alluded to, the same thing can be accomplished now off the shelf. Easily. But what fun is that? Hahahaha.

Great discussion. Enjoyable challenge.

One nice thing about bushing is that you can do the last inch and not fight the drag of the whole bolt.
The piloted ream can be had in a few sized and the bolt can be ordered in any undersize desired. When you start closing in on the 5 thou area dirt is an issue.