Building a Rifle on a Tight Budget

[Ontario Hunter]

I have Warne QD rings with levers on the bolt side. Makes sense to have all protrusions on same side: bolt handle, elevation turret, and QD ring levers. The levers don't interfere with loading or ejection. And turret affords some protection if levers are turned to it.

 

[WI-2021]

I've only tagged myself with a sling swivel once, that was enough. It was with my .300 WM, which has a rather short fore-end. I promise, it hurts a bit. That rifle has a CF wrapped barrel, so a barrel band isn't an option. The rifle doesn't recoil too badly, but it was my first time practicing with it off of sticks, so it was a learning experience. I'm a bit more cautious now, but that helped push me toward barrel-mounted swivels for the bigger rifles.

Being left-handed, my levers are either on the bolt side or the turret side. This time I chose the bolt side and I think I prefer it. Whatever scope ends up on this rifle long-term, probably another GPO 1.5-9, will be illuminated, so the illumination control will be on that side. Right now the levers point straight up which seems ideal for this specific setup. Once I have a different scope on it I may adjust the levers.

 

[BeeMaa]

FYI - @Jager Waffen74 has a R700 Alaska Wilderness Rifle (AWR) stainless with Cerakote in 375H&H, unfired, with a Kevlar stock for $1650...AND THAT INCLUDES SHIPPING!!!

FOR SALE Unfired Remington Custom Shop Alaskan Wilderness Rifle .375 H&H

Didn't know if you were more interested in making it yourself or saving money.

 

[WI-2021]

Thanks for the tip, it looks like someone will be getting a great deal on that rifle.

What mainly drove me to semi-custom builds was the lack of left-handed options in factory rifles. If I were right-handed I probably wouldn't have gone down the rabbit hole.

 

[WI-2021]

Phase two of the budget build is now in progress. This will the the part that may remove the rifle from the "budget" realm. After some additional shooting and function testing, as well as experimenting with different LOP's, I've arrived that the conclusion that the rifle functions flawlessly and shoots very well with both 300 grain DGX and 250 grain CX. It also fits me very well with a 14.25" LOP. Overall I've been very happy with the results of my budget experiment so far.

Off to the gunsmith it goes to increase the LOP, add NECG express sights and barrel band swivel, and be cerakoted black. It's now wearing a GPO Spectra 6 1.5-9x44, the same scope as I have on my .308 deer rifle. I find that scope to be an excellent value and a good match for both rifles. I'm on the notify list for an Ecco Accipiter Ti .375 suppressor for it.

The Winchester M70 build project has been on hiatus for a bit. After shooting a .470NE while in South Africa in July, I've decided to change gears and build the first one as a .458WM instead of a .416RM. This will simplify things a bit with the action work, of course. I haven't been entirely happy with my stock refinishing project using BLO, so I've decided that the first stock will be for practice only. I have another one that I'll refinish with Linspeed. Hopefully I'll make all of my mistakes on the first one. The second action may become a 9.3x62; time will tell. The .458 will probably become a winter project.

 

[steve white]

#1 tip on building on a budget--make friends with a retired machinist who can do threading/barreling for you! Otherwise get a Savage where you can put on your own. You could be lucky enough to find new, armory-stored original FN or Mauser barrels. Used to be easier to find those, I know.

 

[WI-2021]

#1 tip on building on a budget--make friends with a retired machinist who can do threading/barreling for you! Otherwise get a Savage where you can put on your own. You could be lucky enough to find new, armory-stored original FN or Mauser barrels. Used to be easier to find those, I know.

Absolutely! There are plenty of Remclones out there that, in theory, take prefit barrels with no machining work required. In practice, I'm four "prefit" builds deep now, and two of those barrels needed some lathe time. This was two different barrel manufacturers and one action manufacturer. In one case, the barrel manufacturer missed the undercut on the tenon threads so the barrel didn't bottom out on the face of the receiver. In the other case, the barrel had excess headspace. Both were easily fixed by my local gunsmith, but if I didn't have a good local gunsmith I'd have been shipping the barrel and action to get them sorted out.

Barrel nut builds aren't limited to Savage. There are barrel nut options out there for Remington, Howa, and maybe some others as well. Given the option, I'll always go with a shouldered barrel, but again, I have a gunsmith just down the road to handle any necessary machine work. If I didn't, the barrel nut setups would have a lot more appeal to me.

Having your own shop to do the rest of the work also helps cut down on cost. For the upcoming M70 builds I plan to do all the stock work and bluing myself. The rest of the metal work will be outsourced to the gunsmith since unfortunately I don't have a machine shop in my garage and my employer would frown on me building rifles at work. For a basic build, namely a refinished factory stock, no sights, and rust bluing it myself, I would expect to be just under $2k for the M70 build. Having a retired machinist buddy who will work for beer would certainly knock a few hundred off the cost. Realistically, I'm going to be buying more tools and adding express sights, so the cost will increase accordingly.

I'll be shocked if the .458 comes in much under $4k since I plan to go a little wild with a quarter rib, etc. The second M70, whatever it ends up being, will cost less, both since it will be more basic and since I'll already have all the tools.

It's a total rabbit hole, but it's fun.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

If I read your posts correctly, you are using a McGowan bbl on this build? I have two rifles that wear McGowans and they are very very good. I have also had very good results with Shaw bbls with the larger calibers like 375HH and 338wm. Being left handed limits what a hunter can find. I am left handed but was taught to shoot right handed so, it never affected me that much but my son is also left handed and shoots left handed. We were able to find him an old left handed 270 for a deer rilfe years ago but when we got interested in larger game I want on search for a rifle and ended up with a custom Mauser action with a Shaw bbl in 338wm all riding in a McMillan "Woody" stock. This build is currently wearing an old vintage USA mfg Burris fixed 4x scope. This thing is a tack driver and far and away out performs my own Sako 65 in 338wm. I plan to give the custom rifle to my son for his birthday this fall prior to a Nilgai hunt we are going on next year.

Strangely, it has a bbl band front sling swivel but is the only rifle I have ever handled that was set up that way and I am not sure I like it. I taught myself to mount the sticks with the front sling swivel place just ahead of the front cradle on the sticks (using a quad-stick) and the sling itself draped ahead of the cradle. I then grasp the front cradle, and sling pulling them firmly together so this helps to prevent the recoil from popping the rifle out of the cradles from the recoil. I have shot everything from the 338wm's to the little ultra-lite 338rcm, my 375's and even a 458wm. If there were not a sling and sling swivel at the front of the forestock, I would not be able to use this method. Obviously you do not want to rest the bbl itself on the cradle as that would foul up the bbl harmonics and cause flyers or changes in POI. Good luck with your builds. I am sure they will become prized possessions.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

If I read your posts correctly, you are using a McGowan bbl on this build? I have two rifles that wear McGowans and they are very very good. I have also had very good results with Shaw bbls with the larger calibers like 375HH and 338wm. Being left handed limits what a hunter can find. I am left handed but was taught to shoot right handed so, it never affected me that much but my son is also left handed and shoots left handed. We were able to find him an old left handed 270 for a deer rilfe years ago but when we got interested in larger game I want on search for a rifle and ended up with a custom Mauser action with a Shaw bbl in 338wm all riding in a McMillan "Woody" stock. This build is currently wearing an old vintage USA mfg Burris fixed 4x scope. This thing is a tack driver and far and away out performs my own Sako 65 in 338wm. I plan to give the custom rifle to my son for his birthday this fall prior to a Nilgai hunt we are going on next year.

Strangely, it has a bbl band front sling swivel but is the only rifle I have ever handled that was set up that way and I am not sure I like it. I taught myself to mount the sticks with the front sling swivel place just ahead of the front cradle on the sticks (using a quad-stick) and the sling itself draped ahead of the cradle. I then grasp the front cradle, and sling pulling them firmly together so this helps to prevent the recoil from popping the rifle out of the cradles from the recoil. I have shot everything from the 338wm's to the little ultra-lite 338rcm, my 375's and even a 458wm. If there were not a sling and sling swivel at the front of the forestock, I would not be able to use this method. Obviously you do not want to rest the bbl itself on the cradle as that would foul up the bbl harmonics and cause flyers or changes in POI. Good luck with your builds. I am sure they will become prized possessions.

View attachment 715379

Interesting. I'll have to try mounting on sticks that way. I'm also not a fan of barrel band front swivels. Don't want my rifle hanging that low when it's on my shoulder.

That scope seems mounted very high. Is that because Sako ejection issues?

 

[WI-2021]

If I read your posts correctly, you are using a McGowan bbl on this build? I have two rifles that wear McGowans and they are very very good. I have also had very good results with Shaw bbls with the larger calibers like 375HH and 338wm. Being left handed limits what a hunter can find. I am left handed but was taught to shoot right handed so, it never affected me that much but my son is also left handed and shoots left handed. We were able to find him an old left handed 270 for a deer rilfe years ago but when we got interested in larger game I want on search for a rifle and ended up with a custom Mauser action with a Shaw bbl in 338wm all riding in a McMillan "Woody" stock. This build is currently wearing an old vintage USA mfg Burris fixed 4x scope. This thing is a tack driver and far and away out performs my own Sako 65 in 338wm. I plan to give the custom rifle to my son for his birthday this fall prior to a Nilgai hunt we are going on next year.

Strangely, it has a bbl band front sling swivel but is the only rifle I have ever handled that was set up that way and I am not sure I like it. I taught myself to mount the sticks with the front sling swivel place just ahead of the front cradle on the sticks (using a quad-stick) and the sling itself draped ahead of the cradle. I then grasp the front cradle, and sling pulling them firmly together so this helps to prevent the recoil from popping the rifle out of the cradles from the recoil. I have shot everything from the 338wm's to the little ultra-lite 338rcm, my 375's and even a 458wm. If there were not a sling and sling swivel at the front of the forestock, I would not be able to use this method. Obviously you do not want to rest the bbl itself on the cradle as that would foul up the bbl harmonics and cause flyers or changes in POI. Good luck with your builds. I am sure they will become prized possessions.

View attachment 715379

Thank you. I've been very happy with my builds for the most part, though some of them have been frustrating. Your custom looks like a nice rifle as well. I've been interested in the McWoody finish, but never bulled the trigger since I haven't seen one in real life. Yours looks very nice and realistic in the pic.. You're correct, this .375 has a McGowan barrel. Carbon Six also uses blanks from McGowan, so most of my customs actually have a McGowan on them and all have shot well.

As far as barrel bands, I'm a big fan of them on rifles from .375 on up but prefer the swivel stud on the forearm on smaller calibers. Early on I took a whack in the knuckles from my .300WM, which has a rather short forearm. My own fault, but it wasn't pleasant. It was a learning experience and I'm more careful now. I don't use quad sticks, but can see the advantage of a forearm mounted swivel to help index the front rest.