If you were going to buy/build a custom rifle, which cartridge would you choose and why?

[ 08-12-2002, 07:24: Message edited by: Nebraska ]

A custom rifle could be in many different formats.

However, in the absence of that information and assuming you mean a blued rifle with high grade wood in a Mauser or Model 70, then 300 H&H.

Why? It is a real classic caliber so you would be always happy with it. Being 30 caliber it picks up all the advantages that come with being a 30. Unlike the 300 Winchester, it is a natural for nice open sights as an addition. It is also the prefect caliber to have if a 375 H&H is added.

Mike

I would go with 338 win mag. Big enough to be useful over the 30 cals. Yet plenty of bullets and brass to be handy. Has a proven track record on game. Not as fancy or wild as some of the others. Just a good all around med cal.
<<<< That is unless you want something differant.

Mike 375 mentioned the 350 Rigby the other day, if you want something a little exotic

338 Win is the most practical but I love my 9.3 x 62.

I'd go along with Mike375 on this one (300 H&H).

If you are going to buy a "real" custom rifle, you are talking $5-6K (minimum) for surface grinding the action, rust bluing, fine straddle bow floorplate, express sights, etc. not to mention fine wood, checkering, yadda-yadda-yadda. These rifles have a certain mystique and following and the overwhelming taste of the followers runs to pure classic lines, styling and cartridges. Last that I heard, the three most popular cartriges for such pieces were the .270 win, 375 H&H, and (tie)30-06/300 H&H. (I guess Jack is still influencing us all)

However if you are talking about a "bolt together" custom as done by most of todays' mass producers with synthetic stocks, stainless bbl. teflon finish or whatever, then you are talking whatever cal. strikes your fancy or fits your hunting needs. In these rifles, the most poular calibers are the 300 win. and the 7mm STW. You are also only takling $2.5-3.5K for the best work of this type available.

Have fun

I would build up a mauser 98 or springfield 03 in 9.3 x 62. It is a simple rebarrel job. No action work is needed, so it is quite economical, and it produces almost the power of a 375. With Nosler 250 grain ballistic tip, you can get almost the same trajectory as a 30-06 180 grain load.

I would built "The Alaskan," with a Dakota action. Caliber? A good 'ol USA .338WM.

Good US combinations:
.270 & .338WM

The next step:
.338WM & .416 Rigby (or a .458)

[ 06-23-2002, 22:52: Message edited by: Ray, Alaska ]

I started to write that it would depend on what I already had that I was very happy with, but really my answer is the 300 Winchester. As for the whys, well it works for the majority of what I'm most interested in hunting the most often. I like and own 338Win and 375H&H but the 300 sees more action.

HBH

There is never enough information as to what will be hunted and at what ranges.

So I will give my opinion like others did.

First of all I would not get the .300 H&H. I got one last winter and have been shooting it all year. Sure it's powerful and accurate but the cases only last for five shots and it requires a long action. No more belts for me.

As for me I would not buy a custom rifle. I have them and the thrill is gone. But I am tempted to get a Dakota 76. I suppose you could call that a custom. I would go with the 30/06 Springfield.

338-06. Why? Like custom guns you cant get one at Wal Mart yet brass is easy to get and they dispatch game so very nicley with less meat loss than a smaller caliber. It has a tolerable recoil and will do anything a 35 Whelen will with a flatter trajectory.

Whatever you decide on, make sure it is a very useful caliber for you. To me a medium bore really starts at .318/.323 and goes to the .375 bore. The 9.3x62 has been rediscovered and is something you just might take for whitetails.

The .338/'06 or .338 Win. Mag.

Been there and done it. My custom medium bore is a .358 Winchester.

Spec's:

Sako AII action (medium length)
Shilen Barrel #3 contour (.650") 22" long
3 position model 70 saftey
Brown Kevlar stock
Leupold/Sako Rings
Burris 1.5x6 Signature scope

Weight 7.2 Lbs loaded and ready to go.


The load:

WW Brass
Barnes 200 Grain X
Fed 210 primers
52 Grains RL-12 (discontinued, but I have 4 lbs. of it)
2615 FPS

"The best" IMHO, whitetail/black bear load out to 300 yds.

Good luck with your choice.

Bob

I was reading an article about D'Arcy Echols and his rifles. Now those are very nice rifles! You may have to wait a few months to get one of his rifles in .300 H&H, .300 WM, .300 Weatherby, .338 WM, .375 H&H, .416 Remington, and .458 Lott.

He accomplishes a tremendous amount of work on his rifles to turn them into reliable DG rifles. The "Classic" (base rifle) will set you back approximately $6,600, and you will have to get on the waiting list to get one. He makes more expensive rifles, too. There is a complete article about his rifles in the May 2002 issue of Rifle.

Nebraska,

I'd choose 338-06

Ray, John Barsness did a fine job with his article about D'Arcy Echols. I have a few of D'Arcy's fiberglass-stocked "Legend" rifles myself, and I swear by them. In fact, they represent the best hunting rifle money I've ever spent, and I don't hunt with anything else anymore, nor do I hire any other riflemaker anymore.

Echols is a wonderful guy to deal with as well. He's a true professional; well-schooled and well-trained in his craft; completely honest and trustworthy; and he treats his customers with the highest respect, and as friends. I have a .338 Win. Mag. "Legend" in process right now. When it's complete, I'll post a photo or two.

Caliber selection: Considering all the issues such as ammunition and component availability, usefulness on a broad spectrum of game, ease of reloading, plus resale value, I'd select one of the following; .300 Winchester, .300 Weatherby, .338 Winchester, or .375 H&H.

The hassle ratio and resale value of wildcats or cartridges of marginal popularity is abysmal, and for no gain in terminal performance whatsoever.

AD

6.5-06 Ackley Improved appeals to me as a useful round that is a little off the beaten path.

My current rifles are pretty much effective but "plain vanilla" calibers(.223, .308, 30-06, .338WinMag).

The 6.5-06 AI with a 26" medium barrelled Rem 700 in a McMillan stock would be a pleasant shooting, hard hitting, rifle with a great selection of bullets for varmints, target, and big game.

MM

Medium bore? Okay.

Remington Model 700 in 300 Winchester, trigger job set to 3 pounds, 26" #5 Lilja fluted barrel, all the squaring the action etc etc, sitting in a custom McMillan USMC camo fiberglass stock. With a Leupold 4.5-14x50 LongRangeTactical (MilDot) scope.

By the way, those are my exact plans for my current 300 Win Mag. Oh yeah, Harris 13.5-27" BiPod (25C). And also add a SAKO style extractor to it and a G. David Tubb Titanium firing pin.

I have to comment on the constant mention of the Mr. Echols here. Since I can't afford $6,000 for his rifle I will have to dance around the "sour grapes" situation.

I have a few rifles for most of the various disiplines. I have a number of deer rifles, target rifles, varmint etc.

All of them with the exception of two are factory rifles. There is no advantage to the custom rifles what so ever! Now my late dad was a tool maker. He owned his own shop so I had the advantage to learing how to do stuff. But just to take a pre-64 M-70 and bed the stock and adjust the trigger is all that you have to be able to do. This is not out of the ablility of the average person.

My M-70's are as good as they get and I would not trade one for a "new" M-70 from Echols or anyone. In fact I trust myself and not someone else. I know that we get on jets and trust other mechanics with our lives everyday but rifles are such simple tools.

I have shot against a number of "custom gunsmiths" and my favorite story is one where we were on the line in a big bore match and the call came out for a cease fire. The specific anouncement was "Cease fire while custom gunsmith retreives front sight" his front sight came loose and fell off of the gun.

Mine never came loose so far, never ever.

Now I suppose that I could think of something to brag about that I own.

Nope I can't, but I wish it was an extra $6000!

Something else. There is an author by the name of (Dr.) Arthur Bieser. He wrote at least two books and the most famous is "The Proper Yacht" Beiser is an international person and very wealthy. He had his sailboat outfitted in Newport, RI (yachting capital) for another transatlantic voyage.

Now this book is very aloof. Any boat that is not big and expensive is put down with a pompous ring of authority. Bieser has the big bucks and runs with the big dogs.

So he left Newport with a large crew and 1,000 miles out into the Atlantic it seems that a hose came off of a thru hull fitting and before the cause could be corrected the boat sank!

So what did Bieser do but sue the boat yard.

What else can you do?

?

If range is no object and you are recoil sensitive, the 9.3x62. It will do anything the 35 Whelen and 338-06 will and then some.

If shooting will be at greater than 300yds, then I would go with one of the magnums. Both 338WM and 375HH are adequate for anything you'll find here or abroad.

If I wanted a "heavy" medium, I'd go with the 404 Jeffrey. Ku-dude

I'd pick the .338 Win. Mag. (if I was metric-minded, I'd pick the 9.3x62).

The .338 has good power & reach, and there are lots of great bullets available for it. It can be used for everything from sheep to antelope to large plains game to bears.

George

Don Martin29: A good thing we have is the choise of buying any gun we want, including a custom gun of our liking.

The "Classic" mentioned above is not necessarily a custom gun, but a gun which is based on a Winchester Model 70 Classic action. One could call it a "custom" gun, but what D'Arcy creates is a reliable hunting gun. What customers pay for is not the name nor the looks of the rifle, but instead: Quality, reliability, durability. What he creates is DG and hunting rifles for hunters who demand the "best." That's the reason why lots of professional hunters buy his rifles. He makes about 12 to 14 rifles each year.

A finished D'Arcy rifle has almost nothing left from the original Model 70 action. He only uses the receiver and bolt, but even these are extensively reworked. Even the ejector (claw) is replaced with his own, the trigger and safety are reworked, the action is mated to a cryogenically treated Krieger barrel. The Echols scope mounts are screwed directly into the top of the action, with no base/ring connection, and are milled to fit individual scopes. He replaces the magazine box and cartridge follower with his own, made of stainless steel, and it's designed to hold 4 Magnum rounds rather than the normal 3. The action rails are worked for smooth-feed of the individual factory round and empty case.

I could go on and on this subject. I didn't explain the technical details about his work, but I would certainly spend $6,000.00 for one of his guns.

Best of all: All his guns are belted

[ 07-04-2002, 22:53: Message edited by: Ray, Alaska ]

Get a 9.3x62, it can do a lott

Flip
I take it there is no pun intended in your statement .

I do however agree with GeorgeS

Ben

Don, make no mistake, if I didn't think Echols' "Legend" custom rifle was worth the money, I wouldn't spend a dime on one.

The truth is, I've never owned a better hunting rifle, and the quality, intelligent design, durability, balance, finish, and reliability make D'Arcy's product worth every penny. It's one of those things where you really need to get one of these rifles in-hand to see the difference.

In fact smart money would say get rid of a number of run-of-the-mill, seldon-used factory rifles and buy one of these Echols rifles. In fact, I pretty much did just that.

AD

I'd get a Hagn Single shot with a really nice classic style stock and chamber for either 7x57 or 338 Hawk, depending on what animals I meant to chase.

I would need more info on game and ranges to make a exact recommendation. As far as a good accurate round that you can shoot all day, and have excellent barrel life, its hard to beat the old .308 Winchester. While even the 308 is an excellent long range round, if game were to be taken at longer ranges, I would opt for either a 300 Win. Mag, or a 300 Weatherby mag.

375 H&H. I don't have one, and it is a prudent well balanced cartridge for what and how I hunt. I would put the 300 win mag and 338 win mag as very close runners up.

I do enjoy somewhat esoteric rounds, as a matter of fact I was turning off the belts and cutting down the rims of 375 H&H cases to make 350 Rigby brass this morning. That said, there is something to be said for an over the counter round. I could pick a 338 win, 350 Rigby or 375 H&H and use them pretty much interchangebly.

Ooops! I already answered above.

.338WM

[ 08-09-2002, 07:42: Message edited by: Ray, Alaska ]

I guess a 375 Super Swede would be a nice rifle... I don�t know wich case it�s based on but it�s like a fat short 375 that will fit a standardlength action and still deliver like a 375 H&H....
...The guys in "Vapentidningen" a swedish gunmagazine developed the caliber and its a perfect mediumbore.

Nebraska

A little late but one upper-end medium bore I'm looking at is the 375-338. Nicely does the same as a 375 H&H and uses necked up 338 win brass. If you don't want to go the wildcat route, you can't go wrong a 375H&H.

Curt (in Lincoln)

I would go 270AI on the low side of MED CAL and 35/338 Win MAG on the high side if you like wildcats or I would go 270win or 358NormaMAG if you don't.

I vote for the 9.3 X 62 mm as well. Great cartridge, very versatile and worthy of a custom rifle. Way

Gents,
My Medium caliber Custom is a P17 Remington 375 Taylor (375-338 ) Timney trigger,early Fajen stock,weaver steel 6x ,very plain,very solid and dependable...300grs at 2700fps....will do everything I need. Of Course that doesn't mean I'm Giving up my 416 or my 458 ! or my -06...or,,,, just a vote for the Taylor. Easy to get brass,bullets,,excellent power 45nut

quote:

I would build up a mauser 98 or springfield 03 in 9.3 x 62. It is a simple rebarrel job. No action work is needed, so it is quite economical, and it produces almost the power of a 375. With Nosler 250 grain ballistic tip, you can get almost the same trajectory as a 30-06 180 grain load.

Just reading over these old posts. Kills me. Even though there is great information here, I am still looking at a wide range of calibers for my rifle. I think the 9.3X62 would handle a lot of my hunts and concerns, but what about the black-tail buck at 325 yards on the edge of the oaks eating acorns?

quote:

Originally posted by Nebraska:
If you were going to buy/build a custom rifle, which cartridge would you choose and why?

M98 walnut/blue:: 7x57,.270,06,300H&H,9.3x62-64,375H&H,404J,416Rig.
M70 walnut/blue:270win,06,300H&H,338win,375H&H,416Rm
Falling Block(Hagn)walnut/blue:.270,7x57,06,300H*H,9.3x74R,375H*H,404J
DoubleRifle:9.3x74R,470NE
Synthetic/Ti-SS M70 type:260,270,7mmRm,300H*H,338win,375H*H,375T,416T,416Rem

I would take the 270,375H*H in either wlnut or Synthetic it is equally welcome and universally accepted in both by most people. They perform well,ammo,brass etc very available,best resale ability, they are two true very traditional rounds that have adopted well to the modern age, difficult pass them up for what ever you build. That is just the process I am going through at the moment.They keep comming back to mind as the sensible choices. Out side of that,a small frame Hagn7x57r,a9.3x62 M98, 9.3x74RSxS(with extra7x57R barrelset!) would be a real cherry on the cake.