My client wanted a lightweight 416 Remington for an upcoming bear hunt this coming spring. He knew he would be doing a lot more walking than shooting and the weather could be miserable and wet. Since I make my own fiberglass stocks, that was an easy choice. The choice of an action was another matter; to find a lightweight action that has class. I talked with Stuart Satterlee (Timan here) about his Titanium actions and my client agreed to spring for one of Stuart's magnum Ti square-bridge Mausers (actually two actions since I'm building a matching 375 H&H also). I can't say enough about how nice this action is. It came hand polished to 320 grit or so, the trigger and safety functioned perfectly, the floorplate locked up like a vault, and it fed right out of the box, no fiddling around. Basically, all I had to do for metalwork was to chamber and screw on the lightweight stainless barrel, bump up the trigger weight a tad, and do final polish with 320 to remove the marks I put in it.
The only problem was I didn't have a mold to make the fiberglass stock, and none of my existing molds would fit, so I had to make one. To do that I needed a pattern for the mold, a fully finished stock to the dimensions and style I wanted. I had to make one, from the blank.

I used a cheap piece of English walnut. Stuart let me use one of his steel actions to make my pattern while he finished work on the titanium action.




It had to be fully inletted, sanded and finished as you would do on a custom wood stock.

Here the titanium action is in place.


The smoother the pattern, the smoother the final mold will be.
Here is the pattern stock sprayed with gel coat, which will be the final surface of the inside of the mold.


The gel coat is overlaid with multiple coats of fiberglass. The mold must be rigid.


One half of the mold removed from the pattern, edges trimmed, and glued to a board for more rigidity.


The stock is out of the mold and the two halves glued together as an initial joining. Much more work is needed to permanently join them.


There was a lot more work between this last stage and the completed stock.


The finished stock weighs 25 ounces.


There is Kevlar reinforcement, epoxy and foam fill, internal cross bolt, aluminum grip cap, and an aluminum bedding block.


All metal is 320 grit glass bead blast.


The rifle as pictured weighs 6 lbs-4 oz.


The heart of the rifle. All titanium except for the bolt which I decided upon using stainless instead of Ti.
It was a real pleasure working with Stuart.

Wow, always wanted to know if it was like building a boat! Beautiful lines.

Before this action I never had a request for a 416 Rem. Mag.
Initially I looked at going with 375 H&H geometry I realized quickly that 375 H&H geometry wouldn't be what I was after for a 416 Rem.
A day on drawings and day on programming gave me what I was looking for, for the 416 Rem. Mag.
At the same time I wanted 4 down comfortably under the bolt with just a little wiggle room vertically in stack.
It's exactly what I wanted to create, 416 Rem. 4 down, standard configuration so it's not drop box for the 4th round.
Nice gun Wayne, I like it.

Yes, 4 down comfortably without a drop box magazine; I forgot to mention that. That was a nice bonus and just what the customer wanted.

Sounds interesting, but I get “ the image you request does not exist or is no longer available”

Maybe the problem is from my ISP,

Ed: 01/12. Pictures load nicely today, (not sure why). thanks. Very nice and very well documented project.

Krikey that's neat. I'll be patient while the pics are sorted out ;-)

I can see them on the browser I used to post but not on others. I'll sort it out in the morning.

A very nice bear stomper.

Jake Jefferson? Paging Jake (Foursixteen to the white courtesy phone!

The stock looks like it has quite a bit of drop at the comb. Was it made for mainly use with the iron sights, or will it also work with a low mounted scope?

What do you use on the wood so that the gel coat can be removed without sticking to the wood?

quote:

Originally posted by 307RIFLE:
The stock looks like it has quite a bit of drop at the comb. Was it made for mainly use with the iron sights, or will it also work with a low mounted scope?

This rifle will have low mounted scope and the geometry fits nice that way. Most of the rifles I build have iron sights, so with all of the work put into this pattern and mold I am thinking ahead to future builds. When I make the fiberglass stock I can adjust LOP, cast, and toe out, but I can't adjust drop at the toe/heel. That is locked in from the pattern.
I can also use the pattern stock for a duplicating pattern for wood stocks.

quote:

Originally posted by Kolo-Pan:
What do you use on the wood so that the gel coat can be removed without sticking to the wood?

It's not shown, but the stock is completely finished with a rottenstone pore fill and hand rubbed oil just like a custom wood stock. Right before I spray the gel coat I wax the stock and spray a mold release on it. It pops right out of the mold.

Fascinating thread, thank you for posting. Wayne would you be interested in providing more info about how you applied the Kevlar, the foam, crossbolts and bedding block with pictures if you are interested in sharing a deeper dive on this project. Not looking for proprietary tradecraft but would like to see how this is done if you'd care to share.

Neat rifle...

quote:

Originally posted by Jim@IMReps:
Fascinating thread, thank you for posting. Wayne would you be interested in providing more info about how you applied the Kevlar, the foam, crossbolts and bedding block with pictures if you are interested in sharing a deeper dive on this project. Not looking for proprietary tradecraft but would like to see how this is done if you'd care to share.

I think I will leave that part a mystery, for now.

Then a mystery it shall remain, still a fascinating thread though, thanks.

Wow. Great pics and rifle!!!

Lovely rifle with great appeal to me.
Seeing that at hand I wouldn't be able to resist picking it up and imagining lining up on something big.

What an awesome rifle! Thanks for sharing that.

Nice all the way around!

Very nice

That rifle ticks all the boxes for me except I don't want to shoot it. That's going to be fun off the bench.

Mark

A six and a quarter pound 416 will vicious off the bench I think but having a thousand pound bear in front of you will ease that pain quickly. Absolutely gorgeous rifle!

No iron sights? scope only? Hmmm...Well...the bright side is that should add a pound or more.

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe (CG&R):
No iron sights? scope only? Hmmm...Well...the bright side is that should add a pound or more.

At the time I posted, the scope choice hadn't been ironed out so I didn't know if we were going with a lighter scope or some Euro monster. Why spend extra $$$$$ for Ti action and custom fiberglass stock to get as light as possible, then put on a 2 lb. scope. We ended up using a Leupold VX5 HD 1-5 in low rings, a relatively light scope compared to many others. I think the whole package weighed 7-3/4 pounds with scope, rings, ammo.

May seem obvious ----- I wouldn't shoot it from a prone position. Might be a little ouchy.

Very cool.

Interesting rifle and clearly very well made.

That gun is Well made but impractical. My 416 Ruger on an M70 action weighs 10.5 pounds bare. Kicks the snot out of me and I'm not recoil sensitive. I put a Nightforce scope on it after destroying a Schmidt & bender. It weighs almost 13 lb in fighting form and I appreciate every ounce.

When on foot, I try to keep the overall load light because it's not just the rifle weight, it's also the pack weight too.

Short excursions from vehicles. Pretty much any weight works for me in this type of scenario.

As far as recoil, at least for me. 375 and above, you will take a hit, if that's a problem, shoot a 30-06, If it needs a 2nd shot, give it one, it's only a $1.50 more.

Beautiful stock and action!

As to the question from Jim re: how the crossbolts, epoxy, foam, etc is applied - think about the two halves and their interior accessibility prior and after joining. That allows for the necessary work - still very masterful. I've reworked a custom fiber/kevlar/foam stock. I can tell you a mix of 2:1 or 3:1 glass microspheres:epoxy is your friend!

That’s a very interesting and well made rifle, but I wouldn’t care to shoot it. My .416 Hoffman weighs 9 lbs, 2 ounces scoped but without ammo. It’s a pre-64 sitting in a Brown Precision stock with the same 1-5 VX5HD scope and is about as light as I’d want to go with any .416 cartridge. The recoil is very tolerable but I think much lighter would be difficult.

Mine shoots great but is not pleasant off the bench while sitting. Standing off sticks is easy though. My personal opinion is under 8 pounds is too light but if the guy can shoot it well, more power to him.

quote:

Mine shoots great but is not pleasant off the bench while sitting. Standing off sticks is easy though. My personal opinion is under 8 pounds is too light but if the guy can shoot it well, more power to him.

My .416T came back from the smith's at 8 pounds even.

One shot was all I need to add weight.

Now loaded it weighs 10lb even and is decent to shoot.

One has to wonder how fast follow up shots will be with such a lite rifle.

I have always wondered about detached retinas???