finally got enough cash and time together to talk to a smith about a rifle for myself and after asking a few questions of the fine people on the forum and reading other questions this is what I settled on:
1: krieger ss #7 light target barrel @24 inches w/ 1 in 12 twist .
2: an a3 mcmillan stock.
3: a full bluprinting of the action w/trigger job.
4:extra thick recoil lug.
5: tight champer for .308 Win .
haven't quite figued out what scoe and mount system to use as of yet but i have a bit of time to figure this out before the rifle is ready. (any suggestions will be greatly appreciated).
This is my first custom rifle and am very exited about the prospects, will let you all know how it turns out.

Dave,

Looks like a great recipe for a tack-driving rifle.

What action are you going to use?

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saeed@ emirates.net.ae

www.accuratereloading.com

Sounds like my dream gun, too, but mine will be in .300 Win Mag on my M70 action, throated to take 168 grain MatchKings seated to magazine length.

I plan to send mine to Kreiger and have them do all the work. With purchasing the McMillan stock myself, and mounting a 30-inch heavy SS barrel, I figured that the price would be right around $1000, give or take a few bucks. Kreiger will blueprint your action and bed your action to the stock, no problem.

Interestingly enough, I read an article where an accuracy shooter mounted an action like this: He had the ACTION free-floated, and had the barrel turned with a block of steel about 1" thick from the front of the action to the forward end of the stock, about 10 or 11 inches. This was bedded securely. The result was a rifle with a 30" barrel that had the rigidity and stiffness of a 20" barrel. I understand that the groups at 100 and 200 yards were unbelievable.

For scope choice, as soon as I can afford it, mine will be the 8-32x56 NightForce--haven't decided on the reticle yet. They're expensive, but worth every penny as far as I can see. Good luck!

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Happiness is a 200 yard bughole.

Saeed,
I'm using a remington 700 short action. The gentleman doing the work prefers them and I just happened to have one that was given to me several years ago, so it worked out to my benifit. What do you think of the picatinney rail mounting system, for the scope mounting?

Dave-

As for scopes/mounts, what are your intended uses for the rifle? Long range hunting, sniper competitions, targets, etc.

Your rifle sounds a lot like mine. On it, I used a Leupold Mark 4 M1 16X in Mk 4 rings. It was intended for sniper competitions, so I went that route. If yours will be used for lighter duty, a good 1" tube will probably serve just as well, and save you some $$$. Get enough magnification to take advantage of what your rifle will be capable of doing for you.

If it will be for something like mine, go with mil-dots. If it will be for strictly paper, duplex is fine. If it will be a "mixed bag", you might want to look at Premier Reticles www.premiereticles.com for some interesting options. They have, or can do, almost anything you want in a scope.

Sounds like a nice rig. Good luck with it!

Gary,
i plan on trying to shoot in a couple of long range silouhette (spelling?) and in the light bench rest class as well as use it to hunt with. i think i have pretty well settled on using a picatinney rail for the base but just not 100% sure about the scope yet.

I built a similar rifle a few years ago and learned a few lessons...

I would go 1:11 twist to shoot 190s, 28"-30" Kreiger medium palma contour, free velocity and the same or a little less weight than a 24" #7. I prefer the McMillan Prone stock because the forend is more comfortable when shooting with a sling. Just make sure you get a thumb wheel cheek piece elevator. You will find that the cheek piece needs to go down to get the bolt out, the thumb wheel is the only thing that makes that easy while still holding adjustment when shooting. Also go for the buttplate that you can cant, raise/lower, and most importantly, slide side to side. Since this stock is not made to fit you you need adjustments. Unless you plan on using the magazine, I would order the stock solid in the mag well and use an ADL trigger guard. Same thing on the reamer dimentions, unless you want to mag feed leave it a little long to get some more powder space. Don't bother with the rem trigger, buy a Jewel once and be happy. I would recomend a Mo's scope base, it has enough elevation built in to go from 100-1000 with a 1" scope. For the scope I would recomend a Leupold BR 24x, the AO has a lock ring and 24x is plenty for target shooting without showing too much mirage.

Man alive! Here I thought I was the only guy around who thought longer was better!
Off topic but I have chatted with a number of people and I seem to get the idea people think it is strange to have a long barrel except for benchrest. I pointed out a 30" barrel is only 6 inches longer than a 24" but this goes nowhere.
Sounds like a love machine to me, keep us posted.

Rich,
please enlighten me on the MO's scope base.
where can i get one , who makes them, and any other information you can get me. i am new to this type of addiction so pleaase be patient with me. I did ge the adjustable butt piece for the stock but not the cheek piece. probably should have but didn't really have the $$ at this time. am going to use the magazine, and the smith is going to modify a model 70 trigger quard and floor plate for easy access to empty unfired cartridges . went with 1 in 12 because i am mainly going to be shooting 155 to 175 grain bullets . i like you idea also if i get to do another i'll try what you suggest and see what happens.

Dave

Since you are going with a 308, I would recommend the 308 Obermeyer chamber. When used with 308 Lapua brass it works really well. I have my Hunter Benchrest rifle in this chamber with the exception that it has a 0.333 nk instead of the standard neck Dia.

The 12 twist barrel is a good compromise so it will hand up to probably 180 grainer. I use a Lilja 15 twist 3 grove barrel with 134 grain BIB pills. The 15 twist barrel will stabilize 150's.

As for bases and rings, I would go with davidson bases and Kelbley 4 screw rings.

Need any help just ask

Mike

[This message has been edited by Michael Swickard (edited 06-17-2001).]