I've never built a rifle, but I've been doing some serious thinking about it.

How does one start a project like this?

What tools do I need, etc.

I'm good at woodworking and other projects, and I like to think I'm reasonably mechanically inclined, but I don't have much "formal" training with gunsmithing. I've tinkered a little with trigger adjustments and tuning for IPSC and IDPA pistol competition, and general familiarity, but nothing major like free-floating or glass-bedding or anything.

I'm thinking of starting with a .223 and working from there.

Any suggestions or tips?

To start off with I think it's a good idea to buy a unfinished drop-in first. Bed it, finish it and then if you're a little nuts checker it. Look at lots of pictures of nice custom guns and get an idea of what they should look like. Handle as many as you can. Find as many gunsmithing books as you can and read them. Look over the shoulder of as many rifle-makers as won't get too annoyed by it. Good Luck....DJ

quote:

---

I've never built a rifle, but I've been doing some serious thinking about it.

---

If you believe in a higher power get on your knees and pray that this desire be striken from your heart.

nothing to it except desire and a big wallet

I think first you should look at the actions out there, and decide what you want action wise. Clearly, you need to define your purpose for this rifle (in .223, either target or varmit hunting is most likely).

After you decide what you are going to do with the rifle, you need to pick one of the many semi-custom or custom actions out there. I personally just bought a montana rifle action, but was considering nesika bay also. The price was the biggest factor for me in choosing montana rifle's action.

If you choose something like montana rifle's action, you can get semi-inletted stocks from several companys, and finish the stocks from there. The stock design will have to do with your personal tastes in stock shape, and of course, the purpose of the rifle.

Well, the .223 was mainly just because I still have about 300 moly rounds at home for one, along with an undisclosed quantity of little brown cardboard boxes labeled 5.56 that somehow found their way into my closet - and I sold my other .223s a few years ago. Let's just say I'm sufficiently stocked on .223 and leave it at that.

I really want a nice, custom bolt action in .416 Rigby with all the fixin's, but I cringe every time I see those $3,000 - $6,000 price tags for them on the web, so I figured I could just make one.

I don't want to start with a .416 though as my first ever attempt, so I wanted to cut my teeth on something I can afford to shoot and tinker with.

Ok...seriously here's a way and I assure you that the $3,000 for the .416 Rigby will be less costly but since you insist do this.
Get a Howa barreled action in .223 and hand fit a wood stock to it. All you need here is some hand tools and a lot of patience.

This will give you some experience in sanding and finishing and checkering stocks as well as glass bedding. Add a forend tip and pistol grip cap of some hily figured wood and install sling swivels and WTF...install some stock cross bolts too. SInce you have some woodworking skills now this will get your feet wet.....REAL WET...but you'll wind up with a very fine .223 and a helluva lot of practice.

Next project will be a Mauser.

quote:

---

I really want a nice, custom bolt action in .416 Rigby with all the fixin's, but I cringe every time I see those $3,000 - $6,000 price tags for them on the web, so I figured I could just make one.

---

Magnum Action for 416 Rigby.........$1000-$2500
Custom Barrel with 1/4 Rib..........$2500
Wood Blank suitable for Rigby.......$600-$2000
Drop-Box bottom metal...............$350
Hours required for project..........100-250
Cost of tools.......................$400-$40,000
Doing it yourself....................Priceless?

........it can make the $3000-6000 seem more reasonable though. Especially makes the $1500 or so for a Ruger RSM seem almost cheap......DJ

I've done two custom Mausers. After the first, I swore I would never do another. After the second, I swore that I would never do another.

The critical issue is to ask yourself, do I want a project, or do I want a gun? If you want a gun, then something off the shelf is the right solution.

My first Mauser was pretty cheap. I started with a $50 Turkish small thread/large ring Mauser, and a new $40 Remington take-off barre. Got the barrel re-threaded and installed, the receiver tapped and drilled, the bolt handle whacked off and rewelded for not a whole lot of money. Then I tackled the stock. That ended up costing more than the rest of the project put together. Net result was a very nice looking hunting rifle, and a lot of fun.

Best price on stocks that I have found is http://www.sporterexpress.com/

Just restocking a conventional rifle may be all the fun you need.

quote:

---

Originally posted by vapodog:
If you believe in a higher power get on your knees and pray that this desire be striken from your heart.

---

LMAO

I don't know if you are interested in watching any video tapes or not, but if you are, there is a 4 tape set put out by AGI , which is American Gunsmithing Institute, that shows all of the steps in making a custom Rifle out of a Mauser action. There isn't a whole lot of detail about barrel threading or making a stock from a blank, as they use a prethreaded barrel and a machined stock blank.

Alot of times you might see this set on Ebay, or you could go to AGI's site and buy it from them. I think its about $75.00 and in my opinion it is well worth it for anyone who wants to get their feet wet making up a rifle.

And, if you can find it, there is a book put out by Gun Digest called Riflesmithing by Jack Mitchell that is pretty good too. Brownells might even have that one in their catolog.

CZ offers a rifle in .416 rigby for MUCH less than that.. Something like $875 RETAIL (read: you could get it for less). I would do that, so you dont have to drop 3000 on a rifle.

http://www.cz-usa.com/product.detail.php?id=23

I already have a Ruger #1 in a .416, so it's not just wanting one, it's wanting a nice one ...

and wanting to see if I'm up to the challenge of even building one myself.

That's more of a long-term thing ... I've looked at the CZ's though, but I'm more interested in stainless with a nice cherrywood or some other type of stock. Not that I'm against buying a CZ and trying to work on it some myself, but I'm not sure if it would be more work to buy one and try to retrofit it like I want vs. just building what I want from the ground up.

For now though, I want to just focus on getting a .223 done.

check out montana rifles Mini action for .223. It is super cheap right now, and it will allow for a very light gun. For a very low cost, it comes with a decent barrel, trigger, and an action. You may or may not need some smithing done on the action to smooth it up, but in any case, it will not be alot

Ok, cool - and thanks.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ben589:
I've never built a rifle, but I've been doing some serious thinking about it.

How does one start a project like this?

What tools do I need, etc.

---

I would also reccomend reading Jack Mitchells book. It will give you a real good idea of what approach to take.

Unless you have the equipment to do it yourself then you will need someone to install the barrel for you. Shaw can do it for less than the cost of a factory rifle or you can get a local 'smith to do it for you. There is a mountian of info in the archives that can help you along.

In short it cant really be done with the average home shop tools.

Ben,
How much of the "building" do you want to do yourself. Bear in mind, that a lot of the metalwork involves owning or having access to lathes, mills and other paraphernalia that will make the $3,000 to $6,000 rifle look like pocket change. So you need to start with a framework of what you want to do and what you want to have done by others.

Nate, does Montana Riflery have a mini action now or is it another of the dreams that are in the future? I just looked at their site myself. Ben better go after an action that is real on not just "in design". The real ones work better.

Ben589

There is really no difference in building a rifle in 223 or 416, they all work off of the same basic principle and both require the same steps. So you might as well build what you want. I have seen some beutiful rifles built for under a $1200. Building nice rifles are not a matter of investing money, but a matter of investing time, such as paying attention to detail and taking time to fit the parts properly.

The following is an example of a rifle that can be built for a resonable price and be every bit as good as some of the finest. It is just a matter of detail.

Enfield 1917 action $150 (cut ears off and weld up the pond, cut off bolt handle and weld a new one on from Brownells, open up bolt face to cartridge head diameter, and open up the rails to allow feeding for desired cartridge, 416 Rigby in your case)
Send action to Pac-Nor to have it trued and barreled $400
Call Dakota Arms or a local stockmaker who has a duplicater to cut out a stock for you, they usually have patterns on hand. $150 for duplicating and installing crossbolts and another $150 for a decent piece of wood.(Wood is always an easy upgrade you can do later if you want.)
Install desired recoil pad $50
Sling Swivels or barrel band $50
Mag box and follower form Brownells $15
Cock on open conversion w/ trigger $50
Blueing or Teflon coating $100
Bases and ring $50 or Sights $100

Take your time and have fun with it.

James

As Rob said to me when I was thinking of building an Nyati...

"go and drink a fifth of your favbooze, lay down, and hope this desire passes"


Now, assuming you are still befuddled with thoughts of doing it yourself...

a 223 is a fairly hard choice for a first build, unless you are going to stop a restocking. Why? Theren't may suitable actions, assuming boltgun, to start with, and what's suitable is commerical and mostly ready. An exception is the remington 788, in 222... that cn be rechambered to 223, the mage sorted out, and then restocked.

So, let's step this up ONE notch, and decide on the type of round.. .473 casehead and nonerebated (to eleminate the 284 and 425 wr) or magnum (.534)... if magnum, you SHOULD go with a commerical action, already in mag, for your FIRST time.. fewer feeding/gunsmithing efforts

It's a "false" economy to think that a 100$ mauser action will be cheaper, in the long run, that a commerical action. Once you add a triggger (50), safety (250 for a 3pos) surface grinding (75) and (if you like) bottom metal,, you are seriously into that action..

any of the commerical actions are suitable to start with, though I lean towards the m70 and the mrc long action (490 list)

once you decide on a caliber, you'll have to decide on sights... or not...

What's your choice for style of rifle you want to have when this is finished.... nice piney woods quick and light, heavyweighted sporter for a little weight when you shoot, heavy sendero type rifle, target gun, etc... as this will drive the barrel profile and stock shape

do not coldblue anything but the axel's of your truck!!!

then it's off to the races...

450 - action
400 - barrel, chamber and blue
stock option 1
gag/rmf grade stock
150 to whatever
option 2
pattern and blank
150 for dup and shipping (both ways)
150 and up for the blank

recoil pad
if it kicks, get a pacmyer f990, otherwise, it's to taste
50-100 installed

riflesights
several options you'll need to price out.. could be anywhere from 25 bucks and 6 bucks a hole for remington take offs, ot 450 bucks.

checkering
yes/no...
if yes, call it 200 for a basic pattern

finish and bedding....
this were you spend the most money for labor!!!

bedding, I charge
100 for bedding

stock finihing
if you want it sanded to 440 and 10 coats of tung oil, it's going to cost at least 350 in labor... and that's cheap cheap cheap....


so, if it heads to being around 2000, you can probably take out 500 of that, by doing it yourself...but unless you have thousands in machine tools, it's easier to spend/farmout lots of the metal work.


It's challenging, it's fun, and it will take at least TEN times longer than you think it should

jeffe

quote:

---

Originally posted by James_B:
Ben589

There is really no difference in building a rifle in 223 or 416, they all work off of the same basic principle and both require the same steps.
James

---

James,
you happened to be speaking of two of the more difficult rounds to fit into, say , a mauser.... bushing the barrel and creating the feeding is a nightmare.... and the rigby should be in a an enfield.. which leads to higher costs for everyting when compared to a mauser


jeffe

Yeah, I'm looking into the machining aspects of it a little more.

I'll let you guys know what I come up with, and I think it would be a nice project - it might be easier to just buy one from someone who already has a shop and some experience than trying to tool-up and then go at it from scratch.

I'll get the books though and start reading, plus look into some of the suggestions here.