Hello everyone! I wanted to tell the story of how my rifle came to be. I live in the high mountains of Colorado (11,500 ft) and regularly shoot at 12,000’+ altitude.
Here’s a picture of my shooting range (the arrows are pointing to my steel target):
I decided that I “needed” a high precision bolt action rifle to add to my collection of other guns. I started by researching the kind of rifle that I wanted to base this around and finally came to the conclusion of the Remington 700.
I researched the round that would be best for me based on the following criteria:
- Most shooting done from 100 yards to 1000 yards
- I need to hump this in about 1 mile to shoot so it can’t be too heavy
- Plan on hunting deer and possibly elk
- I normally have moderate to high wind conditions so I need a high BC round
- I don’t reload now but plan on reloading in the future
- I’m always alone when I shoot so I can shoot a high volume in a day so I’d like to keep recoil down
This all led me to a 6.5mm short action round. I went back and forth between the 260 and the 6.5 CM but ended up going with the 260 based on more variety of factory rounds offered (both match and hunting) and reportedly easier loading from AICS mags.
Then I started searching on the classified section of this site and others for a stock that I could base this around. I found what I believe is a take-off from a Remington 700 Police. It also came with Atlas Worx bottom metal that accepts AICS mags.
I then started an extensive search for the right builder for me. I started by sending out a general email to more than two dozen builders telling them what I thought I was looking for, asking what experience they had with my planned setup, and a general idea of the cost. I was very impressed by how many responses I got, how quickly I received them, and how in depth the responses were.
After extended conversations with a few builders, I decided to go with Bob Racine at Southwest Precision (SWP) in Lake Havasu, AZ. Bob worked with me a ton before, during and after the build and I couldn’t be happier with how it went with him. We exchanged over 80 emails and numerous phone calls during the process.
Here’s some build process pictures:
So the build sheet for my rifle ended up being:
- Remington 700 SA RH blueprinted/trued by SWP
o Action, action threads, and action lugs are trued to the bolt centerline
o Receiver face is squared to the action centerline
o Bolt face and lugs are trued and hand lapped
- Krieger SS cut rifled barrel, 22” finished length, Heavy Palma contour, 1:9 twist, target crown (twist rate chosen due to my extreme altitude which comes with a very low barometric pressure)
- Chambered for .260 Remington with a PT&G Match Reamer
- HS Precision 5R stock with full length aluminum bedding block (painted by me)
- Atlas Worx bottom metal reworked by SWP
- Badger Ordnance oversized recoil lug (0.312” thick)
- Timney 510 adjustable trigger with safety adjusted to 3 lbs
- Barreled action bedded into stock by SWP
- SWP heavy knurl bolt knob
- Barreled action was media blasted to a matte finish and finished with black Cerakote
- EGW 0 MOA base bedded onto action by SWP
- TPS TSR steel 30mm rings (super low, 0.820”)
- Bushnell Elite Tactical 6500 3-12x44mm, 30mm tube, mil/mil, FFP, illuminated reticle (ET3124F)
- AICS mags (5 and 10 round)
And here it is finished. It weighs 12 lbs, 4 oz as pictured with 5 rounds in the mag:
I’ve attached the targets that my rifle shot with a match load and a hunting load.
![url]](http://[url="http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll284/smorgousford/14-RemingtonCoreLokt.jpg"]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll284/smorgousford/14-RemingtonCoreLokt.jpg[/url])
I got out to shoot it today and it performed flawlessly.
I plan on keeping this rifle forever, rebarreling when necessary, and teaching my two young sons to shoot it some day.
I also wanted to thank everyone here on this site for all your knowledge that helped me understand what I was looking for.
Thanks!
Brent
Here’s a picture of my shooting range (the arrows are pointing to my steel target):
I decided that I “needed” a high precision bolt action rifle to add to my collection of other guns. I started by researching the kind of rifle that I wanted to base this around and finally came to the conclusion of the Remington 700.
I researched the round that would be best for me based on the following criteria:
- Most shooting done from 100 yards to 1000 yards
- I need to hump this in about 1 mile to shoot so it can’t be too heavy
- Plan on hunting deer and possibly elk
- I normally have moderate to high wind conditions so I need a high BC round
- I don’t reload now but plan on reloading in the future
- I’m always alone when I shoot so I can shoot a high volume in a day so I’d like to keep recoil down
This all led me to a 6.5mm short action round. I went back and forth between the 260 and the 6.5 CM but ended up going with the 260 based on more variety of factory rounds offered (both match and hunting) and reportedly easier loading from AICS mags.
Then I started searching on the classified section of this site and others for a stock that I could base this around. I found what I believe is a take-off from a Remington 700 Police. It also came with Atlas Worx bottom metal that accepts AICS mags.
I then started an extensive search for the right builder for me. I started by sending out a general email to more than two dozen builders telling them what I thought I was looking for, asking what experience they had with my planned setup, and a general idea of the cost. I was very impressed by how many responses I got, how quickly I received them, and how in depth the responses were.
After extended conversations with a few builders, I decided to go with Bob Racine at Southwest Precision (SWP) in Lake Havasu, AZ. Bob worked with me a ton before, during and after the build and I couldn’t be happier with how it went with him. We exchanged over 80 emails and numerous phone calls during the process.
Here’s some build process pictures:
So the build sheet for my rifle ended up being:
- Remington 700 SA RH blueprinted/trued by SWP
o Action, action threads, and action lugs are trued to the bolt centerline
o Receiver face is squared to the action centerline
o Bolt face and lugs are trued and hand lapped
- Krieger SS cut rifled barrel, 22” finished length, Heavy Palma contour, 1:9 twist, target crown (twist rate chosen due to my extreme altitude which comes with a very low barometric pressure)
- Chambered for .260 Remington with a PT&G Match Reamer
- HS Precision 5R stock with full length aluminum bedding block (painted by me)
- Atlas Worx bottom metal reworked by SWP
- Badger Ordnance oversized recoil lug (0.312” thick)
- Timney 510 adjustable trigger with safety adjusted to 3 lbs
- Barreled action bedded into stock by SWP
- SWP heavy knurl bolt knob
- Barreled action was media blasted to a matte finish and finished with black Cerakote
- EGW 0 MOA base bedded onto action by SWP
- TPS TSR steel 30mm rings (super low, 0.820”)
- Bushnell Elite Tactical 6500 3-12x44mm, 30mm tube, mil/mil, FFP, illuminated reticle (ET3124F)
- AICS mags (5 and 10 round)
And here it is finished. It weighs 12 lbs, 4 oz as pictured with 5 rounds in the mag:
I’ve attached the targets that my rifle shot with a match load and a hunting load.
I got out to shoot it today and it performed flawlessly.
I plan on keeping this rifle forever, rebarreling when necessary, and teaching my two young sons to shoot it some day.
I also wanted to thank everyone here on this site for all your knowledge that helped me understand what I was looking for.
Thanks!
Brent
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