Hi guys, I put up a few odd posts about this rifle and stock but I put everything together into one post and thought you might be interested. I'm from Australia and tactical matches are just starting to take off here, I shot my first one back in May and learnt a lot about what I would need to be a little competitive in these matches.
My first thought was a 260AI or a 6.5x47 but I came across a barrel already chambered in 6BR and threaded to suit a Howa with only 40 or so rounds through it so it was too good a deal to let go. I swapped the barrel for some milling work so it was pretty much cost free.
I've got a machine shop so I made a chassis for the Howa to fit the AICS skins, I made it as light as possible given I planned to use it in these sort of matches.
I had a 223 Howa that had done a fair bit of work and the barrel was getting a little second hand so it donated its action. I'd never had a barrel off a rifle before but I read a fair bit about it so I made up a barrel wrench that fitted around the front of the action and the recoil lug.
The barrel was ultra tight so I stuck it in the lathe and cut a relief just in front of the action to unload the threads, the barrel spun off no problems after that.
I cleaned and measured the action and it was lovely, everything was square and straight so it needed no work, the lugs were both bearing evenly so I didn't worry about lapping them. I did need to open up the bolt face to take the BR case. I stripped the bolt down, set it up in the little CNC mill and opened the bolt face to the right diameter and skimmed a couple of tenths of a thou off the face just to ensure it was square.
Then I measured up the barrel tenon and chamber position using a go-gauge and depth mic, everything seemed fairly close so I screwed the barrel into the action and gave it a test.
Seeing I only had a go-gauge, I made some shims from .0025" paper and used them with the go-gauge.
With no shim the bolt closed easily, with .0025" it was firm to close and with .005" there wasn't a hope of closing it. The headspace came out at .002", not too bad for a barrel that was chambered to suit another action, Howa must machine these things pretty well!
Once I knew the headspace was right, I modified the original 223 extractor claw to work with the 308 case head size. A little trial and error got it working fine so I cleaned and reassembled the bolt.
I set the barrel up in the lathe on a soft spigot and centre so I didn't damage the crown or chamber and gave it a polish, then engraved the caliber into it. I had a typo on the engraving but once it's cut, it's too late so I've got a 6 milimetre instead of a 6 millimetre. (Aussie spelling)
I gave it all a clean then put it back together again.
My first thought was a 260AI or a 6.5x47 but I came across a barrel already chambered in 6BR and threaded to suit a Howa with only 40 or so rounds through it so it was too good a deal to let go. I swapped the barrel for some milling work so it was pretty much cost free.
I've got a machine shop so I made a chassis for the Howa to fit the AICS skins, I made it as light as possible given I planned to use it in these sort of matches.
I had a 223 Howa that had done a fair bit of work and the barrel was getting a little second hand so it donated its action. I'd never had a barrel off a rifle before but I read a fair bit about it so I made up a barrel wrench that fitted around the front of the action and the recoil lug.
The barrel was ultra tight so I stuck it in the lathe and cut a relief just in front of the action to unload the threads, the barrel spun off no problems after that.
I cleaned and measured the action and it was lovely, everything was square and straight so it needed no work, the lugs were both bearing evenly so I didn't worry about lapping them. I did need to open up the bolt face to take the BR case. I stripped the bolt down, set it up in the little CNC mill and opened the bolt face to the right diameter and skimmed a couple of tenths of a thou off the face just to ensure it was square.
Then I measured up the barrel tenon and chamber position using a go-gauge and depth mic, everything seemed fairly close so I screwed the barrel into the action and gave it a test.
Seeing I only had a go-gauge, I made some shims from .0025" paper and used them with the go-gauge.
With no shim the bolt closed easily, with .0025" it was firm to close and with .005" there wasn't a hope of closing it. The headspace came out at .002", not too bad for a barrel that was chambered to suit another action, Howa must machine these things pretty well!
Once I knew the headspace was right, I modified the original 223 extractor claw to work with the 308 case head size. A little trial and error got it working fine so I cleaned and reassembled the bolt.
I set the barrel up in the lathe on a soft spigot and centre so I didn't damage the crown or chamber and gave it a polish, then engraved the caliber into it. I had a typo on the engraving but once it's cut, it's too late so I've got a 6 milimetre instead of a 6 millimetre. (Aussie spelling)
I gave it all a clean then put it back together again.
