First shots: Long Rifles Inc. .260 m700

[Ledzep]

I finally made it home long enough to put everything together with my new LRI build. My rifle is typical of all of them that you see here done by Long Rifles. Fit, finish and function are exceptional. The bedding job is especially impressive to me-- the process and the results. I took it out today for the first time and got so proud I grew the motivation to share.

M700 Stainless short action
Bartlein 1:8" twist barrel, 22" long, Rem varmint contour. LRI straight 7-flute pattern
Manners MCS-T
PTG bottom metal & AI mags
EGW 20 MOA rail, Warne 34mm rings (low), Vortex bubble level
Leupold Mk 6 3-18x44 w/TMR reticle
Turner Saddlery sling
Triad tactical stock pack

I just threw together a load last night, 41.5gr H4350, 140 berger VLD, rem 260 brass, CCI 200's. Sort of picked at random, middle of the road on the mild side. Loaded up 40 of them to get a 100yd zero, and get a feel for accuracy etc. The results are very promising.

50yd initial bore-sight check. 1st round was 1.2 mils low, .7 mils left. 3 more shots in a cluster. Checked for pressure on the brass after each shot. Nothing at all.

Then to 100yd. First shot was low, went up .2mils, and shot 5 more (there are six un-pastied shots on that paper). The 2nd to last one I pulled and went out of the black. The other 4 are on top of each other. I had to take a few minutes to calm myself after I went down range and saw that cluster.

I reset the turrets to reflect the 100yd zero and started hiking my 8" AR500 plate and stand out for some longer range "testing". I found a spot, set it down, and walked back. Ranged it at 433yd. Used a guesstimate from Strelok on my cell phone for 2.1 mils and shot at a rock face near the plate. Impact was about .2mils left (wind) and .2 mils low. I set the turret to 2.3 mils and held on the right edge of the plate for 5 rounds. Anticipated the last shot a bit, but still produced this. The wind was shifting a bit and I didn't account for it. I was going for elevation data.

Again. It was hard to restrain myself when I went down range. Sub MOA vertical (pushing 1/2 MOA if I could shoot) with a BS random load about 20 rounds into a new barrel.

After that I took it to 620yd with the plate, played around until I found 4.0 mils was hitting the plate consistently if I played the wind correctly. Then I shot a rock face at 938yd (8.0 mils) to get an idea of drop so I can back-check JBM to get a guess on muzzle velocity.

Then I pulled out the D5100 and had a little photo op after I shot the remaining rounds at the 620yd plate.

So my take away from all of this is that LRI knows how to build a precise rifle. I've had some pretty tight groupers before, but this is my first full-on custom with a match-grade barrel. The consistency is amazing. Now I just need to get better because I can't blame the gear anymore.

 

[Kiotkiller]

Very nice rifle and good shooting. Which reamer did you use, and what length did you seat the bergers to?

 

[Ledzep]

Thanks. I'm not sure on the reamer. Its been about a year since I requested a quote and talked to Chad about the details of the build.

COAL is 2.855" on the ammo. I don't have any special tools to measure from the ogive.

I dropped a vld bullet into the chamber then closed an empty unfired case behind it then ran a cleaning rod from the muzzle with a squared off jag on it and marked where the rod contacted the bullet, then did the same thing off of the bolt face. Max goal to jamming in the lands is 2.867". So I guess I'm doing about a .012" jump.

Eta: Rifle is 9.0lbs empty/stripped and 12.6lbs as pictured

 

[samb300]

Awesome shooting, thanks for sharing! How do you like the Leupold MK6?

 

[Ledzep]

The Mk6 is a great scope. I was trying to keep weight down to make this rifle a sane choice for hunting where I may have to hike. I was going to use a NXS 2.5-10 but found the Mk6 and saw how light it was and thought I'd give it a try. Overall it's pretty impressive. The glass is comparable, if not a touch better than the NXS's I own. I can't see anything with one I can't with the others. The reticle is a bit thin below 6x, and thick above ~15x, but still usable. The only real complaint is there is a bit of "asthetic" slop in the elevation turret. You can wiggle it without pressing the lock tabs about .1 mil worth of rotation. It doesn't move the reticle, but it does make it easy to put the wrong dope on by .1 mil. Everything else has worked great.

 

[milo 2.0]

I like your train of thought, I too always have extras to run the range after grouping. I usually seat bullets long and take my press, dies to build a load on the spot.
Keep working on that group, I've never had a Dixon gun that wont print a 1/4", 3 shot group at 200 yards, and I've had plenty of them!

Advice if you'll take it: Get some of them orange dots, 1", stay away from black, and crank the dope up 1 minute to group, you'll see the diff. Actually you can dial and group all four sides of a dot.

 

[JGorski]

Very nice rifle, just got my 2nd LRI rifle yesterday, pics and everything in the Gunsmithing section.

 

[Ledzep]

I like your train of thought, I too always have extras to run the range after grouping. I usually seat bullets long and take my press, dies to build a load on the spot.
Keep working on that group, I've never had a Dixon gun that wont print a 1/4", 3 shot group at 200 yards, and I've had plenty of them!

Advice if you'll take it: Get some of them orange dots, 1", stay away from black, and crank the dope up 1 minute to group, you'll see the diff. Actually you can dial and group all four sides of a dot.

I'll give that a shot. I usually do an off-set for groups-- this was just putzing around getting it zero'd and playing with the new toy. I'm really excited to see what a full load development will yield. I intend to use 140 Amax's as I have about 2,000 of them on hand. The goal is 2700 fps and honestly I'd be happy with anything under 1/2 MOA at 300yd, but I think it'll do better. Mind blowing to me how precise this is in contrast to anything I've ever had before. I probably won't be able to buy another factory bolt gun.

JGorski, that looks heavy. Nice no doubt, but heavy. I'm leery to go over 10lbs stripped. I just remember how much of a pain hauling my .50bmg (~22lbs) around was before I sold it. I noticed another thread right after I posted this one of a LRI build. They're really cranking them out it seems.