Here are a few pics of my first full custom, built by Jon Beanland. Please excuse the quality of these photos - Jon is a much better gunsmith than I am a photographer.
Almost all the parts were purchased out of the classifieds of the various shooting/hunting boards that I am a member, except for Snipers Hide - I was too junior of a member to purchase anything here at that time. I did find my first references to Jon's services here, and perusing the recommendations of those persons helped greatly in making my choice of Jon as the guy to do the work - as well as their inclusion of photo's of Jon's work. The rifles shown looked "right" - Thanks, guys!
I sent these parts to Jon:
- Pierce Engineering action, with their 20 MOA rail, Jewell HVR trigger, and their recoil lug.
- McMillan HTG in woodland camo, adjustable comb, sniperfill, Remington 700 inlet, BDL bottom metal inlet, two flushcups (left side), one stud upfront
- Bartlien medium palma contour blank, 6mm caliber, 1-7.5 twist.
- one very used set of BDL bottom metal, virtually devoid of finish.
- New factory remington magazine box and Forster screw set for a BDL, purchased from Midway.
Out of all these parts, Jon did not use the Pierce recoil lug, as he said it wasn't flat from side to side, and he replaced the Forster screws with some hex-headed ones of the proper length for my action's needs. The Pierce action came Cerakoted black, and John had to try and match that finish with his own - I find it difficult to tell.
Here is what he returned to me:
The rifle is chambered in 6x47 Lapua, with a reamer set up for the 105gr bullets (I have 1200 Bergers in the basement). The barrel is finished at 28 inches. And I am VERY aware that the Badger rings are too high - I'll need to replace those. I don't want anybody getting nosebleeds trying to see through the Nightforce.
I will say, this thing is going to be a pig to carry anywhere - I gained 15 lbs stepping onto the bathrooms scale with it. It should shoot pretty well off the bench and bipod though, me thinks. I'm currently still waiting on brass and dies - doesn't look like they'll be here until after Christmas - waited too long to order and with the 10-13 inches of snow they're saying we're going to get in the next few days - don't expect to do much til then. I'll be looking for a good stout sling if anyone can recommend one - also does anyone besides Uncle Mikes make swivels for the flush cups? Good quality ones?
Thanks for looking, and for any recommendations. This has been a fun experience, building this thing ( Isa worka so harrrd....) - I'm definitley going to do this again, tho the next one will be lighter.....
The Kaiser
Almost all the parts were purchased out of the classifieds of the various shooting/hunting boards that I am a member, except for Snipers Hide - I was too junior of a member to purchase anything here at that time. I did find my first references to Jon's services here, and perusing the recommendations of those persons helped greatly in making my choice of Jon as the guy to do the work - as well as their inclusion of photo's of Jon's work. The rifles shown looked "right" - Thanks, guys!
I sent these parts to Jon:
- Pierce Engineering action, with their 20 MOA rail, Jewell HVR trigger, and their recoil lug.
- McMillan HTG in woodland camo, adjustable comb, sniperfill, Remington 700 inlet, BDL bottom metal inlet, two flushcups (left side), one stud upfront
- Bartlien medium palma contour blank, 6mm caliber, 1-7.5 twist.
- one very used set of BDL bottom metal, virtually devoid of finish.
- New factory remington magazine box and Forster screw set for a BDL, purchased from Midway.
Out of all these parts, Jon did not use the Pierce recoil lug, as he said it wasn't flat from side to side, and he replaced the Forster screws with some hex-headed ones of the proper length for my action's needs. The Pierce action came Cerakoted black, and John had to try and match that finish with his own - I find it difficult to tell.
Here is what he returned to me:
The rifle is chambered in 6x47 Lapua, with a reamer set up for the 105gr bullets (I have 1200 Bergers in the basement). The barrel is finished at 28 inches. And I am VERY aware that the Badger rings are too high - I'll need to replace those. I don't want anybody getting nosebleeds trying to see through the Nightforce.
I will say, this thing is going to be a pig to carry anywhere - I gained 15 lbs stepping onto the bathrooms scale with it. It should shoot pretty well off the bench and bipod though, me thinks. I'm currently still waiting on brass and dies - doesn't look like they'll be here until after Christmas - waited too long to order and with the 10-13 inches of snow they're saying we're going to get in the next few days - don't expect to do much til then. I'll be looking for a good stout sling if anyone can recommend one - also does anyone besides Uncle Mikes make swivels for the flush cups? Good quality ones?
Thanks for looking, and for any recommendations. This has been a fun experience, building this thing ( Isa worka so harrrd....) - I'm definitley going to do this again, tho the next one will be lighter.....
The Kaiser
