Lately I have gotten pretty into smallbore silhouette. I have some very accurate 22 rifles and some very accurate AR-15s, but until now, no precision bolt guns (an interesting assortment of factory hunting rifles, though). I decided to remedy this and have a rifle built that would be suitable for hunting to medium range, target shooting at long range, and also comply with the high power silhouette hunting rifle rules (and actually be practical to shoot in silhouette matches - which basically means comfortable to shoot offhand). Hunter class silhouette rules require the unloaded rifle to weigh less than 9lbs (as well as some other fiddly stuff).
To this end, I gathered parts:
A Defiance Machine Rebel short action receiver (basically a custom Rem 700 action) with the widest available loading port and fluted bolt for weight savings
Huber Concepts 2-stage trigger (from the Hide GB)
A Brux #4 sporter 8.5" twist 6.5mm barrel (thanks to bugholes)
A Robertson Composites Silhouette stock (these are all carbon fiber and the lightest stocks around - under 2 pounds with a Pachmayr Decelerator pad and flush cups for sling mounting. It also has some T-Nuts in the forearm to mount a bit of rail for my Atlas bipod)
Pacific Tool and Gauge aluminum BDL bottom metal
Murphy Precision titanium 2-piece 20 MOA bases
Nightforce Ultralite Rings
March 3-24x42 FFP Scope
The March scope is a little heavier than what is used on most silhouette builds (weighs 23 oz) but I wanted an FFP mil-based variable magnification scope and it was the best option. It is very compact and it is a hell of a scope. I know it looks like it is mounted pretty high. Part of that is because it is a 42mm objective scope instead of a 50mm objective (makes it look high), and part of it is because the comb of the stock is so high and the butt is so low (which is ideal for shooting offhand but requires the scope to be mounted higher than a regular stock).
When I got all the parts together, I shipped them off to American Precision Arms (APA) in Georgia. Unfortunately, they got everything done and shipped back to me FASTER than their already very reasonable estimate, so I don't have any ammunition or reloading supplies and can't go shoot the rifle until ammo arrives.
They chambered the barrel in 6.5 Creedmoor, threaded it for a suppressor and provided an "invisible" thread protector, installed the barrel, coated the barreled action in OD Green Cerakote, bedded the action to the stock, and all that stuff. The barrel came out at 20" exactly to make weight. Initial impressions are that it looks to be a hell of a rifle. I will go out and shoot it hopefully some time next week and will report back with results.
The invisible thread protector (believe it or not there is a seam about 3/4" back from the muzzle):
To this end, I gathered parts:
A Defiance Machine Rebel short action receiver (basically a custom Rem 700 action) with the widest available loading port and fluted bolt for weight savings
Huber Concepts 2-stage trigger (from the Hide GB)
A Brux #4 sporter 8.5" twist 6.5mm barrel (thanks to bugholes)
A Robertson Composites Silhouette stock (these are all carbon fiber and the lightest stocks around - under 2 pounds with a Pachmayr Decelerator pad and flush cups for sling mounting. It also has some T-Nuts in the forearm to mount a bit of rail for my Atlas bipod)
Pacific Tool and Gauge aluminum BDL bottom metal
Murphy Precision titanium 2-piece 20 MOA bases
Nightforce Ultralite Rings
March 3-24x42 FFP Scope
The March scope is a little heavier than what is used on most silhouette builds (weighs 23 oz) but I wanted an FFP mil-based variable magnification scope and it was the best option. It is very compact and it is a hell of a scope. I know it looks like it is mounted pretty high. Part of that is because it is a 42mm objective scope instead of a 50mm objective (makes it look high), and part of it is because the comb of the stock is so high and the butt is so low (which is ideal for shooting offhand but requires the scope to be mounted higher than a regular stock).
When I got all the parts together, I shipped them off to American Precision Arms (APA) in Georgia. Unfortunately, they got everything done and shipped back to me FASTER than their already very reasonable estimate, so I don't have any ammunition or reloading supplies and can't go shoot the rifle until ammo arrives.
They chambered the barrel in 6.5 Creedmoor, threaded it for a suppressor and provided an "invisible" thread protector, installed the barrel, coated the barreled action in OD Green Cerakote, bedded the action to the stock, and all that stuff. The barrel came out at 20" exactly to make weight. Initial impressions are that it looks to be a hell of a rifle. I will go out and shoot it hopefully some time next week and will report back with results.
The invisible thread protector (believe it or not there is a seam about 3/4" back from the muzzle):
