Opinions on components for first custom build

[nksmfamjp]

Hey fellas I’m new to forum and seeking some advice/opinions for a fully custom BA rifle I’m planning on having built. My objective is a multi purpose build, I’m hoping to put together a package that I can easily hit targets out to and over 1,000 yds. off the bench but also conserve as much weight as I possibly can so that I can still use the rifle to hunt with and do some off hand shooting with it. My target range for weight is 7.5 lbs so if I can keep the rifle in that area +/- .5lb. I’ll be extremely happy. I grew up hunting with magnums, 7MM and .30 cals so I’m thinking about chambering the rifle in either 28 Nosler, 30 Nosler, 300 Norma, or 300 PRC. Right now I’m really leaning towards 300 PRC but kind of torn between it and the Norma. I don’t have a budget on this build and don’t plan on skimping anywhere on it. I figure I’ll probably never build another full on custom so I may as well use the best components I can get my hands on. So here’s my list of components I’m considering using, I would love to hear some opinions on them (good or bad) from anyone who is familiar with them and may have a similar build. I’ll lest them in order from what I’m considering the most to what I’m least considering. Here goes.

Action: Lone Peak Fuzion TI, Defiance AntiX, BAT Machine Vampire. (I plan on having the action trued and blueprinted, possibly DLC on the bolt and action, and pairing the with a TriggerTech Special trigger, open to other triggeroptions.)

Barrel: 27” McGowen SS w/cut rifling, 1-9.5 twist in a Light Palma contour with flat skip/hammer flutes, McWhorter, or Benchmark with the same specs.

Brake: Area 419 Maverick or Terminator.

Stock: McMillan A3-Sporter or Manners MCS-T3.

Bottom Metal: HS Precision DBM, 406 Precision DBM, or Hawkins DBM.

For the gunsmith I’m looking at Snowy Mountain Rifles, Rocky Mountain Precision (RMP Rifles), or Lane Precision.

You have a lot of cool stuff listed up, but seem to have some mismatches. To me those show your lack of experience here. No issues.

You can buy, try and try again. That works and gets you a very refined and expensive setup.

You can also go to someone like GAP and buy a package gun with small changes...you will be guided into a fine rifle.

I would ditch the McGowan idea unless you are family. With soooooo many good cut rifled barrels why risk it? Bartlein, Kreiger, Rock Creek, etc. Barrel fluting is for oops. Use it to fix ordering the wrong contour. Don’t plan on it. It is an accuracy detractor.

Action: Many good choices....flexibility will limit choice. Bighorn has interchangeable bolt faces, others have easy change barrels, others are light, heavy or extra smooth.

Keep researching....

Also, how will your rifle balance in hand, ride bags, recoil off bipod or tripod. Those will drive hits and misses.

 

[CBaker124]

You have a lot of cool stuff listed up, but seem to have some mismatches. To me those show your lack of experience here. No issues.

You can buy, try and try again. That works and gets you a very refined and expensive setup.

You can also go to someone like GAP and buy a package gun with small changes...you will be guided into a fine rifle.

I would ditch the McGowan idea unless you are family. With soooooo many good cut rifled barrels why risk it? Bartlein, Kreiger, Rock Creek, etc. Barrel fluting is for oops. Use it to fix ordering the wrong contour. Don’t plan on it. It is an accuracy detractor.

Action: Many good choices....flexibility will limit choice. Bighorn has interchangeable bolt faces, others have easy change barrels, others are light, heavy or extra smooth.

Keep researching....

Also, how will your rifle balance in hand, ride bags, recoil off bipod or tripod. Those will drive hits and misses.

Thanks man. I’m not the most experienced but I have an idea of what I think is going to work for what I want based off of my own general knowledge, research that I have done, what I’ve seen others build, and what I have been told by some. But that’s also why I created an account on here and started this thread, to hear from others that know more than me and see what has worked for them or what they think might be a better option. This will be my first custom build so I’m not familiar with what pairs best with this and that but it’s probably going to be the only rifle I’ll ever build that I choose all of the parts for from the ground up so I’m not really worried about how much money I have put towards it in the end as long as I wind up with the rifle I had hoped to build when it’s all said and done. I’m definitely going to take into consideration all of the advice and opinions I have been given on here. Everyone has their own preferences and opinions (which I think is probably a big part of what makes building a custom rifle from the ground up so challenging) and often times they’ll go against the odds even when the data suggests otherwise or it’s not the traditional way of doing things and a lot of times those decisions seem to work really well. That’s a chance I’m willing to take. I’m not worried about the money so if it doesn’t work out I’ll have plenty of good information and advice to fall back on to figure out what I need to do differently to perfect my platform. And at the worst case scenario I’ll have a good excuse to give to the wife to build another rifle with the spare parts I might have leftover lol.

 

[CBaker124]

300 PRC if you're going to do a non-300 Win Mag magnum 30 caliber. You won't find 300 Norma ammo anywhere. Lucky to find 300 PRC even in the best of times. If you're going to be bench shooting yet want to hunt up to some pretty big stuff, get a 6.5 PRC. Easier on the shooter, not so much on the animal you intend to harvest. Anywho... ain't nothing wrong with buying a Tikka Ultralite and being done for $800. Haha.

Thanks for the reply HousePlant, surprisingly enough the local Sportsman’s Warehouse has had 300 Norma on their shelves every time I’ve gone in there. They’ve also had a lot of 28 and 30 Nosler, and a lot of the other big .30 cals, especially a shit ton of the 375’s. both factory ammo and reloading supplies. No 300 PRC though. Once I get this rifle built the next rifle I plan on buying is a Sako, I am madly in love with the Grizzly but I’m kind of torn between it and the Bavarian lol.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

a 300for west virginia?

then damn pachyderm whitetails!

i bet those mountains are steep as fuck too

 

[Ndbowhunter]

be miles ahead to find one of these if ur really after lite done right

 

[Ndbowhunter]

i'm no fan of the fieldcraft.

non locking bolt on safe

chin weld ergo's

butt heavy design

terrible bolt stroke.

but for what a guy can find one for, you can't even buy the action and trigger for that price. and they are assembled correctly.

 

[CBaker124]

NDBowhunter, well dip me in shit and roll me in bread crumbs. I welcome you to come out to the eastern continental divide.

 

[CBaker124]

Steep as fuck doesn’t get any steeper than straight up and down does it? Dumbass.

 

[CBaker124]

 

[CBaker124]

 

[CBaker124]

Alright fella’s I’ve made some changes to my parts list and I have also decided to go with Snowy Mountain Rifles out of Missoula, MT to put my build together. I have to give Paul from their smith shop a big shout out, he put my quote together and I couldn’t have asked for better help to assist me in the decision making process and I’d highly recommend anyone who’s in my shoes trying to put together their first custom build give Snowy Mtn. a call and ask for Paul. He went above and beyond to go out of his way to help me get a rifle platform built exactly how I wanted it to be built. So here’s what we came up with.

I decided to go with the BAT Machine Vampire action paired with a 27” Benchmark barrel 1-9.5 twist chambered in 300 PRC with interrupted skip fluting topped off with their Snowflake 3-port self timing titanium brake. For the stock I ended up deciding on the Manners MCS-T3 with their elite tactical shell and their aluminum bottom metal with AI DBM and a triggertech special trigger. The stock will be done up in gore/Sitka optifade camo pattern. I wanted to use the elevated II pattern but they have never done one in the elevated II pattern plus they don't have a template for it so we’re going with the subalpine camo pattern and using colors that are in the elevated II camo. Then we are doing the barreled action, bottom metal, etc. in the lighter gray from the elevated II pattern to accent the stock. I also decided to let them do the custom load devolopment they offer with 205 gr. Berger EOL hunters. Now the only thing left to do is wait. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some pictures for you guys and let you know how she shoots here in 6 or 7 months.

 

[DJL2]

Well, that’ll definitely be a unique rifle. Post up when you get it, sounds cool. I gotta ask: what’s the projected weight? Sounds like a 10 pounder, but I might not be gleaning the right info from the parts list.

Never gonna hate on Berger...just gonna say that if you’re running a PRC you can go heavier...

 

[CBaker124]

DJ, I think it’s going to come in somewhere at just a little over 8lbs. without optics. I had still intended on using the McGowen barrel until Paul told me that they used Benchmark for all of their rifles and it’d be easier for them to get plus they could still have the barrel turned to the same specs so I took into consideration what some of the folks on here had said about barrel selection along with Benchmark’s reputation and decided to ditch the McGowen for the Benchmark in their #6 contour with the same specs. I’m not sure what all they will do for the load development, it was just a last minute decision to add to my quote and have them do so I didn’t really ask what they’ll do, the 205 gr. EOL’s is just what they listed on my estimate. But that’s partially why I went with a 27” barrel and 1-9.5 twist. Seeing how anything ammo wise for 300 PRC is so hard to come by right now I think it will accept a wider range of bullets which will make it a little more economical for reloading.

 

[BAKPAKR]

What was the actual finished weight of your rifle and how does it shoot?

 

[Absoluterock]

9# 12 oz (including a 2# S&B scope and a 12 oz suppressor)

Oops…weren’t asking me

 

[BAKPAKR]

9# 12 oz (including a 2# S&B scope and a 12 oz suppressor)

Oops…weren’t asking me

No problem. The rifle itself must be pretty light. Do you have your component list posted somewhere? Earlier in this thread, it sounded like it was based on an AnTi action.

 

[Absoluterock]

No problem. The rifle itself must be pretty light. Do you have your component list posted somewhere? Earlier in this thread, it sounded like it was based on an AnTi action.

Tip to tail:

Suppressor - Silencerco Omega

Barrel - 22” Proof light sendero (7mm R SAUM)

Action - Defiance AnTi (XM length - allows 3.25”COAl instead of 2.85” of typical short action) with Defiance aluminum scope base.

Bottom metal - American Precision Arms XM RTG

Magazine - MDT XM mag (only option!) cut down by Kinport Peak Rifles to 4 rounds.

Trigger - Triggertech Special

Stock - All Terra Arms Carbon Stock

Glass - S&B 3-20x50 PMII

Rifle was chambered, bedded, and assembled by Greg at Council Mountain Gunworks. It shoots 145 gr Barnes LRX at 3100 fps (22” pipe) into 1/2 min (5 shot) groups. I’m sure it could do better but for my elk rifle that is plenty good (especially shooting copper).

The glass is definitely overkill and a bit heavy but when it’s time to shoot I’m glad I have it. We’ll see if I swap scopes in the future.

Magazines were the biggest challenge for this build. Three round versions are ‘in the works from various folks but they’ve been 6-12 months out for 2+ years. MDT made a 5 round for a while but I haven’t seen them around. The best option I found was to get a 10 round MDT XM mag and send it to Kinport Peak Rifles to be cut down to 4 rounds ($100 mag + $100 labor).

I like the XM over a long action and I don’t think I’d get the performance I wanted out of a short action (I gained over 1000 fps by seating bullets to 3.20” instead of 2.85”). It is definitely full custom though so be ready to spend some time finding parts etc…or just call Greg at Council Mountain and he’ll build you something awesome!

 

[BAKPAKR]

View attachment 7820328View attachment 7820329
Tip to tail:

Suppressor - Silencerco Omega

Barrel - 22” Proof light sendero (7mm R SAUM)

Action - Defiance AnTi (XM length - allows 3.25”COAl instead of 2.85” of typical short action) with Defiance aluminum scope base.

Bottom metal - American Precision Arms XM RTG

Magazine - MDT XM mag (only option!) cut down by Kinport Peak Rifles to 4 rounds.

Trigger - Triggertech Special

Stock - All Terra Arms Carbon Stock

Glass - S&B 3-20x50 PMII

Rifle was chambered, bedded, and assembled by Greg at Council Mountain Gunworks. It shoots 145 gr Barnes LRX at 3100 fps (22” pipe) into 1/2 min (5 shot) groups. I’m sure it could do better but for my elk rifle that is plenty good (especially shooting copper).

The glass is definitely overkill and a bit heavy but when it’s time to shoot I’m glad I have it. We’ll see if I swap scopes in the future.

Magazines were the biggest challenge for this build. Three round versions are ‘in the works from various folks but they’ve been 6-12 months out for 2+ years. MDT made a 5 round for a while but I haven’t seen them around. The best option I found was to get a 10 round MDT XM mag and send it to Kinport Peak Rifles to be cut down to 4 rounds ($100 mag + $100 labor).

I like the XM over a long action and I don’t think I’d get the performance I wanted out of a short action (I gained over 1000 fps by seating bullets to 3.20” instead of 2.85”). It is definitely full custom though so be ready to spend some time finding parts etc…or just call Greg at Council Mountain and he’ll build you something awesome!

That is very nice. I just had a 30 Nosler based on a Remington 700 action put into an Allterra Arms stock. I really like the feel of that stock. With a shortened shank 24” Bartlein 3 barrel, it weighs 7 pounds, 7 ounces bare. For my kind of hunting, it would have been nice to have gotten it in 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound lighter.

 

[Absoluterock]

That is very nice. I just had a 30 Nosler based on a Remington 700 action put into an Allterra Arms stock. I really like the feel of that stock. With a shortened shank 24” Bartlein 3 barrel, it weighs 7 pounds, 7 ounces bare. For my kind of hunting, it would have been nice to have gotten it in 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound lighter.

View attachment 7820366

Mine is really similar, I’d guess that the AnTi is the weight difference.

That’s a beautiful build.

I’m thinking of giving mine a Krylon sponge bath…

 

[Brym427]

My opinion. Don't. Buy a Sako trg or a ai

 

[Absoluterock]

My opinion. Don't. Buy a Sako trg or a ai

This is a valid option…unless you are hunting in the mountains…then you better be one tough mf.



(And be careful not to buy the heavy one and put too much junk on it or you’ll be too heavy to hunt in some states )

 

[BAKPAKR]

This is a valid option…unless you are hunting in the mountains…then you better be one tough mf.



(And be careful not to buy the heavy one and put too much junk on it or you’ll be too heavy to hunt in some states )

Yep, this TRG exceeds Idaho’s legal weight limit but I have plans for a lighter weight 338 LM.

 

[Absoluterock]

Yep, this TRG exceeds Idaho’s legal weight limit but I have plans for a lighter weight 338 LM.

View attachment 7820759

I guess if you’re buying a second trg you’ve got plenty of doe

 

[CBaker124]

No problem. The rifle itself must be pretty light. Do you have your component list posted somewhere? Earlier in this thread, it sounded like it was based on an AnTi action.

Bakpakr, unfortunately I’m still waiting on this build to be completed so I still don’t have an official weight. I’m hoping that I’ll have a spec sheet and the rifle in front of me soon lol. I decided at the last minute to jump ship on barrel selection again and go carbon with a 26” 1-9.4 twist Proof barrel since I was really trying to push the limits with weight on this build. I used a BAT Vampire action and a Manners MCST-3 stock so I’m expecting she’s going to come in the ballpark of 8lbs or somewhere close to that. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some pictures and give some feedback on it soon.