I'm considering piecing together a .308 bolt action rifle using a AI AX Chassis and maybe just buying a Remington short action and barrel. How difficult would this be? I've never attempted this before, but would rather learn more about the rifle and how to build one, rather than forking over 1000's of dollars and learning nothing. I am going to start my research but thought this would be a good place to start looking. Any advice is great and would be very helpful. Thanks in advance for your help and time.
Gunsmithing Please help... Thinking about doing a Custom Build.....
- Thread starter caliguy8070
- Start date
Welcome to the Hide. By piecing together a new gun are you meaning you'd like to chamber and install the barrel while assembling the gun? Doing the rest of it is pretty easy. I'm sure you've also looked at other actions and barrels such as the Savage. Hold the laughter a bit cause they do really shoot very well and are very easy to work on and assemble. Just an option in case you haven't looked into them. Some say they are ugly, some say they don't hold their value, some say they don't have the availability of aftermarket parts as do the others actions but I don't think anyone will say they don's shoot.
Really fun to build your own, not only for saving the money but the satisfaction of it doing well when it's done.
Good luck in your build, hope no matter what it is it'll lite matches at 200 yards for ya.
Topstrap
Really fun to build your own, not only for saving the money but the satisfaction of it doing well when it's done.
Good luck in your build, hope no matter what it is it'll lite matches at 200 yards for ya.
Topstrap
Thank you for the response. Was worried I wouldn't get much feedback. I guess I should've been a little more specific on what I meant. I wanted to take the simple route for now by purchasing the action and the barrel that are already chambered for .308 and drop into a AI AX chassis. Not sure if its as easy as that or if I have to do some lathe work to make the action and barrel fit into the chassis. If you know this or anyone else, I would greatly appreciate the advice.
I'd buy a used 700 varmint, 5R or PSS/Police or the Savage 110 and shoot it til you save up for a stock, then shoot it some more till the barrel is crap...AI AX stock is available for the 110 action.
Plenty of people get the pre-fit Savage barrels and fit them at home with no issues- Torque wrench, barrel nut wrench, action wrench and go/no go gauges...I might be forgetting something. Regardless, it's not something that requires a lath to complete.
As to fitting the chassis--should drop in though some people will bed the action.
Plenty of people get the pre-fit Savage barrels and fit them at home with no issues- Torque wrench, barrel nut wrench, action wrench and go/no go gauges...I might be forgetting something. Regardless, it's not something that requires a lath to complete.
As to fitting the chassis--should drop in though some people will bed the action.
Dropping a barreled action into a chassis-type stock is usually pretty straight-forward - no more difficult than mounting a scope (the instructions for dropping an action into a AICS take only a single page, if that's any clue). You will need a torque wrench that measures in the proper range (typically 50-65 in-lb) and a driver bit for the wrench that is long enough to reach through the chassis "skins".
Depending upon your choice in trigger and chassis, you may have to make some minor modifications to the chassis inletting in the trigger well. This is easily accomplished with a small electric rotary tool (such as a Dremel). Some basic knowledge of proper trigger operation is required here to ensure that you end up with a properly-functioning and safe rifle.
Depending upon your choice in trigger and chassis, you may have to make some minor modifications to the chassis inletting in the trigger well. This is easily accomplished with a small electric rotary tool (such as a Dremel). Some basic knowledge of proper trigger operation is required here to ensure that you end up with a properly-functioning and safe rifle.
WOW I didnt expect all the responses. Thank you so much everyone. Well I think Ill go on my little spending spree today then. I didnt think it would be that difficult but just wanted to make sure before I ran into any surprises. The Jewel trigger actually sounds like a good idea. I might look into that a little more on how to install it. Any advice on that would be greatly appreciated also. Thanks again fellas.
Some triggers will require a little Dremel work depending on the trigger mfg. and which AI chassis you use. The Remington AAC-SD mated into an AI chassis shoots very, very well. I have seen two of these in person and both shot sub 1/2". In fact they were way sub 1/2"!
