Boyd's axis stock question

[stagpanther]

I bought this axis about 2/3 years ago cause it was chambered in 25-06, a cartridge I've always wanted and the price was right. It's a beautiful gun, and when I got it I ran about 20 cartridges through it which shot very well and put it away in my gun cabinet where it has sat dormant til today.

For some idiot reason I never bothered to remove the action from the stock until today since I was dusting it off thinking of trying her out, and I wanted to drop the pull on the accutrigger some. That's when I discovered the Boyd's markings all over the inside, my guess is the former owner of the rifle (I bought it from an estate consignment) had sent the original axis in for custom fitting and pillar bedding.

Upon reassemble I noticed the hole on the metal trigger guard had a split in the front--and the bolt itself has a small washer on it between the bolt head and the countersunk hole in the trigger guard. I'm not familiar with Boyd's stock, but I'm guessing that this is most likely a failure crack and the washer was fitted to help keep the stock in place??

 

[kilotanker22]

It probably cracked from over tightening at some point. Those little washers are meant to go between the trigger guard and the stock I think. On my Ruger, using those wash re that came with the stock was the only way to get the magazin latch to work right. That washer should be under the trigger guard, not in it.

 

[stagpanther]

That washer should be under the trigger guard, not in it.

Figured something wasn't right. Ordered a new trigger guard. Kinda surprised there would be a washer at all since it's pillar bedded.

Thanks kilo--BTW I decided the short action axis going to be a 6mm BR Norma instead of 224 valk.

 

[kilotanker22]

Good call

I just traded that 5.56 rifle I had for a Savage model 16 Weather warrior rifle in 6.5 creedmoor.

My plan is to make it a fast twist 22-250, or a 7mm-08 AI

 

[stagpanther]

My plan is to make it a fast twist 22-250

Funny you mention it--they had a 22-250 axis for $180 at Wally World; took everything I had to resist buying it when I was there getting the 308 donor gun. Since the virus came along parts for my build have been wandering around the country, some get to me in 4 days--others take 2 to 3 weeks. Just logged onto Gunshack's website and it looks like it's down--whenever I order something it says the cart is empty.

I just traded that 5.56 rifle I had for a Savage model 16 Weather warrior rifle in 6.5 creedmoor.

My plan is to make it a fast twist 22-250, or a 7mm-08 AI

I've been looking at the 6mm/6.5mm/7mm PRC's...very tasty looking.

 

[stagpanther]

Postal service ended up delivering my barrel nuts to the wrong address so assembly is going to have to wait a bit. Shipper confirmed correct address and labeling. I guess I should be thankful it's not circling the earth on the space station.

 

[stagpanther]

To make matters worse--my 6.5 x 284 norma savage 111 gave up the ghost yesterday after what I estimate wasn't much past 1,000 pills down the barrel, though I'm not the most patient waiting between shots. Gotta yank that one apart.

 

[stagpanther]

Might as well add to the thread since this is CORRECTION: Keystone stock I bought--in this case it is a long range sporter with keyhole--great stock; except for one thing.

The front pillar (the rear screw hole does not have a pillar) is an integrated magazine catch and pillar epoxied into the screw hole. As you can see from the picture, there is very little wood behind the pillar for support, in fact the machining broke through in the area just under the magazine catch. Problem is--the inletting is too low and there is no way a stock savage long action magazine can engage the catch and stay in the stock.

I'm stumped, any suggestions (before I call for a return)??

 

[stagpanther]

Learned an immensely important lesson today--be sure to check entire assembly BEFORE doing any modifications; all I had done prior to grinding the barrel channel down was drop the action in to check fit and I didn't bother checking the proper fit of the magazine and trigger guard. Since I discovered the magazine catch misalignment AFTER I worked on the stock--Stocky Stocks said there is no way they will take the stock back and now it's between me and the manufacturer Keystone if I can get any kind of restitution.

 

[kilotanker22]

That is a tough break man.

I am sure you can make it work. Unless that stock is already inletted for another action.

 

[stagpanther]

It's turned into one of those "problem child" projects. Keystone did contact me and are very nice and trying to help me through over the phone. One problem was that I wasn't using their trigger guard which comes with the rifle. I never even knew there was one included, because I never found one inside. I totally disassembled the box and found the trigger guard taped to one of the end flaps which had been concealed by other flaps and packing material. Nice metal trigger guard--except for one thing--it doesn't fit the stock properly, the rear screw overhangs void in the stock when the action screw is in.

The magazine now engages--but is so deep in the stock it takes some fussing to get it out. An additional problem--the timney after-market trigger doesn't quite fit the inlet properly and was creating a stress point for uneven seating and the bolt release wouldn't work properly.

Now I'm sure you're thinking, as I am, this stock was originally meant for some other action. I have several other savage models and none of them fit the action screw spacing and allow the rest of the action to seat properly--the packing box clearly is labeled axis long action.

I have two other axis rifles in wood stocks with metal trigger guards--I think I can get one to fit but I'll have to do some machining of the stock on the bottom metal inlet, and will probably have to do some work on the inlet for the trigger and bolt release to get the timney to work properly.

It must be a Memorial Day thing (like Christmas) UPS has sent my other packages for my other projects scattered about the solar system after they were scheduled as arriving Thursday and Friday. Used to be only Christmas that I had to avoid as a high-risk delivery period, now I'm going to add Memorial Day to that.

 

[kilotanker22]

Tough break man.

 

[stagpanther]

I ground the bottom trigger guard inlet longer to accommodate an axis trigger guard (I don't know if they will send me a replacement). The floor of the inlet for the trigger guard is only about 1/2" thick before you break into the void for the trigger and tang--so no rear screw will fit--nor would the axis trigger guard fit unless I turned it around in reverse. I ended up having to ground down the rear screw by almost half in order to not break through and impede the tang safety. After grinding the bolt release slot down I was able to get the bolt release to work properly while using the Timney trigger. I've got about three days of work into the stock and I haven't even done the pillar and bedding yet. LOL

 

[stagpanther]

I finally got the rifle assembled and function checked, everything seems to be working properly now. I think I will test fire it today. I really love the scalloped thumbhole--fits my hand like a glove. If I wasn't so doubtful about the action and hardware fit, I would order another one immediately for my 111--Boyds offer a lightweight keyhole stock that looks identical to this except that it has lightning holes in the forend. I decided to give them a try since the fit of the at-one was perfect and also they make the stock to order--which I think increases the likelihood that there will be fewer problems.

 

[Metal god]

Holly crap batman , I sure hope I don’t run into that many issues with my At-one stock . I bought one from Boyds for my Savage MKII and although it did mount up just fine it became clear it needs front and rear bedding . Especially in the rear , I can just keep tightening the screw and the action just sinks deeper into the stock spreading it apart . Barrel channel needed to be relieved some as well .

I did go shoot the rifle with the stock in factory new condition and the gun truely shot like crap . Something like 2moa . When in the factory Savage stock I could pretty much drop round after round on to each other at 50yds . Hopefully opening up the barrel channel and bedding the action will bring it back to shooting well again because I love the look of the gun now .

 

[stagpanther]

I just got back from test firing the 270 win in the Keystone stock; 2 groups of my handloads and 2 groups of factory ammo as a sanity check. Overall no better than what I'd get in the Tupperware stock, in fact maybe just a bit worse. Something isn't right obviously my guess is either there is movement and/or a stress point somewhere. I'll probably end up having to drill out their front pillar and rebed the entire receiver area. Gonna set this one aside for now and come back to it later--eating up way too much of my time.

@metalgod--you did ditch the plastic trigger guard for a metal one I hope? That plastic one is worse than worthless and you need to resist the urge to torque down hard on it--it will just get worse.

 

[Metal god]

Yes I bought the metal trigger guard and mag plate . I actually bought those years ago knowing I was going to buy a Boyds stock at some point . I got really busy late last year early this year and had some money to burn . Wish I new covid was coming ( who doesn’t) wouldn’t of spent so much money on stuff like stock , other gun and other components. Haven’t worked ( my choice ) since March 5th or so . I do have work waiting so that’s good .

 

[stagpanther]

My 22-250 shot well in my at-one stock; at least up until the point I bought some Federal Brass for reloading, it was just a bit on the large side for the rather tight chamber and all of the cases will need to be sized before use. The very first attempt at resizing one in my hornady die and it got hopelessly stuck and the decapping pin and expander along with it. I have a case remover but it requires drilling and tapping the case head and I can't get at it for the moment. But some federal factory stuff shot quite well with the action in the at-one, only problem being my labradar had a hard time locking onto little bullets moving along at 4000+ fps.

 

[stagpanther]

Well, I'm one of those people that is obsessive about figuring out why something doesn't work right--could not leave well enough alone so I took the stock off again to try to see what might be contributing stress points. I knew the barrel was entirely free-floated up to the barrel nut--so that shouldn't be throwing anything off.

Then something caught my eye I didn't notice before--the area in front of the lug slot and what is under the barrel nut rose up slightly from the rest of the bedding inlet cut. I asked myself--could that be creating a stress-point issue with the barrel nut? Myself said to myself who cares and go have a beer.

Yet another session with the Dremel and I took the stock down so it wasn't contacting the underside of the barrel nut. As if the fairy gunsmith had waved her magic wand--I have a new rifle. The magazine now goes in and out with no resistance--even opening and closing the bolt is slicker and lighter. The barrel aligns better in the forend channel too. Amazing how such a small thing can radically change the nature of so many things.

I don't know what this stock was actually made to fit I'll eventually get around to fully rebedding it.

 

[stagpanther]

Fired again this morning using the same cartridges and action, a little bit of improvement but still not shooting groups as small as I can get out of my Tupperware stock. Definitely not going waste any more ammo until a get the time to bed and re-pillar the stock.