steveNChunter
New member
Finally got my rifle back from the gunsmith, I thought I'd start a thread on it to sorta show it off. This is a first for me as I've never done a "build" before.
The idea for the rifle was hatched from me thinking of every feature I wanted in an ideal short, handy, rugged rifle for woods/brush hunting, and noticing that there wasn't really anything on the market that fit the bill entirely.
My feature list consisted of:
-chambered in .308
-16.5" sporter profile stainless barrel
-laminate stock
-hinged floorplate magazine (never understood a bolt action hunting rifle with detachable mags)
The only factory rifle I knew of that had all of these features was the Ruger M77 Hawkeye Laminate Compact.
I considered buying one but I also had preferences of a lefty thumbhole stock, Cerakote finish, and a threaded barrel in case I wanted to try out a muzzle brake or eventually maybe a suppressor.
I could have bought the Ruger and done all of those things to it, but I decided instead to use something I already had, while putting a rough budget on the build of $800, roughly the new price of the Ruger.
I had a Remington 700 BDL in .243 made in '71, with an older Tasco scope. I had recently aquired it in a trade and had about $350 invested in it but I sold the Tasco scope that came on it for $50 and the factory barrel for another $50 so that put me at $250 for the action.
I found a new take-off Rem 700 .308 stainless barrel on Ebay for $150 and free shipping, and bought a Boyd's pepper lam. lefty thumbhole stock with a shortened length of pull and recoil pad, for $150. Then it was off to the gunsmith. I had him rebarrel it, shorten the new barrel to 16.25", thread the muzzle 5/8x24, Cerakote the whole barreled action graphite black, and thread the bolt and put on a stainless knob. My bill with him was $350. So that put my total at $900, $100 over my goal but it's all good because I ended up with exactly what I wanted. And that's worth the extra hundred to me. I already had a Burris FFII 3-9x40 laying around to put on it, so I just ordered a DNZ one piece scope mount to put it together. Here's the finished product:
Now all that's left is to get a good load worked up for it. That's always fun
The idea for the rifle was hatched from me thinking of every feature I wanted in an ideal short, handy, rugged rifle for woods/brush hunting, and noticing that there wasn't really anything on the market that fit the bill entirely.
My feature list consisted of:
-chambered in .308
-16.5" sporter profile stainless barrel
-laminate stock
-hinged floorplate magazine (never understood a bolt action hunting rifle with detachable mags)
The only factory rifle I knew of that had all of these features was the Ruger M77 Hawkeye Laminate Compact.
I considered buying one but I also had preferences of a lefty thumbhole stock, Cerakote finish, and a threaded barrel in case I wanted to try out a muzzle brake or eventually maybe a suppressor.
I could have bought the Ruger and done all of those things to it, but I decided instead to use something I already had, while putting a rough budget on the build of $800, roughly the new price of the Ruger.
I had a Remington 700 BDL in .243 made in '71, with an older Tasco scope. I had recently aquired it in a trade and had about $350 invested in it but I sold the Tasco scope that came on it for $50 and the factory barrel for another $50 so that put me at $250 for the action.
I found a new take-off Rem 700 .308 stainless barrel on Ebay for $150 and free shipping, and bought a Boyd's pepper lam. lefty thumbhole stock with a shortened length of pull and recoil pad, for $150. Then it was off to the gunsmith. I had him rebarrel it, shorten the new barrel to 16.25", thread the muzzle 5/8x24, Cerakote the whole barreled action graphite black, and thread the bolt and put on a stainless knob. My bill with him was $350. So that put my total at $900, $100 over my goal but it's all good because I ended up with exactly what I wanted. And that's worth the extra hundred to me. I already had a Burris FFII 3-9x40 laying around to put on it, so I just ordered a DNZ one piece scope mount to put it together. Here's the finished product:
Now all that's left is to get a good load worked up for it. That's always fun
