Building a long range rig

[Dooner]

I have model 110 Savage in 7mm Rem Mag with the accutrigger. Is the action worth making the investment in a custom barrel and stock with the goal of creating a long range rig? What caliber would you go with? I'm not sure, but couldn't I have a 300 Min Mag built from this action?

Thanks in advance.

 

[The Surgeon]

Yes, the action is a great platform to start with. As far as you wanting to go to a .300 Win Mag, yes, you can. I would also like to mention that if it were my gun, I to would go with the .300 Win Mag. Good luck!

 

[Dooner]

Thanks. I've never done this. Do you know how much I should budget for the project? Any suggestions?

BTW the action is blued, and the barrels I've found are stainless.

 

[RockZ]

Check out this article

Long Range Hunting Rifle On A Budget

I've built quite a few long range rigs on savage actions.
I like the Bell and Carlson Medalist as far as stocks go.

I've never had a shilen pre-fit that wasn't a shooter, but I'm sure the others are very good as well.
check out savageshooters.com, quite a few folks have new pre-fits for sale there.

 

[dogdinger]

why would you go from 7rm to 300wm? what have you gained? my suggestion would be to play with what you have. Bed the action, either in the stock you have or get another, tweak the loads, practice with what you have , then decide if you want to spend the $$$. the 7rm is a plenty legit LR cartridge out to 1K, that is the cal they use the most on the best of the west program. AJ

 

[Dooner]

Dog- I won this rifle at an NRA dinner years ago. It is a "mountain rifle that weighs in at about 6.5 #s. I have shot it a couple of times on the bench and it kicks like a mule. What I'm interested in is building a rifle that's fun to shoot, and can reach out to get yotes and wolves. At this time, I'm just gathering information in an effort to understand what my options are. Although I'm leaning towards the 7mm Rem Mag, I thought I should consider the .300 Win Mag, comparing the available loads and what opinions folks with experience/expertise in long range hunting have. Thanks for your input.

 

[dogdinger]

ok, we have i little more info now. my advice would still be almost the same. the 7rm is a heck of a good 1K caliber. better bullet selection in my opinion for what you are wanting to do, and if you think the 7 kicks, wait till you try a 300 wm!
it would be plenty easy to screw on a new pre-fit tube that was a little heavier contour, with maybe a vias type break, and not have any smithing charges. i have done a couple these and had very good results. pacnor does a real good job with prefits. AJ

 

[liltank]

Nothing wrong with a SS barrel on a blued action. Put a 28" 1:9 twist barrel on it. Get it throated for Berger and Hornady A-max bullets. Shoot the 180 Hybrid, or 162 A-max. Use H1000 powder. Brass is your choice. For a stock the Medalist is good, but they don't make it for the long action. Go to Stockade Stocks and order a money saver and finish your self. If you can afford get the finished stock. All you have to do is screw it on and shoot. Buy an action wrench and barrel nut wrench. Buy a go gauge in the 7RM caliber for head spacing. With these tools you can screw the tube on yourself.

For barrel contour I would go with a strait taper to .875. Then if that still recoils too much for ya, get a muscle break or any break of your choosing. Have fun and welcome to LRH.

 

[Dooner]

Thanks for your help Tank.

 

[trebark]

for your build, you hav several things to consider. Lets start at the top of the rifle and work our way down....

1. Optics - buy the best you can get in a magnification that is appropriate for the range(s) you hope to shoot. Generally speaking a variable in the 5x-25x range is good.

2. Action - Savage action is a solid platform to start with.

3. Barrel - for barrels you have many custom options from pre-fit barrels to custom contours done by a gunsmith. Pre-fit would be least expensive and as other have said, they generally shoot well.

4. Caliber - 300winmag is a good all around choice but if you are mainly going to be shooting varmints, give the 6.5mm cartridges a good look. The 6.5x284 will send a high BC bullet like the 140grain VLD really fast, really far, really accurately. It will also have far less recoil than the 7mag or 300mag.

5. Stock - for a longrange rig, look for a stock with a verticle grip and give real consideration to an adjustable cheekpiece. Others have mentioned some good options with the Bell and Carlson Medalist line. to see a large array of stocks and prices, check out www.stockysstocks.com

When you do upgrade your stock, have the action bedded in it.

6. trigger - Does your rifle have an accutrigger? if it does, adjust it down to 2lbs or less.

then acquire target, maintain sight picture, relax, breath, pause, squeeze...bang!

 

[Dooner]

Thanks Trebark. Any differences in reloading a belted cartridge like the 7mm vs the 6.5x284? Also what do you think about the 270WSM?

 

[trebark]

Thanks Trebark. Any differences in reloading a belted cartridge like the 7mm vs the 6.5x284? Also what do you think about the 270WSM?

Personally I have never reloaded belted cases, so I am not familiar with issues related to the belt. Given that so many people reload for them, if there are any issues, those issues are clearly overcome easily.

As for the nonbelted cases, I have reloaded for many of them. It is not difficult.

While the 270wsm is a fine cartridge, it's tough to find high BC bullets in .277 You will find the best BC bullets are in 6.5mm and 7mm. That said, for your purposes, I really like the 6.5x284, 260 and 6.5Creedmoor. Of these three, I would lean towards the 6.5x284 or 260 as you can get Lapua brass for them. (personal bias, I have a 260 that is awesome http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-260-mcr-59628/). Load them with 140grain bullets and watch 'em fly far and fast! Recoil in the 6.5mm cartridges is less than the 7mm's.

In the 7mm, consider the 284win, 7wsm and 7saum. Load any of the 7mm cases with 168grain bullets or heavier, add a muzzle brake to the rifle to tame the recoil and you can shoot as far as you can see.

 

[FEENIX]

Dooner,

I got an excellent advice from trebark.

If want to explore the .270 WSM, with the right barrel twist you can take advantage of 165/175gr VLDs from .277 Caliber Rifle Bullets Built for Accuracy | Matrix Ballistics and Bigngreen has been experimenting with them, maybe he'll chime in.

In addition, Berger is coming up with a new .277 bullets soon, couldn't remember the bullet weight though (170gr ???) ... maybe someone else will chime in.

Good luck!

Ed

 

[Dooner]

Thanks Fennix. Those bullets look impressive with BCs from .73-.78! With that information, I'm getting closer to choosing the 270WSM. I was talking with a smith last night, and he said it was no problem to change the Savage 7mmRM to a 270WSM. What do you guys think?