Well, the time has finally come. I am going to build a light weight, full custom rifle. I only have factory or semi-custom rifles so far, and I've always wanted to take the plunge, so now seems good! I will be using this for packing/carrying, specifically, packing/carrying at altitudes where those gorgeous and elusive elk are known to roam. Weight is being considered, and with a scope, I'd like to keep it as close to or under 8 pounds as possible.
I know it will utilize a Stiller Predator Long Action with a standard bolt face and sit in a Manners EH3. Jewell is my favorite trigger, but my smith has me thinking hard about a Trigger Tech he seems to really like lately. I know it will hold a Proof Research Sendero Light 1-8" twist barrel finished at 24". Probably also a brake. I also plan to shoot Steve's (@RockyMtnMT) Hammer Hunters, so went with an 8 twist so I can shoot his 169gr or 177gr Hammer Hunters. It'll probably also be topped with either a VX-5HD in 3-15x44 or a VX-6HD in 3-18x44.
Easy- done, right? No. I have decided I want to give the .284 cartridges a try because I don't have one yet. I have .243win, a couple of 6.5 offerings (6.5x47, 6.5-284), a .270win, a couple of .30 cals (.308win, .300win mag), and a .338 Lapua. The challenge is to find something that gets me slightly more than my trusty 9-ish pound .270win, which I pretty much use exclusively for Texas whitetail deer and absolutely love, and my .300 win mag, which is amazingly accurate but weighs about 14 pounds scoped.
All that said- I'm obviously missing a 7mm from my lineup, so I bought the Proof barrel. I know the .280 Ackley Improved has done quite well for quite a long time, and has helped to revolutionize the way cartridges are looked at by the big manufacturers. Nothing about the .280 AI is bad, from what I can tell anyway, and there are even some decent factory offerings and decent brass availability. All of THAT said, this guy Sherman (@elkaholic) came along and made my choice difficult. I like the looks of his 6.5 Sherman but I wanted a 7mm. Easy, until I saw he also has a 280 Sherman. Darn it!
I hand load everything, but in the past have always gone with a chambering I could also acquire factory ammo for in a pinch if something were to prevent me from using my hand loads. I have never done a wildcat before, but the Sherman line seems fairly straight forward, no?
So there's the question- Sherman or Ackley for my .280 build? Please educate me with your views on performance, brass availability (I know Sherman hooked up with ADG- are they supplying for the 280?), barrel life (this will be a hunter only, so minimal annual use), cost of dies (I like Redding Bushing dies, but open to others).
Thanks in advance, and thank you for sticking through this long post!
I know it will utilize a Stiller Predator Long Action with a standard bolt face and sit in a Manners EH3. Jewell is my favorite trigger, but my smith has me thinking hard about a Trigger Tech he seems to really like lately. I know it will hold a Proof Research Sendero Light 1-8" twist barrel finished at 24". Probably also a brake. I also plan to shoot Steve's (@RockyMtnMT) Hammer Hunters, so went with an 8 twist so I can shoot his 169gr or 177gr Hammer Hunters. It'll probably also be topped with either a VX-5HD in 3-15x44 or a VX-6HD in 3-18x44.
Easy- done, right? No. I have decided I want to give the .284 cartridges a try because I don't have one yet. I have .243win, a couple of 6.5 offerings (6.5x47, 6.5-284), a .270win, a couple of .30 cals (.308win, .300win mag), and a .338 Lapua. The challenge is to find something that gets me slightly more than my trusty 9-ish pound .270win, which I pretty much use exclusively for Texas whitetail deer and absolutely love, and my .300 win mag, which is amazingly accurate but weighs about 14 pounds scoped.
All that said- I'm obviously missing a 7mm from my lineup, so I bought the Proof barrel. I know the .280 Ackley Improved has done quite well for quite a long time, and has helped to revolutionize the way cartridges are looked at by the big manufacturers. Nothing about the .280 AI is bad, from what I can tell anyway, and there are even some decent factory offerings and decent brass availability. All of THAT said, this guy Sherman (@elkaholic) came along and made my choice difficult. I like the looks of his 6.5 Sherman but I wanted a 7mm. Easy, until I saw he also has a 280 Sherman. Darn it!
I hand load everything, but in the past have always gone with a chambering I could also acquire factory ammo for in a pinch if something were to prevent me from using my hand loads. I have never done a wildcat before, but the Sherman line seems fairly straight forward, no?
So there's the question- Sherman or Ackley for my .280 build? Please educate me with your views on performance, brass availability (I know Sherman hooked up with ADG- are they supplying for the 280?), barrel life (this will be a hunter only, so minimal annual use), cost of dies (I like Redding Bushing dies, but open to others).
Thanks in advance, and thank you for sticking through this long post!
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