Tex_Hunter
Well-Known Member
Working on consolidating some of the rifles I own and as the title suggests, looking to build a sort of hybrid/ dual purpose long range hunting rifle that could pull duty as a match rifle if wanted.
The idea would be to combine two rifles I currently own into a single platform that works well in both roles (yes I know there'd still be compromises) with limited need to purchase a lot of new parts and minimize time spent at a gunsmith, and hopefully have some cash leftover, after parting out/selling what I don't use, to fund another project I'm trying to finish up.
The two rifles are:
Rifle 1 is a dedicated/purpose built match rig built by Stuteville Precision on an impact 737R action in 6.5 Creedmoor, Bartlein M24 contour 1:8 twist barrel finished at 26" with an Area 419 hellfire Match brake, stock is a Manners PRS-TCS stock with a TT Diamond Pro Curve trigger, topped with a ZCO 527 in a Spuhr mount… rifle is an absolute beast weighing in at basically 21lbs, hammers 147gr ELDMs at 2800fps into .3 MOA (or better) all day long, however it's way too heavy for taking out in the field and I am not shooting nearly as many PRS style matches as I used to before I moved so I don't need/ want such a dedicated rig for the foreseeable future
Rifle 2 was built by Accurate Ordnance on their own branded Stiller Tac-30 action, it started life as a 6.5 Creedmoor but when I bought the Stuteville rifle (was shooting 4-5 matches a year at the time) I ordered a replacement Magnum bolt from Stiller and had the barrel set back and re-chambered to 6.5 PRC by Mark Pharr at Tumbleweeds Custom Rifles in Austin TX. I've made a few changes but otherwise it's basically as built by AO, barrel is a Rock Creek Sendero profile 1:8 twist currently @ 23.5" after the re-chamber, stock is a McMillan A5 pillar bedded with a badger M5 bottom metal, I added a McMillan adjustable LOP spacer system and some T nuts to mount an Area 419 ARCA rail to it and swapped the original Timney Elite Hunter trigger for a TT Diamond Pro Curve, currently topped with a spare US Optics LR17 in Seekins rings, haven't had loaded for it yet but pushing 143gr ELD-X Copper Creek factory loads at ~3100fps ~0.5 MOA and used to kill a medium sized 10pt buck at 889yds last year on a trip back to TX. Overall this rifle fits the "dual purpose" role far better but given my new state of residence and having to leave all of my suppressors behind, the barrel is shorter than I would like on this cartridge, and the Stiller action is lacking some of the features that I like on the Impact, namely the integrated top rail and recoil lug and the ability to swap barrels/run prefits more easily
Other parts I currently have on hand, 26" Bartein Carbon fiber 6.5mm 1:7.5" twist blank. I have a ton of 1x fired brass so probably would want this chambered in 6.5 PRC.
Options I am considering…
Option 1: sell the Stuteville/Impact 6.5 Creedmoor as is, and have the longer carbon fiber blank cut for the Stiller action but leave everything else on that rifle as is, and while it's at the smith have a similar barrel cut (doesn't have to be Creedmoor, but heavily invested in that cartridge from a components and load data perspective so would probably stay with that) in a standard short action match caliber so that I can swap that in for higher volume practice or if I want to shoot a PRS style match still on occasion. Only downside is needing to send it to the smith to have new barrels cut/installed and as already mentioned the Stiller doesn't have some of the features that the Impact has.
Option 2: Sell/part out the AO rifle and swap a more field appropriate stock onto the Impact action (thinking either a Manners T4A w/ mini chassis or just have my McMillan A5 re-bedded to the Impact action), keep the Creedmoor barrel as is and have my Carbon Fiber blank chambered in 6.5 PRC and order a magnum bolt from Impact so that I'd have a true switch barrel setup. My guess is that it'll still be a touch on the heavy side, but still reasonable for what I want to do.
Option 3: I currently also have an Impact 787R that I am building up as a backcountry elk hunting rifle in 300PRC (I have the barrel already just waiting on a stock and other misc parts to finish, purpose of this exercise is to free up some cash to finish this build too) I could have the blank for the 6.5 PRC cut for this action, sell the AO rifle and keep the Stuteville match rig as is, not sure what issues I'd run into running a 6.5 PRC in a long action though, and the 300 build is going to be more weight conscious and the combination of optic/stock I plan to run won't be as well suited for prone LR shooting that I'd do with the 6.5 PRC.
Curious for any thoughts/ opinions as I've definitely analyzed this one to death on my own and would love any additional points to consider from everyone on here?
The idea would be to combine two rifles I currently own into a single platform that works well in both roles (yes I know there'd still be compromises) with limited need to purchase a lot of new parts and minimize time spent at a gunsmith, and hopefully have some cash leftover, after parting out/selling what I don't use, to fund another project I'm trying to finish up.
The two rifles are:
Rifle 1 is a dedicated/purpose built match rig built by Stuteville Precision on an impact 737R action in 6.5 Creedmoor, Bartlein M24 contour 1:8 twist barrel finished at 26" with an Area 419 hellfire Match brake, stock is a Manners PRS-TCS stock with a TT Diamond Pro Curve trigger, topped with a ZCO 527 in a Spuhr mount… rifle is an absolute beast weighing in at basically 21lbs, hammers 147gr ELDMs at 2800fps into .3 MOA (or better) all day long, however it's way too heavy for taking out in the field and I am not shooting nearly as many PRS style matches as I used to before I moved so I don't need/ want such a dedicated rig for the foreseeable future
Rifle 2 was built by Accurate Ordnance on their own branded Stiller Tac-30 action, it started life as a 6.5 Creedmoor but when I bought the Stuteville rifle (was shooting 4-5 matches a year at the time) I ordered a replacement Magnum bolt from Stiller and had the barrel set back and re-chambered to 6.5 PRC by Mark Pharr at Tumbleweeds Custom Rifles in Austin TX. I've made a few changes but otherwise it's basically as built by AO, barrel is a Rock Creek Sendero profile 1:8 twist currently @ 23.5" after the re-chamber, stock is a McMillan A5 pillar bedded with a badger M5 bottom metal, I added a McMillan adjustable LOP spacer system and some T nuts to mount an Area 419 ARCA rail to it and swapped the original Timney Elite Hunter trigger for a TT Diamond Pro Curve, currently topped with a spare US Optics LR17 in Seekins rings, haven't had loaded for it yet but pushing 143gr ELD-X Copper Creek factory loads at ~3100fps ~0.5 MOA and used to kill a medium sized 10pt buck at 889yds last year on a trip back to TX. Overall this rifle fits the "dual purpose" role far better but given my new state of residence and having to leave all of my suppressors behind, the barrel is shorter than I would like on this cartridge, and the Stiller action is lacking some of the features that I like on the Impact, namely the integrated top rail and recoil lug and the ability to swap barrels/run prefits more easily
Other parts I currently have on hand, 26" Bartein Carbon fiber 6.5mm 1:7.5" twist blank. I have a ton of 1x fired brass so probably would want this chambered in 6.5 PRC.
Options I am considering…
Option 1: sell the Stuteville/Impact 6.5 Creedmoor as is, and have the longer carbon fiber blank cut for the Stiller action but leave everything else on that rifle as is, and while it's at the smith have a similar barrel cut (doesn't have to be Creedmoor, but heavily invested in that cartridge from a components and load data perspective so would probably stay with that) in a standard short action match caliber so that I can swap that in for higher volume practice or if I want to shoot a PRS style match still on occasion. Only downside is needing to send it to the smith to have new barrels cut/installed and as already mentioned the Stiller doesn't have some of the features that the Impact has.
Option 2: Sell/part out the AO rifle and swap a more field appropriate stock onto the Impact action (thinking either a Manners T4A w/ mini chassis or just have my McMillan A5 re-bedded to the Impact action), keep the Creedmoor barrel as is and have my Carbon Fiber blank chambered in 6.5 PRC and order a magnum bolt from Impact so that I'd have a true switch barrel setup. My guess is that it'll still be a touch on the heavy side, but still reasonable for what I want to do.
Option 3: I currently also have an Impact 787R that I am building up as a backcountry elk hunting rifle in 300PRC (I have the barrel already just waiting on a stock and other misc parts to finish, purpose of this exercise is to free up some cash to finish this build too) I could have the blank for the 6.5 PRC cut for this action, sell the AO rifle and keep the Stuteville match rig as is, not sure what issues I'd run into running a 6.5 PRC in a long action though, and the 300 build is going to be more weight conscious and the combination of optic/stock I plan to run won't be as well suited for prone LR shooting that I'd do with the 6.5 PRC.
Curious for any thoughts/ opinions as I've definitely analyzed this one to death on my own and would love any additional points to consider from everyone on here?