El Matavenados
Active Member
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2015
- Messages
- 38
There have been hints that a 338 SS build was in the works, and it is true. Rich and I spoke recently, and he committed to having a reamer built, and I committed to building the rifle. I am extremely excited about the build, and can't wait to get it in my hands.
Now for the underwhelming part. ;-)
This will be my first wildcat, ever. Beginning my wildcat cartridge experience with a chambering that has never been cut before is a little unnerving, but I'm excited about what I'll learn along the way. I have a lot of reloading experience with various rifle cartridges, but I usually stick to the well-trodden paths. I have converted brass from 308 to 260 Rem before, but I've never fireformed a case. I certainly have never developed load data that others might use to develope their own. The good thing is that so much work has been done with the other Sherman cases that we're not exactly going into this blindly.
This will be my second bolt rifle build (the first being the 260), so I'm confident that the process will go well. The end result should but fun to shoot, and, I hope, an elk killing machine!
Now to the build. When I first started dreaming of this project, I thought I would build it on the first rifle I ever purchased: a Ruger M77 mkii 30-06 that I bought as a teenager. And, I originally intended to chamber it in the longer, .270 Win-based, proven 338 Sherman. I already own the rifle. Over the years, I have upgraded it with a RifleBasix trigger, and a Boyd's laminate stock. I pillar bedded that stock myself with Devcon. I had a decent Vortex Viper HS-T 4-16x44 scope on it. So I would just need to have it re-barreled. However, I ran into some snags. The magazine box is only 3.44" long, and the 338 Sherman with 250gr Berger needs like 3.6" or so. Even single-fed, mods would have to be made to the bolt stop and ejector to be able to eject unfired rounds. So I thought I would try the 338 SS instead. Just one little problem: Ruger won't sell me a bolt with a magnum face, because it originally left the factory as a 30-06. Maybe the bolt face could be opened up (I haven't explored that option, so I don't know), but I had some issues with light primer strikes with the existing bolt, and wanted to start the project out with a new one. Since Ruger wouldn't help me, I decided to do something else.
I found a Stevens 200 in 30-06 for sale in the next county over for $250. So I contacted the seller and bought it. The magazine length on the Savage 110/Stevens 200 is still too short to run the Sherman, so I decided to contact Rich about the SS. And thus, the project was conceived.
I fired the donor rifle to see what it would do before any mods were made. It had been a safe queen, by all appearances, and hardly even fired. It came with several scope rails, too. In the Tupperware, unbedded stock, and a trigger weight around 3 lbs, it shot a little over an inch. Not too shabby for a $250 gun! I ordered and installed a magnum bolt head to accommodate the SAUM-based case head.
I sent the action off to Fred Moreo at Sharp Shooters Supply to have him do his True and Timing service on it, as well as supply a precision ground recoil lug. I have read good things about his work. Does it need those things? Probably not, but that Savage bolt lift is pretty stiff. People talk about bolt lift kits and such, but I decided to go with the timing job.
Meanwhile, I ordered a barrel from Brux. They were out of chrome-moly .338 bore, so I went with stainless, 11" twist (Berger recommends this for the 250 Elite Hunter), #4 contour, finished length of 24". Guess what arrived in the mail today????
:-D
I received a set of dies from Rich this week as well. I have brass on hand (300 SAUM by Norma), as well as some bullets, so as soon as I receive a couple other items I will be nearly ready to begin prepping brass for fire forming.
I have a 4-port Lil' Beast brake on order from Brakes and More, and hope to receive that soon.
The stock...well , it's not as bad as some other plastic stocks. Actually the flex wasn't any worse than the original wood stock on my old Ruger after free floating, or the original fiberglass stock on my Howa. WAY better than the plastic on my brother's Ruger American. So I decided to try reinforcing it, and if I'm not satisfied, I will order a Stockade stock. I want this to be a lightweight build, and I want it to be as inexpensive as possible, so I'm trying to do as much work myself as I can. So I put the original stock into my hobby mill, and cut 1/2" slots down each side of the forearm. Using epoxy, I laid in strips of 1/2x1/8" aluminum bar, then finished it off with Bondo. Since the action is still out being improved, I can't throw it into the modified stock to see how much less it flexes. But i think it is much improved. I have decided to not use the original barrel nut system. Instead, I will have it installed with a shoulder, like a Remington. Not that I don't have faith in the barrel nut system, I just don't intend to swap barrels back and forth. The cost of installation is the same, and the shoulder looks a little better. Because of the heavier contour of the new barrel, and not using the barrel nut, I will need to do some inletting on the barrel channel.
I'm still deciding on who will build the gun. I have contacted AxisWorks in Tempe, AZ, but they are pretty busy. A local shop wants the business, and they have done some good work, but they want a lot more $$$ for the work. Might need to try to work out a better deal with them.
Once the barrel and brake are mounted, I will blast and paint them with KG GunKoteflat dark earth. This will protect the receiver better than the original bluing. I will likely do a full length bedding job. The forearm will be filled with an epoxy mixed with fillers to keep it as light as possible. I will use Marine-Tex for the action. The barrel will be free floated (does that mean that it won't actually be a "full length" bedding??). The stock will be rattle can painted with a camo that goes with the FDE of the barrel: tan, brown, and olive.
The trigger...I'm going to attempt to modify the existing trigger by shimming it to remove some creep, and replacing the spring with a lighter wire. If I screw it up, or if it becomes unsafe, I have this crazy idea of forming my own fully adjustable trigger from scratch (using my mill), and heat treating and stoning it myself. And if I utterly fail at that, then I'll get a Timney or RifleBasix.
I will be using the previously mentioned Vortex Viper HS-T scope on this build, in Vortex rings, which I already own.
I don't like the idea of a blind magazine, which the rifle came with. My elk hunt this season involved a lot of driving and glassing, loading and unloading. I do, however like that a blind mag is about the lightest magazine possible. The factory dbm systems seem to be for centerfeed rifles, and mine is stagger feed. CDI makes one that will fit mine, but I don't like the location and size of the AI mag release. I also don't like the weight and cost of the AI mags. I don't favor the added weight of the CDI bottom metal, or having to send them the rifle to do the inletting, or how far the AI mags extend below the stock. Some people hate plastic bottom "metal" and trigger guards. I like how light they are, and I've never broken one yet. So I will probably stick with the blind mag for now.
But I have this crazy idea: what if I designed and made my own bottom metal out of aluminum, making it as minimalistic/light as possible, and designed to accept Tikka mags? Those mags are light, only hold 3 magnum rounds, wouldn't extend far below the stock, and cost less than $40 each. Hmmmmm.........
I think I will use the original butt pad, unless I determine that it is insufficient, in which case I will upgrade.
But other than these few changes, this rig will be totally "stock"!!! ;-)
Now for the underwhelming part. ;-)
This will be my first wildcat, ever. Beginning my wildcat cartridge experience with a chambering that has never been cut before is a little unnerving, but I'm excited about what I'll learn along the way. I have a lot of reloading experience with various rifle cartridges, but I usually stick to the well-trodden paths. I have converted brass from 308 to 260 Rem before, but I've never fireformed a case. I certainly have never developed load data that others might use to develope their own. The good thing is that so much work has been done with the other Sherman cases that we're not exactly going into this blindly.
This will be my second bolt rifle build (the first being the 260), so I'm confident that the process will go well. The end result should but fun to shoot, and, I hope, an elk killing machine!
Now to the build. When I first started dreaming of this project, I thought I would build it on the first rifle I ever purchased: a Ruger M77 mkii 30-06 that I bought as a teenager. And, I originally intended to chamber it in the longer, .270 Win-based, proven 338 Sherman. I already own the rifle. Over the years, I have upgraded it with a RifleBasix trigger, and a Boyd's laminate stock. I pillar bedded that stock myself with Devcon. I had a decent Vortex Viper HS-T 4-16x44 scope on it. So I would just need to have it re-barreled. However, I ran into some snags. The magazine box is only 3.44" long, and the 338 Sherman with 250gr Berger needs like 3.6" or so. Even single-fed, mods would have to be made to the bolt stop and ejector to be able to eject unfired rounds. So I thought I would try the 338 SS instead. Just one little problem: Ruger won't sell me a bolt with a magnum face, because it originally left the factory as a 30-06. Maybe the bolt face could be opened up (I haven't explored that option, so I don't know), but I had some issues with light primer strikes with the existing bolt, and wanted to start the project out with a new one. Since Ruger wouldn't help me, I decided to do something else.
I found a Stevens 200 in 30-06 for sale in the next county over for $250. So I contacted the seller and bought it. The magazine length on the Savage 110/Stevens 200 is still too short to run the Sherman, so I decided to contact Rich about the SS. And thus, the project was conceived.
I fired the donor rifle to see what it would do before any mods were made. It had been a safe queen, by all appearances, and hardly even fired. It came with several scope rails, too. In the Tupperware, unbedded stock, and a trigger weight around 3 lbs, it shot a little over an inch. Not too shabby for a $250 gun! I ordered and installed a magnum bolt head to accommodate the SAUM-based case head.
I sent the action off to Fred Moreo at Sharp Shooters Supply to have him do his True and Timing service on it, as well as supply a precision ground recoil lug. I have read good things about his work. Does it need those things? Probably not, but that Savage bolt lift is pretty stiff. People talk about bolt lift kits and such, but I decided to go with the timing job.
Meanwhile, I ordered a barrel from Brux. They were out of chrome-moly .338 bore, so I went with stainless, 11" twist (Berger recommends this for the 250 Elite Hunter), #4 contour, finished length of 24". Guess what arrived in the mail today????
:-D
I received a set of dies from Rich this week as well. I have brass on hand (300 SAUM by Norma), as well as some bullets, so as soon as I receive a couple other items I will be nearly ready to begin prepping brass for fire forming.
I have a 4-port Lil' Beast brake on order from Brakes and More, and hope to receive that soon.
The stock...well , it's not as bad as some other plastic stocks. Actually the flex wasn't any worse than the original wood stock on my old Ruger after free floating, or the original fiberglass stock on my Howa. WAY better than the plastic on my brother's Ruger American. So I decided to try reinforcing it, and if I'm not satisfied, I will order a Stockade stock. I want this to be a lightweight build, and I want it to be as inexpensive as possible, so I'm trying to do as much work myself as I can. So I put the original stock into my hobby mill, and cut 1/2" slots down each side of the forearm. Using epoxy, I laid in strips of 1/2x1/8" aluminum bar, then finished it off with Bondo. Since the action is still out being improved, I can't throw it into the modified stock to see how much less it flexes. But i think it is much improved. I have decided to not use the original barrel nut system. Instead, I will have it installed with a shoulder, like a Remington. Not that I don't have faith in the barrel nut system, I just don't intend to swap barrels back and forth. The cost of installation is the same, and the shoulder looks a little better. Because of the heavier contour of the new barrel, and not using the barrel nut, I will need to do some inletting on the barrel channel.
I'm still deciding on who will build the gun. I have contacted AxisWorks in Tempe, AZ, but they are pretty busy. A local shop wants the business, and they have done some good work, but they want a lot more $$$ for the work. Might need to try to work out a better deal with them.
Once the barrel and brake are mounted, I will blast and paint them with KG GunKoteflat dark earth. This will protect the receiver better than the original bluing. I will likely do a full length bedding job. The forearm will be filled with an epoxy mixed with fillers to keep it as light as possible. I will use Marine-Tex for the action. The barrel will be free floated (does that mean that it won't actually be a "full length" bedding??). The stock will be rattle can painted with a camo that goes with the FDE of the barrel: tan, brown, and olive.
The trigger...I'm going to attempt to modify the existing trigger by shimming it to remove some creep, and replacing the spring with a lighter wire. If I screw it up, or if it becomes unsafe, I have this crazy idea of forming my own fully adjustable trigger from scratch (using my mill), and heat treating and stoning it myself. And if I utterly fail at that, then I'll get a Timney or RifleBasix.
I will be using the previously mentioned Vortex Viper HS-T scope on this build, in Vortex rings, which I already own.
I don't like the idea of a blind magazine, which the rifle came with. My elk hunt this season involved a lot of driving and glassing, loading and unloading. I do, however like that a blind mag is about the lightest magazine possible. The factory dbm systems seem to be for centerfeed rifles, and mine is stagger feed. CDI makes one that will fit mine, but I don't like the location and size of the AI mag release. I also don't like the weight and cost of the AI mags. I don't favor the added weight of the CDI bottom metal, or having to send them the rifle to do the inletting, or how far the AI mags extend below the stock. Some people hate plastic bottom "metal" and trigger guards. I like how light they are, and I've never broken one yet. So I will probably stick with the blind mag for now.
But I have this crazy idea: what if I designed and made my own bottom metal out of aluminum, making it as minimalistic/light as possible, and designed to accept Tikka mags? Those mags are light, only hold 3 magnum rounds, wouldn't extend far below the stock, and cost less than $40 each. Hmmmmm.........
I think I will use the original butt pad, unless I determine that it is insufficient, in which case I will upgrade.
But other than these few changes, this rig will be totally "stock"!!! ;-)
