BillyBushCook
Member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2015
- Messages
- 10
First a quick Intro.
I'm from Aus, 46yro, a shooter of about 35yrs. The past few yrs have been learning the ropes of LR by doing a little F Class along with some Gongs out to 1000yds on private property & LR hunting to 600yds. (Goats mainly)
I began with a Factory Howa .308 varmint (long time Howa owner/fan) which I set about tuning to within an inch of it's life with custom made Redding Comp Dies (made my own sleeves to suit my chamber), Pillar bedded into a boyd's Thumbhole & a hand made removable bag rider.
The rifle still shoots very well after about 2,000 rnds, 75% of the time it is 1/2" or less, 5 shot 100m groups but does throw the occasional flier so I have a Benchmark barrel here ready to go on it.
So basically I have been using a hunting rifle for f Class & now I would like an F Class Rifle to take hunting! (it won't be getting carried too far)
For some time now I have had a hankering to build a full custom LR rifle & the 7WSM cartridge has always appealed to me even though they are rare over here.
Toying with Bullet lengths in Acad (I'm a Machinist by trade now re-schooled as a Mech Engineer & Draftsman) & it appears as though a reasonable O/A length of the round set up to get best performance is going to end up around 3.120" (using a 162gr Amax as a starting point)
This leaves me with a Dilemma.
Too long for a std short action & I would like to avoid using a long action.
I figure I can get a 7mm SAUM to work in a modified factory SA with a Wyatt extended Mag Box with my preference being another Howa action (for exchangeability on parts, mounts & stocks etc with my current rifles) or a Rem 700 action but the WSM would not be feasible in either of these.
The down sides to this:-
It will always be a cop out with the SAUM because I have my heart set on the WSM for the extra speed.
There are not many howa's over here with the WSM bolt face. I know I could modify a .308 bolt face but to pic up a Howa in .300WSM & re-barrel it would be an easier option & much cheaper than custom.
Now, the only reason I am considering the Howa SA for this purpose is because I like to use Hilver/Lynx 1pc mounts for three reasons.
1. They help stiffen up an already stiff factory action.
2. They are windage adjustable so I can be sure to set the scope up well centred.
3. I already have one on hand & it suites both Rem & Howa SA's.
The actions I would most prefer are in this order.
1. Full custom, robust/stiff Top loaders.
2. the Howa SA
3. rem 700 SA
Now the problem of availability & price.
The most appropriate option I can see for a WSM would be a Defiance Deviant mid length action.
The problem being that I was quoted $2300 Au for one over here.
The Defiance rebel XM action might even be better suited to the length I want but I'm yet to find out how long the mid length action is.
can any one help?
Either way these are going to extend the build cost out to around the $5,000Au mark.
(Benchmark barrel, GRS Stock + a scope & trigger) where I could build off a Howa for 1/2 that..........is it really going to shoot 2x as good? I doubt it.
Question.
Are their any other custom Actions (apart from Defiance) that will fit up to std Rem 700 SA stocks, scope mounts etc, that can handle an O/A case length of say 3.2" or be better suited to this build?
regards, Mick.
I'm from Aus, 46yro, a shooter of about 35yrs. The past few yrs have been learning the ropes of LR by doing a little F Class along with some Gongs out to 1000yds on private property & LR hunting to 600yds. (Goats mainly)
I began with a Factory Howa .308 varmint (long time Howa owner/fan) which I set about tuning to within an inch of it's life with custom made Redding Comp Dies (made my own sleeves to suit my chamber), Pillar bedded into a boyd's Thumbhole & a hand made removable bag rider.
The rifle still shoots very well after about 2,000 rnds, 75% of the time it is 1/2" or less, 5 shot 100m groups but does throw the occasional flier so I have a Benchmark barrel here ready to go on it.
So basically I have been using a hunting rifle for f Class & now I would like an F Class Rifle to take hunting! (it won't be getting carried too far)
For some time now I have had a hankering to build a full custom LR rifle & the 7WSM cartridge has always appealed to me even though they are rare over here.
Toying with Bullet lengths in Acad (I'm a Machinist by trade now re-schooled as a Mech Engineer & Draftsman) & it appears as though a reasonable O/A length of the round set up to get best performance is going to end up around 3.120" (using a 162gr Amax as a starting point)
This leaves me with a Dilemma.
Too long for a std short action & I would like to avoid using a long action.
I figure I can get a 7mm SAUM to work in a modified factory SA with a Wyatt extended Mag Box with my preference being another Howa action (for exchangeability on parts, mounts & stocks etc with my current rifles) or a Rem 700 action but the WSM would not be feasible in either of these.
The down sides to this:-
It will always be a cop out with the SAUM because I have my heart set on the WSM for the extra speed.
There are not many howa's over here with the WSM bolt face. I know I could modify a .308 bolt face but to pic up a Howa in .300WSM & re-barrel it would be an easier option & much cheaper than custom.
Now, the only reason I am considering the Howa SA for this purpose is because I like to use Hilver/Lynx 1pc mounts for three reasons.
1. They help stiffen up an already stiff factory action.
2. They are windage adjustable so I can be sure to set the scope up well centred.
3. I already have one on hand & it suites both Rem & Howa SA's.
The actions I would most prefer are in this order.
1. Full custom, robust/stiff Top loaders.
2. the Howa SA
3. rem 700 SA
Now the problem of availability & price.
The most appropriate option I can see for a WSM would be a Defiance Deviant mid length action.
The problem being that I was quoted $2300 Au for one over here.
The Defiance rebel XM action might even be better suited to the length I want but I'm yet to find out how long the mid length action is.
can any one help?
Either way these are going to extend the build cost out to around the $5,000Au mark.
(Benchmark barrel, GRS Stock + a scope & trigger) where I could build off a Howa for 1/2 that..........is it really going to shoot 2x as good? I doubt it.
Question.
Are their any other custom Actions (apart from Defiance) that will fit up to std Rem 700 SA stocks, scope mounts etc, that can handle an O/A case length of say 3.2" or be better suited to this build?
regards, Mick.
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