Assemble My Own Rifle?

[tobnpr]

I've never used a torque wrench when installing barrels to receiver.

I don't think it's necessary. Torque value for this assembly is not critical. I can easily ballpark 50-75 ft lbs of torque with an action wrench in my hands- and I've never seen a difference at the target on actions that have been disassembled/re-assembled with potentially different torque on the barrel.

I do use a torque driver on action screws, but honestly on a properly stress-free, bedded action there should be no difference in point of impact. Once you have metal to metal contact on the pillars, and the receiver is not being "bent" due to a poor bedding job- how can the receiver possibly "know" how much torque is on the screws?

In both of these threaded assemblies- and I'll throw in a third, muzzle devices- torque is needed only to prevent vibration from loosening the thread assembly. Nothing more. Once the shoulders make contact, the parts are in correct alignment. "More torque" does not align them "better".

You also don't need a no-go gauge, save the $40.
Set your headspace to go-gauge contact, add/trim a piece of cellophane packing tape (generally .002-.003 thick) and stick on the back of the go gauge. Your bolt handle should barely start to fall when you release it.

Setting headspace is all about "feel". Make sure the bolt is stripped of the ejector (I remove extractors as well) and firing pin/spring.

 

[FrogFire7]

Personally, I'd say DEFINITELY do it yourself.

I was very much in the same boat as you about 6 years ago. Had all the parts (except my barrel had a barrel nut). Watched the videos. Still pretty apprehensive. I had a gunsmith show me how to do it the first time... Much less apprehensive the first time ony own (which was NOT long after, lol). Now I can do them in my sleep.

Maybe find somebody in your area to show you the ropes first, if you are seriously nervous about it. But shouldered barrels are a snap.

I hate paying gunsmiths for easy stuff I could do myself. Plus, you are very likely to use the tools again!

 

[Tidus56]

I'm a DIY'er to my core, but the above is going to cost you $200-$300. I bought all my parts like you, took it to my gunsmith (Alamo Precision) and they screwed on the pre-fit for $25. Said headspace was dead on. That gap in cost was just too high for me.

Other than torquing on the barrel, I did all the other work. One thing worth mentioning, the Hawkins BDL I used in my anti action was NOT plug and play, rounds would not feed at all. The spring tension must be tuned (grinding/sanding off the edges to make it more narrow and less strong), and the spring must also be positioned correctly, then staked.

I haven't bothered bedding yet, gun shoots lights out without it so far.

Most gunsmiths charge way more than $25 to screw on a pre-fit. You scored on that one my man.

 

[WYOHTF]

I can't believe what some of them charge to even chamber, and I've noticed lots of smaller gunsmiths offering prefit work. But Jeesh, some of the prices they get.
Then ya ask em if they will do a chamber on something they don't have a reamer for and it's usually a ridged NO, and you have already offered to pay for the reamer rental.
X-Caliber will not do anything that is not on there reamer list, period.

 

[JAYgs8163]

The idea of using a $35 torque wrench on something dangerous like a firearm.....


There's inexpensive (which I'm all for) and then there's just cheap.

My $35 old school Crafstman beam scale torque wrench is 25 years old and is dead on! I've thought about replacing it numerous times but it just works, so why? I guess I could step up to the new Top of the Line Craftsman click set type for $49 or numerous other brand name "Beam" quality ones that run $40-70. If it ain't broke don't fix it! I don't subscribe to the notion you can't buy a good quality torque wrench for $35-50 !

 

[ntsqd]

You've sent iit out and had it calibrated? You're that outlier then.

In High School Auto Shop our instructor gave us an obvious lesson in just how badly we can gauge torque. He had one of the football players (wide receiver, not a lineman) "torque" all of the cylinder head bolts on a small block chevy by feel and asked him to try to be as consistent as possible. Our instructor then used a beam torque wrench and had another student read the indicator when each bolt broke loose and a third student write each number on the chalkboard.
They varied by over 50 ft-lbs! For a 120 ft-lbs target that's not a very good deviation!

I'm sure that someone more used to doing that work wouldn't vary as much, but it made a good point that I've remembered for 30+ years. To me that point is that if you are used to doing the work then you're likely to not vary as much, but for someone who is not used to doing that job using a torque wrench is a good idea. After all, how you 'tune' your feel for how tight stuff is, is to use the tool.

I'm more than OK with not using a torque wrench when the person doing the work is regularly tightening things and has a good feel for just how tight something needs to be. For a guy just starting out he won't have that feel and using a quality torque wrench is a very good idea.

 

[Kimber7man]

I just did the same thing 2 weekends ago, to see how I could do.
Took the following parts to my gunsmith's, he supplied the barrel vise and action wrench.
anTiX short mag action
proof defiance prefit, 24" 6.5 PRC 7.5 twist
AG alpine hunter
Hawkins hunter DBM and flush mag
TT special

He torqued the barrel on. I had to cut/sand the bolt release on the stock, and put everything together. Took 90 minutes start to finish. 8 lbs with scope (not including Dominus).

 

[P7M13]

Three builds done (prefits), and another four in process. These four are shouldered. Won't do prefits any more.

I use a beam torque wrench that I bought in '77. I prefer it to the "click" one I have, but you have to look properly at the markings because parallax is a beotch.

Setting headspace is all about "feel". Make sure the bolt is stripped of the ejector (I remove extractors as well) and firing pin/spring.

x10.

I can't believe what some of them charge to even chamber, and I've noticed lots of smaller gunsmiths offering prefit work. But Jeesh, some of the prices they get.
Then ya ask em if they will do a chamber on something they don't have a reamer for and it's usually a ridged NO, and you have already offered to pay for the reamer rental.

oof.

On your vise, I've carved blocks of soft wood to wrap the barrels, but found the best way to grip the barrel with enough torque and not damage it is to wrap it in solder before clamping it in the vise. You can then reef down and that barrel won't go anywhere. It swages the heck out of the solder, which I then put in my casting pile. I have many spools of old 50:50 and also lead "rope" that I have for future installations & removals.

 

[JAYgs8163]

Three builds done (prefits), and another four in process. These four are shouldered. Won't do prefits any more.

I use a beam torque wrench that I bought in '77. I prefer it to the "click" one I have, but you have to look properly at the markings because parallax is a beotch.


x10.


oof.

On your vise, I've carved blocks of soft wood to wrap the barrels, but found the best way to grip the barrel with enough torque and not damage it is to wrap it in solder before clamping it in the vise. You can then reef down and that barrel won't go anywhere. It swages the heck out of the solder, which I then put in my casting pile. I have many spools of old 50:50 and also lead "rope" that I have for future installations & removals.

You can also use 1/8"-1/4" leather to prevent the barrel from marring. Works like a charm.

 

[WYOHTF]

You can also use 1/8"-1/4" leather to prevent the barrel from marring. Works like a charm.

This is what I do, and if ya dampen the leather just a little it helps as well
Gotta love YouTube

 

[Janno05]

Do it and don't look back! If you decide you want to try a new caliber, it's a 500 dollar prefit tube and you can keep a high end stock , trigger, optics, etc. on one platform. Unless it's for a range trip I rarely need to shoot more than one rifle on a trip, and even then you can mill some flats into the end of the barrel and use a crows foot for torque and skip the barrel vice.

 

[Sending156s]

I decided to go down a rabbit hole in the beginning of last year to purchase all my own parts to build my a light weight hunting rifle. Now that I am at the point of buying tools to assembly, I am getting cold feet and wondering if I should just sent off to LRI.

- Defiance Anti LA Mag
- Proof Research Light Weight Mountain Hunter
- Proof Defiance Prefit (300 WM w/ 1-9.4 twist 24" barrel)
- Trigger Tech R700 special
- Hawkins R700 BDL kit
- I will add a brake later on

Basically I am at the point where I need to either buy the tools needed to move forward to ship it off. I do believe that if I build it myself I will appreciate the rifle more...which is why I went the prefit route.

I would love to hear from others who went on the journey, put their own rifles together. Do you think the experience was worth it? On that note, I love reloading my own ammo and I see this as the next step / extension.

Tools I would need to purchase
- Torque Wrench (10 to 150 ft-lb)
- Action Wrench
- Barrel Vice
- 300 WM headspace go / no go gauge

Any specific recommendations of which ones to buy? I know defiance has their own action wrench, but not sure if it would be better buying a general one instead? Barrel vice recommendations?

Appreciate all feedback!!!

Jake

I'm working on my second. I bought through Impact Precision Shooting, actions & barrels. I don't know how you get better. Recommendations:
Barrel vise: There are cheaper such as the Viper. Spend a few bucks more and buy the Brownell barrel vise & buy the aluminum inserts to fit the barrel profiles you will be working with.
Torque wrench: if your wallet needs a break to catch its breath go to the auto store & rent a proto torque wrench.
Go/No go gauges: these were not on the shelf. I felt good going through Wade Stuteville & Tate Streater at Impact. Made sure brass fit.
My first was a 6 GT. I'm going to post my last firing which was round count 90-100. These are break-in loads with zero load development. I'm shooting off a bipod as fast as I can work bolt & acquire target. I just bought a Manners LRH, Impact action, & Impact 65 PRC through Brian Allen at A-Team Precision. Brian had the stock I needed so purchased everything through him. I've been very impressed with my customs from GAP, but have reasons not to want to go through the waiting period at a gunsmith. I don't know how anyone puts together something more accurate than Impact Precision Shooting pre-fit. The pic is a 10 rd mag dump.

posted wrong rifle……was shooting two rifles that day.
rifle corrected……other was a 65 CM SP-10

 

[Ace Quackhunter]

I decided to go down a rabbit hole in the beginning of last year to purchase all my own parts to build my a light weight hunting rifle. Now that I am at the point of buying tools to assembly, I am getting cold feet and wondering if I should just sent off to LRI.

- Defiance Anti LA Mag
- Proof Research Light Weight Mountain Hunter
- Proof Defiance Prefit (300 WM w/ 1-9.4 twist 24" barrel)
- Trigger Tech R700 special
- Hawkins R700 BDL kit
- I will add a brake later on

Basically I am at the point where I need to either buy the tools needed to move forward to ship it off. I do believe that if I build it myself I will appreciate the rifle more...which is why I went the prefit route.

I would love to hear from others who went on the journey, put their own rifles together. Do you think the experience was worth it? On that note, I love reloading my own ammo and I see this as the next step / extension.

Tools I would need to purchase
- Torque Wrench (10 to 150 ft-lb)
- Action Wrench
- Barrel Vice
- 300 WM headspace go / no go gauge

Any specific recommendations of which ones to buy? I know defiance has their own action wrench, but not sure if it would be better buying a general one instead? Barrel vice recommendations?

Appreciate all feedback!!!

Jake

I have found once you start you will not be able to stop. I had several custom rifles built before deciding that I could do this myself. Now I have three barrel blanks, two triggers, two actions and three stocks and many other items that I just had to have. With reamers, go & nogo gauges, brass & bullets and more dies it never stops. Now I don't play golf, and my wife will not let have a girlfriend and I need something to spend my money on. Just remember this may lead to other projects, watercraft and aircraft and traveling to far off placed to hunt critters that don't live where your are.

Ace

 

[newmexican hunter]

I assembled my first gun last week after wanting to do it for years. I found it to be really easy using a proof prefit and lone peak action.
I rented the go and no go gauges from 4D Reamer rentals.com. I bought an action wrench and viper barrel vise but If I was you I'd call 4D Reamer rentals and see if you could rent the action wrench and barrel vise from them as well. Not sure if they rent those but may be worth a try.

One thought on a torque wrench. Put a Normal socket wrench on there and have your roughly 80-100lb child or grandchild gently hang on the handle a few seconds? Probably not best advice I've given… ha ha