Building my first custom

[cburgin72]

Hey guys,

I am putting together my first build and wanted to put a feeler out there to see what you all would suggest doing.

I have my action ordered and am about to order a barrel. I can have a brux contoured barrel blank shipped out next week and I have a local smith that will chamber, finish the barrel, and fit it to the action for $300. The action is a remington 700 so it will be a regular remington fit.

My other option is to get a mcgowen ordered and chambered to receive it in roughly 8 weeks. I would get it threaded for remage and I would put it together myself. I have never set headspace myself but have a buddy that has set the headspace on 3 of his personal rifles that will help me do it for this rifle.

What would you guys do here? The mcgowen option would save me about $250. Is it worth it to have the smith do the work? Looking for suggestions on what to do here. I am leaning toward one direction but I want to get some other opinions.

 

[bigngreen]

I would not trade a Brux for a McGowen barrel over any amount of money!

 

[codyadams]

Depends on a few things. If you plan on shooting it a lot, it may not be a bad idea to go mcgowen, that way you can replace the barrel yourself without the wait or fees from a smith. However, if you want a hunting rifle with smooth lines that you won't shoot a ton, I would go with a shouldered barrel. It will cost more, but brux barrels are better barrels and if the smithing is up to par, will make a very accurate rifle. Not saying the mcgowen won't be, almost every person I have talked to that is running a prefit mcgowen barrel gets half moa groups or better, which half MOA under good conditions is what I demand out of my long range rigs. However, you dont see many top end bench rest shooters running mcgowen or criterion pre fits. However, many run shouldered brux's.

 

[cburgin72]

I would not trade a Brux for a McGowen barrel over any amount of money!

That is simple enough. Thank you!

Depends on a few things. If you plan on shooting it a lot, it may not be a bad idea to go mcgowen, that way you can replace the barrel yourself without the wait or fees from a smith. However, if you want a hunting rifle with smooth lines that you won't shoot a ton, I would go with a shouldered barrel. It will cost more, but brux barrels are better barrels and if the smithing is up to par, will make a very accurate rifle. Not saying the mcgowen won't be, almost every person I have talked to that is running a prefit mcgowen barrel gets half moa groups or better, which half MOA under good conditions is what I demand out of my long range rigs. However, you dont see many top end bench rest shooters running mcgowen or criterion pre fits. However, many run shouldered brux's.

Okay, that is good insight. Thank you for that. This will be a hunting gun that I will also do a little shooting with just to practice. Even then, I don't see myself shooting more than 100 rounds a year with it.

 

[codyadams]

Okay, that is good insight. Thank you for that. This will be a hunting gun that I will also do a little shooting with just to practice. Even then, I don't see myself shooting more than 100 rounds a year with it.

In that case, I would go with a shouldered brux of those options. Just this guys opinion

 

[ShtrRdy]

If you have the gunsmith do the work you might want to have him check the squareness of the action. One of the things I've really enjoyed about a good fit barrel and action is the repeatability of first shot point of impact. You don't have to worry if your first shot is going to end up in some other location. I have two Brux barrels and they have been great.

 

[cburgin72]

I appreciate your opinion. In my mind it helps to get other opinions especially from people more experienced. It makes me think about things that I may not have thought about already.

I am leaning toward brux because of the quality and also because having it professionally finished gives a little more peace of mind.

If you have the gunsmith do the work you might want to have him check the squareness of the action. One of the things I've really enjoyed about a good fit barrel and action is the repeatability of first shot point of impact. You don't have to worry if your first shot is going to end up in some other location. I have two Brux barrels and they have been great.

I will make sure I talk with the gunsmith about that. Thank you for that suggestion!

 

[PartsJr.]

I would recommend the Rem. 700 option and have a smith do the metal work. I am happy with my two Remington 700 builds.

My most recent build was done by a long time machist and gun builder.
If I recall correctly he charged me $450 for the following work:
Blue print action (chase threads, square/true action, square/true lugs, square/ true bolt, lap bolt recoil lugs).
After market (Darrel Holland recoil lug).
Thread, chamber, head space, crown barrel.
I like my Brux barrel on my .280a.i.
Shoots well and cleans quickly after shooting.
If you want to do some work yourself consider replacing the trigger, maybe a speed lock firing pin, some stock work such as glass or pillar bedding.
Good luck.

 

[cburgin72]

Thank you for your input, PartsJr. Brux is about to start cutting the caliber barrel I requested this week so I am going to go ahead and stick with that option! I am looking forward to this project. I will likely do the stock and trigger work myself.

 

[PartsJr.]

Good luck!
I think you'll like your Brux barrel.
It took me around 40 -50 rounds before my barrel was broke in. I used the shoot and clean technique between each shot for the first 10 rounds being careful to remove all fouling. Then I repeated the same shooting 3 rounds and clean til about a total of 30 rounds through the gun. Then I went to 5 rounds and clean. Now that the barrel is broken in I can put 25 rounds through the gun, take it home and clean it in less than 10 minutes. I use a bore guide and couple of wet patches (butches) on a Dewey one piece rod followed by a bronze brush. After I patch out dry I will occasionally run a wet patch of sweets 7.62 copper remover. I will let it sit for 5 minutes and patch out dry. It comes out squeaky clean with zero copper on my patch. Then I'll lube the barrel and put in gun safe.