Father-in-law's rifle build thread

codyadams said:
So my father in law moved out to Wyoming with us, and after tagging along for a season, he decided he wanted a long range rifle as well, so we got started!

First off, for the foundation of the rifle, we started with a Christensen arms action, from JA outdoors. We went with a long action mag bolt face, as this is mainly a deer and elk rifle.

Next, we picked out a barrel. This was always planned to be a short barreled rifle, to keep weight down as well as make it handle well with a can. It will be a scabbard rifle, and on top of that, my F.I.L. is about 5'5", so he wanted a little bit shorter rifle. We went with a sendero contour proof stainless barrel, .284 cal 8 twist. We went with a heavier contour so we could have a 5/8x24 thread and still a good shoulder for a can, and then had it fluted and cerakoted to keep weight down, improve balance some and match the next part, the stock.

My F.I.L. wanted a thumbhole stock, and liked the laminated wood pattern, so we went with a boyds featherweight thumbhole, in coyote pattern.

After that, we had it chambered by straitjacket armory, in 7 Sherman Max, and cut to 20". Also, he has a silencerco harvester in jail right now on an e-form, but until then, it is wearing a MBM lil beast 3 port.

I did the inletting and bedding, and then cut about 1" off the LOP, and added a pachmeyer grind-to-fit recoil pad and shaped it. Now, the LOP is 12.75", about perfect for him. I'm gonna be mounting up a meopta 3-18 in some tally one piece rings.

Next up, is to start load developement!

View attachment 389062View attachment 389063View attachment 389064View attachment 389066View attachment 389067
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That bedding job is slick!
 
Hunter609 said:
What bullets is he shooting, what's the velocity?
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Well last year, his load was a 180 Berger at 2755, but the barrel had a limited amount of rounds through it. I will be working up a load with the new 147 Apex Afterburner mono, looking to get around 3100 or a little better. With a G7 around .3ish, should be a decent load. We shall see!
 
codyadams said:
Well last year, his load was a 180 Berger at 2755, but the barrel had a limited amount of rounds through it. I will be working up a load with the new 147 Apex Afterburner mono, looking to get around 3100 or a little better. With a G7 around .3ish, should be a decent load. We shall see!
Click to expand...
I had never heard of the Apex Afterburner until now. I just looked them up and am interested. I have a 7 Sherman Short, a 7 PRC and 280AI I would like to try them in. Keep us posted on your progress with them.

Great story and follow up.
 
Beautiful work and sweet rifle. You do outstanding work and re very thoughtful about your builds and process. The bedding job is excellent and the Cerakote is eye appealing. The whole build is well thought and well done. Thanks for sharing.
 
I clicked on this thread from the email i received , mainly as it mentioned a mohawk action , im a sucker for those old rem md 600 and 660 mohawk rifles and actions .
of course that wasnt the case , but i do say with sincerity, this is a good read.
this forum sometimes turns people against each other in the strive to prove one person is smarter or more experienced than the rest .
in earlier yrs on this forum ,one can ask a question and get alot of knowledge and input to address the questions.
thank you much for sharing this story and mostly for your good will in building a keepsake rifle for someone close in your circle .
the donated stock is also a great example of how america and society rises above any tragic event. In todays society we need more people that act in this manner and not walk around with an inflated ego with something to prove to everyone.
again kudos to you and thanks for reminding me that there is still alot of good people out there.
 
codyadams said:
So my father in law moved out to Wyoming with us, and after tagging along for a season, he decided he wanted a long range rifle as well, so we got started!

First off, for the foundation of the rifle, we started with a Christensen arms action, from JA outdoors. We went with a long action mag bolt face, as this is mainly a deer and elk rifle.

Next, we picked out a barrel. This was always planned to be a short barreled rifle, to keep weight down as well as make it handle well with a can. It will be a scabbard rifle, and on top of that, my F.I.L. is about 5'5", so he wanted a little bit shorter rifle. We went with a sendero contour proof stainless barrel, .284 cal 8 twist. We went with a heavier contour so we could have a 5/8x24 thread and still a good shoulder for a can, and then had it fluted and cerakoted to keep weight down, improve balance some and match the next part, the stock.

My F.I.L. wanted a thumbhole stock, and liked the laminated wood pattern, so we went with a boyds featherweight thumbhole, in coyote pattern.

After that, we had it chambered by straitjacket armory, in 7 Sherman Max, and cut to 20". Also, he has a silencerco harvester in jail right now on an e-form, but until then, it is wearing a MBM lil beast 3 port.

I did the inletting and bedding, and then cut about 1" off the LOP, and added a pachmeyer grind-to-fit recoil pad and shaped it. Now, the LOP is 12.75", about perfect for him. I'm gonna be mounting up a meopta 3-18 in some tally one piece rings.

Next up, is to start load developement!

View attachment 389062View attachment 389063View attachment 389064View attachment 389066View attachment 389067
Click to expand...
You need to seal the bare wood. If rain or weather gets to it. It won't shoot to straight. Otherwise a very nice job.
 
codyadams said:
Well....some of you may have seen in another thread, that my father in law had a nearly fatal horse crash last hunting season, where he and his horse fell off a cliff while up mule deer hunting, six miles from the trail head, then another 40 miles on a dirt road to the nearest hospital. The tough man still managed to ride his horse (by some miracle it wasn't dead either) out to the truck.

Thanks to many miracles and the grace of God, he is healed from a broken neck vertebrae, broken pelvis, broken wrist, shattered nose, dislocated knee and multiple large lacerations on his head and face, and is now doing well. His rifle though, which was in the scabbard, is a different story. To my father in law, this was the most heartbreaking part....
View attachment 458117

The meopta optic had the parallax knob ripped off, the stock was obviously destroyed, and the kwik klip bottom metal broken. Thankfully, the barreled action and trigger was still in perfect functional shape.

My great friend, hunting partner and also a member on this forum @Wedgy reached out, and purchased a replacement stock from boyds for Dave, before we were even out of the hospital. I can't thank him enough, and it certainly helped Dave in the healing process, seeing that his dream rifle was not lost forever, and could be built again.

When Trexxler industries, the american manufacturer of the bottom metal, found out about this incident, they sent a replacement bottom metal, free of charge, with a letter from the CEO of the company, wishing Dave well in his healing process. What an amazing company!

So, with the parts in hand, and after a delay due to work and a move, I am back at it, and will put this rifle together again for him, but better.

We are refinishing and somewhat reshaping the stock for a better feel, and adding some personal touches, check it out!
View attachment 458118View attachment 458119View attachment 458120View attachment 458121View attachment 458122View attachment 458123

If any of you have handled a boyds featherweight thumbhole, you will see the changes. The forend was significantly tapered down and smoothed out and the hard corners were also smoothed out. The forend was also shortened, and cut at a 35° angle back, to better suit the short barrel. The LOP was trimmed down to his length, and this time a pachmeyer white line pad was added, to better match the stock. It was then epoxied in place, and sanded down for a perfect fit.

Next, the entire stock was sanded, as it will have an oil finish instead of the polyurethane standard coat. Additionally, I added an ADG 7 Sherman max case to the base of the grip, for the cool and custom factor. Next will be fitting the action, pillar bedding, then fitting the bottom metal. It needs to be further sanded down after that, as this is a 60 grit finish, and once it is sanded proper, the oil finish will begin.

When I am done, this will be even better than the first one, I am excited to continue this project!
Click to expand...
Looks like you seal the forarm and action area this time. Very thankfull that you dad make it and the horse too.
 

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