ObiWanKannoli
Well-Known Member
This will be wordy, scroll down if you just want to see pictures and groups.
This concept of mine has been in progress and in different iterations over the past 3 years or so between different actions, barrels, optics etc., and I am excited to say it's finally 100%. I think a lot of people aim to achieve something similar and thought I'd share what has worked for me.
The goal was to build a short, handy, suppressed rifle of a reasonable weight that could have me covered from antelope to moose and would feel just at home in the white tail tree stand as it would on my pack in the rocky mountains. Easy, right? No. Not easy...and tragically expensive.
Caliber choice has been 300 PRC. I was an early adopter and love the cartridge for hunting big game. To me, it makes a lot of sense in a short barrel, suppressed hunting rifle like mine at 20 inches. Why? Larger bore for decent powder burn and larger frontal area on projectiles, not horrifically over bore and wasteful of powder, and able to shoot everything from 180-250 grain pills provided you have the twist. I've tested on game and been happy with 212 ELDX, 225 ELDM, 180 TTSX, 190 LRX, 208 LRX, 205 SBD2, and 190 CX bullets. For me and what I like to see, the 208 Barnes LRX is my top pick in ADG brass. Powder is to be determined, but I'm liking the unicorn dust that is RL26.
For rifle weight, I've done the feather weight builds and it's not for me. I tried a 7 lbs all in 300 PRC for one of my iterations and it was not enjoyable. I went the other way to a rifle that was about 13.5 lbs and that was far to heavy to lug around. Ultimately I settled for what I feel is a Goldie Locks 10lbs even with optics. Light enough to carry, and super shootable. Suppressor being titanium adds only 9 oz in weight to the end of the barrel.
Speaking of the suppressor, I ended up choosing the Liberty Precision Machine Mach S. This thing is Hollywood quiet and just about every time I go to the range my shooting neighbors stop to listen and ask me about it. Just an incredible can. What's even better is no barrel length restrictions for any 30 Cal Magnum or smaller and it is full auto rated....all while being a 9oz titanium can. I originally had the LPM Anthem S (gen 1) on this rifle, but jumped on the new Mach S as soon as I saw they released a titanium version and lucked out with a 15 day Form4. The gen 1 Anthem S is also extremely quiet, and the gen 2 improves further. Very happy with this choice.
Another area I wanted to tackle was corrosion resistance. Steel hardware rusting from living out in the rain, snow, humidity, and mud drives me up the wall. So, my logical solution was to replace every piece of hardware on the setup with titanium. Having a lathe makes this pretty simple in terms of turning down head diameters and cutting things to length. So, the screws and cross bolts on the Spuhr rings, the action screws, the Manners mini chassis screws, arca rail bolts, and picatinny bolts all got swapped out. Nice, no more rust. For the neurotic man, a few hundred dollars in screws is a sound investment!
The specs of the rifle I ended up with are:
- Terminus Zeus Long Action
- Proof Sendero 20", 1:8t, AW2 Chamber 300 PRC by Short Action Customs
- Manners PH with Mini Chassis
- Triggertech Special, Flat, Single Stage
- MDT Hunter DBM w/ MDT 300 PRC Magazines
- Schmidt & Bender PMII US 3-20x50 with DT2+ MTC LT / ST2 ZC turrets
- Spuhr Rings
- Rugged Ridge Outdoor Bipod
- Liberty Precision Machine Anthem Mach S (titanium) with a titanium EA CB mount on a TBAC 2 port brake
Titanium hardware:
Groups, all suppressed with the LPM Mach S:
First shots out of the SAC Chambered Proof 20", 225 ELDM Factory Hornady:
Second group out of the gun, 225 ELDM Factory Hornady:
3rd group, Copper Creek 180ttsx in Lapua Brass:
Powder Test, 190LRX over RL26 in ADG Brass. 8 rounds, 6 holes:
This concept of mine has been in progress and in different iterations over the past 3 years or so between different actions, barrels, optics etc., and I am excited to say it's finally 100%. I think a lot of people aim to achieve something similar and thought I'd share what has worked for me.
The goal was to build a short, handy, suppressed rifle of a reasonable weight that could have me covered from antelope to moose and would feel just at home in the white tail tree stand as it would on my pack in the rocky mountains. Easy, right? No. Not easy...and tragically expensive.
Caliber choice has been 300 PRC. I was an early adopter and love the cartridge for hunting big game. To me, it makes a lot of sense in a short barrel, suppressed hunting rifle like mine at 20 inches. Why? Larger bore for decent powder burn and larger frontal area on projectiles, not horrifically over bore and wasteful of powder, and able to shoot everything from 180-250 grain pills provided you have the twist. I've tested on game and been happy with 212 ELDX, 225 ELDM, 180 TTSX, 190 LRX, 208 LRX, 205 SBD2, and 190 CX bullets. For me and what I like to see, the 208 Barnes LRX is my top pick in ADG brass. Powder is to be determined, but I'm liking the unicorn dust that is RL26.
For rifle weight, I've done the feather weight builds and it's not for me. I tried a 7 lbs all in 300 PRC for one of my iterations and it was not enjoyable. I went the other way to a rifle that was about 13.5 lbs and that was far to heavy to lug around. Ultimately I settled for what I feel is a Goldie Locks 10lbs even with optics. Light enough to carry, and super shootable. Suppressor being titanium adds only 9 oz in weight to the end of the barrel.
Speaking of the suppressor, I ended up choosing the Liberty Precision Machine Mach S. This thing is Hollywood quiet and just about every time I go to the range my shooting neighbors stop to listen and ask me about it. Just an incredible can. What's even better is no barrel length restrictions for any 30 Cal Magnum or smaller and it is full auto rated....all while being a 9oz titanium can. I originally had the LPM Anthem S (gen 1) on this rifle, but jumped on the new Mach S as soon as I saw they released a titanium version and lucked out with a 15 day Form4. The gen 1 Anthem S is also extremely quiet, and the gen 2 improves further. Very happy with this choice.
Another area I wanted to tackle was corrosion resistance. Steel hardware rusting from living out in the rain, snow, humidity, and mud drives me up the wall. So, my logical solution was to replace every piece of hardware on the setup with titanium. Having a lathe makes this pretty simple in terms of turning down head diameters and cutting things to length. So, the screws and cross bolts on the Spuhr rings, the action screws, the Manners mini chassis screws, arca rail bolts, and picatinny bolts all got swapped out. Nice, no more rust. For the neurotic man, a few hundred dollars in screws is a sound investment!
The specs of the rifle I ended up with are:
- Terminus Zeus Long Action
- Proof Sendero 20", 1:8t, AW2 Chamber 300 PRC by Short Action Customs
- Manners PH with Mini Chassis
- Triggertech Special, Flat, Single Stage
- MDT Hunter DBM w/ MDT 300 PRC Magazines
- Schmidt & Bender PMII US 3-20x50 with DT2+ MTC LT / ST2 ZC turrets
- Spuhr Rings
- Rugged Ridge Outdoor Bipod
- Liberty Precision Machine Anthem Mach S (titanium) with a titanium EA CB mount on a TBAC 2 port brake
Titanium hardware:
Groups, all suppressed with the LPM Mach S:
First shots out of the SAC Chambered Proof 20", 225 ELDM Factory Hornady:
Second group out of the gun, 225 ELDM Factory Hornady:
3rd group, Copper Creek 180ttsx in Lapua Brass:
Powder Test, 190LRX over RL26 in ADG Brass. 8 rounds, 6 holes:
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