Need a barrel, a smith and some direction

[str8shoot]

I'm looking to blue-print and rebarrel my rem 700. It is a bdl lefty in 7mm mag.
I have replaced the stock with a H-S Precision sporter, and had a local smith dial in the trigger to 2.5 lbs.
So now I'm wondering if I should order a barrel (which I understand could take a while to get), or should I send my barreled action to a barrel manufacturer and have them true and install. Or should I find a gunsmith first and have them figure out what barrel to order.
Might also want to get skim bedded.

Right now I'm thinking of staying with the 7 mag as it would be the cheapest and I have quite a bit of experience reloading this cartridge but.... If I wanted to go 7mmSTW how much more would it cost to get the Wyatt's extended mag installed. Or say I wanted to go with a 7 or 300 wsm as I've read are sweet in a long action. What would that conversion likely be? Open bolt face, anything else for it to feed out of the magazine?
This is my first semi-custom build and want it done right but cost is important. Any suggestions?

 

[lazylabs]

The bolt face will be fine for any of the cartridges you mentioned. I like the short mags on long actions as you get to seat out further and can get the chamber setup to maximize that. The feed rails may have to be tweaked a bit for good feeding.

What are your goals with the gun?

I would pick either a WSM or RUM case and skip the belted mags but this is absolutely just MY preference. The 7RM or 7STW can still be made into great rifles.

Kirby is close to GreatFalls and you can save yourself a lot of BS with shipping and packing by using a "local" smith. $50 shipping both ways will probably cover the gas.

 

[texan79]

Bartlien barrel, and call Kevin cram at MCR. cant go wrong.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

The extended box mas run around 150$ and i think its worth it. Lots of great smiths out your way. I would compile a list from the smith available her and start sending email making phone calls. Bounce your ideas off of them see what they say and how long its going to take base your decsion off that.

7mm RM is a great round only advice I have is to keep the barrel long at least 26" and its just my personal prefrence.

 

[gr8whyt]

Take a look at Lilja barrels. They might have one of their in-stock barrels that would fit your bill. If not, they can make any one you want in about 12 weeks. You keep your money in Montana and I don't know of a better barrel maker.

Lilja Precision Rifle Barrels - Centerfire Precision Barrels

-- gr8whyt

 

[gunwalker]

Talk to Rocky at Gateway sports in Four Corners. He just built me a 6.5-06AI a couple of months ago and it is getting close to shooting in the .25s. The other close gunsmith that is real good is Gentry in Belgrade, gentrycustoms.com.

 

[str8shoot]

Thanks everyone for the responses.
Gunwalker, I did go talk to Rocky today. He has done 2 remington trigger jobs for me including this rifle. They are now great triggers but a little spendy I thought. He quoted me a good price for truing, rebarreling, and bedding. He said 90 percent of the time he uses Shilen barrels. Probably 3 month wait on a barrel unless I find one. He said he could have my build done by June or so.

Gr8whyt, I do like the Lilja idea and will look into it.

The rifle is going to be for hunting antelope deer and elk out to 800 yards or so. I want it lighter and handier than my Sendero. I am thinking a 26" #5 fluted contour. I want to shoot 160-180 gr bullets. Probably go with a 1-9" twist.

The smith I talked to said it really wasn't worth the cost of doing a STW unless I went with at least a 28" barrel...so that will have to be another build! I forgot to ask the smith about going with a WSM. I wouldn't mind getting out of the belted magnum but I've not minded it much. Would I get 7mag velocities in a wsm in a long action? They seem to have about the same case capacity. I shoot my hunting rifles too much to go with an ultra mag.

 

[gr8whyt]

str8shoot, I know all these decisions are hard, so I'll throw out one more idea. I had the 7mm mag for lots of years. I like the 7mm bullets. And the one that always caught my attention was the .280 Ackley Improved. I'm having my old 700 Rem done right now, but I didn't need the long range elk rifle so I went a different way. One thing to ask the 'smith is changing the bolt face, whatever way you go. Good luck on the build.

-- gr8whyt

 

[str8shoot]

Yeah I would go 280AI for sure if I had a standard bolt face. I think I'll just stick with the 7mag, it has served me well and to change cartridges will cost me money in guages, dies, and components that I already have. I think I would rather put the extra money towards upgrading the glass than changing cartridges.
So there is one big decision made, it'll stay a 7mag.

Now I am trying to decide if I want to stay with the H-S sporter stock or go with a laminate. I was looking at the Bobby Hart long range stocks on stocky's. They are about a pound heavier than my H-S stock. They are made for a varmint/sendero contour. If I went with a fluted sendero contour it would add another half pound or so, or would a #5 contour work in that stock? I guess i'm wondering if that pound and a half or so would be worth it. It would make it into more of an all out long range rifle, but would get left behind on more mountain hunts do to the weight. What do you guys think, my H-S sporter, or a long range laminate? I have 3 rifles in H-S stocks and like them but have never had a laminate.

Gunwalker, tell me about your 6.5-06. What all did you have Rocky do. What action and stock did you go with. How was Rocky to work with? I prefer to spend my money locally and would save a lot on shipping and ffl transactions.

 

[gunwalker]

http://s812.photobucket.com/albums/zz41/slow04_photos/?action=view&current=DSCF0718.jpg

This is the gun he built for me. It is a Howa 1500 action with a Timney trigger. I had Rocky chamber and install a Shilen select match grade barrel in a 6.5-06AI. It is a #6 contour and 26" long. The gun is on a hybrid Axiom stock, the front half of the stock is solid machined aluminum, and from the pistol grip back was a prototype. On top it has a Vortex Viper. This gun turned out really heavy, heavier than I expected. The #6 contour alone is 6 lbs and the rifle weighs about 14.5 lbs. I am not sold on the stock yet, it reduces the recoil to next to nothing, but when it "Springs" back it jumps to the right and you cannot keep a sight picture. It was my idea and I'm thinking of going to a lighter stock, it alone is about 4.5 lbs and most of the weight is in the front. Rocky was really good to deal with, I already had the barrel and he was really quick getting it back to me, about two weeks.

Sorry the link didn't work quite right, copy and paste and it will work.