After hunting with 2 of my buddies for years for antelope who religiously carry their 240 weatherbys, and my FIL swears by his for South Texas whitetails, I decided to put together one as well.
I wanted a semi-heavy setup that I could shoot suppressed, but also get the speed from the Weatherby case. I built a 300 win mag last year in a very similar setup and feel it's the perfect balance of weight and ease of carry for me - usually the gun without scope/rings weighs between 7.5lbs and 8lbs, depending on the stock fill and if I got an adjustable cheek piece.
A lot of our shots on Antelope are pretty quick, so having a heavier gun for more forgiving accuracy on quick shots, plus being able to spot your own shot through the scope in awkward shooting positions is a plus.
Full parts list included the following:
Defiance Tenacity Action
Bartlein 3B barrel with 1-7.5 twist (intend on shooting 105-115gr bergers) finished at 24"
Triggertech Special Trigger
McMillan Pinnacle Stock with Edge Fill (modified A3 Sporter stock made for McWhorter)
Hawkins Obernorf bdl bottom metal and internals
I live in North Texas and have had good luck with Alamo Precision Rifles in the past, so I used them for the build. I can also drive all my parts to them and it's done in 2-3 weeks every time.
Sure enough, 3 weeks after dropping off the parts, I picked up my assembled and cerakoted rifle and brought it home to set it up and mount the scope.
I decided to use my direct thread Deadair Titanium Suppressor as well, instead of a lighter weight option, to further increase the weight a bit. I finished the build off with my favorite hunting scope - Swarovski X5 3-18x50 with the 4wx MOA reticle and Hawkins rings.
I went with a spiral flute on the barrel that matched the twist on the bolt body of the action and think it turned out really cool looking. I also purchased stencils online and did the paint job at home on the stock with Brownells Alumahyde paint. I've used it before and it holds up pretty well if you let it cure for several days - especially if you leave it out in the 105* Texas heat! There's 3 colors of paint but the earth brown paint didn't come out as dark as I thought, so it's hard to see. I went with black, coyote and earth brown
I had H1000, IMR 7828 and H4831sc that I planned on using for this rifle but started with the H1000 and the 115gr bergers for initial break in and pressure test. More on that coming in the follow up post but attached is a picture of the setup.
I wanted a semi-heavy setup that I could shoot suppressed, but also get the speed from the Weatherby case. I built a 300 win mag last year in a very similar setup and feel it's the perfect balance of weight and ease of carry for me - usually the gun without scope/rings weighs between 7.5lbs and 8lbs, depending on the stock fill and if I got an adjustable cheek piece.
A lot of our shots on Antelope are pretty quick, so having a heavier gun for more forgiving accuracy on quick shots, plus being able to spot your own shot through the scope in awkward shooting positions is a plus.
Full parts list included the following:
Defiance Tenacity Action
Bartlein 3B barrel with 1-7.5 twist (intend on shooting 105-115gr bergers) finished at 24"
Triggertech Special Trigger
McMillan Pinnacle Stock with Edge Fill (modified A3 Sporter stock made for McWhorter)
Hawkins Obernorf bdl bottom metal and internals
I live in North Texas and have had good luck with Alamo Precision Rifles in the past, so I used them for the build. I can also drive all my parts to them and it's done in 2-3 weeks every time.
Sure enough, 3 weeks after dropping off the parts, I picked up my assembled and cerakoted rifle and brought it home to set it up and mount the scope.
I decided to use my direct thread Deadair Titanium Suppressor as well, instead of a lighter weight option, to further increase the weight a bit. I finished the build off with my favorite hunting scope - Swarovski X5 3-18x50 with the 4wx MOA reticle and Hawkins rings.
I went with a spiral flute on the barrel that matched the twist on the bolt body of the action and think it turned out really cool looking. I also purchased stencils online and did the paint job at home on the stock with Brownells Alumahyde paint. I've used it before and it holds up pretty well if you let it cure for several days - especially if you leave it out in the 105* Texas heat! There's 3 colors of paint but the earth brown paint didn't come out as dark as I thought, so it's hard to see. I went with black, coyote and earth brown
I had H1000, IMR 7828 and H4831sc that I planned on using for this rifle but started with the H1000 and the 115gr bergers for initial break in and pressure test. More on that coming in the follow up post but attached is a picture of the setup.