So how hard is it to build your own rifle

[quandary]

With very well made extremely tight tolerance actions available, pre-fit barrels, pre-fit stocks for action, bottom metal and barrel, screw on great triggers how hard is it put your own rifle together? I have a BAT Vampire, CarbonSix pre-fit barrel and Manners MCS Pro Hunter pre-fit stock on order. Been thinking about what gunsmith to use to put it all together but the more I read and look at You Tube it looks pretty straightforward as long as the vendors have done a good job. About the only tools needed that I don't have are a barrel vice, action wrench and go/no-go gauges. Am I missing something?

Now action bedding is a different matter. Not sure I want to tackle that.

 

[Longtine88]

With very well made extremely tight tolerance actions available, pre-fit barrels, pre-fit stocks for action, bottom metal and barrel, screw on great triggers how hard is it put your own rifle together? I have a BAT Vampire, CarbonSix pre-fit barrel and Manners MCS Pro Hunter pre-fit stock on order. Been thinking about what gunsmith to use to put it all together but the more I read and look at You Tube it looks pretty straightforward as long as the vendors have done a good job. About the only tools needed that I don't have are a barrel vice, action wrench and go/no-go gauges. Am I missing something?

Now action bedding is a different matter. Not sure I want to tackle that.

that's pretty much it. if you can change a flat tire on your truck then you can do put it together for sure. Only thing you will need and you may have it in your garage is a torque wrench to torque the barrel down.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I built my own rifles as a hobby, and customers too, doing pre-fits is very simple and your list covers it all. The only thing I would mention is the fact that instead of torquing the barrel in place with 100lbs/ft, build it into a switch barrel, then you use a Davidson barrel vice, a rear entry action wrench and change barrels…all that you need to remove doing this is the stock, then clamp the barrel and spin the action off, spin the new barrel on, put it into the vice and nip it up…done.

Cheers.

 

[QuietTexan]

I think there's a lot of worth in a good bedding job, also. It's never made a rifle shoot worse for me.

 

[cohunt]

If you have mechanical aptitude and abilities-- all it takes is tools and research

 

[asd9055]

I think there's a lot of worth in a good bedding job, also. It's never made a rifle shoot worse for me.

Bedded two rifles this year, one 300WBY MK that felt a little loose and one M70 classic stainless 300WM that was not stiing right. My range close to home was closed when I fisnihed, and now Its been too hot to go out and shoot. I have great hopes though, becuase they both feel solid and free floating.

 

[asd9055]

Easiest= ar rifle assembly
Not too hard= bedding an action
Next easiest= prefit bolt action rifles
Next in line= machining/assembling an F1 supp.
Semi difficult = machining 80% ar lowers
Hardest I've done= machining and hand fitting a 1911 80% pistol.

If you have mechanical aptitude and abilities-- all it takes is tools and research

I have only bedded twacttions and "machined" an 80% lower on a drill press. Both extremely easy.

 

[bergara0256]

it's pretty easy. My best advice is spend some money on a really good bench vice. It will make it super easy to swap barrels. Ask your gun smith that did the chambering what torque spec you should use. My gun smith says 75 foot pounds of torque. It all depends on what they machined it to. Also, don't use a lot of anti-seize.

 

[Elk Fire]

I wondered the same thing….
Did lots of research. Lots of worrying about it…
Bought all the parts one at a time when I could find a decent deal.
My 30 Sherman that has never been to the "gunsmith" shot a 3" group at 700 yards the other day.
Figured I saved 1500$. But learned twice that in knowledge and pride in my own work.

I did practice bedding on several less important stocks before I went after the manners on the 30

 

[akmtnhnt]

If you're afraid of bedding, get a chassis.

 

[BrentM]

With very well made extremely tight tolerance actions available, pre-fit barrels, pre-fit stocks for action, bottom metal and barrel, screw on great triggers how hard is it put your own rifle together? I have a BAT Vampire, CarbonSix pre-fit barrel and Manners MCS Pro Hunter pre-fit stock on order. Been thinking about what gunsmith to use to put it all together but the more I read and look at You Tube it looks pretty straightforward as long as the vendors have done a good job. About the only tools needed that I don't have are a barrel vice, action wrench and go/no-go gauges. Am I missing something?

Now action bedding is a different matter. Not sure I want to tackle that.

I've built a pile of diy garage smith rifles and use a bighorn action now because of it. It's easy to do once you know the right steps and invest in a few quality tools. In the end, I have very little desire to pay anyone to do my rifle work. All of builds have shot very well and achieving accuracy you'd expect out of any custom rifle.

 

[Lee7588]

With very well made extremely tight tolerance actions available, pre-fit barrels, pre-fit stocks for action, bottom metal and barrel, screw on great triggers how hard is it put your own rifle together? I have a BAT Vampire, CarbonSix pre-fit barrel and Manners MCS Pro Hunter pre-fit stock on order. Been thinking about what gunsmith to use to put it all together but the more I read and look at You Tube it looks pretty straightforward as long as the vendors have done a good job. About the only tools needed that I don't have are a barrel vice, action wrench and go/no-go gauges. Am I missing something?

Now action bedding is a different matter. Not sure I want to tackle that.

Buy the tools you will spend roughly that in gunsmithing fees and enjoy changing things up later

 

[biednick]

It's not hard. You need a torque wrench and driver, action wrench, barrel vise, and headspace gauges. With the right tools it's not harder than building an AR.

 

[taylorms]

With very well made extremely tight tolerance actions available, pre-fit barrels, pre-fit stocks for action, bottom metal and barrel, screw on great triggers how hard is it put your own rifle together? I have a BAT Vampire, CarbonSix pre-fit barrel and Manners MCS Pro Hunter pre-fit stock on order. Been thinking about what gunsmith to use to put it all together but the more I read and look at You Tube it looks pretty straightforward as long as the vendors have done a good job. About the only tools needed that I don't have are a barrel vice, action wrench and go/no-go gauges. Am I missing something?

Now action bedding is a different matter. Not sure I want to tackle that.

Order the stock with the mini chassis