Starting out again

[eyeballjr]

Okay, so this really isn't my first go round with LRH/Shooting. The last time I tried, marriage got in the way, ended up not having the time to really jump in with both feet, this was 5 or 6 years ago. With all that nonsense behind me, I would like to get started again. A lot has changed since I was really into it last time. So I was going to throw it out there and let you guys bounce some things around.

First, I'm in NE Oklahoma, and would like to be able to hunt whitetail, honestly, the longest shot I would have would be 5-600 yards. I want to be able to punch paper/steel at 1000+ I do reload, but I've only done so for standard rounds. No AI stuff or anything. My 15 year old son would like to shoot long range as well. He has a .243 savage that he wants to slap a pre fit custom barrel on chambered in the 6.5 Creedmoor. Since he is going with the creedmoor, I have thought about doing the same. We have built AR's together and really enjoyed it, so I was thinking using a savage action for myself wouldn't be a bad idea. At the very least it would save on dies.

My budget for my build is around $3000 for rifle and glass. I would like to get some idea's on barrels, glass stock, work that may need to be done, ect that would keep me in this price range.

 

[BallisticsGuy]

Assuming you want to build it yourself:

1 Savage action or Remington action: $350 (budsgunshop.com)
2 barrels in 6.5CM: $650 (columbiariverarms.com formerly black hole weaponry, best prefits around)
PTG flat ground recoil lug: $25
PTG Bottom Metal DBM: $100
PTG Barrel nut: $30
20MOA Scope base: $50
Timney Trigger: $100-200
Fancy Stock: $230 on up (Choate Tactical is $230)
Stock inletting: $200
Glass: $1265 or less worth.

If you're going to hunt with the rifles then a $500 Leupold & $50 rings leaves you $715 to buy brass, primers, powder, bullets and dies and a barrel nut wrench and aluminum vise jaws. After which you should have a hundred bucks or so left over.

I've built a number of rifles with more or less these exact parts and use them in competition. There's no point in getting anything but a Savage action since your boy already has one. It'll make life a lot easier to both have Savage rifles and since they both use floating bolt heads you save on the need to do a lot of expensive blueprinting of the action.

Columbia River Arms/Black Hole Weaponry makes polygonally rifled barrels out of stainless. Very easy to load for, easy to get amazing accuracy and I get a little higher velocity with them compared to enfield rifling. They'll finish the barrel in black powder coat for free or you can have it cerakoted.

 

[eyeballjr]

Thanks balisticsguy, the boy's barrel is on a separate budget($1000), so more glass for me. thinking about a vx-6, but my uncle, about as big of a Leupold fan boy as they come doesn't like his, so that scares me. He doesn't dial and isn't really into the long range game though.

 

[BallisticsGuy]

If you've got him on a different budget then you might look into aftermarket actions as your base. Mausingfield is pimp style as a mix of Remington and Savage in a proper custom action. Stiller, Surgeon, Defiance, Kelby and are also epic. Since you don't have his barrel in your budget you could step into one of those and still have money for pretty awesome glass. I like the VX6 line for a hunting scope but honestly I'd just get a VX3i unless you're really long range hunting. Then I'd put something like a Nightforce, Vortex Golden Eagle, Swarovski or Zeiss.

 

[toddc]

I would build a Savage with the kid. The Creed will be fine out to 600 on whiteys and is a great steel rig. Saves $ on dies and gets you used to the same data set when shooting. With them both being Savage you can set headspace to yield nearly identical loads and velocities. Makes it easy on the brain. Also makes wind calls and ballistic app easier to deal with.

 

[FEENIX]

My 15 year old son would like to shoot long range as well. He has a .243 savage that he wants to slap a pre fit custom barrel on chambered in the 6.5 Creedmoor. Since he is going with the creedmoor, I have thought about doing the same. We have built AR's together and really enjoyed it, so I was thinking using a savage action for myself wouldn't be a bad idea. At the very least it would save on dies.

There's no point in getting anything but a Savage action since your boy already has one. It'll make life a lot easier to both have Savage rifles and since they both use floating bolt heads you save on the need to do a lot of expensive blueprinting of the action.

I would build a Savage with the kid. The Creed will be fine out to 600 on whiteys and is a great steel rig. Saves $ on dies and gets you used to the same data set when shooting. With them both being Savage you can set headspace to yield nearly identical loads and velocities. Makes it easy on the brain. Also makes wind calls and ballistic app easier to deal with.

lightbulb+1! This would make another awesome father and son project build.lightbulb

 

[Outlaw6.0]

If your son is already shooting a .243, why not stick with that barrel? Unless it's of the pencil variety, it'll ring still at almost any distance the Creedmoor will & will kill whitetail handily. Now, if you shoot at 600 on game a lot, I'd give the Creedmoor the nod for the greater BC, SD and cross sectional area of the bullet.

Optics is a touchy subject, while i'll try to not be offensive; don't go cheap in this area. Cutting cost is cutting corners somewhere in that optic. Whether it's in the repeatability & durability of the turret, the optical clarity of the glass or the usefulness & accuracy of the reticle. I feel & my experience suggests that while you can most certainly "do what needs to be done" with a lower dollar scope; your chance of having frugality bite you in the posterior is a little higher than it would be with a superior optic.

If for some reason you decide to build off the Rem700 over the Savage, I'd recommend looking at the MagPul Hunter stock. For the price, it's better than any Choate I've ever owned & upgrading to a detachable bottom metal is a plug and play affair. You can spend as much or as little as you'd like on a stock, decide which options you can live without and get on as many as you can before making a decision. If you can pillar & bed your own setup, the best stocks on the market (McMillan, Manners, etc) can actually be had at a decent(ish) price. You may even be able to score a new one on the classifieds at less than MSRP.




t

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Another option I just thought of. I was in a similar boat as you a couple years ago and thought I'd share the experience.

I wanted a Creedmoor in the worst way & it needed to be somewhat budgeted. I started with a Savage Predator (I think) in 6.5 Creedmoor. Owning several Savage rifles already, I felt confident the factory barrel would suffice accuracy wise. It came with a not overly heavy but non-pencil style fluted barrel cut to 24" IIRC. Factory Hornady 120 Amax shot a solid 1/2" MOA! This particular barrel does not like the Hornady 140 Amax loads dernit... I handload anyway, just needed some brass and a bit of barrel break in.

With the rifle purchased, my first step was to upgrade the stock. The Savage Accu-Stock may be fine for accuracy but it left a LOT to be desired in the comfort department. After looking at options and being somewhat lazy not wanting to pillar and bed a stock I decided to go with a chassis. I knew a DBM was a must which would have added to the cost of most other "off the shelf" style stocks.

I chose the XLR Element chassis. MSRP is ~$440, I think I got mine for $450 shipped... No pillars or bedding needed and ready to slap in an AI magazine, which can now be had from MagPul for about 1/2 of what AI wants for their mags.

I found a deal on a Vortex PST 4-16x50 where the supplier was offering a free set of rings with free shipping and I whipped out the debit card. Not my first choice by far but... within budget.

All-in and ready to shoot, I believe my total cost was in the $2600 area, minus loading supplies. Not too bad at all...





t

 

[86alaskan]

sounds like a great project. I've done a couple savages, and they're fun and accurate home projects. I've got a choate tactical stock and a stockade prairie dog special. the stockade is great but I got lucky finding a used one. I'd recommend watching ebay for a fiberglass used stock or go ahead with the choate. There are lots of good prefit barrels for about 3-400, so take your pick. I've used criterion for both and I'm not disappointed. Shoot for a least $1000 for a scope for long range. sightron S3 would be a good choice on a budget.

 

[eyeballjr]

The boy's gun is of the pencil variety, and he is wanting something heavier. He has a boyds thumbhole on it, but I'm pretty sure he would have to get another stock for a bigger diameter barrel. I've never used a chassis system, but i'm not opposed to trying one. The glass will be the toughest decision. He is wanting better glass as well.

 

[toddc]

The boy's gun is of the pencil variety, and he is wanting something heavier. He has a boyds thumbhole on it, but I'm pretty sure he would have to get another stock for a bigger diameter barrel. I've never used a chassis system, but i'm not opposed to trying one. The glass will be the toughest decision. He is wanting better glass as well.

Hogging out a barrel channel on a Boyds is right up there in difficulty with boiling water.
Wrap a PVC pipe with sandpaper and uhhhhhh sand. Pretty well impossible to mess up.
Glass is another matter but there is more glass on the market than there ever has been and its vastly cheaper and better than it was 7 yrs ago. Lots of very capable glass under $1k now, last time you were doing this it was all $1k and up.

 

[eyeballjr]

Yeah, wasn't sure if there was enough meat on the stock to do it, but now that I have looked at it, I'm sure there is plenty. The new PST 5x25's look good, not sure if I want to wait that long though.

 

[joethebear]

fng, sorry, just a new guy actually never introduced myself before

Hello
I am Joe Stacey joethebear
I am enjoying the sight.i have wanted to shoot long range for quite awhile. I have already learned a lot through the forum.

Bye for now
Joethebear

Oh, I suffer from lousy punctuation I am working on it!