280 ackley

laker

Beginner
Jun 25, 2006
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0
Im planning to build a 280 ackley with a remington 700 action. Im planning to have a Shilen #1 contour 22 inch barrel screwed on and stock it with a McMillan edge stock. How much will this setup weigh do you think? Do you think a #1 contour barrel is to small?
 
laker,

Not sure what you are trying to accomplish but it is going to be on the light side.
Every barrel makers contour varies but a heavier contoour with fluts may accomplish a weight goal while offering a stiffer barrel for better accuracy. A 24" barrel would help with ballistics too.

Here is my M700 with a Hart #5 24" flutted barrel pillar bedded into a LSS stock. Weight as seen is 8.75 lbs.
IMG_0315.jpg

JD338
 
im trying to build a really lightweight rifle for hunting cause my hunting involves alot of walking and backpacking.
 
What is your weight goal and what are you going to be hunting?

JD338
 
I would like to try to keep it 7lbs and under scope and all. I know that is going to be a challenge. Its going to be my muledeer and elk rifle. Im either going to shoot 140 grain accubonds or 160 grain accubonds.
 
7 lbs ready to go might be a challenge. You may be able to save weight by skelatinizing the bolt and bottom metal and maybe go with a fixed power scope like the Leupold FX-3 6x.
I would think you could get very close to 2900 fps with the 160 gr AB, consider getting it throated long.

JD338
 
Laker, not trying to rain on your parade, but to meet your weight and cartridge/bullet performance goals, may I suggest looking into a Tikka T-3 Lite in 7mm Rem Mag? It would use the same bullets and would get you very close to your weight in a viable caliber for the game you're after.

Ron
 
Ah, but then his rifle would not be a custom gun. Moreover, he'd lose the "sex appeal" of the 280 AI. The 7 RM is just too pedestrian. It kills game with boring regularity. Guess that is why one will always grace my safe.
 
DrMike":cr96e019 said:
Ah, but then his rifle would not be a custom gun. Moreover, he'd lose the "sex appeal" of the 280 AI.

True, very true.

Ron
 
What I always do is work the #'s

McMillan edge stock 22oz
Shilen barrel 42oz They have the spec @ 2lb 10oz for the #1 contour @ 22"
Scope 8.8oz That's for the ultra light leupold 3x9 fixed powers ar heavier
Total 72.8oz 4.5lbs


Not you have to figure complete ADL action,rings,trigger guard,bedding material that be 3.5 lbs plus minus

Your going to be about 1lb + - over and you cann't shave that much off a long action.

My wifes Ultra Light Arms 24" barrel 280AI on a long action with Talley rings/base and 4x12 leupold just alittle under 7lbs. To get to the 7lbs on a long action you need base rifle 5 1/4 to 5 3/4lbs that 4x12 I have on my wifes rifle weight 1lb 2oz.


Ultra light arms sold out to colt that they made afew light rifles on long action then Mel bought the company back. You can buy ome off the auction site those colt rifles they range in price from $500 up to $800 and you can call Mel and he'll fit one of his stocks to those action and he may even give you a price on barreling for a 280AI. You'll be about the same price had you purchased a 700 rifle then add McMillian stock and new barrel for 1/2 the price of an Forbes rifle they run about $3k now and the only thing you won't have is how Mel give his serial # on the action.

http://www.newultralight.com/

http://www.gunsamerica.com/972009154/Gu ... _30_06.htm

When colt made the rifles they made the stock and barrel about 3/4lbs heavier then what Mel did but what you really want is that action.

Here another site http://www.gallagherfirearms.com/default.asp?page=2
If you pull up the Gallery site on John's home page look at his action just click on the picture and you see how he has modified and click on his rifles. I mention in another post about a High Tech stock that I have well it's on one of John's rifles that I own.

Just boys and their toys
 
A good friend of mine built a 270 WSM on a Rem 700. It had a 23" Pac Nor #4 W/ six flutes, edge stock, and a 3.5-10x40 VXIII I think. Weighed under eight pounds ready to hunt(wanting to say right at seven but can't remember, it felt very light). Those stocks are really light. Don't go to skinny on the barrel or you'll end up with a 6lb rifle! He also said that they seem to not absord the recoil like the regular McMillan. Said that a 270 WSM loaded warm was a bit of a pain to shoot, very sharp I believe were his words.

I Built a 280 AI on a savage 110 this last year. It has a 24" Pac Nor #4 with six flutes, a McMilllan stock, and is topped with a VXIII 4.5-14x40 LR. Weighs 8.25 lbs ready to hunt with shellls. I built it for the same reason that you are looking to build one for. I'm very happy with how it turned out. Recoil is very manageable, it shoots good, and packs like a dream. I thought about building it lighter, but my buddies experience with his light gun scared me into an extra pound. If I ever do want to go lighter I can change my scope and get an edge stock and I'll drop a bit more than a pound.

100_3333.jpg

Not the best pic, I'm not as talented at the gun photos as a few guy here are.
100_3338.jpg

Still working on fine tuning the 160 AB load, but it shoots the 140 BTs pretty good!
 
Jake, your Savage is the best looking one I have seen yet buddy! You did a great job! It seems like it is one awesome shooter also!

Looking forward to seeing how your 280AI turns out. I would think a 24" tube would be pretty beneficial for it though, but then again, maybe you will get all you want out of a 22" and a slightly handier packing rifle! Scotty
 
Thanks scotty. I'm kind of wishing that I would have gone with a 26" tube and then the edge stock. Think the weight would have been the same, and I would have gotten a few more fps out of it! I do like the way the 24" handles though. I'm thinking that she'll be looking a bit better when I get the action all cerakoted matte black. Thats the last step and she's done!
 
Ah, I am not sure any 50-75FPS will make any difference in it anyhow! They way yours and JD's 280 Ackley shoots with 24" barrel I would think you hard pressed to do any better! Plus, you have already SMOKED an elk with the rifle, so that makes it a keeper. That action cerakoted will look really sharp. Scotty
 
Here's my Rem. 700 SS .25-06.... it's a factory BDL-SS in a Ti take-off stock. With a Leupold Mark AR 3-9x40, in Talley LW Lows... plus three in the mag and one in the hole... it weighs 7lbs 7oz...

markar1.jpg


I reckon a #2 pipe in an McM Edge, with Talleys and a 3-9ish... it would weigh right at 7lbs... maybe a little less. Which, is probably a good weight for that caliber rifle... you may be shooting 160s at 2900... that'd be stout in a 6lb gun.
 
Another option to lighten it up is to turn down the receiver. I'm in the process of building an ultra light 280 ackly too, we'll see how it turns out but I"m hoping to get it under 7lbs. It should be doable because my buddy got a model 7 in 338 federal down under 5lbs scoped and open sights.

The luepold compact 3-9 is a really good one for weight and talley lightweight ring/bases is a good way to go. The lone wolf sumit xl is a SUPER light stock, its pricy but extremely light. I'm in the process of lightening up my 300 RUM right now and will see just how much weight I can take off the remington action. I"ll take a few pictures and post a thread about it as I get further along.

Hopefully if I follow his rifles pattern I can get my finished weight of 6.5lbs or so.

Here is my buddies model 7, he is the owner and gunsmith of alaska custom firearms.
Remington Model 7
21" douglas barrel, custom contour, fluted
leupold 3-9 compact
NECG masterpiece front sight and custom rear peep
Lone wolf sumit XL stock
UL338.jpg


UL3382.jpg


If you look at this picture closely you can see how much metal you can turn off the back of a remington reciever.
UL3381.jpg
 
Songdog":1kb03zdw said:
Here's my Rem. 700 SS .25-06.... it's a factory BDL-SS in a Ti take-off stock. With a Leupold Mark AR 3-9x40, in Talley LW Lows... plus three in the mag and one in the hole... it weighs 7lbs 7oz...

markar1.jpg


I reckon a #2 pipe in an McM Edge, with Talleys and a 3-9ish... it would weigh right at 7lbs... maybe a little less. Which, is probably a good weight for that caliber rifle... you may be shooting 160s at 2900... that'd be stout in a 6lb gun.

Songdog, that's a nice looking rifle, and I am amazed at how light it is with just a stock barreled action in it. Imagine it would go about 7lbs straight out if you used a 700 Mountain barreled action (or the equivalent) to build it, huh? And right now, you can get the factory style lightweight stocks (Ti, Alaskan, etc.) from Stocky's for pretty good pricing. Certainly something to think about.

On a related note, I've got a 30-06 Colt Light Rifle in my safe, which I picked up for a song (well below what they're on the auction sites for currently) a while back. I just slapped a Bushnell 3-9x40 Elite 3200 scope on it and bought some cheapo green box ammo to break it in. Well, the first three shots from a clean, cold barrel went into about .75", so I'm not sure what else I need to do to it, other than continue to break it in properly and get the bore to "seal." I'm optimistic that with some judicious handloading, the 168gr Nosler Ballistic Tips I've got on the bench will hold .75moa out to 300yds or beyond, if I'm able to shoot this rifle often enough. I'd like to find one in 270Win one day, if I could, for a great price, but I'm not optimistic. These rifles go 6.5lbs bare, in 30-06, so they won't make 7lb flat ready to shoot, but 7.5-7.75lbs would be easily workable. And, that's wearing a 24" barrel, not 20-22" like most mainstream factory lightweights. If you blew the dollars on the stock from Melvin Forbes (which is very nice - got to see a NULA wearing a similar stock a while back) you could bring the rifle down another 12-16oz., without changing anything else. If you can find one, I recommend taking a look at it. Oh, and if you don't like the trigger (it's a little different...) a Rem700 trigger will work with some "fitting" by a smith. I know a fellow who had this done and it's worked out well for him over the years.

One last thought - the key to an ultralight rifle is not finding a pound to remove. It's all about ounces. And ounce here, an ounce there, and it all adds up.
 
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