C.Smith
Handloader
- Oct 11, 2006
- 1,411
- 0
nitis":cjd1vehz said:
I'm with above especially the 338-06, I have thought of doing that when I shoot my barrel out.
Corey
what to build?? need ideas
- Thread starter matts318
- Start date
I'm with above especially the 338-06, I have thought of doing that when I shoot my barrel out.
Corey
- Thread starter
- #22
Yeah the last thing I need is a new rifle but some people spend money on things for their car or buy the latest cell phone just cuz, I want a new rifle just cuz I want something different and I can build a really accurate rifle for the same price as a cheap rifle that shoots bad, and this one will leave a little bigger hole than all my other rifles :twisted: My friend shot an cow elk last year with his 270 and accubonds and he said he put 2 in the chest before it even moved or acted like it was shot, I dont want that to happen with me if I do get to go on that elk hunt next year.
I think what my decision will come down to now is if I can find 8mm bullets, and the price of dies and such, and I think I would have to pay for the reamer for the gunsmith if I went 8mm-06 AI. Im trying to keep this as low budget as I can and I think the 338-06 AI might be a little cheaper to build and get dies for and such.
On a side note my birthday is coming up in 2 weeks and my dad is getting my a chrony :grin: well he is getting it for me because he wants it just as much as I do but he would never figure out how to operate it without me, but that will be fun.
I think what my decision will come down to now is if I can find 8mm bullets, and the price of dies and such, and I think I would have to pay for the reamer for the gunsmith if I went 8mm-06 AI. Im trying to keep this as low budget as I can and I think the 338-06 AI might be a little cheaper to build and get dies for and such.
On a side note my birthday is coming up in 2 weeks and my dad is getting my a chrony :grin: well he is getting it for me because he wants it just as much as I do but he would never figure out how to operate it without me, but that will be fun.
- Nov 4, 2004
- 25,170
- 8,443
matts318
I would stay with .308, .338 or .358 cal due to the better bullet selection than what the 8mm has to offer. IMHO..........
JD338
I would stay with .308, .338 or .358 cal due to the better bullet selection than what the 8mm has to offer. IMHO..........
JD338
- Thread starter
- #24
- Nov 4, 2004
- 25,170
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matts318
Do a search on the 338-06 AI. I remember telling mighty peace about it and he built one. If I recall, my gunsmith was shooting 200-210 gr bullets at 2900-3000 fps which is 338 Win Mag factory levels. Not too shabby!
A 338 cal 210 gr PT will cover anything in NA although I would prefer more speed and bullet weight for the big bears.
JD338
Do a search on the 338-06 AI. I remember telling mighty peace about it and he built one. If I recall, my gunsmith was shooting 200-210 gr bullets at 2900-3000 fps which is 338 Win Mag factory levels. Not too shabby!
A 338 cal 210 gr PT will cover anything in NA although I would prefer more speed and bullet weight for the big bears.
JD338
With a 30-06 action it will be pretty easy. Here are some barrel options in my order of preference (YMMV)
Brux barrels - http://www.bruxbarrels.com/index.html - what I like about Brux is that they are a small company that makes cut rifled barrels on the same machines Krieger uses. Their lead times are much shorter and the price is right for the quality of barrel you get. Mine shoots excellent and cleans quick.
Krieger barrels - http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/ - they are the Gold standard but you will wait a long long time and pay top dollar, cut rifled
Lilja barrels - http://www.riflebarrels.com/ - excellent button rifled barrels with a lot of experience and top notch reputation. Another long wait and top dollar
Shilen barrels - http://www.shilen.com/ - Great barrels that are button rifled
Hart barrels - http://www.hartbarrels.com/ - well known and good reputation button rifled but only in stainless
Pac-Nor - http://www.pac-nor.com/ - button rifled but I have heard of a lot of good shooters, not too long a wait and a lot of options. I am waiting on a 3 groove #5 contour 375 caliber barrel now
Douglas barrels - http://www.douglasbarrels.net/ - button rifled, been in business a long time, short wait time and low priced. I have one and it is a good shooter.
There are lots of others; Bartlein, Broughton etc
Choose your contour depending upon whether you want a stiffer barrel for long range target/hunting or lightweight mountain gun.
Then pick a gunsmith. You are not limited to one that is close because you can ship a gun almost anywhere and insure it for $1,000.00 on UPS for $25.00. I send mine to Salt Lake City and I live in Houston. Picking the right gunsmith is more important than picking a barrel IMO. He has to do a good job on the chambering and squaring the action during installation in order for you to have a shooter. The barrel will arrive at 27" and "in the white" (no bluing) and he will have to cut it down to the length you want, crown it, ream the chamber and thread to your action. Then he sends the barrel installed on the action off for finishing, usually a matte black.
When you ship your barreled action to him (take the stock and mounts off), send an umprimed case with a bullet seated to the length you want and tell him to set the lands there. Here is such a case/bullet I sent to my gunsmith for a 6.5 rem mag rebarrel
This will depend somewhat upon your mag length. But with a 338-06AI you will want to keep those long 338 bullets out of your case capacity as much as possible. It will allow you to load more powder and get you more velocity. I would prepare by purchasing a box of 338-06 cases and a box of 338 bullets, say 210 gr TSX's, and playing with the seating depth. Of course you will need to get at least a 338-06 seating die to do this.
If you want a tight neck then you need to tell the gunsmith that. When you get your 338-06 brass, measure the necks and that will tell you what your minimum neck dimension would be. Probably .338"+.014"+.014"+.003"= .367" or so.
Or you can just tell him to use a factory reamer and not worry about it. But you will have some intrusion by the bullet into the case capacity and probably >.006" neck clearance.
It's fun building your own and as you can tell it floats my boat. :lol:
Brux barrels - http://www.bruxbarrels.com/index.html - what I like about Brux is that they are a small company that makes cut rifled barrels on the same machines Krieger uses. Their lead times are much shorter and the price is right for the quality of barrel you get. Mine shoots excellent and cleans quick.
Krieger barrels - http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/ - they are the Gold standard but you will wait a long long time and pay top dollar, cut rifled
Lilja barrels - http://www.riflebarrels.com/ - excellent button rifled barrels with a lot of experience and top notch reputation. Another long wait and top dollar
Shilen barrels - http://www.shilen.com/ - Great barrels that are button rifled
Hart barrels - http://www.hartbarrels.com/ - well known and good reputation button rifled but only in stainless
Pac-Nor - http://www.pac-nor.com/ - button rifled but I have heard of a lot of good shooters, not too long a wait and a lot of options. I am waiting on a 3 groove #5 contour 375 caliber barrel now
Douglas barrels - http://www.douglasbarrels.net/ - button rifled, been in business a long time, short wait time and low priced. I have one and it is a good shooter.
There are lots of others; Bartlein, Broughton etc
Choose your contour depending upon whether you want a stiffer barrel for long range target/hunting or lightweight mountain gun.
Then pick a gunsmith. You are not limited to one that is close because you can ship a gun almost anywhere and insure it for $1,000.00 on UPS for $25.00. I send mine to Salt Lake City and I live in Houston. Picking the right gunsmith is more important than picking a barrel IMO. He has to do a good job on the chambering and squaring the action during installation in order for you to have a shooter. The barrel will arrive at 27" and "in the white" (no bluing) and he will have to cut it down to the length you want, crown it, ream the chamber and thread to your action. Then he sends the barrel installed on the action off for finishing, usually a matte black.
When you ship your barreled action to him (take the stock and mounts off), send an umprimed case with a bullet seated to the length you want and tell him to set the lands there. Here is such a case/bullet I sent to my gunsmith for a 6.5 rem mag rebarrel
This will depend somewhat upon your mag length. But with a 338-06AI you will want to keep those long 338 bullets out of your case capacity as much as possible. It will allow you to load more powder and get you more velocity. I would prepare by purchasing a box of 338-06 cases and a box of 338 bullets, say 210 gr TSX's, and playing with the seating depth. Of course you will need to get at least a 338-06 seating die to do this.
If you want a tight neck then you need to tell the gunsmith that. When you get your 338-06 brass, measure the necks and that will tell you what your minimum neck dimension would be. Probably .338"+.014"+.014"+.003"= .367" or so.
Or you can just tell him to use a factory reamer and not worry about it. But you will have some intrusion by the bullet into the case capacity and probably >.006" neck clearance.
It's fun building your own and as you can tell it floats my boat. :lol:
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,314
- 5,983
Woods,
Great post that is very helpful for anyone planning on building a rifle.
Great post that is very helpful for anyone planning on building a rifle.
- Thread starter
- #29
matts318":2hzczz4z said:
You can expect smaller. Of course that will depend upon you finding the right load, your reloading methods and how you are shooting that day. I now have 4 rebarrels on actions I had and am working on a 5th, and everyone of them shoots a consistant 1" at 200 yards (I don't shoot much at 100 yards anymore) if I have all the other factors contained:
wind
load variation (once fired, twice fired, seating depth, neck tension, etc)
barrel heat
shooting technique (flinch, breathing, trigger pull, etc)
I would say the Brux may be my best shooter over the Hart, Douglas and Shilen, but that may be because they are different calibers.
I would put it this way, probably 1 in 4 factory guns you see at the range are capable of producing 1/2" groups on a regular basis, with a rebarrel with a good barrel done by a good gunsmith 4 out of 4 of those are capable of producing 1/2" groups on a regular basis.
My recommendation would be (and others may have different and even better recommendations)
Brux 1 in 10 #4 contour barrel (it will be a little heavier but that is better for accuracy)
Send the barrel to malm at Lock, Stock and Barrel in Salt Lake City 801-943-8563 (call him first and get his prices and discuss the project, he is an old marine that is a very good rifle mechanic) and see if he has the 338-06AI reamer or can get one. Have him cut it at 24" (plenty for a 338-06) and square the action and do a trigger job (creep, pull weight and overtravel) if it needs it.
Buy brass, bullets and seater and play with seating depth in your magazine and ejection port, check the outside neck diameter of the unprimed load and have him ream the neck .003" larger than the largest diameter. If you neck turn then allow for the finished OD of a loaded round
Along with your action send an unprimed load seated to the depth you want and tell him to set the lands there. If your magazine is the controlling factor then get a box of 200 gr Accubonds (long ogive and plastic tip) or 210 gr Partitions (excellent bullet but not ultimate accuracy) and seat one .025" shorter than your magazine length, that will allow you to seat the loads .025" off the lands and have .050" clearance in the magazine and give you a little room for throat recession.
If you want him to bed the stock and free float the barrel then send the whole gun but you will have to pay him for that work also
Enjoy
Antelope_Sniper
Handloader
- Jan 25, 2008
- 2,618
- 0
I'd say woods is dead on.
#4 contour, very good idea.
Cut rifled barrels are the best. I'd also consider Lawton barrels out of Montana. DF and I have both had good luck with their products. Last time I called Lawton for a barrel, they had exactly what I wanted, in stock and shipped it the next day. Much better then waiting 9 months for a Krieger.
Only think I'd do different is go with a 26" barrel.
#4 contour, very good idea.
Cut rifled barrels are the best. I'd also consider Lawton barrels out of Montana. DF and I have both had good luck with their products. Last time I called Lawton for a barrel, they had exactly what I wanted, in stock and shipped it the next day. Much better then waiting 9 months for a Krieger.
Only think I'd do different is go with a 26" barrel.
- Oct 30, 2004
- 24,278
- 2,989
35 Whelen
- Nov 4, 2004
- 25,170
- 8,443
matts318
woods gives some excellent advise.
My 280 AI is built off a M700 action blueprinted, Tubb recoil lug, Heart #5 fluted 24" barrel pillar bedded into a LSS stock. With the Leupold Mar 4 4.5x14 scope, she weighs exactly 9.0 lbs.
This is an accurate rifle, best group is .092" c/c with 160 gr AB seconds.
The gunsmith is Rob Canze of Williams Gun Sight in Davison, MI phone 810 653 2131.
Rob has also built a 30-06 AI for my cop buddy that shoots under .5 MAO and a 338 O'Brien (338-300 RUM AI) for OU812 that shot around .25" for the first 3 shots down the barrel with fire forming loads. Rob personally owns a 338-06 AI that shoots I think 210 gr PT's around 3000 fps. Give him a call and tell him I sent you. He will take good care of you and build you a tack driver. BTW, I do not get anything from Rob other than an accurate rifle and a lot of good advice.
Hope this helps.
JD338
woods gives some excellent advise.
My 280 AI is built off a M700 action blueprinted, Tubb recoil lug, Heart #5 fluted 24" barrel pillar bedded into a LSS stock. With the Leupold Mar 4 4.5x14 scope, she weighs exactly 9.0 lbs.
This is an accurate rifle, best group is .092" c/c with 160 gr AB seconds.
The gunsmith is Rob Canze of Williams Gun Sight in Davison, MI phone 810 653 2131.
Rob has also built a 30-06 AI for my cop buddy that shoots under .5 MAO and a 338 O'Brien (338-300 RUM AI) for OU812 that shot around .25" for the first 3 shots down the barrel with fire forming loads. Rob personally owns a 338-06 AI that shoots I think 210 gr PT's around 3000 fps. Give him a call and tell him I sent you. He will take good care of you and build you a tack driver. BTW, I do not get anything from Rob other than an accurate rifle and a lot of good advice.
Hope this helps.
JD338
- Nov 4, 2004
- 25,170
- 8,443
woods
The stock is a Remington LSS that I bought new from a fella over at the campfire. The barrel channel had to be opened up to accommodate the #5 contour barrel as well as the Tubb recoil lug which is much bigger than factory offerings.
Yes, Rob Canze is experienced with the 338-06 AI.
I plan on having him re barrel my 338 RUM once the barrel goes.
JD338
The stock is a Remington LSS that I bought new from a fella over at the campfire. The barrel channel had to be opened up to accommodate the #5 contour barrel as well as the Tubb recoil lug which is much bigger than factory offerings.
Yes, Rob Canze is experienced with the 338-06 AI.
I plan on having him re barrel my 338 RUM once the barrel goes.
JD338
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,314
- 5,983
JD,
Sweet looking rifle that is made all the sweeter by the accuracy. I do like that stock that Remington put out. I'm sorry that I didn't grab one of the 280s stocked thusly when they were first marketed.
Sweet looking rifle that is made all the sweeter by the accuracy. I do like that stock that Remington put out. I'm sorry that I didn't grab one of the 280s stocked thusly when they were first marketed.
- Thread starter
- #37
Thanks for all the good advice guys, JD338, I dont know if you could tell me but what would a ballpark figure be to have this rifle built? If he could do it for less than $2000 that would be great. Well it looks like I need to start saving up for this little project, I have always wanted a 338 and I just got a reason to build one :grin:
- Thread starter
- #38
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,314
- 5,983
No, but it looks fine where it is. Winchester needs a Featherweight stock with fine walnut. :grin: :grin:
