1700
Ok, the vast majority wanted to build a custom rifle from my viewpoint. Again, these are MY views, don't hold my feet to the fire for anything.
The first thing that you have to decide, is, what caliber will suit you. Calibers, as we all know, vary as much as cars available. Let's omit the caliber for now and get a rifle.
In the first place, popular made rifles will be easy to get, but there are some that are much, much, easier to get quality aftermarket parts for. I think we ALL know what I prefer to work on. So that's what I will build, no matter who does a burn over it.
Well, you bought a used and battered Remington 700 of the appropriate length for your selected caliber. Take it to your 'smith and talk it over with him. Do NOT yank his crank about what you want done with it, and change your mind on some things at the last minute to save money. YOU want a custom rifle, so let it all hang out.
First consideration is barrel. You will want a great barrel, as it is the heart of the operation. Will you use it for hunting or targets? There is NO animal that can do both, so quit fooling yourself about it. Pick the barrel appropriate for your caliber with the twist that you will need for launching the weight bullets that you plan to use.
You will need a new stock. Having one made from wood costs somewhat more than the best fiberglass ones, so this is an important consideration. Yes, I agree that wood is infinately more beautiful than fiberglass, and much more personal, not to mention that it just feels good. As some here can attest, great blanks cost lots of cash, and to whittle a stock from a log will take 80 or more hours to get it just right.
Triggers. While a small thing, triggers are the soul of a good rifle. I use Jewell triggers, and no other ones will do for what I build.
The old rifle will have to be disassembled,(duh) and the decision of what to do with the left over parts will be up to you as to what to do with them. Lots of guys look for stuff like this at gunshows, but they aren't willing to allow you to make a lot of money for your discarded stuff.
The action must be trued on a mandrel with a lathe, to insure full contact with the lug (on a Remington) or shoulder of the barrel shank (on some of the others). Once the action is trued, I ALWAYS lap the lugs with a jig that I made, by hand, until I see FULL contact on BOTH lugs.
Assembling the bolt with "Gucci gear" (speed lock firing pins, Model 70 safties, welding the bolt handle to something that pleases you more than the existing one) should be done now, but if you choose to weld anything on the bolt, MAKE SURE that the lug surfaces haven't changed.
Chambering. The barrel must be set up in a lathe so that the bore is on center, to within .0005. I use a Starrett Last Chance dial indicator for this. Just because a barrel is round, do NOT assume that the bore matches the outside of the barrel. Measure the barrel shank length that you will need, disreguarding the old barrel measurements. This is done using a depth mic on the action. Don't measure just one spot, take several measurements and get an average. If you have trued the action right, there should be NO differences no matter where you measure it. Also, the recoil lug that you threw away when you removed the other barrel should be replaced with a new one, thicker, and surface ground on the front and back to insure full contact with both the barrel shoulder AND the action.
Cutting the barrel. Here is where we cut the barrel shank to fit the action and recoil lug. First thing is to face it off, to the rifling. It is then cut to the right outside diameter, and threaded to the right pitch. (All on the lathe) I cut my shanks .002 less than they need to be to allow for crush of the threads.
Chambering. There are a couple ways to do this, but, I will only describe the way I do it. On a Remington, you will have to counterbore the shank to allow the bolt face to fit in the barrel. I use a reamer that I bought for this purpose. It is piloted, so I won't bark the rifling. I have also fitted my lathe with a pressured oiler. During any reaming operations, I pump oil down the bore to flush the reamer to keep it free of chips. After I counterbore it, I start reaming with the chamber reamer. For both reaming operations, I use a JGS floating reamer holder. This insures that the .0005 that I accepted earlier will run straight and true. The chamber reamer is also piloted. I ream no faster than 135 RPM. There are some guys who ream faster, and some slower, this is just about what I do. After all, I am not in a speed reaming operation, and I would like to shoot it while I am still young. With the forced flushing of the reamer, I can ream for a longer period before pulling it out to check for chips loading up, rather than run it in .100 and check it repeatedly. Alright, it's reamed and the headspace checks out to the numbers that you determined.
Before assembling the barrel to the action, make sure that the raceways are as smooth as you like them. If I have to, I will use lapping compound no coarser than 500 grit, and am careful not to screw up the lap job on the lugs.
When this is done, it is time to assemble the barreled action. I use a barrel fixture, action wrench and a bearing press to hold the barrel in place while I assemble it. Check the headspace again, it should check out, if it doesn't, go back to the chambering step and start from there. I can't stress keeping your components clean while assembling them. Little dabs of grease and crud just don't get it done. Some guys use LocTite on their threads, I don't, I do it right and don't need any thread filler.
Put your new Jewell trigger in it and check it. It may need tweaked, or maybe not. With all this done, put the barreled action aside and get your stock ready.
For this, I will use a McMillan Silhouette stock, I like the over sized pistol grip and the roll over cheek piece. It makes a good hunting stock too. Unfortunately, they don't make it in a left hand version. Prep your stock by counterboring it for the guard screws. Assemble your bottom metal lightly to the action and measure the length of the pillars that you will need. I make my pillars .030 shorter than needed, I don't like to be surprised by a high pillar when I am up to my ass in glass, only to have to scurry around shortening the pillars while I am fighting the 20 minute work time of the glass. You will have to remove some of the filler in the stock, in the area of the ation and the recoil lug so your glass has someplace to run. Before mixing ANY glass, assemble the rifle in the stock, to be sure that it fits. This is very important, because you do NOT need any surprises when you mix the glass. That being said, if all is well, disassemble it. Remove the trigger. I use masking tape to mask the action between the guard screws. The pillars support the action, and all that stuff in between is a pain in the ass to clean up. once this is done, I use moly mold release agent in a spray can that I buy from Brownells. It works better than anything I ever used for a release agent, better than the stuff in the glass kit. I also coat the guard screws, bottom metal, action and barrel. Glass sticks to everything, like shit to a blanket.
Now, mix the glass. I use steel bed, but there are others on the market. Mix it according to the instructions on the box, and do NOT deviate from the instructions, or the glass will not get hard, or it will harden to quick, before you have a chance to work it.
OK, put glass in the stock, in the pillar holes, recoil lug area and along the action. Install the pillars that you have "buttered" with more glass and turn them back and forth so that you will be sure that it is evenly spread in the counter sunk holes in the stock. They will usually stay in place, but if they slip through the bottom, place some tape to hold them temporarily. I float all my barrels when I glass, so, I recommend that you place something between the barrel and stock to keep it centered in the barrel channel. I use welding rods, cardboard, or coat hangars. It all depends on how large the gap is between the barrel and the channel. Now install the bottom metal. Glass where it will be too so you will get a nice looking fit.
24 hrs later. It's time to pull the action out. I have a screw affair that I made to pull the action out of the stock. Before I attempt to pull it out though, I ALWAYS make sure that I took out the guard screws FIRST. It may sound funny, but I have worked on rifles a few times without taking the screws out first (DUH). Well, remove it from the stock now, and clean up any excess glass, anywhere that the magazine goes, under the hinge of the bottom metal, in the area of the safety, and directly in front of the lug area. My barrels are full floated, all the way to the action.
By now, you have a close to finished rifle. It can be shot after you clean it thoroughly, but, we still have to finish the metal. I use a belt grinder to polish the barrel, and polish the action by hand. The last thing I do is hit the whole thing on a high speed buffing wheel. Disassemble the bolt, and polish it, keeping away from the freshly lapped lugs. Anything that is steel, will blue. Somethings take a little longer, depending on the composition of the steel, but anything steel WILL blue, unless it is case hardened, then it will turn purple. I am not Prince, and do NOT like anything but my grapes purple.
In some cases, you may want to use the steel bottom metal from Dave Talley. It is GREAT stuff, and also comes with a great price tag. Add that to ant engraving that you may want to have done, and the cost adds up.
Once it is blued, I usually let it set for 24 hours before assymbling. You don't really have to, but I have my reasons.
24 hrs later. Thoroughly clean EVERYTHING metal. You can now assemble it, but put the disassembled bolt aside for now. The reason is, to look sleek, it will need jeweled. Engine turning to make all those breathtaking little swirrels that look so sexy.
Everything is assembled now on this custom rifle, so let's top it off with some really servicable scope bases. I like the double dovetail Leupold bases in a one piece affair. This next step will really offend some guys, but if you bring me ANYTHING but a Leupold scope to put on it, you can pay me, take it home, and install your own soda pop bottle that you got from the K-Mart blue light table.
After I install a scope, I take it to the range and shoot the barrel in, with a quality cleaning rod lots of brushes and patches. I use Gold Medalion between strings of two shots for ten times in a row. Usually, by this time, I have it sighted in, and can stretch it out to 200 yds. I make tiny little groups for the customer to see and collect my pay.
I am hoping that this was an interesting 1700 for you.......Kingpin
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Custom Rifle building rules!!!!!
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