So, ive always been a tinkerer/builder and was rebuilding small engines at a young age....so I was always going down the path of going to school for engineering. I started hunting at a very young age as well because both of my parents were very into chasing deer. I didnt miss a weekend of deer season until college and since I didnt have time to scout out my areas before hunting, I would instantly grab my rifle and hit the box blinds instead of my bow and ground hunt.
So fast forward to graduating college, I moved out of state for work and so I didnt get a second of hunting in unless I came home for holidays. Well, I quit my job and moved back to Texas. So now I was an engineer in the Houston area searching for jobs....I had a lot of free time and so I started to get really bored and so I decided to build rifles. I did some research and homework and then ordered parts. I purchased a stainless steel Remington 700 short action but then had to decide on caliber.....well, my whitetail gun has always been a 25-06 and I absolutely will still grab that rifle to hit the woods for whitetails if needed and would still recommend that caliber in a heart beat for a low recoil/very effective cartridge. So decided to go for a .264 cal...which left the 6.5x47, .260 rem or the, i know, 6.5 creedmoor. I was very tempted to go .260 rem because as some others on this site are, I dont necessarily like "following the herd", and then turn it into a .260AI but I really wanted to be able to go to a store and snag a box of ammo if ever in a pinch moment....so it reverted me to the creedmoor design.
Since I already had my action sitting in front of me, I called Schneider barrels and snagged a .264 barrel in 8 twist. Once that got in, I trued my action in a lathe and then chambered up my barrel for the 6.5 creedmoor. I then blasted and cerakoted my barreled action. Well, then I got a "temporary" job out of state and since I was only going to be there a year, I took my reloading stuff and a few guns to keep myself entertained for the little time I would be there. I also barreled up a 7mm-08 for my mom and a .280AI for myself before I left town and so I will be working on getting those together in my free time with the handwork items.
I then had to decide on a stock, well I liked the shape of the M40 stock that Bell and Carlson had but I didnt necessarily want a B&C stock but I didnt have a choice because I was set on that design. So I ordered a stock and then had to open up the barrel channel to fit the large contour of my barrel. Since I did not have a mill here, I stuck with a wooden dowel, sandpaper, and a lot of elbow grease. I said I was a tinkerer and so I didnt mind the effort of making this work. I finally got enough clearance for the barrel and could start the final assembly and hit the range.
The following pics are of the first day at the range and one box of Hornady Black box ammo (I needed brass for reloading).
Gun itself
100 yards sight in. 5 shots
300 yard group. 5 shots
Next up is come up with some reloads and take it to 1000 yards.
Also, I am not too sure on how accurate those measurements on that app did of the group but I will say its pretty dang close with what I got when I put my calipers to the papers. Hopefully the 7mm-08 and .280AI shoot like this as well!!
Sorry for the long post but I have some excitement in me about this being my first rifle to chamber up and assemble from parts and I feel this is a another passion that I have that will just keep me out in the garage some more.
So fast forward to graduating college, I moved out of state for work and so I didnt get a second of hunting in unless I came home for holidays. Well, I quit my job and moved back to Texas. So now I was an engineer in the Houston area searching for jobs....I had a lot of free time and so I started to get really bored and so I decided to build rifles. I did some research and homework and then ordered parts. I purchased a stainless steel Remington 700 short action but then had to decide on caliber.....well, my whitetail gun has always been a 25-06 and I absolutely will still grab that rifle to hit the woods for whitetails if needed and would still recommend that caliber in a heart beat for a low recoil/very effective cartridge. So decided to go for a .264 cal...which left the 6.5x47, .260 rem or the, i know, 6.5 creedmoor. I was very tempted to go .260 rem because as some others on this site are, I dont necessarily like "following the herd", and then turn it into a .260AI but I really wanted to be able to go to a store and snag a box of ammo if ever in a pinch moment....so it reverted me to the creedmoor design.
Since I already had my action sitting in front of me, I called Schneider barrels and snagged a .264 barrel in 8 twist. Once that got in, I trued my action in a lathe and then chambered up my barrel for the 6.5 creedmoor. I then blasted and cerakoted my barreled action. Well, then I got a "temporary" job out of state and since I was only going to be there a year, I took my reloading stuff and a few guns to keep myself entertained for the little time I would be there. I also barreled up a 7mm-08 for my mom and a .280AI for myself before I left town and so I will be working on getting those together in my free time with the handwork items.
I then had to decide on a stock, well I liked the shape of the M40 stock that Bell and Carlson had but I didnt necessarily want a B&C stock but I didnt have a choice because I was set on that design. So I ordered a stock and then had to open up the barrel channel to fit the large contour of my barrel. Since I did not have a mill here, I stuck with a wooden dowel, sandpaper, and a lot of elbow grease. I said I was a tinkerer and so I didnt mind the effort of making this work. I finally got enough clearance for the barrel and could start the final assembly and hit the range.
The following pics are of the first day at the range and one box of Hornady Black box ammo (I needed brass for reloading).
Gun itself
100 yards sight in. 5 shots
300 yard group. 5 shots
Next up is come up with some reloads and take it to 1000 yards.
Also, I am not too sure on how accurate those measurements on that app did of the group but I will say its pretty dang close with what I got when I put my calipers to the papers. Hopefully the 7mm-08 and .280AI shoot like this as well!!
Sorry for the long post but I have some excitement in me about this being my first rifle to chamber up and assemble from parts and I feel this is a another passion that I have that will just keep me out in the garage some more.
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