Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 250 Savage the Darling of the Campfire?

Just had one built. It doesn't really fit conventional styles but hey, it blows my hair back.

I recently had Tony Small, my gunsmith rebuild my 250 Savage varmint rifle into a stalking rifle.

All three of my custom rifles by Tony have the same stock dimensions and shape. Only the forends and weight for each rifle differs. I contributed many parts and ideas and Tony turned it into a rifle I have wanted for many years. This should have been my first custom rifle, however dreams and trips to Africa and NZ put those plans and finances on hold.

Pictures and captions tell a story quicker than typing it out.

Barrel was a special order .25 cal �Lothar Walther 1 in 10" profiled blank. They don't make a .257" so it cost a bit more than their pre-chambered barrels. A 250-3000 reamer proved to have a short throat (for 87 grainers) so delivery was delayed while Tony ordered a throat reamer. It now has a +0.035" longer throat for 100 and 120 grain projectiles. Tony suggested a lighter profile and I should have listened to him. This is quite heavy and with mild loads won't warm up till 9-12 rounds have gone down the barrel.



Tonys stock cradle. Wood came from a random block of Queensland Maple. I wanted a little bit of Australia in this rifle and Qld Maple appears in a lot of WWII SMLE .303's. Not a wood like walnut, but with a battle proven pedigree.


Raw stock with pre-fit grip cap. Packmayr recoil pad.


First coat of oil. Not much detail


Trigger guard recontoured with older floorplate (replaced with a new one)


Butter knife bolt handle in the white.


Ten coats of hand rubbed oil and one of stock wax.
[img]http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r568/Campcamel/P5260007_zpsee81b6d7.jpg[/img]

Recknagel front sling wivel, custom contoured
[img]http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r568/Campcamel/IMG_4734_zps3671b9b3.jpg[/img]

Dakota Arms sling swivel, inletted. No engraving on this rifle. Kept in plain, black and Maple.
[img]http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r568/Campcamel/IMG_4730_zps21771ea6.jpg[/img]

The Underbelly. Trigger is a Sako. Balance is just behind the front action screw.
[img]http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r568/Campcamel/IMG_4732_zps89c57de0.jpg[/img]

Not shown are the action screws which were made from scratch, indexed and the rear screw head contoured to fit the curve in the metalwork. The rifle is finished in Tony's magnificent rust blue.
First group post sight in, a load of 33 grains of 2208 under 100 grain Sierra SptBt's went 0.90". It's a shooter.