Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Light(er)weight rifles and accuracy.

I need a Forbes '06....

I thought you were going elk hunting? I could do an '06, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a 260 in the 20B...

I am....but I still need a Forbes '06. I could trade or sell into one and not tap the elk money. I'm not broke yet either (insert grin) ...

I'm guessing the 20B will be introduced in 243, 7-08 and 308. I bet the 260 is on the short list though.....maybe in another year or so.

Yes, it was considered, but we can't get them up here yet, and he is only interested in SS. From what I understand, those aren't even being made yet.

Nope. And I called the Forbes guys -- all stainless probably won't be available until the end of next year.

Which means that we will be lucky to get them in time for the 2015 season.

When did the regular 24B come out? I know of only one person up here who is working with an importer in order to get one up here. From what I understand it will probably end up costing $1600 by the time it gets here.

A Forbes 30-06 would make a fantastic elk rifle... I'm guessing that the 260 won't make the cut, so then I'll have to plead with the wife about cutting to the chase and getting a NULA!

The first shipments I knew of were in August/September. Could have been a little sooner though.

Funny how things can change. A year or two ago there was no way I would have bought a Kimber Montana. ........now I have one on layaway!!!

I know what you mean. I wasn't a 700 guy 18 months ago. I now have 3 builds on the 700 and they are close to becoming my favorite rifles....

I didn't read through the whole post so I am responding to the original subject.
I think when you go to lighter weight all the things that affect accuracy are magnified. A lighter rifle just has more vibration and isn't as stable. Lighter barrels vibrate and "whip" more. Stiffer more substantial stocks combat this a little bit. I think most people would agree that it is more difficult to get a light rifle to shoot accurately and 1/2" is very difficult consistently. Also when I say light rifle I am talking apples with apples. Like a 20 inch barrel vs a 24 inch barrel light rifle is totally different because you have less vibration on a shorter barrel but can save weight on a shorter barrel.

My real life experience is that I have a Tikka .308 with a 21 inch barrel. .650 at the muzzle. It is a 6 lb rifle. It shoots a lot of recipes under MOA. It cost less than $500 before they became popular.
My custom is a Stiller precision 270 wsm with a 24 inch barrel, .600 at the muzzle. It is a 5.75 lb rifle. It shoots below MOA, and occasionally it shoots 1/2 groups if the temperature/humidity, wind, bullet, powder, land jump are all in sync, and precision reloading techniques are applied. I know your thinking sounds like luck if all these come together. Bottom line is that it does not shoot 1/2" consistently. Rifle cost $2200!

So, I would stick with a heavier contour barrel or a shorter barrel in the slimmer contours. To get the 6.5 lb rifle one has to choose the correct components to get the 6.5 lb or under recipe.

Its fun to build a custom rifle, not so fun when you spend the big $$$ and it doesn't shoot any better than a $500 factory rifle.

Kallen - yes, you make good points, especially about the Tikka, which generally shoots very well and doesn't cost much money. I also get it that it is tough to shoot with that kind of accuracy on each try - in fact I'd say it is impossible. But it would be nice to have the potential.

So after lots of talking and considering info from here and talking with a top notch gunsmith, one of the changes is dropping from a .300 Mag to the 7mm RM.

The order is going in for parts and I will post up on the progress.

I have found the 7mm RM to be noticeably easier to shoot well from the bench and this will aid in obtaining superior field accuracy, IMO, so, seems to moi like a good choice.

That said, have you ever heard of the 7mm "Mashburn".........

You could get a 6.5 x 55 Tikka, rechamber to a 6.5-284, put a sexy stock on it, and put the saved money into a scope.

Not a bad choice at all going 7 mag. What bullets you thinking of going with for hunting? Should be about perfect for your region and wide variety of big game.

I have had excellent results with 175gr Partitions and have also started playing with 175gr Gamekings. I've shot a fair amount of game with the former, and only a little bit of paper with the latter.

Why the need to re-chamber a 6.5x55? Won a British 1,000 yd match w/a group of like 5", from a Factory Tikka...rifle will kill farther than most can shoot IMO.

Very True