This piece of chit rifle was finished few months ago, but sitting at my gunsmith due to feeding & barrel issues. Now we are playing the "game of elimination" with mag box's, followers, ect.

Blueprint of my NIGHTMARE....

Mcmillan classic w/gap camo
Stiller Predator BDL
Jewel trigger
Lilja #4 barrel (Kampfeld did the fluting, but not the build)
Wyatt magazine & follower.

Actually tried 2 different mag box's & followers. More followers on the way. FEEDING PROBLEMS!

New Lilja barrel threads were "accidentally" cut short(by the gunsmith} ".40 {GUNSMITH HAD TO ORDER A REPLACEMENT BARREL}, the stock was sent back to Mcmillan because it was inletted for a 3" shank opposed to a 1" shank.

And at this point, the rifle will only feed one round, not two. Still waiting on a new barrel & back to kampfeld for fluting the 2nd time. My patience are wearing thin and may stop build and sell individual pieces.

Hey, did I mention this rifle was sent to me in this condition few months ago? Did not feel comfortable with what I saw, so had another 'smith examine my new build and upon inspection, the problems were brought to my attention.

Anyone want to buy this project? Gun has never been fired!

Have many Predators with 1 in 300 WSM and another in 6.5 WSM sorry to tell you this but you need to find another Smith who knows what he is doing. They are a challenge but it can be done.

Man, that sucks. Playing the elimination game right now with a rifle.

It gets worse Skane, read again.

What bites is, you have ordered some really nice components for a nice, useable build. You did a good job on your end.

The rest is up to the 'smith. If he can't do his job right, he ought to go back to school and take some classes, instead of teaching them...

I'll give ya a hundert bucks for the Stiller.

Take a breath Stoney. Breathe slooooowly. Just send the whole works to Robert and let him finish it up. Let me know on the Stiller.

Sounds like you have a smith that needs to step up to the plate.
Butch

888,

Was the mag box a center-feed model. I tried a 25-284 on a 700 SA with the normal box and was not happy with the way it fed, which has kept me away from the WSMs. It occurred to me that another 25-284 or a 25 WSM might feed ok with one of Wyatt's center-feed boxes...

John

Wyatt told my gunsmith the staggered feed is correct, but 1st box was too small, and 2nd box he sent with follower did not work either. He is ordering 3 different followers to try. Also mentioned trying to re-shape the existing box?

Im to the point where this is one big cluster [bleep] of a build and going to scrap the parts, try to generate some of my $3500 paid and call it quits.

how old is your wyatt box?
the reason i ask is i got one from jim borden about a year ago and come to find out they were made wrong and jim said that they never would feed properly he returned them to wyatt for exchange


gene

Wyatt just sent him a new box last week, checked it today and said "no go"

That is a major bummer! I went through a custom build a year ago, that actually spanned 2 years! Had one bum barrel, that was promptly replaced by the custom barrel company, but not before I was out tons of bucks on bullets, powder, and trips to the range... the bad news is the replacement was no better...There is nothing more frustrating than seeing great plans wasted.

I have a Alpine mag action chambered in 7mm wsm with a wyatt magazine and a remington shortmag follower and it feeds just like the video on Jim Bordens website,you might give Jim a call he has the shortmags figured out!

One more reason I'll never own a WSM again.

.......but if I did, like Ackleyfan suggested, I'd go Borden. Jim does have it figured out. Still, forget about heavy bullets in a WSM if you want anything other than a single shot.

Someone finally said it....

I didn't want the ball-busting

I wish I'd have been as wise.

No ball bustin . My New Haven M70 in .270 WSM feeds cartridges like greased weenies. So does my NH M70 7WSM, both more than accurate enough.

I just don't get it. For less than an inch in length and a few ounces in weight, give me the much more reliable and versatile 7mm RM or 300 WM every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

They are definitely a little more beholden to magazine feed rails/lips and the stacking angles/pressure down below....

How about this....

Have Mcmillan fill in stock to fit an H&S detachable magazine?
Should this help the feeding issue?

WSM's can be made to feed just fine. I've got a M70 300 WSM that feeds like butter. You don't need center feed boxes or anything like that, just a gunsmith that knows what he's doing. There's no reason to avoid WSM's over feeding issues, they feed as well as anything this side of a 300 H&H if they're put together right.

It's not the WSM caliber, it's the damn gunsmith!!!

Send it to Robert & have him fix it. Tell your smith that messed this up to take a hike!!

Jim Borden has the WSM feeding issues figured out. Robert may want to give him a shout & discuss the feeding set-up.

As we discussed before, I am NOT a fan of the Stiller Predator action!! There are alot better options out there, in my opinion.

All of my Stiller actions and I have many have not ever been the problem in any of the builds they were used in. Had to chase some threads for the bases once but that has been the extent of it.

Anyone who will not use a WSM because of feeding issues is using a Blacksmith not a Gunsmith.

If a WSM has to be made to feed correctly by a gunsmith, then murphy's law will prevail, and I don't want it.

Spoke with Robert Gradous and he is willing to fix someone Else's mistakes just to prove a WSM can feed like a "machine gun" if built properly.

Think I will take Gradous up on his offer to get it built correctly Jeff.

Stoney,

I think you're doing the right thing - Robert will get'er tuned up for ya!!

I understand your frustration - I'd be ticked off too if this happened to me, especially after he boogered it up the first time!!!

Custom Rifles are just that and if it was easy anyone could do it.

Here is another good smith http://www.longshotriflesllc.com/that seems to build quite a few shortmags,and am sure he is not sending them out the door with feeding problems,Good luck I hope you get get things worked out! Dave

I'm with Roads on this. If you have to fight it, it will bite you, maybe when your trying to finish off some dangerous game.

I see we have named gunsmiths who can fix the problem, but I see no mention of the gunsmith who was the blacksmith. Maybe sharing this information would save someone else in the future from the same expense/frustration. Maybe it is not good to slam someone, but it is what it is.

I don't know about things on the smith end but if the rifle is chambered correctly and the action designed for the WSM as most SA/mag bolt faced actions are , I wonder why it won't feed without going into heroics in the mag box department.
Maybe the WSM isn't the smoothest feeding cartridge ever made but there are plenty of factory actions that will feed them one after another, some of them pretty dang cheap too.

The Finnish{Finland}folks have no problem making one feed.

My old 270wsm Tikka could feed as fast as my Lab eating a bucket of KFC.

Sleeved the front of the bolt, Ruger short mag follower, filed/polished feed ramp, and I had custom box built to hold three down. Took some figuring out, but they can be made to feed decent; buttery, ??? When my bolt was brought back(open) the nose wanted to dip down and the fat little suckers would bind up, the sleeved bolt helped with the rear bridge being so short. The feed ramp was flattened out a bit so as not to be so steep. I then tried a Ruger follower off of another short mag and it helped. Karl built the custom box for me, sleeved the bolt and feed ramp work. Try holding your thumb on top of the bolt shroud while putting downward pressure on it when cycling, if this helps, the above list of things will probably help... I've also heard good things about Wyatt's center feed box used for shorties, but haven't tried it myself. Shoot me a PM if you'd like to cuss/discuss. Hope this helps. - Jim

I had this SAME issue, sent the rifle to Mark Bansner as per the feeding issues and he placed one of his CUSTOM mag boxes in and I couldn't be more happier. PM sent.

I would DEFINITELY agree with the first statement, but NOT the second the predator is a darling in feeding for the short mags!

Man, I've got 2 pm's with campfire members having the same feeding issues from well-known gunsmith's attempting to build a WSM with a Wyatt box or custom made box's.

Lesson learned... "Always use a gunsmith that has built many WSM rifles"

Ive decided on the Robert Gradous fix and use a H&S detach box and be done with it. Contact www.gradousrifles.com on your next WSM build.

The case builds for the 7mm Rem Mag.

+1

I have a custom 300 WSM that is being built by GA Precision on their Templar action & a Badger M4 box/bottom metal. It should be done in the next 2 months or so - I'll report on its feeding after I receive it.


I don't expect to have any feeeding issues with this build!!

I don't think you will, would love to here the report on the build when finished though.

H&S and Badger maybe $200-$400 more, but well worth it.

Too much aggravation dicken with a Wyatt.

Stoney,

I read your email - WOW!!!!! You need a rum&coke - LOL!!

I have the same caliber and components as Stoney with the same problems. My stock is OK, but the gun shoots like a turd.

I'm in the vortex of what is going to make this thing feed good after being inletted for the remington bottom metal and wyatt box?

It's been at the gunsmith for 2 months so far, and the barrel is suspect of being a "bad barrel".

I'm Resurrecting this thread to let some know my gunsmith came forward and offered to pay for the chambering/threading/crowning, of the build he started 10 month's ago.

I think it was very professional of him to step up and offer this. He mentioned he has not felt right about the whole deal and has let his employee go after this issue happened. I accepted his offer and he is mailing a check to my 2nd gunsmith completing the job.

It is nice to see some business owner's/gunsmith realize there mistakes and take responsibility for them. Taking care of your customer's is the most important task as a business owner IMO.

That is good to see & hear!!

Yep, glad to hear it.

Dude that AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

Stoney,
Glad to hear you have some compensation. It doesn't cover everything but everybit helps. I forget if the new barrel, fluting, and barrel coating got taken care of.

I don't think anyone should make any money on something that isn't done right in the first place. THAT'S WRONG.

Great news Stoney. Glad he returned to pro form.

Thanks Skane. Now hopefully you can recover from your major loss due to someone in Florida. Lol

Agreed.

Sounds like a stand up guy...

McGowen let me keep all 3 junk tubes and left me with a rifle with issues. Oh, and called me a pickey [bleep].