After almost deciding on a savage LWH I ran into a LH rem 700 short action and bit the bullet on building an ultralight 260. So first, my topic search ability on these forums is limited, so if I am duplicating a thread please point me in the right direction.
1. I want the action skeletonized, bolt fluted, not worried at all about a tack driver, this is just a hunting rifle. I see Kampfleld custom mentioned a lot but his website makes it look like he is not accepting much work etc. I do not need museum quality work, this is literally an alternative to a tikka or savage lwh, is there someone else who anyone would reccomend or anyone who would like to do this work reasonably?
2. I am likely going to put a light contour , short (18") barrel on it for packability and weight reduction. Can anyone suggest a reasonably priced pre-chambered barrel? Seems like most inquiries I make either it's one year out, or I wind up with a $350 barrel with no chamber and indeterminate guns tithing costs, etc. I'm not opposed to paying the money if that's what it costs, I just don't want to miss an obvious option that might make sense. Thank you in advance, Martin

Slabbed action, fluting, ect.. Kampfeld will hook you up.

You could probably do a lot worse than a 21 or 22 inch SS Pac-nor.

I wouldn't do an 18" in the .260 rem.

I wouldn't do 18 either.

I'm not sure what tithing costs these days....

I'd go with a light stock with ADL inlet and a mtn rifle contour at 21"-23". Skip the action work.

I would skip the action skeletonizing you wont gain much and from what I read your not into the fluff.......

barrel-thebarrelman.com get a shilen match or select match as cheap as any lapped barrel #2 if it was mine

edge stock from McMillan or a bell and Carlson if it fits you it will be cheaper and quicker than the McMillan

send it of to redneck here on the fire quick turn around and fair pricing

my cents worth

Twisted barrel offers spiral and slabbing.

Can't say whether either saves enough weight to be much more than cosmetic

Aalf, tithing is similar to is similar to smithing, but its limited to 10%...
Seriously, though, a close friend shoots an 18.5" barrel and swears by it. With the right powder what's the difference, 100 fps? Seems you'd get a lot stiffer barrel for the weight....
How should I get ahold of redneck, pm?

PM works well for Redneck. Great smith. Might watch for a lefty Hi Tech/Bansner stock if you want a light one.

Pac-Nor Mtn Rifle Contour, Carl Bolt Fluting , Redneck Assembly, McMillan Edge....

I agree that you are waisting the capabilities of a 260 if you go 18 inches on the bbl length. You could be loosing up to 200 fps. Ballistics are what they are . I find it rather odd that guys want to shoot a caliber because of its capabilities and then the first thing they want to do is start [bleep] around with the planogram reducing those capabilities. Your goatphucking the build from the start. Your saying that you are going to go through all of the expense and trouble to put a build together but don't care about how accurate it is ? Really? trip the 700 and go back and get the savage its more up your alley.

Just screw a mountain tube on it at 22" and drop it in the lightest stock you can afford. If your forced to burn coin the bolt work is a nice touch. Other than that your patting yourself on the back.... JMO...

W

This.

Exactly. The action machining stuff comes out to three digits worth of cash per ounce. Makes much more sense monetarily to put that cash into a better, lighter stock or a better barrel.

It wouldn't be too tough to get a couple grand tied up in a project like this, which isn't far off from a used NULA that will shoot better and be just as light.

And if you get some no-name smith to do the action paring, it matters not how good of a job he did, it is still a one-off piece of unknown quality to a prospective buyer down the road. If a pared down Remington 700 is something you've gotta have, order a Strata from Rifles Inc. Like others have stated, a faux Ti is the most bang for your buck.

I went through a similar exercise with a .260 a couple of years back. I landed at 5lbs, 5.4oz with a 22" Krieger "0" contour. Karl milled the action with a G33/40-like cut and fluted/skeletonized the bolt/knob.

Stock was a Lone Wolf Summit II.

The best bang for my buck was the PT&G aluminum triggerguard which shaved something like 4 ounces for $25.

Below Model Seven went into an Rem Custom Shop Edge stock with 21" factory bbl in MR contour in 7/08. Gunsmith just informed me it weighs 5.5lbs. Don't have it here yet, so no pics.

Thank you all for your suggestions., I've got some more research to do. Incidentally, I obviously care about accuracy but MOA would be great. 1.5" would be fine, I just wanted to distinguish from an all-out accuracy driven build. I chose 260 bc I've been impressed with its performance, I admire the 6.5 as a hunting bullet, and it's lovely (low recoil) to shoot. I do not see how losing 200 fps changes any of those attributes.

It sounds like what you really want has already been made from the factory--an original 18.5 inch Model Seven in 260. Put a light stock on it and it will be somewhere around 5.5 pounds.

Go buy a kimber montana and be done with it.

He's left handed.

What's your goal for weight and your budget? There's a 260 tube in the classys right now.

My budget is shifting....where are the classifieds? Thanks for the heads up!

There was no mention in the earlier post about what length 260 barrel is going to get you 200fps more, but below is a post about real-world losses, and I would think the 270 would be fairly representative. Looks like lopping 7" lost 114fps.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/88566/site_id/1#import

If you want a woods rifle, go 18" if you want to.

Some calibers produce horrendous muzzle blast, some are more sensitive to this concussion than others.

For instance, a 243 with a 20" barrel is ungodly loud.

I read that and thought the same thing. Although I missed that 260 takeoff barrel on the classifieds I think that's the route is like to go for now. Any suggestions on where to look for a takeoff barrel? For now any 260 remington barrel would work ( any rem 700 or 7 barrel)

If I were you, for what you want, find a Sako Finnlight 260, and drop in a McMillan Edge stock, should do ALL you need......

33% sacrificially.

"Awe dat's beautiful."
Dr. Hook

But, I doubt you'll ever see it on the cover of The Rolling Stone.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8534674/1

Left handed, that's the problem.... But the budget is shot, plus this whole thing ended up being kind of fun. So now I've bought a LH 700 SA in an SPS.
Ordered a #1 win featherlight contour from Bartlein, got an aluminum firing pin from Tubbs, and a new aluminum bolt shroud from PTG. I called kampfeld and although he didn't sound thrilled about action work per se, he will "slab" it or take some off the sides, and flute and skeletonize. My thoughts are that I'll always have the action, so in might as well spend my money there. I'll have it put together, and use the old stock until I save a bit more money. I'll probably paint it for this year if that doesn't preclude future cerakote. Basically following this idea http://www.americanhunter.org/mobile/article.php?id=19793

You'll have a couple grand in it by the time you're done. Might just stop while you're ahead an find a used NULA.

MONTANA

You're talkin' "take-off barrel". That says, "tightwad". UL custom ain't happenin' on a "tightwad" budget. You need to just buy a Tikka T3 Superlite in 308 and call it done. If that is too "heavy" for you, buy a barbell.

If you want to build a lightweight 700 get ahold of Rick at Extreme Rifles, he will hook you up

http://extremerifleworks.com/index.html