Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Lipstick on the Pig

Offseason rifle tinkering itch had me wondering:

The Pig: You pick up an off the shelf rifle - T3, R700, Winchester, etc - toss on some rings and glass and get to shooting and hunting. Over time - the gun proves itself as entirely too accurate for the price you paid. It simply out kicks its coverage in the accurate department in its factory configuration. Everyone owns one of these. Maybe its a $600 Tikka, or a $275 Marlin X7 - whatever the model, you know you could have spent 3 or 4 or 5 times as much without any extra accuracy.

At what point do you decide its worth putting Lipstick on the Pig?

Lipstick: Aftermarket, high quality components:

High end stock
Bedding
Trigger
Machined parts (vs something plastic from the Pig)

I'm not the least bit concerned about re-sale. We know how that works - you aint getting the money back out of the Lipstick, as compared to a custom built gun.

So whats your take on giving those Pigs a nice shade of red? Improved accuracy, improved reliability? Or a waste of money that should be saved towards a custom action-barrel and good gunsmith.

Not worth it

If it shoots, I don't mess with it.

... and it if shoots it is not a pig.

But heck, I thought maybe you were talking about H. The Dumbocrats need a LOT of lipstick.

If it shoots really well, I'd not mess with the current bedding, but can see putting a proven barreled action in an upgraded and bedded stock, provided you don't care for the original. I'd keep the original though, just in case. Same goes for the trigger and plastic parts. You can always go back to the original configuration if you need to, provided you don't mess with the barrel (crown, firelapping, etc).

I have put a McMillan stock on a Savage and have a Manners on order for another Savage.

Loonyism knows no bounds.

Oh and both of those Savages do shoot.

This.

My T3 Lite in 308 falls into this category. I just dialed in a Leupold VX-R 3-9x42 in Warne rings on a 1913 rail for a hog hunt. Once that’s over I’ll go to Talley Lightweight rings and drop the rail. I toy with the idea of getting a Nightforce scope, but it probably makes more sense to spend that kind of cash on a spare T3 in 308, ammo, and components.


Okie John

My 22-250 coyote rifle falls in this category. It is a Remington ADL in a hunter weight barrel without iron sights. The wood stock looks like it came off a broom handle but the rifle shoots and is light enough to carry when walking to multiple locations and setting up to call.

Maybe better glass but that is it

You nailed it.

what do you get if you breed a blind bore hog to Maxine Waters?







Nothing.

(Even a blind hog has some standards)

I am quite sure at this stage of life's game that I will never be able to have rifle built for myself. Especially for what I would want (Biesen, MIller type stocked rifles). However, I would love to have a rifle in a 250 Savage. Not sure why, already have a 25/06 and a Roberts. It was my idea to get a little Marlin xl7s and get a 250 Sav. barrel for it, and then get a Boyd's for it. I realize that many would poo poo that idea or look down on it because it is not a 2 or 3 grand rifle. But it will suit me fine and I can do most of the tinkering with it myself. I actually had the rifle bought, a Marlin in 7/08, but found a young man who needed it and was not able to get one himself so I sent it down the road. Many times the joy is in the journey and not the destination, and each of us differ in the ways we find joy. Now...let me go in there and look through my wife's lipstick supply and see what I can come up. However, with that picture of Maxine looking at me as I write this, I might never look at lipstick the same!

One of the most useful attribute of the Marlin X guns is that the guys who designed it borrowed the good attributes from the Remington 700 series, bolt handle shape and stock ergs, and the Savage 110 series, the barrel nut and small shank barrel specs.

They have usually been available NIB for under $350 and at close out from CDNN for as little as $250. The factory synthetic stocks are OK and can be upgraded to a Boyds stock for under $150.

I don't mind the factory synthetic stocks and I like to swap barrels, so I'm a fan.

If you're not interested in swapping barrels, the Howa 1500s at Whittaker's for $330 are a great deal if you don't mind the Hogue stocks are still a good deal if you can find a V2 stock or GPC S&W walnut stock for a good price to install the Howa 1500 barreled action in.

I have expensive firearms and inexpensive firearms, collectible firearms and common firearms, nice firearms and beat firearms, and I enjoy shooting most of them or I would probably send those that I didn't enjoy down the road.

I bought a Weatherby Vanguard from a member, a 6.5 Creedmoor. It shoots 120 Barnes damn near through the same hole. I bought another stock,but I'm not changing it. Ain't gonna jack up a good thing. I hope to blast some pigs with it this weekend if rain allows.

If I find a rifle that I like and it proves it will shoot well I really like to put it in a lighter weight synthetic stock. I've tried several over the years, but an Edge is the easiest route and by keeping my eyes open have bought 3 of them used at good prices. They are on current rifles I own. I've never found an aftermarket stock to improve accuracy, but I've never found it to be worse either. At least compared to factory synthetic. I've seen aftermarket synthetics dramatically improve consistency compared to wood which expands and contracts changing POI as the seasons change.

My primary goal is weight reduction. I can knock anywhere from 1/2-3/4 lb off a rifles weight, but I also think they look and fit me better.

I also have 3 Ruger American's that I paid under $400 for out the door. I haven't seen any aftermarket stocks for them yet that I'd consider an upgrade.

I did replace the trigger on an older 700 that proved it would drop the firing pin without pulling the trigger. But that was only done for safety issues. Other than that I leave mine pretty much alone.

The first 6.5 Creedmoor that I bought was a V2. It was and continues to be the most accurate out of the box CF rifle that I've yet to own.

I have a few RARs and have added a full 16 ounces to a few of them in the form of Boyds laminated Heritage stocks to make them fit me and balance better.

I own several Tikkas. They all shoot well or as good as I am capable. Accurate barrel, good action. I do my own trigger work on them and easily get a crisp 2#. Blued you can buy a used one for $400. Add a pair of Talley lightweights and your favorite scope and you have a pretty accurate rifle for $450 + scope.

Now for the lipstick- would it be a good investment to buy an Edge and swap it around to my various Tikka scoped actions??

I thought this was another .338 fed thread at first.

Quite a few years back, 1973 to be exact, a co-worker had an FN Mauser in .270 he wanted to sell. He got it in a trade so I asked him what he wanted for it? $75.00.
I bought it. Frankly it was more for the action as the stock on the rifle was about ultra fugly. Reminds me of a comment by the late Jack O'Connor. "That stock was so ugly it would abort a lady crocodile." Sure fit the one on that .270. At the time I'd never owned a .270 so I bought a couple boxes of 130 and 150 gr. loads and tried it out.
The 130's averaged one inch and the 150's slightly over a half inch. "Old Ugly" would shoot. My handloads were slightly better. I seriously gave thought to doing a restock on the gun but would I retain the accuracy? I left it alone. Dunno what the stock wood was but it wasn't walnut as seemed to be too light for birch. I never have figured that one out. The barrel is as slim as a soda straw, 24" but will group three rapid fire before walking. Even with scope and sling and a full magazine I doubt it hits 7 pounds. Great at altitude in the mountains but a bear to hold steady breathing hard. No matter. I think I'll keep it as is.
Paul B.