Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Mistakes made on custom builds??

How many have built customs and then wished they had done something different after receiving the finished product? What would you change if you could??


I had Kampfeld build a 7 SAUM for me........I like the rifle, and it is a shooter, but would do things differently if I could start over. I ordered a fluted Krieger barrel for the build and, if I had it to do over again, I'd change 2 things. I ordered a heavy contour fluted barrel, the flutes on my blank were very shallow.....if I had known how shallow they would be I wouldn't have paid for fluting. After using the rifle for awhile the heavy contour lost some of it's appeal.

So, if I could go back and do it over, I'd probably order a lighter contour and skip the flutes.

One of the bad things about Krieger and Bartlein barrels is they dont offer lighter sporter type contours in a stainless barrel.

Based on what I have seen for sale in the classifieds quite a few have had regrets.

For me, a few biggies are:

1) Too heavy. Took me a long time to realize that I really do prefer a lighter rifle. And that you really do have to count ounces to ensure you come in at a comfortable 7.0 to 7.5 pounds for standard chamberings.

2) Short tubes. Everyone on the 'Fire talks about how handy short barrels are. Took me a while to figure out that I like a slightly muzzle forward balance. Hence I prefer 24" barrels over 22" barrels. Psychological ? Maybe. But I like 24" tubes.

3) Stock Ergos. There are certain stock ergos that I prefer, eg: thin wrist, high comb, not so wide fore ends. Love the looks of Pre-64 M70's and their original stocks. But, prefer mine in a McMillan Hunter's Edge. Have a wall full of stocks for various makes of rifles that were just "not quite right" for me after i bought them and tried them on my rifles.

I finally have a pretty good idea of what I like and don't like. But, took several dollars over several years to gain that "experience".

I have built several and did wish I had done things differently on a few. Like Orion said I have settled on what I really like and my last few have been perfect for my tastes.

I put one together a few years back......Montana rifle action , 26 “ shilen, B&C stock .......shot great. Was a 25-06, killed a dandy speed goat........but it was heavy. Sold here on the fire. It was a great rifle but I moved on.

Has been said on here many times.

Weight and wait.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8552286/1

See if that link works.

Twist for me on a couple. They work perfect for my needs, but a faster twist would have made them even more versatile.

This is the crux of being a looney. The syndrome is if only so and so were different. If I can offer any advice it would be this: Go with the fastest twist you think you might need, Get the lightest barrel that will work for your use, get the highest grade wood you can afford then go higher, or the lightest synthetic available, Spend money on good glass and go hunting enjoy.

Some good points made. Weight has been top of the list for me. Worried too much on barrel muzzle OD dimensions, barrel length<---->velocity, etc. and not enough about weight. I've luckily avoided the twist rate issue so far by using "when in doubt, go faster" with an example being my 6.5-06AI that is 1:8" and throws 120's as well as 160's.

The other advice would be having an in-depth conversation with the gunsmith about ammo, especially if you handload. If you know the bullet you want, make up some dummy loads and make sure it's throated for exactly what you want. SAAMI chamberings can seem too generous, and there's a chance you'll have buyer's remorse if you have your heart set on a specific bullet and don't make that clear upfront.

Bingo!

Also, for myself, having a stock that "suits" me and having an excellent trigger are the cornerstone of a rifle that "works" for me.

I built a couple and wasn’t far enough up the learning curve myself to give the gunsmith good direction.

Too heavy contour
Wrong twist (too slow - made the mistake of following his advice and he was old school and not on the long heavy bullet train at the time.
Told gunsmith what i wanted but it didn’t dawn on my to write it down for him (he did not write it down and invariably both were wrong the first time)
Gunsmith was local, which was good to deliver parts in person and go see him to stay top of mind, but he ended up going radio silent on me for almost a year

I’ve made both of them work and both shoot a lot better than i can though so it wasn’t terrible. But with hindsight i would definitely do the things above differently

I've been a member here a good while and have read a lot of "regret posts" about rifle builds. For a hunting rifle the regret I remember seeing most often is the rifle came out too heavy, and it's usually due to selecting a too heavy barrel contour.

Building more than one!!

Buy the very best components right from the beginning, find the best gunsmith you can & build it with no holds barred...then be done and go hunting!!!

A couple of my early ones had shanks that were too long.

I was into wildcat cartridges when I was younger, too. Wish I hadn't done some of those. Plenty of factory or close to factory cartridges out there that fit the bill just fine. I believe the only ones I have now that are wildcats are 25-204 and 250 AI. Love both.

I had several custom firearms built when I had more range and gun shop experience than hunting experience. Every one of them was way too expensive for the advantages that it actually provided. After I spent more time hunting, and after I read a lot of Allen Day's posts, I realized that a CRF Model 70 with good glass and a good synthetic stock is all that I need. I have a 30-06 and I'd like to get a 270, 308, 300 WM, or 338 WM for a backup, but I'm done customizing firearms beyond that.


Okie John

I guess my only regret is my way too light 280AI. It needs to be 2lbs heavier. I should have built a small caliber on the components.

This one....


It was a .338/06 and I told the barrel maker to copy the contour. Well,it went from .338" caliber to .224" caliber (it is a .22/6mm). In the picture it weighs almost 11 lbs.

But the barreled action fit in the stock with no problems.

What brand is that thumbhole stock?