Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Custom Build Questions

My son is looking at getting his first custom rifle put together. This will be his "do-all" rifle for some time moose, elk, deer, bear, antelope.
Mine are built on Defiance actions, but I have no experience with them post buy out so what else is good? Looking for the following:
1. 30 caliber magnum
2. Sub 7 pound bare rifle
3. 22-24" barrel
4. Magazine capacity of 3 or more

What can be done? I know what I would do, but I'd like to see some ideas that I wouldn't have thought of.

Since ding dong bought Defiance the prices are retarded.
I'd either shop for a used 700 or one of the 1000 dollar clones.
Keep it simple
300 win mag.
In a mag I prefer a 24 inch barrel .. hate giving up free velocity.
Stock to suit you.
dave

I don’t imagine a 7lb magnum would be a picnic to shoot. For that weight I would shoot a mild 7mm but it’s his money and his shoulder. Does he need SS? Will he be a reasonable man and realize 95 percent of all the game he will ever shoot in his life will likely be killed at less than 200 yards? A lot of people convince themselves a magnum answers all questions. Perhaps a year after f toting a Kimber Ascent in that caliber would give him a chance to decide if that is really the solution. There has been a lot of ink spilled over the years about the 30 06 for good reason. I am partial to Winchesters and Mausers. Properly set up with a good barrel they will generally shoot better than most people are capable of shooting. Hopefully it’s a fun project for him!

My old M700 KS .300 Win Mag checked all of those boxes. It was 6.75 pounds bare, and a kicker.

I heard that Defiance will be lowering prices, will have to wait to see if that's true...

That’d be a good thing. I’d like to see the CRF and 3 pos safety come back.

I know you asked for "custom", and I understand the desire for exactly what you want, but there are a lot of off the shelf options now that a person can consider.

The Havak Element if he wants sub 7 lbs.

The Havak PH2 if he thought 7.2 lbs (in long action mag) wasn't to heavy.

Both are available with 3 round magazines, in various mag chamberings, and 22" (Element) and 26" (PH2) barrel lengths.

Still, I understand if he's set on a custom.

I'd like to see them bring back their Mutant action. They were gearing up to do that when they were sold.

Check out the Classic action by Defiance, there selling for $990. Looks a lot like the AnTi action.

BAT Vampire action (pricey but a VERY GOOD action)

300 PRC or 300 Win Mag

24" barrel (Krieger, Bartlein, or Benchmark)

BDL style bottom metal (usually 1 round in chamber & 3 down)

McMillan stock light as you can get for caliber


Probably gonna be heavier than what you stated....all depends on component choices.

What was that Mike?

If your looking for a custom action for under 1,000 then my top 3 are KaugerSST 950.00 nitrided thats a very good deal. Kelbys and Mac Bros EVO. I like nitrided actions only thing I didn't like about the EVO Mac bros recommended to me not to nitride there action.
I believe AL Nyhus thought they were a good action for the price.
If I was looking at upper end Custom Bat or Borden.
I would also be looking at a break, I tried to shoot my 30-28 Nos without one it was brutal.

The Mutant is/was their single shot action designed for tube gun chassis such as Gary Eliseo makes. He told me they had mailed him one out of the blue to verify the specs before machining another run. That was right before they were bought out by the new owner.

.30 caliber Magnums and light weight don't often go well together even if you have a pretty good tolerance for recoil. Unless you have an exceptional stockmaker who can design a stock that alleviates some of the recoil, it will be brutal- to the point working up loads and practicing at the range isn't enjoyable. A little weight can be your friend here IMO.

A budget number would probably help in recommending an action or any other specs on a custom. Also, what other features is he particularly interested in? Does he want a CRF action or would a push feed like a Remington 700 style work for him? Does he want stainless for inclement weather hunting or would he prefer deep hot blue, or????? Wood stock or high end fiberglass? All of this leads back to where he wants to start... what kind of time frame is he looking at? A lot of customs are going to be a long term wait - especially if he wants to go with a custom action that may not be on the shelf immediately in the configuration he is looking for. This is where something like a Rem 700 or Win Model 70 donor can save some time and money toward a build. But be warned- don't shoot the donor!

Does he reload or would he be buying ammo off the shelf? Big difference in price for ammo between a 300 WM, a 300 Wby, and a 300 RUM... also, a huge difference in recoil and the larger you go, the less efficient the cartridges get for the components invested. Also, wildcat or rounds like the 300 RUM may not be on the shelf just everywhere you plan to hunt if it becomes necessary.

Were it me wanting a multi purpose rifle I would make one 700 magnum action all done up, with three Remage barrels. A 338 WM, A 300 WM and a 7mm RM. Put three scopes on it, one for each barrel, with Warne QC bases and Warne Tactical QC rings. Your son would have the best of all worlds without an unnecessary self thrashing when used on light game, plus extra punch for heavy stuff. The 7mm is very accurate with 140s at moderate velocities and the 338 with 225-250s is a real crusher.

Not a pipe dream, I currently have a switch barrel M-70 Classic in 338/7mm, that I built, pre-Remage. if I had a 300 WM barrel for it, it would have three barrels. Right now it has two Japanese scopes for it and it shoots sub 1/2" at 100 with either barrel, and corresponding scope, accuracy is better than needed for game hunting.

We had Kevin Weaver do a rifle sorta like what you're asking about. We used a SS M70 Classic action, 3.6" magazine box, had Kevin lighten the action (flute the bolt, relieve some steel on the action, short shank the barrel) We used a #2 Krieger 308 1-8 twist barrel, chambered it in the plain old 300 Win Mag, nestled it in a carbon shelled Echols Legend. I believe we finished the barrel at 23" and with the brake is about 24 1/2". The gun weighed a touch under 7 pounds finished and is about 8 1/2 with a NF 2.5x10 Compact on it. Shoots factory as well as handloads and is a great do it all sorta rifle. My brother and I wanted something that could do about anything, wasn't restricted to handloads, but could use the longer, pointier bullets as well, within the mag confines. It is sort of a boring build, but man, it's a good one. Oh, I think it was nitrided as well.





I don't have any good glamour shots of it, but this was the rifle that stoned this bull at 675 yards a few weeks after getting it from Kevin.

Just me, but I wouldn't want a 300 Win over 7lb's bare myself. Somewhere between 6 3/4 and 7 would be about right after optics are mounted, depending on what you put on it. I'd really think through all the bit and pieces with weight in mind, cause if you get a pig from the smith, you aren't going to really wanna carry it.

Appreciate all the thoughts. I have an excellent local smith that I trust a great deal. I have a 1200 yard range that I shoot from my front porch. The rifle will be used to shoot big game from as close to point blank as possible out to wherever he feels comfortable. I have taken game out to 860 yards with mine. The ability to do so completely changes the game in open country. We reload and aren't beginners, which is seldom evident when someone asks a question on the internet. I'm looking for ideas I haven't considered.

My thoughts are a carbon fiber AG Composite stock, PTG AICS detachable 5 round flush fit, 22-24" Proof Sendero, Bix n Andy trigger, on a Defiance Classic. Not sure on chambering. Looking at the 300 SAUM. I have a similar rifle in 7 SAUM and I'm a fan, but only 2 fit in the belly with BDL bottom. This rifle is a pussycat with 180s at 2800fps. My biggest conundrum is what the best 30 caliber magnum chambering is going to be. All of my long range rifles have a break and recoil very little. We also shoot suppressed and prefer a shorter barrel so they handle better.

So, with more information, what am I missing? 300 SAUM or go long action and try the 300 PRC? What is going to be better than what I've considered? Where am I all wrong?

Sounds amazing by default.

To save a little weight....go with a 300WSM. You can use the XM length actions from Defiance with their XM "BDL" kit....they feed slick as snot.

I don't think you're wrong at all, but I'd pick the bullet and speed you wanna launch it then pick the wrapper that more than adequately suits that purpose. I'd also look into buying a couple 100 of the best cases you can get for said chambering first, before having the rifle built. 300 WSM, PRC, Nosler, Win Mag are all pretty close, so I'd really look at the great brass out there and get what you can, then let that be the decider as far as which action you get. All the rest sounds like a great set up.

Excellent point on the brass.