Build will include trued REM 700 stainless short action, Criterion 18" REM/AGE stainless heavy sporter barrel, PACNOR extended barrel nut, 308, 1-11 twist. Bottom end will have 1.5lb Timmney straight trigger and PTG stainless bottom metal. Stock to be full length bedding blocked in a sporter from HS Precision or Bell & Carlson.
What do you think?
Pro's Con's of building my own and saving hundreds of dollars by not having a gunsmith build a rifle with a lathe?
All comments invited.

What's the goal?

Small and light?

Small?

Light?

Intended use?

For me a "compact hunter" would probably be a Montana with the snout nipped to 18 inches and called good.

If your spending the money to have the action "trued" I can't believe getting the same smith to chamber a barrel would be much more? As far as the specs, not my cup of tea, but if your question is how much you will save by going the barrel nut route, I don't think it will be much if your spending the money to have the action trued up.

Ps.... I'd also imagine there would be some extra inletting /stock work since Remington's aren't set up for the nut.

I can see the barrel nut if you like to play and you will try new barrels or if you will build several rem/age, I don't see a big downside other than asthetics.

If your only going down this route once its less of a savings as you will need the nut wrench and way to hold the action (action wrench)which eats up a good portion of the savings of having a smith chamber and fit.

If you are going 18" I think your slightly heavier contour isn't a bad idea as it will give some weight out front. I assume that the compact is because you will be either carrying the rifle while still hunting or want a short rifle for a blind. In either case a little weight out front helps make it more shootable.

I can't comment on the stocks as I haven't ever had a HS and my only B&C in years was the rem Ti pattern, which though light is too fat in the grip for me.

I'd say that depends on your skills vs. the gunsmith's, how long it will take you, and how much your time is worth to you vs a few hundred dollars. Hard to know without knowing the particulars.

Been down that road many times.. You will have what you want, but you will never get you money out of it..

Guess I am looking for pros and cons on remage barrel setups mostly, I have the knowledge and skills to do the work.

There is only one good reason for building your own instead of contracting someone else to do it for you; because you can. If you are capble, there is absolutely no reason not to do it. As far as the barrel nut business is concerned; it doesn't matter. Rifle building and shooting is a fine hobby if you don't overthink it. GD

I am excited now figured I would get some cons on this remage barrel but it sure makes it a lot easier to Tinker with your rifle and build that just right hunting rifle without the extra cost and wait.does anyone know if anyone is producing the Remage barrels in Remington 5r rifling? Specifically a light varmint contour or heavy Sporter contour in 5R 11.25 rifling?

If it is primarily a hunting rifle, I would skip the varmint contour and go with something lighter, that will be more enjoyable to carry. Perhaps a #3 Bartlein contour.


The heavy weight can be great for extended strings of shooting, but for a hunting rifle, the weight kind of kills the nice carrying aspects of a compact rifle.

I put together my own, using a Shilen DGR instead of a 700. Like you, I also used a Criterion barrel. Glad I did it. Most accurate rifle I own. Has shot about 2" groups at 500 on more than one occasion.

Anyway, my concern with doing the Remage on a "trued" 700 action would be the thread diameter of said action. Can't say with 100% certainty, but I believe the prefits for the Remage setups are for factory threads. If the action hasn't been molested yet, have your 'smith do all the normal blue printing but leave the threads factory. A pinned recoil lug makes things much nicer as well.

John

I don't have a problem with folks spending their own money doing whatever makes them happy, but you are basically talking about building a Rem 783 by starting out with a Rem 700.

I'll bet you could buy a half dozen 783s for the same money and the 783 has a stiffer receiver out of the starting gate.

A RAR predator would be another equivalent.

Or a Tikka.

You're spending your own money so it's your choice.

I've been there though...

In my life I've foolishly spent money on too many guns, not to mention fast cars, booze and dames, and I'll never get that money back!

The rest of my money I just wasted!

Gitsum,
Remington had the same idea in the 60's. They called it the Model 600/660. They had 18.5" barrels. Subsequently in 2004 or so they made another run of them and called it the Model 673.

Kimber 84M Montana....chopped to 18"

It would be light

I would try a Wby S2 or T3 compact 20"
Might scratch your itch

Then go for it, whatever lifts your skirt.

Although I trained and worked as a machinist before getting into computers, I don't have the equipment to do my own work other than simple jobs like bedding, trigger work or building an AR. After paying gunsmiths for a couple of builds (6.5-06AI on an Interarms Mark X action and a .338WM assembled from all-Ruger parts), I've decided there are too many good shooters out there to go that route again - at least any time soon.

For a compact hunter I chose a Ruger Scout with a 16/1" barrel. It came with a laminate stock which I replaced with Ruger's newer synthetic stock. Also added a muzzle brake, after which my hunting buddy stated there was "no recoil". (An exaggeration but it is reduced significantly.) The synthetic stock reduced the base weight to 6.25 pounds per Ruger and moved the balance point forward to just under the front action bolt. With the factory ghost ring the irons are good (for me) out past 200 yards with a 150g BT running 2699fps. The factory 10-round steel mag has been joined by synthetic 3- and 5-round mags. for hunting I will use the 3-round.

Not much more I could ask for in the way of a compact hunter.

I actually own a Ruger Predator in the .308 18" threaded version, it is a .75 moa rifle WITH a 1.5-6x44 Hawke Endurace 30 scope, Lord knows what it would do with a 14 or 16 power scope! Any way the Ruger is what has sent me down this path! If Ruger made the 18" barreled PREDATOR rifle in a stainless steel version I would probably not be on this journey! To me, for me this rifle is the perfect south eastern deer rifle (accuracy included). I want a rifle similar to this rifle in a "hunters weapon" stainless steel. I do not want to watch it rust as I have literaly watched my Ruger rust while sitting in my tree stand on a cold rainy day. Not to mention the vulnerability of the rifling in a chrome moly barrel to the real world of hunting. I do not want to worry about my hunting rifle while I am hunting, period. I am not talking about an "arm chair" rifle here, I am wanting a rifle I can hunt with, that drives tacS that is weather proof. Don't want to buy a bunch of production rifles "hoping" for a shooter in the configure I want...............hence...........build my own!!!'

Ordered a trued REM single shot 40x receiver today, I actually started the build!! LOL. YES, single shot. Less overall weight, no bottom metal, spring , follower etc. ability to use a ADL stock, less metal, noise and weight. Rarely need more than one shot anyway.

I have received a lot of wisdom and encouragement and for that I wanna thank you all for adding your 2,3 and 4 cents worth............so far it's been very beneficial to my build!!!!

I have received a lot of wisdom and encouragement and for that I wanna thank you all for adding your 2,3 and 4 cents worth............so far it's been very beneficial to my build!!!!

just buy an outta the box Tikka......

splurge on glass/rings......

(if married) take the wife out to dinner with the rest...

Have excellent German glass and rings already and Tikka does not make a stainless version I like. No one does, all the production rifles available today are geared toward "Chris Kyle" wanna bees. No offense what so ever towards Kyle intended, he is a true American hero. With that said I refuse to buy another "one size fits all" rifle. I purchased a REM SA single shot action, Criterion .308 REMAGE light varmint barrel 20", Nss barrel nut and lug and tools. When I get it together wil mic out the action and barrel for a McMillan Hunter stock inlet with 13 1/4" pull.

Thought about goin the Montana route (a fine rifle if you get a shooter) but there we go again.......paying a gunsmith to remove, shorten, crown and install a barrel to get what I want when the configuration should have been offered by the manufacturer. Any barrel length over 18"- 20" on a 308 is wasted metal and diminished ergonomics in mine and many others opinion.

It is offered by the manufacturer.

Kimber Adirondak - 18 inch barrel, lighter than a Montana and available in .308

No building needed.

Gitsum,

Single shots can be reloaded very quickly. In my opinion there really is no drawback. Sounds like a nice build. Good luck






Shod

Terrible reviews on accuracy, some shoot and some don't.............production rifle blues.........$1500 Blues.

Just saying - I know of people buying up all the Kimbers they can that "don't shoot" and getting them to shoot - no gunsmith required.

Mine shoots excellently.

Good luck with your build.

I am not bashing anybodies rifles, not what I do. I have had some downright hole in hole production rifles, recommended em to friends and the one they buy don't shoot worth a flip. Relieve the stock, cleanup the crown hand load some taylored ammo and they shoot. I understand all that. I bought a Cooper few years back. Beautiful rifle, would not shoot high quality match factory ammo inside an inch. Was able to load up some rounds it would shoot. A $2000 rifle should shoot sub moa with high quality factory match ammo in my opinion, my $400 Ruger Predator will, in fact most of em will. That suggests me that Cooper, Kimber etc. is ridin on name if they can build a "custom" production rifle, charge $1500 plus and get away with "if you work at it, it will shoot rifles".
Just frustrates me that's all. I just thought I would see if I can build one exactly like I want and it shoot 1/2" or better moa.
Hell I may find out I am all wet on this, we'll see.
I will post some honest group pics with Hornady Amax factory ammo when I get her built. If I can't build one that will shoot 1/2 moa or better with factory match ammo I will gladly eat crow sandwiches! LMAO

I am having action trued but leaving threads alone, you are right REMAGE barrels have Remington thread unless you have a barrel made and threaded from a blank. As far as I know you would then have to have nut built for larger thread diameter........and I am tryin to keep gunsmiths outta the equation as much as possible. Wasn't gonna even true the action but got weak on that one. Lol

Greatest fun on Earth you can do while vertical is to build one like you mention. I use Remington 700, 40X, and 783 actions, along with the Savage single Shot Precision Target Actions.

My favorite barrels are the Pac-Nor Super Match Stainless Steel, with the Rem Nut for the Remington. I usually order Pac-Nor's polygonal rifling as I have found it extremely accurate in every caliber, and easy to clean. I use a twist calculator to match the twist rate to the particular bullets being used.

I rebarreled a 783 to .25-06 using one of the Criterion barrels from Northland Shooters Supply, and found it to be an accurate and well finished barrel. However, the Pac-Nor is superior, but more expensive with a longer wait time. Shilen barrels are another good choice, I have them on several rifles.

The last Remington 700 I did on a new Brownell's action. Like you I had it modified, except for the barrel threads. The best things I had done was to have the bolt raceway reamed, and the bolt double sleeved, to keep the top locking lug in contact with the receiver during the firing cycle. The lugs were fitted and the firing pin hole bushed, and a double pinned precision recoil lug installed, facilitating swapping barrels. I had the Jewel trigger I had installed timed. This was overkill, but it's a hobby.

The barrel nut does not detract from accuracy when carefully installed. I use headspace gauges to ensure that each barrel is within specs, and can be reinstalled exactly the same. I also use a Teflon anti-seize on the barrel, receiver and nut threads, to protect the steel and allow for consistent torquing of the nut.

Here's a couple of photos of what they look like:



Above: Remington 700, Pac-Nor 24" Super Match .308 Winchester polygonal rifled 1:10" twist, Sendaro contour barrel, with 12 degree muzzle crown, Vais Muzzle Brake, Rem-Nut. Bell & Carlson Medalist M-4 Stock with Wyatt Outdoor detachable magazine bottom metal. OEM internal magazine and bottom metal is interchangeable. This rifle also has a Pac-Nor barrel in .22-250 Ackley that interchanges and uses the same magazines.




Above: Remington 783 with Rem/Age Criterion barrel in .25-06, with .250" precision recoil lug, Boyds laminated stock. I still have to finish developing loads for this rifle. The Factory .30-06 barrel is shown on the table.

It's not a mistake to build your own, especially given that the .308 Winchester configuration shoots well under .5" at 100 yards for 10 shots.

You may not know it,but you have about the same chance of having the same blues with a custom gun costing twice as much.

Not likely Lol. But if and that's a big if I do I can do everything I need to do to tweak it myself WITHOUT paying a gunsmith to do it. Even if I had to buy another barrel I would still be in the black by avoiding the smith. You must own a Kimber, if you do I sincerely am happy you are happy with it. Like I said I will not be baited into some sorta pis sin match with anybody about their choice of rifles.........like I said I own a Ruger Predator 18" barrels 308 that is the cheapest made, roughest milled receiver, watch it rust finished rifle I have ever owned but it shoots fantastic. to each his own, I am to busy enjoying building this rifle to worry about wether someone else's rifle is better than mine. I like all rifles I am a rifleman I own one old shotgun and one nice handgun but have 2 safes of some very nice and a few extremely accurate rifles all production rifles. But this one will be my design built by me. A first for me.

Hey bud those are some nice lookin rifles, did you pillar and bed the Boyd stock?.....my plan is to put a McMillan under mine but thought about the Boyd

Gotta go with Ted here.

Just for the record,I wasn't trying to bait you. I try very hard not to match piss with anyone. Neither was I promoting any particular rifle.I was simply stating that things don't always work out as you planned,but I see you have this well in hand,so I wonder why you ever posted the question to start with.

I attempted to clarify the reason I posted thread earlier. With the exception of a couple of responses I have not heard any real cons to the REMAGE setup. I realize I could improve things by having a Kreiger, Bartlein barrel etc. turned down and threaded for the REMAGE setup but I am not tryin to create a bench rifle here. Just an assembled by me consistantly true sub moa factory ammo shooting huntin rifle built the way I need it. So far what I have heard about the Criterion REMAGE setup has been upheld in the thread. The reason I started the thread was so I could confirm what I had heard elsewhere. I just joined this forum but have referred to it for a long time because there a lot of well informed and well intentioned members that are knowledgable and respectful. Most of the responders were able to get what I was after and I appreciate the pros and cons that were offered.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your knowledge and time.

I can appreciate your thinking. Some time ago I gave up a few hobbies and usually bring my lunch to work to save every penny I can to have my rifles custom built. Sounds like you want to have a rifle that is truly your own, and I tip my hat to you. It no doubt adds to pride of ownership to have your own sweat in it. I should also add that I am too chicken to build my own.

You already have a lot of good input so I'll leave it with giving a +1 to those who said starting with a trued action is a good idea.