Hey fellas,

Just curious what you'd do for a dedicated LR rig if you had about $2000 to play with for rifle and glass. It'd be chambered in .243AI.

I think a 700 action, 24" #3 or #4ish contour throated for the AMAX at like 2.8-2.9", dropped into a Game Scout with Edge Fill, Talley's and 3.5-10 or perhaps 4.5-14x40 with M1s would be freaking stellar. Plus, you could still pack that dog around and hunt the heck out of it.

BTW, let's do two different categories- Your choice for a +/- factory rig, and custom builds.

Tanner-what's a game scout?

Dober

It's trhat new Mickey pattern. Looks really nice.

Jordan, I did the "factory" category:
Montana 257 Roberts (new): $1,100
IT&D rebarrel to 243AI (SS Douglas 8 twist 6 groove): $440
FX3 6x42 M1 $475
Talley LW lows: $40
all in I'm a little over your $2,000, but I'm happy...

I'd make sure and have the bbl twisted for the 115gr Berger and 115gr DTAC. 1/7.7 seems pretty popular.

Savage Axis with a 243AI ER Shaw barrel and a 6-24 Bushnell Banner in Talley LWT's of course.

Light done right...

$1500 for the Nightforce leaves you $500 for a used SPS 243 to punch out.

Minitucky is going to rot and crumble right before your eyes for that comment...

That's what I was thinking

I`m in the process of doing that now. But it`s going to be 7mm.
We`ll square the 700 action, barrel from pac-nor, #4 contour, 26 inch, 9 twist 5 groove CM, Wby chambering and throat. All stuck in a McMillan.
Glass is stright 10x, SS.
We`ll do all the work, including barrel install.
Deer, rabbits, woodchucks, crows and other stuff. We`ll start at three, and work out.

or this...

Factory rifle ? How about a Ruger in 6.5 Creedmor ? If you must have a .243AI, then how about a Ruger Predator Rifle rebarreled in .243 AI ? E

6.5x47 Lapua, trued 700 in a A5 , a Brux, Kreieger,Bartlien or Rock creek tube!

Haven't done a lot of research on this, so go easy on me. What does a 6x47 Lapua do that a 243 or 243AI doesn't? Thanks!

Details???

Nice looking stock.

Looks like a SS glass.

My 243 came in about that price range. 8 twist brux light palma, rem action single point trued by Jim See, B&C stock, currently wears a Nitrex 6-20x50 but has a Vortex Viper HS 5-15x40 mil/mil on back order for it.

Bb

Sounds familiar. I have a 6.5x47 Lapua in a trued 700 action with a Kreiger barrel but in an HS stock with HS bottom metal. It's wearing a Leupold Mark 4 6.5x20 50mm scope.

Mike,

Looks good, but is likely a bid outside of the $2000 budget

Yes, please.

I was going to be pretty close to that but go 7.5 on the brux in light palma finished at 26". As MM mentioned you want to be able to throw the 115s and I have seen 8 twist that would not do it under all temperatures or altitudes. Depending on the contour you might ask for a longer shank for setting the barrel back at about 2000 rounds. If you sweet talk Brux they will rebarrel your action for $150 (that was last year, might be to busy now).

I would go with the BC light tactical for about $200, DNZ mounts with 20-30moa of cant for $75 (damn tough to beat for a ring and base combo) and if you had the itch for a detachable magazine PTG has gotten in the game with an intro offer of $99. For glass I really like th SWFA SS 5x20 but I know that will bounce you over the budget.

Everything except the barrel and rings were bought used off of CGN.

I spent the better part of a year buying used parts here and on sniper's hide, then sent the box of stuff to Travis (TMR) at RBros Rifles:

Rem 700, 243 AI, a Rock Creek fluted 1-7.5 twist, finished at 26", Manner�s stock, Badger bottom metal and mags. Gunkote finish, 20 MOA rail, Jewell trigger.

Made specifically to hurl 105 AMAX and 115 DTAC at the deer population.

More than a wee bit over your budget, but worth it.

6.5-06 (or yours would be 243 AI)

Remmy 700 ( Action had the works done )
Sako extractor
HS Sporter Stock, 3 color camo
Rock #5 8 twist
Break ( Smiths own design )
Remmy Bottom Metal
700 trigger ( blueprinted by smith )
All metal cerkote satin black

I supplied the bolt knob and base.

Shoots freaking lights out! That is a 500 yard target!
Smith is one of the best I've used!

Rifle as you see it (save optics) is in your budget!

PM me for details

The 6x47 is a great round but I was talking about the 6.5x47, it is a great little package with high BC bullets,fits perfect in a short action great brass and super accurate....it's on my next list

why 243 ackley? nothing wrong with it but 6-284 or 6.5 284 just a thought. cost would be the same. and you save fire forming process.

Already got the dies

So it looks like the starting point is a R700 Varmint in .243, some Redding .243AI dies, Lapua .243 brass, and a half dozen boxes of 105gr A-Max and HPBT. I'll probably throw an A5 and a Krieger on there at some point. Not sure which I'll do first, though.

Optics?

Duh. 6x42 M1

4.5-14X40 LR Mark 4

Not a fan of lupy. Their turret design is horrible.

Best bang for your buck is the NXS

The Zeiss I have on the rifle in the picture is quite impressive I must say.

So you're gonna plunk down what $600-800 for the rifle. Or more.
Then send it to a smith to true it and punch it to 243AI ($500)
Then throw on an A5 $500

hmmm

$800
$500
$500
that's $1800 and just for the stick.. no optics.

You need to send me a PM and ask for details.

You might have problems stabilizing the 105's in the factory Remington barrel. It is hit or miss with them. If you could find a donor action for a good price, buy an unfluted barrel, HS varmint stock, and a Vortex PST or HS scope. You should be pretty close to your budget number. Just depends on how good of a buy you get on the components.

Agreed on the vortex.

Savage SS model 16, McGowen prefit barrel in 7mm SAUM, B&C Medalist stock. Leupy 4.5x14 Varmint Hunter Ret.

If $2000 is a firm limit, then it might be challenging to get there.

I think my approach would be to shop around for a used 700 Varminter in .22-250 or .308, preferably with a good ( HS Precision or B&C, not factory injection molded ) stock. You could probably get one, rebarrel, chamber, and pick up dies for close to $1000.

That leaves $1000 for optics. Leupold custom shop 6.5-20X, 30 mm tube, 40 mm objective, find duplex, with target turrets.

$2500 to $3000 would be a lot more do-able. You could start with a new action, buy the stock you want separately, and fund a Jewell trigger.

Tom

Although I'll be thrown out with the bad dogs:

Buy an accutrigger Savage long range hunter in 7 Mag, have TMR rechamber it using his 7 mag reamer for 180 grain bullets, put a SWFA SS scope on it in 5X20 HD with Mil/Mil and a Seeking 20 MOA rail using SWFA low rings. go shooting.

easy.

Isn't 243AI of course, but I figure a 1985 Cowboy with quality iron sights is plenty LR for anything worth killing. If you're relatively good at math (I'm thinking geometry, calculating trajectory and what-not) I think I'd go that route. I wouldn't even re-stock it.

good enough reason.

I have two for that purpose...

Model 70 chambered in 6.5 x 57, 28 in Heavy Magnum Contour, 1 in 7 twist...6.5 x 20 Leupold... Factory Stock

Model 700, chambered in 6mm Rem, 24 inch heavy magnum contour, 1 in 7 twist, 6.5 x 20 Nikon...Boyd's laminate stock..

In all seriousness, an SPS Varmint 243, A-5, jewel and youre good to go

Hmm, after watching some people shoot at 1 k+ who can and did at IBS 2 I have doubts about defining LR as 500yds to a 1 k as a long range rig anymore. Numerous folks shooting and hitting targets to 1792 yards were using bigger cartridges than 6mm. Seems like most of those 1 k to 1800 yd rigs started at 6.5 cal. Scenarshooter was whacking the 1 k target with a 6mm using the 115 DTAC on a AR build.His advice would sure weigh heavy with me if I was to build something for this use. You did ask for opinions right? Magnum Man

Yessir! Thanks to all for the feedback so far!

MM,

I know a guy who has taken the .223 with the 90gr VLD to 1760 yards with good success. That bullet has an almost identical BC to the better .243 bullets like the 105gr Horn HPBT and the 115gr VLD, so I don't think I'll have too much trouble out to 1000, and a bit beyond. The 105AM is no 6.5mm or 7mm, but that's why I've got bigger rifles

I'd like to add to archie's idea:

Savage Axis '06

Barska 5-64x60

See Thru's

Winchester Supreme Power Points

Winning!

Awh jeez man... here I am thinking I have a good idea and you drop the hammer like that! That's cold

Savage Axis' are the new Minituckys.

We have run our 6mms out to 1600 with great results. Spotting shots gets a little difficult, that's where the 6.5's and up come in handy.

Well, I shot the donor. Looks like the Krieger can wait





I threw together a couple of random loads with the 105gr A-Max and 87gr V-Max, just to see what the factory barrel would do. I don't even know how far off the lands the bullets are sitting with these loads, but it didn't seem to matter much. I fired 1 shot to get on paper at 35 yards, then backed up to 200 yards, and the 2nd shot down the barrel is off to the left on the first target, then the next 6 shots went into the group at center. Oddly enough, the shots started to walk down a little as the barrel warmed up. The next 4 rounds (87gr VM) were fired on the second target (the holes that are highlighted were not shot with this rifle). Groups were shot with a 2.5-8x36.

Rem 700 Varmint .243, going to be punched AI in the next week or two, I just ordered an A5 in Rhino camo, tuned the X-Mark pro trigger as well as it can be tuned (I'll pick up a Shilen at some point), and that's about it for now. It's got 30mm Burris Sig rings riding on top, and I'll likely end up with a Viper PST 6-24x50 FFP EBR-1 MOA reticle unless somebody convinces me the SIII is a better scope for what I'm doing.

Gonna get it punched AI, then I'll coat the bore with DBC, the exterior with DGS, and start load development. I'm thinking that with some tweaking, it should hold about 0.5MOA if it can keep doing what it's doing! I've got a pile of 105AM, 105HPBT, and some 87VM to play with. Going to pick up some 80gr TTSX at some point, as well.

That doesnt make sense....stock 700's dont shoot...


Surely it must be a T3 or a savage? (G)

I wish!

I heard that the Savage Axis is the new Minitucky. I could only be so lucky... *grin*

I'm glad it does shoot those 105gr A-Max's. If it didn't, that A5 that I ordered would have been a Krieger instead...

Most of the newer ones won't 'cause Remington can't figure out how to properly crown them. The hammer forged barrels are great and will shoot once they are properly crowned. A Manson tool is the ticket.

You can only pray the .243 SPS V clangs like an Ax'tucky

PS- Twintana clangs the 14X14" with 55 FMJ's and Vmaxs at 440 yards. Cant wait to see what 75's do...should be spookifying

Takeaknee- I was just bugging Jordan. I am a devout Remington slut In fact I just went and fireformed some 7mm SAUM brass using tipless 162 amax's. They clanged at 330 yards with boring irregularity from my CDL stocked Model 7 SS

The 75's are in a whole different class. I found anything over about 450 yards, and the 55's are all over the map if the wind is any stronger than a whisper, even from a .22-250...

Tipless AMAXES?

Jord, we had a left to right wind coming toward us at about 10 o'clock. Wasn't a fast wind but regardless I needed about 10" of hold for a dead centre gong hit. It put about 25 or 30 rounds into 12". Its gettin there Got any pics of the SPS V yet?

F*ck, I let the secret out...Tanner, look into this little red beam for a second


They were just Amax's I had to pull outta some hot hot hot loads, so the tips were smashed, mangled and ker-f*ckled. Good for fireforming

Sweet! Sounds like Minitucky shoots AND feeds! Who woulda thought a Montana could do both of those things!

A full-value wind of about 5mph that is a little shifty or gusty will play hell with your wind holds with those 55's. You're going to be rockin' once you get the 75's up and running.

No pics yet. I've got the scope sitting in a set of high rings right now. I should have the mediums by mid-week, so it'll probably have to wait until Friday for pictures. I'll snap a few while I'm looking for Yogi

Montuckys dont shoot or feed. Anyone with one needs to PM me immediately and I'll buy it for its weight in scrap steel

You lucky bastids got a spring yogi hunt eh, I'm jealous. We had one but years back our PC's axed it to win votes from Torontonians, and now our Lib-tard govt. wont re-instate it...no big game hunting till August 15th...

That is about what most of 'em are worth until you get a real barrel installed. Gotta love a "project" rifle that costs a grand out of the box.

Yeah, totally... Haha!

F*ck, and here I thought 25 rounds of 55 grainers into 12" at 440 yards off a back back WITH a burning hot barrel was decent from a Montana....




I better intsall a real barrel. TRUTH be told, I haven't shot any sub .75 MOA groups yet from it.

Though theres 350 rounds through it now, and I've never once cleaned the barrel, didnt even remove the packing oil. Its ok though, my break in procedure is almost done and Im about ready to clean it and see just WTF.

My barrel break in was to drag it behind the truck and then give it a kiss. Mine went .55" yesterday for 3 at 100. 5 into an 1.2" and I couldn't touch the barrel by the 4th.

Also good to note that my project rifle was 1500$. Tanner that sounds like a solid shooter, likely due to your break in procedure. have you got serious with the 140 speedwise yet? Also have you tried the 165s to any extent yet?

I need to buy mas 165s, then I'll dick with 'em. I think around 2900 they will shoot lights out. I would guess my 140s are doing low 3100s, I'll clock them real soon. I don't mind a bit slower load so long as it shoots well and is temp resilient! May mess with Magpro though,just for S&G's.

$600 Remington 700SPS in .243Win
$360 for a #3 barrel from the local benchrest smith/barrel maker
$300 (approx) for him to thread,chamber,headspace his barrel to .243AI
$215 for B&C Medalist M40
$40 for EGW angled base
$60 for Burris XTR 30mm rings
$280 for a 6.5-20x 44mm Vortex Viper on special from Doug at Cameraland
$120 for a Timney 510 trigger
Balance spent on tax/misc under-guessed prices most likely. If I had spare $$$, I'd spend it on bedding/trueing work from the smith, and then better glass.

That said, I've got a nice SPS-V already, and have seen no need to change its barrel or trigger.

Jord, the son of a biitch sent me 400 Amaxs! I suppose now I HAVE to take a dremel to my mag box/bolt stop....

Do it with a smile...

Here's the talley so far:

- $535 Remington 700SPS Varmint in .243Win
- Barrel - sticking with factory for now. No reason to change
- $150 (approx) for smith to chamber and headspace barrel to .243AI
- $575 for McMillan A5
- $20 for Weaver base
- $30 Burris Signature rings with canted inserts
- $1130 for a 6-24x50mm Vortex Viper PST FFP EBR-1 MOA (can't purchase scopes from Doug since he can't export them to me)
- Trigger - will come later. I'll suffer the X-mark pro for now, which is fairly decent after I made some adjustments
- Dyna-Gun Shield on the exterior metal and DBC in the bore


Before anybody calls me out, YES, the total is more than $2000. And yes, I had to throttle back the feel-good cosmetic expenses on a .223 project, in order to get this one set up how I wanted it, for what I feel is a decent LR rig.

Count your blessings and bust out the Dremel. I'm thinkin' 400 HPBT's would have been nice, but a .430 BC is always better than a .400 BC, so get to it.

The barrelled action is at Henry's for a re-chamber and re-crown job this week. The Viper PST is sitting in the basement waiting for the rifle to come back, and the McMillan A5 is on order. Have about 300ct 105AM and 300ct 105HPBT sitting on the shelf for testing and load development. Patiently waiting...

243 AI is an excellent long range candidate.

Finally got the barreled action back from the smith with the new chamber and crown. Last night I applied DGS and DBC and mounted up the scope, and will be doing some FF load testing soon. Now just waiting on the campfire bolt knob, 20MOA rail, and A5 stock!

Threw together some FF loads and hit the range yesterday. Here are some pics. Rifle weighs 11.5lbs as shown, including the bipod. Bore-sighted the scope at 25 yards, and then went to 100 and then 200 yards. Some targets were shot at 100 yards to get on paper, and the remaining groups were at 200 yards. Each target is labelled with the distance.













Can't wait to get the last little pieces together to complete the rig!

How do you like the optics in that scope?

Not apples to apples for a few reasons, but on 6x it's brighter and clearer than my FX3 6x42. I would say that the optics are a bit of a step up from the Bushnell Elite 4200 4-16x42, Hawke Frontier 4-16x42SF, and the VX3's that I've used.

Good to hear, thanks.

The only Vortex I have tried was a bottom end variable on a buddies 7mag and it was a POS. Stands to reason they make good high-end scopes.

Next time we do a shoot at Homestead you'll have to come out with that rifle!

Sounds good. Let me know when, and I'll try and be there.

Of course I'll probably just get laughed off the range, so maybe I should stay away...

My goal last year was don't finish last, so I hear you!

Homestead, at 5000' and on the side of that hill, is very humbling. A 2MOA wind in one direction one minute, then the next shot 3 minutes the other way, while trying to hit a 1 MOA 5 ring and a 1/2 MOA v-bull.

It's all in fun anyway.

Yeah, Homestead is a nice range, but the terrain makes for some interesting shooting, as you say.

It would be fun to come out and meet with you and some of the other guys at the next shoot.

UPDATE:

Spent an hour in the shop and installed the Karl Kampfeld Campfire knob. I also got an email from Rick a couple of days ago saying that my Mickey A5 is en route. Can't wait to see the new Rhino camo.

My 3-year old seems to be a stock crawler...

What's rhino camo? Cute little stock crawler you got there....looks like you have room to move his scope forward a little

Cool beans Jordan, I think I was about 3 when I built my first 243 A.I. too

Rhino camo is a new scheme from McMillan. I'll post pics when it gets here!

This is the second Campfire bolt knob I've installed on a 700, and I'm REALLY liking it. It's a lot smaller than most other tactical knobs out there, but it's just big enough to be a noticeable upgrade to the factory bolt handle as far as feel and function go.

Jordan,

That's shaping up!
The rug-rat looks like he's stretching out nicely.

Yeah, he's come a long ways...





After the Mickey shows up, I'll skim bed it, and the build will be done for now. Once I burn out the barrel, I'll likely grab a Krieger, Rock, or Bartlein in Rem Varmint contour in either .243AI again, or else .260 or .260AI, and rock on. But for now, the A5 will give me what I wanted to end up with- I hope. The only bummer (if you can call it that), is that I'll be gone moose hunting for a week when the stock shows up. Barb will have to crack open the packages for me and send me a text with pics.

How are things going down in your neck of the woods?

Got back from moose hunting and a package was waiting at the post office for me

Just some quick pics for now until I can get out and get some decent ones. Top rifle is the .223 in Arctic camo, bottom is the .243AI in Rhino camo.

The .243AI is sitting on the vice as the bedding compound sets up right now...

That thing is sweeeeet. I bet it won't shoot worth a darn... grin

That's what I'm afraid of!

I'll post a range report once I'm done the bedding, etc.

I LIKE that Rhino Camo. Great looking rigs!

John

Looks great.

Jordan how long did your stock take to get there? I'm at 15.5 weeks on my game scout

Ordered the pair in the middle of May and they were shipped out the last week of September. Arrived first week of Oct. I was at 17 weeks exactly from the order date to completion date.

When I crossed that bridge... I went with a Model 70 Long Action, and a 28 inch Pac Nor barrel in a heavy magnum contour and chambered it in 6.5 x 57, with a one in 8 twist...

no regrets at all...

I may go to a .260AI barrel once this one's shot out, but in the mean time I need to have some fun with this tube first!

Nice Jordo! Rhino camo, I likey...grin

I'm still thinking about maybe a HTH (or General Purpose) handle for my WSM action and a new 7WSM tube for it as well.

Do any of you know if they'll do Edge fill on a HTG stock? Seems to me I heard once that they will...?

Thx

Dober

Forgot to mention, I love the backpack pic!

Dober

Thanks, Dober!

I was kind of expecting Rhino camo to be a bit darker, based on online pics, but I like it fine just the way it is. It's certainly growing on me.

I would think that a build like that would be model perfecto And it sure looks like McMillan will do Edge fill on the HTG, since you can order one from Rick's campfire outfitter's shop.

Nothing better than packing a kid on the back to go and get a breath of mountain air!

Dang, those spuds are riding in style! Do they have to hold the backstraps if something hits the deck?

I'm thinking I started riding along in the truck on 'lope hunts when I was 3 or 4, and coming along in the field when I was 5.

That's where this one comes from!

Great pics, fellas! It's a good thing I don't have one of those Eberlestock packs, where you put the rifle in your pack, or else the boy would have to share with the Rhino .243AI, AND hold the backstraps when something dies...

Glag to see I'm not tho only one who can't get a shot of Arctic camo!

I really like that rhino, man. Thinkin' I might need to order one in an RMR for a Sportsman 78 .223 that's been giving me a little attitude lately. And I'm probably going to have to pick up an SPS-V in .243 as well (though the A-series Mickey will likely be coffee camo).

Hah! I'll get a good one, just you wait!

Good pics of Arctic camo are like sasquatch...

for a factory rifle, id go for a tikka 695 in 7mm rem mag, for my semi custom, im ecstatic with my interarms 7mm rem mag,in a mcmillan

No kidding!

Dry firing the X-Mark Pro just wasn't doing it for me, next to the Shilen on the Arctic camo .223, even after I did some tweaking, so I've got a Timney coming. I swear, after this the build is done

I'm also going to spend a bunch of effort to get a decent pic of the Arctic camo rifle just to impress you guys. *grin*

I'm surprised you went with the Timney after owning a Shilen...


Travis

Heretic! That's photoshopped... grin

Nice! Now I don't have to worry so much.

Figured I should try a Timney. People speak highly of them

I honestly like a bit wider trigger shoe than the Shilen, so I figured I'd compare it to a Timney and see what I think.

Still waiting on the Timney trigger, so I'm working with the X-Mark Pro for now. I got out yesterday to do a bit of preliminary load work. I worked up with IMR4350 and the 105gr AM at 100 yards, looking for pressure. Firing two shots of each charge weight over the chrono, here's what the target looks like. Bullet is seated to squarely kiss the lands. Not bad for a factory Rem barrel. The 44gr load got 3144fps at 16*F from the 26" barrel. I could probably squeeze another 100-200fps out of the rifle, but I'd need to switch to a slower powder. Since I have 9lbs of IMR4350, I'll live without the extra 100fps for now. More results to come when I get a chance to load up a bunch of ammo at 43-44gr. I also plan to play with the 105gr HPBT and the 80gr TTSX. Probably won't get a chance until after November, since I'll be looking for deer rather than punching paper...

Looks to me like you're good to go with pretty much anything you decide between 42 and 44. .243 AI is a pretty cool round. I need to give one a try some day, purely in the interest of research, of course.

John

Naturally. Why else would you own one??

Thinking I'll load up a handful of rounds at 44gr, and see how we do on a 10-shot group at 100, and then do some turret twisting and steel smacking. Then I should have a decent idea of what this rifle will do. My scope setup and load will get me out to a mile, so that should be entertaining!

Jordan, I'm thinking something slower burning will make that puppy sing, but I can understand wanting to burn up your surplus of 4350 first

There's a guy over on 6br.com shooting RL-25 out of his 243 A.I, granted it's a little different set up. I do believe my first looks would be at Retumbo and RS Magnum, but that's just my very amateur idea.

Yeah, once I've used up the 4350, I'll play with some slower powders like R25, IMR7828ssc, 4831, Magnum, Retumbo, etc.

In the mean time, I should be able to find an accurate load with 44gr of 4350 if I play with the seating depth some *grin*

Sure looks like it wants to shoot! Pretty interesting that POI moved down as the charge increased.

I was thinking this same thing last night when I browsed through the thread

Yeah, down and to the right. Barrel harmonics are a funny thing. The node seems to be at around 3150-3160fps. I really like that the elevation remains fairly constant from 42-44gr, which tells me that if I lose a little velocity due to lower temps or some other factor, I'm not going to see any significant elevation change in my POI at zero.

I've got an 8 lb jug of Magnum here. Just might play with that and the 105's in my 243AI...

Not a bad plan. Send me some!

With work, kids, Scouts and church, I probably won't use all that powder in 5 years!

Nice dude! What are you dialing at 500? 7ish minutes?

I dialed 7.5MOA, and held 1MOA into the wind for that group. I should have held another 0.25 into the wind.

That group was shot standing up with the rifle rested on a folded towel on a piece of farm equipment The stubble is just too high to allow me to go prone in this spot. I'm thinking with a proper bench setup, or else a good prone/bipod position, the rifle should be able to do a bit better, yet.

Something is going on with the 7WSM right now (I suspect a possible scope issue), and it's only shooting about 1.7MOA at 525. It usually holds under 1MOA easy, with most groups sitting around 0.5-0.75MOA. I'm still not sure whether it'll be a 105 or a 162 that ventilates my cow elk in a few days, but apparently I can only take 1 rifle on the base to hunt, so I need to decide before I leave.

Well then shave for god's sake...

That thang is shooting nicely!

I installed the Timney yesterday, so I had to see how it felt slinging lead today. It's better than the X-Mark Pro.

Nice shootin Jordan!

Which model Timney? 510? That new 7 Rem of mine is absolutely going to require a new bang switch, unless a smith can perform miraculous surgery on the factory one.

Yup, 510. I have a Timney in this rig, and a Shilen in the sister .223. I'd grab a Shilen if I was you.

The last Timney I had was great, but I'm no trigger aficionado. What makes you recommend the Shilen over the 510?

The trigger shoe on the Shilen feels much better because it's narrower with crisper edges. This makes the pull weight feel lighter than the Timney. I tried adjusting the pull weight on the Timney down light enough to feel similar to the Shilen, but the sear kept tripping when I'd close the bolt hard, so I had to add some more weight to it. Even though the true weight is probably around 1.5lbs, it feels like the Kimber or Shilen triggers when set to closer to 2-2.5lbs.

Got mule deer?

Jordan, that stick is looking sexy in the McMillan

Got mule deer!

My younger brother has been practicing with me on steel out to 550 yards this year. At 25yo, I just got him into hunting a couple of years ago, and while he's taken a couple of does, he's never shot a buck. Yesterday was the last day of deer season. When the opportunity presented itself, my brother was going to use my .243AI/105AM combo on a nice small 3x3 MD buck at a bit over 500 yards, but the buck took off with his does before we could get him reasonably set up and ready for the shot. This little fella jumped up at 170 yards, and my bro decided to take his first buck. His Marlin XS7 .308 with 130gr TTSX at 3000fps did the job!

Jordan you'd really like a Jewell....

I'd love to try one if you're donating!

They're a little rich for my blood at the moment, but someday I'm sure I'll give one a go and then have to sell off all my Timneys and Shilens

They are somewhat expensive and really not a must have on a hunting rifle, but they are a nice luxury on a rifle that get's used like yours...I have 1 Rifle Basix that is alright but I think a factory can be adjusted to the same feel, I have played around with a Shilen my buddy owns and it's a nice trigger, but a Jewell will spoil you!

Very true statement, it's hard to use anything else after using a Jewell.

I think this is the final mod. The build is complete until it's time for a new barrel

Looks good Jordan

Jordan, is that the Badger?

What kind of COAL does it allow?

Looks good all the way around. Will be a fun rig for sure.

Atlas. Uses AICS mags. Max COAL on my mags is 2.920" with the reinforcing plate, and 2.995" with it removed. Reduce that by 0.020" for reliable feeding.

No feeding issues with the 243AI?

Makes me wish I went that set up instead of adl on my game scout if that's the case.

It didn't feed very well at all in standard BDL guise after blowing the shoulders out to AI, and while I could have remedied that with some massaging, I decided to just go AICS mags with their center-feed configuration, and be done with it. Feeds slick as snot now

Good to know. Are you running the atlas on your arctic .223AI as well if so can you run the 2.45ish needed for the 75Amax on the 223 mags?

I'm running BDL on that one, but I cut down the mag box spacer and re-welded it before coating the barreled action. After the mag box mod, 2.45" isn't a problem now at all. I run 5 down in the mag with the 75AM, and it feeds beautifully.

But after using the Atlas and AICS mags a bit on this .243AI, I'm sure the .223 will get the same treatment at some point...

I just sent my LVSF barreled action to the smith today for a new tube. The McMillan is in the mail again adl but I think the next rem/mcmillian will wear an atlas bottom metal.

Are you running name brand AICS mags or a different brand?

Thanks

True AICS mags. I might pick up some C Products mags in the future to try out, but these ones are Accuracy International.

Jordan, did you inlet the McMillan stock for the Atlas BM? Was it a factory BDL inlet before putting in the Atlas?

Thanks...

Yup and yup.

Great shooting JS. What brass you run?

Lapua.

Thanks for the info, that's longer than what I was thinking. Good to know though I have the APA bottom metal going on a 6.5x47 build.

Have a good one.

Bastard! How'd you get your Atlas before me?

Nice. I'm envious.

That should be obvious.

Bastid.

Can you kiss a 105 from the mag now?

I always could. When I had the chamber reamed to AI, I specified an AM kiss at just a hair shy of mag length.

Now I have room to chase lands for about 0.170", and still fit in the mag.

Ooohya I forgot you punched that bitch. At least now you have lots of room to chase

My atlas should be here any day now and my Sako Hunter should be ready soon.

Still need an action though

She got a face lift tonight...

This ^^^^^^

Nice ...Razor HD?

I'm thinking that rig would fit in at any Tac match, and we know how well you shoot it....

Yup, Razor HD EBR-2B w/ 25MOA turrets.

That is a sweet rig for sure!

Every time I open this thread I get flooded with ideas on how to get to something similar.

The Razor is sweet, what did you do with your PST? and why did you change?

I wish we had more Tac-style matches around here. In the mean time it'll be recreational steel killing and paper hunting

I changed because I had a chance to get a Razor for a little more than I paid for the PST. The PST had a fleck of dust settle onto an internal lens, so I sent it back to Vortex and upgraded to the Razor. The PST was absolutely awesome mechanically, and optically it was very very good, as well. I was totally happy with it, I just wanted to upgrade. Of course 134 MOA of usable elevation doesn't hurt, either!

SOB! That's a lot of UP... Will that take it to a mile

72 MOA takes it to a mile. The PST was able to do that with the 67 MOA available up, plus 5 MOA on the reticle.

I'll zero it tomorrow, so I'll know how much "up" I've got left after that, but I'm assuming I'll zero 20 MOA below the mechanical zero, which means I'll have 87 MOA of elevation remaining. That'll get me to 1880, then it's just a matter of getting a 40 MOA base so I can get 107 MOA of "up", which takes me beyond 2000 yards. And that's about as far as I think I care to take a .243 105gr bullet

Badger Ordnance makes a 45

I'm loving this reticle. Here are a few pics taken at twilight right after dusk. Crappy photo quality- the image looks MUCH crisper and brighter, in person. Taken on 5x, 12.5x, and 20x.

Can't talk to you about those but I can on the 6.5x47L! It does this on a regular basis:


15 rounds from 1000 yds. with 6.5x47 Lapua by Sharps45 2 7/8, on Flickr

That's from 1000 yds. This clanger is 20" diameter.

Here's another from 600 on a 5" AR400 clanger:


6.5x47L by Sharps45 2 7/8, on Flickr

That's ten rounds.

Here's the rifle:


RicksTacRifle by Sharps45 2 7/8, on Flickr