A good friend is looking to build his 'ultimate' hunting rifle. He is unlike me in that he wants basically one REALLY nice rifle whereas I have 4 or 5 'nice' hunting rifles. He is Left-Handed (not sure how much this limits choices). His use will be deer and elk, and he hunts in the open country of Eastern Oregon. His chambering of choice is 300wm. He is an experienced hunter, maybe not as knowledgeable as many of you in custom rifles. He wanted to get into LR tactical scopes and used a NXS 5.5-22x50 on his Abolt this year. He will be using that scope on this future build.
He is heavily favoring a Defiance Deviant Hunter LA. He was thinking a stock along the lines of a Manners MCS EH4, but is looking for ideas. Other thoughts at this point are HS Prec DBM and a timney.

This won't be a dedicated LR rig, more of an all-around with a hopeful rifle-only weight of around 7lbs.

Any thoughts on barrel length/contour he should choose (he wants fluting), and maybe a light-ish stock to get him a well-balanced rifle coming in at that weight?

Thanks in advance...

A NXS 5.5-20 on a 7lb rifle?

If I was him, I'd give Alamo Precision Rifles a call

Have them build a rifle based on a Curtis action. Curtis' website says they do southpaws.


They built me a 6.5creed on a rem700 earlier this year. X-caliber barrel. HS Precision stock


Great folks to deal with.

This design task reminds me of one my father posed several years ago. He wanted a perfect "one gun." It needed to be light, handy, highly accurate to 5-600 yards, elk capable, pleasant to shoot, etc. In short, he was defining a null set--no rifle could be all of those things simultaneously. At some point you have to make some design tradeoffs.

I would start with one of the good Rem 700 clones and spin on #2/2b/3 contour barrel (depending on the maker; contours vary), 24", flush bottom metal, and a good trigger. He needs to think about the stock and the scope as a unit. Getting the height of the comb right for the height of the scope will really matter in terms of cheek weld, accuracy, and the ability to handle recoil. But I think the bare gun will be closer to 8# than 7.

My father ended his quest with a 6.5-.284 that Greg Tannel built on a Rem 700, Jewell, and a McMillan Sako pattern stock. It absolutely is his go-to rifle and I don't think he has shot a critter with anything else in close to a decade. It is also at least 8# bare, but balances well and the stock pattern fits him well.

All good advice here by a very experienced gun nut. Only thing I would say is the new Rem 700 actions seem very nice for the money. Have a few and have had good results. https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/719012549/REM+700+LH+RECEIVER+L%2FA+MAGNUM

And I use CDI bottom metal on my 7mm Remington with AICS magazines. I like that for bottom metal a lot. And as mentioned above, you'll be closer to 8 pounds than 7.

Concur. That's more than 1/4 of the weight of the entire package right there.

7lb rifle weight, without scope.

Doh! There I go again not payin' attention - my bad.

Win 70 LH 300 Win Short Mag with a Mcmillion stock. Tough to keep it a LW with the 300 Win mag. I may sell mine.

I'd skip the DBM and go with a lightweight aluminum floorplate to save some weight. I have several DBM rifles and like them for their intended uses (prairie dogs and targets), but can't think of any reason I'd want one on a deer/elk rifle.

It’s doable for sure. I have a Bighorn Magnum Action with a 24” fluted sendero contour in an HTG the goes 8#’s. Lighter stock and less barrel should get damn close to 7.

I have a LH Pierce Titaniium SA 6.5 SAUM. Bolt spiral fluted and handle slimmed. McMillan Edge Game Scout stock, BDL floor plate, 24" Brux 8.5 twist #3 fluted, muzzle brake. 6 lbs bare gun, about 7 1/3 lbs scoped. Shoots honest half moa if you point it straight and is a joy to carry. Built by Cloud Peak Gunworks in Basin, WY.

LH Tikka T3 in McMillan Sako Hunter stock.

Bushnell LRHS 3-12x44

DONE.

Oh.. and 308.

All you need inside 500 yards.

A few more expensive Factory rifles to consider. All should be at or near the price of a full brown custom...

1. Sako Grey Wolf or any Sako. Have a 270Win in a LH Hunter with a nice light Swaro and she is an almost ideal GP hunting rifle.

2. Cooper of his liking. Next on my list!

3. Blaser R93 Pro. My 257WBY LUXUS is a beautiful well balanced hammer.

A Rifles, Inc "Classic" (not the Strata) would pretty much get him there as well. Lex can doing fluting and all that jazz as well (for an additional fee of course).

http://www.riflesinc.com/riflemodels.html#classic

Skip the heavy barrel and get a carbon one from proof research or Christensen arms... light as pencil thin sporters with some heavier barrel benefits.