DIY - New Build Project

[albow]

Seddo

I have not kept an exact log however having a think about the work I did the guess would be around 40 hours to do all the work on it. I also learnt a fair bit again during the build that would save me time and I also got myself a small angle adjustable vice which would have saved me a good few hours doing the butt of the stock which would make the next one a fair bit quicker. All told I reckon I could go start to finish now in about three full days.

[MISSED]

Fantastic Al what a great thread I would like to have a look at this rifle in real life.

I hope you enjoy shooting it as much as I have enjoyed watching you build it.

Definitely keen to get out and shoot it to see if all the effort has payed off

Also, for a bit over a 4hr drive you could come up to Narromine at the end of June for the SCC and see this one and all the other BR guns that the LR lads will have there shooting.

There are quite a few......... if not most of the shooters on this forum

dg manages the shoot and I saw a post recently where he was looking to provide more free parking and additional grandstand seating for spectators........ also the grandstand seats come with free entry into the paddock (think pit pass) so you can get up close to all the guns and talk to the drivers

Might have to do that but are the Heifers moved out of the "paddock" first

[Camel]

Might be a good opportunity for a few of us blokes who haven't been/seen these long range blokes do their stuff. Narromine
"Long-a-thon" ?? I wouldn't mind have a look at the proceedings.

Al, I am glad you started this thread, I have learned a bit. Thanks.

[Glenn]

Great job Al!!

Thanks for taking the time to photograph and write about your build.

Nice gun!

Glenn

[curan]

Great job Al!!

Thanks for taking the time to photograph and write about your build.

Nice gun!

Glenn

Yep! +1

[dg]

not wishing to hijack this thread, but in view of al's reference to the 2015 SCC, YES, visitors are most welcome to attend.

although the matches are held over the saturday and sunday, on the thursday and friday prior (25th/26th june) the range is made available to all competitors for sighting, practise, load adjustments/tuning, flag placements etc.

visitors are welcome to attend these days as well, to mix and mingle.

in reality, these days tend to be much more relaxed and laid back, with ample time to view proceedings, check out the gear, ask questions, offer suggestions and advice to competitors on their apparent inability to produce small groups at 1000yds etc

usually, on these days, depending on the weather etc, the range is active from around 9am until approx 1pm when many head back to town/accommodation for lunch reloading etc.

then range activities usually resume around 3pm until 5pm.

as a matter of interest, at the moment (if all who have nominated are able to attend) we have around 12 Heavy Gun competitors and 28 Light Gun competitors for the 2015 SCC.

don't quote me, but this is possibly the largest HG field ever to nominate for any 1000yd BR match in australia to date.

and, as al mentioned, many aus varmint forum members will be attending over the 4 days.

additionally, prior to the SCC, scheduled dates for the regular N-D 1000yd BR club matches are 8th March and the 3rd of May. visitors are welcome to attend these days as well, either to observe or compete if they wish.

cheers
dave g

[justjeff]

And in addition to Dave's post, if you hang around on the Thursday or Friday, you might even get offered a shot or two out of a LRBR gun.

Jeff

[B4408]

Albow, great pics and description. Thanks for taking the time to show us and hope you get on top of the podium at Narromine.
Bruce

[albow]

No worries about putting the pictures and videos up.

Has been good to actually capture the end to end progress along the way as there have been quite a number of build projects that I have done that end up with a great item with no real story of how I got there........... which some times can be lost

Also I hope it inspires a few more blokes to have a go at doing some of their own work. Not necessarily building a full stock from scratch, although it is very rewarding when you get to the end product, but even if it is doing a bedding job or modifying a stock such as floating a barrel. This helps show that it is not that hard to do the work.

And if there are blokes out there that want information on how to do something in more detail then flick me a PM and I will help where I can as that is how I did my first stock build. It was from many emails and a few phone calls obtaining assistance from Kenny Yates one of the other Ausvarmint forum members at the time. So roll the sleeves up and have a go

Also this is the thread posted on the completed rifle from last time way back in 2007......... how time flies

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1443

[albow]

mmmm will it shoot.

OK so today saw the first range test of the new rifle see if the old loads on the barrelled action were going to play the game in the new stock. It was also to see if the whole package of front rest, rear rest and stock also worked properly with the gun tracking.

For the testing I intended to check the loads I use for the 175gn sierra and the 162 Amax which are the two bullets I have been running in the 7mm JAT. To see if there were any changes, and where to go with the load if there was, I tested the known load previously used and went up one half grain and down one half grain to see if there was any change to the groups at 500m.

Well, not sure if it was the super hot and humid conditions that we have at the moment or just the new stock or a combination of both but both projectiles grouped better at the half grain lower powder charge. I will now work in that area to find the right load to fine tune where it needs to be. For these better groups, the amax shot a touch under 2.5" and the sierra's were a touch under 3". All the other groups were rather open and got out to the 4" area in size as if moving further away from the node.

Attached is a photo of the amax group which is reasonable although I would have liked to see it with a bit less vertical in the group.

For the rifle and rest as a package, the gun tracked very well and nice and straight with no lateral movement of the POA in the groups. The elevation and was a bit of an issue that I need to look at more closely. As the sand settled and packed in the rear bag, the rifle was sitting lower in the bag and the knob on the joystick handle making contact with the bottom of the pistol grip area of the stock which was pushing down ever so slightly and raising the rest rest. Then on recoil the knob would move out from under the stock and introduce a vertical movement in the gun as the rest moved down ever so slightly. I am not sure if this was causing some of the vertical I was seeing in the groups but I have a couple of thoughts on solutions to fix it, I just need to work out the best way

Based on today's performance I know what needs to be fixed with the total package and think I can see it working pretty well once all the bugs are ironed out so I think it will shoot

[jacksaligari]

Looks promising al only that one really that popped up too open the group up

[curan]

What group size would you think is possible at 500m Albow?

I would have thought the 2.5" to be damn good....... ....but then I don't shoot in your event, so.......

[albow]

Hi Curan

The range record here in TSV for a single small group in competition for LG is 0.955" and for HG is 0.981" from memory........ so got a bit of work to do

Based on the day in regards to some of the conditions we had at the range and the fact that I was only really looking for an indication on any changes to the existing load I had from the previous stock and set up I was using, 2.5" was OK although I am confident I can get it to improve. The smallest group the 175's shot which was around the 3" mark was flatter than this group for vertical which is what I really look for in my testing, it was just more of a weather report based on what the wind was doing.

Now that I know where to work with the loads I can further fine tune.

As far as what I would expect.......... I would like to see the groups to have as minimal vertical in them so that is what I am going to work on. Then it will only come down to picking the conditions. Whilst a single small group is nice, you need the gun to aggregate if you want to win matches. The goal if you compare results with the 600yd in the US is to aggregate in the 2" area for four targets to be on the podium

So as long as I can get it to shoot 2" groups all day I should be in the hunt

[ratshot]

Al how heavy did it end up being..

[albow]

ratsbot it ended up finishing 35lb which is a bit lighter than I was looking at making it but it is pretty nice on the bags as at that weight is still twice as heavy as the old LG.