Thanks
300 Norma Improved
- Thread starter rpierce
- Start date
Figured I would throw a post up with info on the new Borden Accuracy Bigfoot actions. They are optimized for the big lapua/norma magnum cases.
They are the straightest actions Ive seen so far and the best option for the norma/norma improved/ and lapua cases.
They have a 1.400 OD so as to have more meat between the OD and the 1.125x18 threads.
They have a .750 diameter bolt with taller lugs than 1.062 thread actions. This will help with lug setback. Theres a certain action out there with extremely small lugs that gave me .0015 lug setback in just 200 rounds. So it does make a difference.
Integral recoil lug
20 or 30 moa rail with two pins and four 8-40 screws. The rail fit to the action leaves no room for bedding its that well made. The pin to rail to action fit is perfect. It would be very difficult to remove the rail after its pinned to the action. That good of a fit.
Comes timed for Triggertech triggers and has .250+ firing pin travel
Comes with nitride treated body and bolt.
Fit and finish is second to none. Great job Jim and the rest of the crew.
Theyre instock and a 3 month lead time on custom builds. I also have package deals for them with all components supplied. Take em to your local gunsmith.
Dealer discounts available on parts.
They are the straightest actions Ive seen so far and the best option for the norma/norma improved/ and lapua cases.
They have a 1.400 OD so as to have more meat between the OD and the 1.125x18 threads.
They have a .750 diameter bolt with taller lugs than 1.062 thread actions. This will help with lug setback. Theres a certain action out there with extremely small lugs that gave me .0015 lug setback in just 200 rounds. So it does make a difference.
Integral recoil lug
20 or 30 moa rail with two pins and four 8-40 screws. The rail fit to the action leaves no room for bedding its that well made. The pin to rail to action fit is perfect. It would be very difficult to remove the rail after its pinned to the action. That good of a fit.
Comes timed for Triggertech triggers and has .250+ firing pin travel
Comes with nitride treated body and bolt.
Fit and finish is second to none. Great job Jim and the rest of the crew.
Theyre instock and a 3 month lead time on custom builds. I also have package deals for them with all components supplied. Take em to your local gunsmith.
Dealer discounts available on parts.
Attachments
Heres my new 300 Norma Improved/338 Norma Improved switch barrel I built myself. Finished it a couple months ago but haven't had time to post. It has the following:
Borden Bigfoot Action that came timed to the Triggertech Diamond
Manners EH1 with their 3 oz cheek piece
Proof Research 30 cal 1.250 shank 9.0 tw 26" finish
Proof Research 338 cal 1.250 shank 9.4 tw 26" finish
Titanium Self Timing 5 Port "Muscle" Brake in 3/4x24 threads
Hawkins DBM bottom metal
0.7 oz arca rail
Tangent Theta 3-15m bedded into a set of NF Rings
Cadex Falcon Lite Bipod
This rifle pounded tiny little groups right off the bat. Shots 2,3,4 down the rifle measured .263"@100 yds.
I have the 230 & 245 bergers shooting tiny groups with RETUMBO. With very little load development I shot a 1.172" group at 580 yds with the 245s and a 1.834" group with the 230s at 580 yds.
That Tangent Theta 3-15M is the best hunting scope Ive seen. The parallax is the most forgiving by far. Set it at 500 yds and your good from 300-1000+ yds. Id still have no problem shooting game at 100 without adjusting the parallax. However if your wanting to shoot 1/4 moa or smaller groups youd want to adjust it a hair. The glass is absolutely phenomenal as is the turrets. Weighs 28 oz.
I built this rifle with the thoughts of having everything absolutely top of the line. Its far exceeded my expectations so far. It won't be for sale down the road LOL.
Borden Bigfoot Action that came timed to the Triggertech Diamond
Manners EH1 with their 3 oz cheek piece
Proof Research 30 cal 1.250 shank 9.0 tw 26" finish
Proof Research 338 cal 1.250 shank 9.4 tw 26" finish
Titanium Self Timing 5 Port "Muscle" Brake in 3/4x24 threads
Hawkins DBM bottom metal
0.7 oz arca rail
Tangent Theta 3-15m bedded into a set of NF Rings
Cadex Falcon Lite Bipod
This rifle pounded tiny little groups right off the bat. Shots 2,3,4 down the rifle measured .263"@100 yds.
I have the 230 & 245 bergers shooting tiny groups with RETUMBO. With very little load development I shot a 1.172" group at 580 yds with the 245s and a 1.834" group with the 230s at 580 yds.
That Tangent Theta 3-15M is the best hunting scope Ive seen. The parallax is the most forgiving by far. Set it at 500 yds and your good from 300-1000+ yds. Id still have no problem shooting game at 100 without adjusting the parallax. However if your wanting to shoot 1/4 moa or smaller groups youd want to adjust it a hair. The glass is absolutely phenomenal as is the turrets. Weighs 28 oz.
I built this rifle with the thoughts of having everything absolutely top of the line. Its far exceeded my expectations so far. It won't be for sale down the road LOL.
Jim can do it. I just sent him a message.
That depends on the improved version a guy is using.
Well I decided to throw my 338 norma improved barrel on my borden switch barrel setup. I grabbed 6 pieces of hydro formed brass and got it dialed in at 100 with 86 gr of h1000 and 300 gr bergers. 4 of the 6 shots had a ES of single digits at 2705 fps. The 2 fliers were 20 fps slower. I figured I was at the bottom of the node. I loaded up 3 rounds of 86.3 gr and backed it up to 580 yds.
1.450"/.238 moa @ 580 yds for the 3 shots. ES of 10 fps. Easiest load development for breaking in a barrel Ive seen so far LOL. Heres a video of me shooting it as well. I had thrown my titanium cheytac brake on it. Titanium shaved 6oz off the steel version. Absolutely kills the recoil. I can watch vapor trail and spot hits no problem with this forming load. Recoils about like the 300 norma improved. Not bad at all. Wouldn't have a problem letting my wife shoot it.
After she gets broke in and speeds up Ill try some n570. In my 32" barrel I didn't hit pressure until 3100 fps. Guessing Ill hit pressure around 2950-2975 in the 26" barrel. If I get a accuracy node at 2900 Ill be happy.
1.450"/.238 moa @ 580 yds for the 3 shots. ES of 10 fps. Easiest load development for breaking in a barrel Ive seen so far LOL. Heres a video of me shooting it as well. I had thrown my titanium cheytac brake on it. Titanium shaved 6oz off the steel version. Absolutely kills the recoil. I can watch vapor trail and spot hits no problem with this forming load. Recoils about like the 300 norma improved. Not bad at all. Wouldn't have a problem letting my wife shoot it.
After she gets broke in and speeds up Ill try some n570. In my 32" barrel I didn't hit pressure until 3100 fps. Guessing Ill hit pressure around 2950-2975 in the 26" barrel. If I get a accuracy node at 2900 Ill be happy.
Attachments
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You can use a 1.250 shank barrel
Well I did a ladder test with my 338 Norma Improved, 300 gr Elite Hunters, and N570. I found a sweet spot between 92-93 gr. It had a very faint ejector mark. At 93.5 gr the case web expanded .00025 more than the 92 gr load. 93.5 gr was 2907 fps. I had to use a 12" drop tube and pour slowly to get this much powder in. Wasnt a fully compressed load with the drop tube.
I loaded up 3 rounds of 92.1 gr. I shot 3 shots at 580 yds. The last shot went to the right. I figured it was caused by the wind dropping off since the brush stopped moving. So I went back inside the shop and loaded 2 more rounds up. Brush had started moving slightly again right to left so I aimed dead center. They went into the same spot as the first two shots.
1.185"/.195 moa vertical for 5 shots at 580 yds.
300 gr Berger at 2865 fps.
Ill do a quick seating depth test next time its nice out and call load development done for N570.
Cant wait to try some N568 when my big shipment comes in. I think itll be a little more optimal and the 12" drop tube won't be necessary. The N570 kernals are huge and take up a bunch of space. 1 kernal is .08 gr on average. N568 is smaller kernals.
I loaded up 3 rounds of 92.1 gr. I shot 3 shots at 580 yds. The last shot went to the right. I figured it was caused by the wind dropping off since the brush stopped moving. So I went back inside the shop and loaded 2 more rounds up. Brush had started moving slightly again right to left so I aimed dead center. They went into the same spot as the first two shots.
1.185"/.195 moa vertical for 5 shots at 580 yds.
300 gr Berger at 2865 fps.
Ill do a quick seating depth test next time its nice out and call load development done for N570.
Cant wait to try some N568 when my big shipment comes in. I think itll be a little more optimal and the 12" drop tube won't be necessary. The N570 kernals are huge and take up a bunch of space. 1 kernal is .08 gr on average. N568 is smaller kernals.
Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
I want to try some N568 in the 300 NMI as well. I just hope it shoots as well as N570. Like your target above, I get very little vertical. So little that it’s hard to say if there’s actually any vertical at all because any vertical dispersion on the target could just as easily be slight error in movement or the follow thru with my shooting form. N570 is also very stable in varying temps.
Using N570 and 220gr Bergers, we made first round cold bore kills on 3 mule deer bucks at 840, 650, and 470 yards. Due to the vertical consistency and temperature stability of N570, you dial the scope elevation to the yardage of the shot and the bullet hits right where it should.
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I agree. N570 gives ZERO vertical when its tuned. Im gonna test the n570 in hot temps here soon. im headed to texas in august. itll probably be 100 degrees. im guessing since im in the upper node with n570 itll be too warm in texas. if its too hot when i test it Ill use my 300 norma with a mild load of retumbo. Ive had really good luck with temp stability of n570 also. But Ive heard once your past 80 degrees it speeds up quite a bit. Ill find out soon.
Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
Yeah I haven’t tested my loads when temps are that high. When it’s that hot in Montana, shooting is the last thing on my mind. I just want to be at the lake or on the River! Lol.
But from 34 to 66 degrees that I have tested my N570 load (which are temps that you might see here during rifle hunting season), the chronograph gave identical speed averages. When we shot the 3 bucks last year it was even colder, probably down around 20-25 degrees but the bullets landed true just like they did when I shot them on target over a month prior in warmer temps.
Another fine rifle build Ryan! I have just ordered one of the single shot variants of Jim's Bigfoot and was curious if you'd share how much torque you are applying to the action/barrel when seating the tenon to prevent deforming the barrel shoulder when using 1.250" barrel stock?
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R Pierce,
Can you tell me what your comparable wind MOA differences between the Berger 245s and 300 grain pills are in two of your rifles built as similar as possible in 5, 10, 20 mph winds?
In really windy conditions, which would you grab between he two rifles? With similar BCs, but added speed, maybe, with the 245s, or mass of the 300. Just can’t decide on the mass of the 338 300 grains or potential extra speed with the 308 245 grains.
This is me just trying to wrap my head around any real world differences before starting a project. I know each rifle and barrel built has different potentials as well. Velocity is easy to adjust for, but Wyoming wind is not, which bucks the wind better? I think you are the only one I have seen shooting a lot of both of those bullets In similar built rifles.
Thanks in advance,
Can you tell me what your comparable wind MOA differences between the Berger 245s and 300 grain pills are in two of your rifles built as similar as possible in 5, 10, 20 mph winds?
In really windy conditions, which would you grab between he two rifles? With similar BCs, but added speed, maybe, with the 245s, or mass of the 300. Just can’t decide on the mass of the 338 300 grains or potential extra speed with the 308 245 grains.
This is me just trying to wrap my head around any real world differences before starting a project. I know each rifle and barrel built has different potentials as well. Velocity is easy to adjust for, but Wyoming wind is not, which bucks the wind better? I think you are the only one I have seen shooting a lot of both of those bullets In similar built rifles.
Thanks in advance,
Theres too many variables there. Theres nodes from 2900-3075 fps with a 245 depending on the powder used. Nodes for the 300 gr berger are 2700-2875 fps depending on powder and node hit. You can plug the info in to JBM and see for yourself. The 300 gr will have a bit more recoil. Although its not bad with a good brake. The 338 will have quite a bit more barrel life than the 30 cal.
Thank you. I have a single shot instock if you want it. Its fully nitride treated and has a 30 moa rail. I haven't seen any deformation even at 100 ft lbs
That’s great info Ryan! Thank you… obtaining 1.35” shank barrels can be rather lengthy wait times currently!
I was concerned the tenon shoulder wouldn’t have had enough meat to distribute the spot face torque adequately.
I’m in Australia mate, if you’re able to help me with exporting the actions from your end, I’d be more than happy to purchase direct from you!
I was concerned the tenon shoulder wouldn’t have had enough meat to distribute the spot face torque adequately.
I’m in Australia mate, if you’re able to help me with exporting the actions from your end, I’d be more than happy to purchase direct from you!
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