Building a custom varmint rifle. What to build?

[Gary Wiant]

Ok thanks he has a couple different measurements he spec's and I definitely don't know what they are but he is very particular so pretty much what he recommends is what I'm going with, I just wasn't sure which contour best matches the Savage varmint barrel I'm familiar with.

I take it that I should stay away from carbon barrels ?

 

[timeout]

Ok thanks he has a couple different measurements he spec's and I definitely don't know what they are but he is very particular so pretty much what he recommends is what I'm going with, I just wasn't sure which contour best matches the Savage varmint barrel I'm familiar with.

I take it that I should stay away from carbon barrels ?

I have zero experience with carbon barrels. Someone will help you with that.

 

[SheepDog]

I've never tried one on anything other than a .177 pellet gun. They are just a steel barrel wrapped in carbon fiber and epoxy. I think they hold heat in the barrel more than a steel barrel but I have no evidence to back that up other than carbon is used to stop the heat transfer for heat shields and such.

 

[Gary Wiant]

Ok thanks for the reply, has anyone other than Nomad reloaded SLR brass using a set of XC dies without issues from the bottom of the brass not being sized. I know Nomad hasn't had any issues over 8 reloads but I also know my luck if there is a 5% chance it will cause an issue, it will happen to me 100% of the time.

I know I could just use a body die but that's another step involved to save $35 or so

 

[Phil]

Gary,

Skip lunch one day and get the correct dies, accuracy comes at a price, don`t let pennies derail your project.

Phil.

 

[Gary Wiant]

Phil I understand and typically do things theasier right way but after talking to Nomad and he has Ben using XC dies for a year and him killing 2 groundhogs over 800 & 2 over 1000 something he is using is woking. I was just wondering since the shulder and all is correct if there would be an issues with the cartridge flitting into the chamber since the bottom 1/8" of case isn't getting sized?

I'll look for a set of slr dies that aren't #250

 

[Phil]

Whidden had the full set for 185 and the sizing die only for 82.


I use the reamer to cut the seating die, so i personally don`t have a need for the seating die provided, just the 82 dollar deal here....

Those damn dies are expensive, i did`t think that they would be.......

Phil.

 

[Gary Wiant]

I don't understand hat you mean about sing he reamer?

 

[Gary Wiant]

They are expensive that's why I was thinking about XC does like Nomar reccomended. I can get the forming & micro seating die for the XC for $105 and just back it off a little

 

[Phil]

I use the chamber reamer to cut a seating die from a Wilson seating die blank for my arbor press.

That way my seating die is the same as my chamber.

 

[Phil]

I didn`t realize that those dies were made of gold.....

Yup, they are spendy, if someone who is using the other dies to reload the SLR is having success, then go for it.

I don`t have a SLR so i`m not going to have any experience with that particular case and the dies capability, just relaying how i chose to do things.

Phil.

 

[VaRandy]

This is my first post, I hope this is in the right spot, I put it here because I plan to use it for groundhog, coyote & Fox.

Here's a little background, I had jaw cancer in 2001 - 2003 and had to have the majority of my lower jaw bone removed so now I'm limited to low recoil sub .243 so I gave my son all my big caliber rifles and I had to start over current rifles are:
CZ 527 VARMINT .17 REM.
CZ 527 VARMINT .204 RUGER
AR 5.56 / .223
RUGER RANCH 5.56
SAVAGE TROPHY PREDATOR 22-250
RUGER 77 MK II IN .220 SWIFT
RUGER PRECISION 6.5 CREEDMORE

My son has a Remington 700 LS in .243 that I'm trading him my Savage 22-250 because it needs re-barreled and I'd rather have it than him trading it in.

I was talking to my local gunsmith and he said if I'm going to re-barrel it he will just square it up do the trigger and do his custom stuff to make it a custom rifle, and he said it can be made into pretty much whatever I want. I'm not sure if I should replace my 22-250, do it in .243 or get a caliber that is harder to find like a 250-3000 or like he recommended a 6 Dasher. I've never heard of a 6 dasher so I have no idea how it compares to the other calibers.

Thanks in advance

Easy call. Keep the money low. Since you didn't say what you wanted to do with it, clean up the barrel good, have smith check it out, and make it a Dasher or .243 Ai depending on what the twist is which would also dictate pretty much bullet size. Put a JPE Recoil Eliminator brake on it if you still need to reduce recoil.

 

[Gary Wiant]

VaRandy -as mentioned a few times before, I'm building 6slr

 

[daljitgroup]

our thread is growing day by day congratulations friend.

 

[Huckleberry75]

22 creedmoor is mighty fun and very low recoil.

 

[Gary Wiant]

Plans have changes a little I'm going back to a 6 Dasher because my plan to rent a reamer fell through & while my builder didn't have a problem ordering himself on either was going to take 2 -3 months for a new one to come in & I don't want to wait that long, my builder has a Dasher reamer so I'm having it built in that.

At first I was also wanting to be able to use my existing .243 brass but the more people I talked to the more I was told I should start out with all new matching brass. so if I'm buying new brass anyhow and Die pricing is going to be about the same between 6SLR & Dasher I may as well get what I was getting in the beginning & get the Dasher.

Huckleberry75 - I want something better in the wind than a .22 caliber, I already have a couple of 22 calibers

 

[STOMP442]

Well I'm the odd man out on this but I vote for the .250 Savage. I used to use an AR for coyote work and I had so many runners I got tired of it. I built a .250 Savage on a savage action with one of the Adams & Bennet barrels midway sold. This is such a fun caliber. Very low recoil and very very hard on dogs and also an excellent deer cartridge if you so choose. It quickly became my favorite gun for everything and I used the heck out of it. It will run the light 70-75 gr bullets up around 3500fps with R-17 and the 115gr Berger just over 2800fps. I eventually moved to just running the Berger load for everything and it's killed dogs, deer and elk with ease.

 

[Gary Wiant]

Stomp442 - I am a fan of 250 Savage, but my local gun shop is planning on an exclusive rifle for their next anniversary sale next fall and I plan on getting that gun.

Thanks

 

[fredo]

Hi Gary.
Since you've already got the brass & dies, you could neck all that .243Win brass down to .22-243Win.
All you'd need is a .243Win Redding Type S FL bushing die (if you don't already have one), and a couple bushings. Figure .250-.252" should cover ya, depending on chamber neck dia. & brass type. And you can use your standard .243Win seater die to seat .224 bullets. The heavy ones, anyway...

If you don't think a .22 caliber can be "better" in the wind than a 6mm, you really need to shoot a fast twist .22 hotrod! It will make you a believer in 3 shots, or less...

Not taking anything away from the 6SLR, I think that cartridge is a super design & have pondered building one, myself. Likely, its a 'better' use of 243 brass, than the .243Win is. But, for ease of use/loading, & performance gained, stepping down to .224 for varmint detail is the path to happiness, IMHO. Side by side, there just ain't no way that a 6SLR can beat a .22-243Win in mid range trajectory or wind bucking, for varmint shooting...

Just some food for thought!

All depends on what you want! Zip around in a hotrod for ~1200rds, or drive more economically in a 6SLR for a couple thousand more. Both will kill the heck outta whatever varmints you choose to unleash them upon...

Have fun!

 

[Gary Wiant]

But I'm back into the issue of waiting on a reamer. I'm very excited with my decision to go 6 Dasher. I can get the gun pretty quickly after my gunsmith finds a barrel he wants to finish.

I can't wait