I am new to building rifles, having only built an AR-15 prior to my latest effort putting together a bolt action. I put together a quick plan which I thought would have me shooting pretty quick. Not the case. While most of these lessons may seem trivial or well known to some shooters, or dumb oversights, I am hoping that the information will help people that are new such as myself.
My plan was to buy the Howa barreled action, put it in a Bell & Carlson Tactical Medalist Style II stock with aluminum bedding block, top off with scope rail, rings, and scope, and go shooting, right? Not the case.
I quickly found out that barreled actions don't always just "drop in". My recoil lug was not touching the recoil lug surface in the stock. The rear tang would be taking all forces. So, that forced me to bed the stock. Unfamiliar with this and finding no gunsmith in the San Francisco bay area willing to do the work, I ended up sending it to a gunsmith in Utah. That took about four months to get back, as well as the purchase of a gun case to ship it in.
With the rifle back, I could easily mount the scope rail. Not so fast. I saw that with the rear tightened down, the front of the rail had a .006" gap between it and the receiver. Back to the Internet to learn about bedding scope rails. Some epoxy, Johnson's floor wax, and Q-tips, and it looks good now.
The Burris Signture Zee rings went on with incident, as did the Vortex scope. Now I needed to bore sight the gun. People walking by on the street wondered why there was a sticky note on my car window with a red dot and an X through it, but it worked from inside the house while I aimed at it. I was lucky. The scope needed no adjustment from its center adjustments.
As I sighted through the scope, I noticed the stock comb was too low and the scope too close to the barrel to lower it any more. Now I wished I got a stock with a cheek riser, but too late for that now. I shopped for solutions finally settling on the Bradley BUL CheekRest. See my review here. http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3819568.0 The riser did not fit exactly, but Bradley took care of that with another pad under the riser.
That was when I remembered risers are often in the way of cleaning rods, which I knew was the case, but what I did not remember was that my existing cleaning rod for the 22" barrel AR-15 I have is too short. Damm, have to order a cleaning rod. And while I am at it, some bolt bolt grease, since I have none of that either.
The cleaning rod is on its way, and I found some grease, so soon, I should be able to shoot the thing. Obviously, some more planning was needed, but I'll know next time.
Phil
My plan was to buy the Howa barreled action, put it in a Bell & Carlson Tactical Medalist Style II stock with aluminum bedding block, top off with scope rail, rings, and scope, and go shooting, right? Not the case.
I quickly found out that barreled actions don't always just "drop in". My recoil lug was not touching the recoil lug surface in the stock. The rear tang would be taking all forces. So, that forced me to bed the stock. Unfamiliar with this and finding no gunsmith in the San Francisco bay area willing to do the work, I ended up sending it to a gunsmith in Utah. That took about four months to get back, as well as the purchase of a gun case to ship it in.
With the rifle back, I could easily mount the scope rail. Not so fast. I saw that with the rear tightened down, the front of the rail had a .006" gap between it and the receiver. Back to the Internet to learn about bedding scope rails. Some epoxy, Johnson's floor wax, and Q-tips, and it looks good now.
The Burris Signture Zee rings went on with incident, as did the Vortex scope. Now I needed to bore sight the gun. People walking by on the street wondered why there was a sticky note on my car window with a red dot and an X through it, but it worked from inside the house while I aimed at it. I was lucky. The scope needed no adjustment from its center adjustments.
As I sighted through the scope, I noticed the stock comb was too low and the scope too close to the barrel to lower it any more. Now I wished I got a stock with a cheek riser, but too late for that now. I shopped for solutions finally settling on the Bradley BUL CheekRest. See my review here. http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3819568.0 The riser did not fit exactly, but Bradley took care of that with another pad under the riser.
That was when I remembered risers are often in the way of cleaning rods, which I knew was the case, but what I did not remember was that my existing cleaning rod for the 22" barrel AR-15 I have is too short. Damm, have to order a cleaning rod. And while I am at it, some bolt bolt grease, since I have none of that either.
The cleaning rod is on its way, and I found some grease, so soon, I should be able to shoot the thing. Obviously, some more planning was needed, but I'll know next time.
Phil
Hope your "baby" turns into a real tack driver.
