This post might not quite fit the 6mmbr site profile, but I take it there are some hunters here as well as target shooters so will post. My first post seemed to be received well enough, so put some effort into the second one as well. Moderators can always remove if so desired...
I'm presently building a hunting rifle fully capable of longrange target shooting. The goal of this project was
Lightweight
Inexpensive
So picked up a secondhand Sako Forester in 243 quite cheap, smacked on a aluminum picatinny rail and Hitech stock. Weight is about 3.5 kgs (7lbs) with scope and moderator, it groups rougly 15cm@600m or 6"@660yds and have so far cost the same as a standard Rem700.
Finished the rifle with Duracoat. If the surface is prepared properly you'll have a very durable finish.
Used orange for safety features. Will remove orange from scopemount.
Chose 10 MOA (actually it's 12 MOA) angle to get most out of my hunting scopes and enough out of my LR scopes...
Very easy to see when this rifle is cocked...
[/QUOTE]
The trigger and safety was flagged with green more as a practical joke on my behalf
Again the orange details...
Have used it in the field already. Seen lots of deer so far, but was too busy filming to shoot them and the fallow is not legal with the present chambering which is 243.
First kill was a fox. Absolutely in love with my moderator - reduces recoil to nothing and game close by isn't spooked.
There's a short video of the build here:
VIDEOBLOG HERE
Look for english titles to get the texted versions...
...
Looked over the rifle tonight, it's still ok with Duracote (I only clean the barrel these days) but it is slipping where I didn't do proper surface preparation. This was expected.
Put the rifle on the scales, have failed slightly in my 3,5kg statement but can't really see how I could have built it much different either. Wasn't willing to use a very short or pencil thuin barrel. Would've had to pick up a slimmer Kimber for less weight I think.
It's almost a system rifle (not a true system rifle, but poor mans version) and depending on the configuration/barrel it weighs:
Assassin 4,352 kg. This is the use-all-opportunities configuration with a 4-16x50 PMII and moderator.
Stalker 3,919 kg. As seen in the hunting blog. This is mostly for recreational hunting with a Zeiss 2,5-10x42 and moderator.
Alpine 3,469 kg. Only configuration that makes the weight limit; with Swaro 3-9x36.
System components weigh:
Rifle 3,005 kg
PMII 1,066 kg
Zeiss 0,633 kg
Swaro 0,464 kg
Moderator 0,28 kg
The Sako Forester action weighs 1,050 kg.
...
Velocity with the 243 and Hornady 87gr Vmax is 950 m/sec with a 18,5" barrel.
The barrel is only 18,5" long. Didn't really pay attention as we were building it.
Short barrel shooting an inferior Bc 0,4 bullet but still first-shot hits at the 0.2-0.4 MIL sized targets I've shot out to ranges of 750 meters (825 plus yards).
Here is a video of me verifying the trajectory calculations
All in all I value my hearing a lot more than the marginal increase in killing window a longer barrel will give me, so next barrel will be at similar lenght.
Put out a new video
Blog entry 9, rifle details
Not really anything new there, just beaming about how pleased I am with this rifle so far
...
Visited the workshop again. He worked and I filmed. I like!
The original plan was to put in a 6,5x47 barrel in the project rifle now, but all my Sako's received good offers and were sold as we were working. It'll now be a 308 and my 280 will be a 6,5x284 and the new owners will have the rifles in May. Bought a Blaser R93 Pro stock with an unusually good trigger yesterday and also got hold of a secondhand 6,5x55 barrel. Ordering a bolt soon.
Anyway, mounted picatinny rails on all three Sakos. Used aluminium as this is more than strong enough and weighs a lot less than steel. The scope will break before the rails so no worries. Put in 20 MOA cant this time.
This is the rail on a Sako Finnbear action. Chose the picatinny system as it provides a rock solid mounting solution.
A small surprise for me. The short-action Sako Forester action weighs 1082gr/ 2.385 lbs complete and the long-action Finnbear weighs 1156gr/ 2.549 lbs. A tiny difference only.
Used Duracoate quite a bit this weekend. Use a mask, was sick for two days after. Subdued the rifle a bit in colour and added some details. The safety now shows only green when safe, and red when unsafe.
I liked this green. Create it by using WWII Olive Green and add same amount of white as hardener.
Used a 1000W lamp for drying this time. After 30min it was dry enough to accept masking tape without marring the finish.
Will not say to much about this as it isn't finished, but the end result will be fool-proof turrets that can easily be marked/remarked. Note how I put the spin drift on the windage turret and also put some yellow (yellow/weak/left) on the scope ring. As said project not finished, it will look slightly different but should be good and user friendly.
This is it for now. Hope this can inspire shooters wanting an accurate rifle without putting out too much cash.
I'm presently building a hunting rifle fully capable of longrange target shooting. The goal of this project was
Lightweight
Inexpensive
So picked up a secondhand Sako Forester in 243 quite cheap, smacked on a aluminum picatinny rail and Hitech stock. Weight is about 3.5 kgs (7lbs) with scope and moderator, it groups rougly 15cm@600m or 6"@660yds and have so far cost the same as a standard Rem700.
Finished the rifle with Duracoat. If the surface is prepared properly you'll have a very durable finish.
Used orange for safety features. Will remove orange from scopemount.
Chose 10 MOA (actually it's 12 MOA) angle to get most out of my hunting scopes and enough out of my LR scopes...
Very easy to see when this rifle is cocked...
The trigger and safety was flagged with green more as a practical joke on my behalf
Again the orange details...
Have used it in the field already. Seen lots of deer so far, but was too busy filming to shoot them and the fallow is not legal with the present chambering which is 243.
First kill was a fox. Absolutely in love with my moderator - reduces recoil to nothing and game close by isn't spooked.
There's a short video of the build here:
VIDEOBLOG HERE
Look for english titles to get the texted versions...
...
Looked over the rifle tonight, it's still ok with Duracote (I only clean the barrel these days) but it is slipping where I didn't do proper surface preparation. This was expected.
Put the rifle on the scales, have failed slightly in my 3,5kg statement but can't really see how I could have built it much different either. Wasn't willing to use a very short or pencil thuin barrel. Would've had to pick up a slimmer Kimber for less weight I think.
It's almost a system rifle (not a true system rifle, but poor mans version) and depending on the configuration/barrel it weighs:
Assassin 4,352 kg. This is the use-all-opportunities configuration with a 4-16x50 PMII and moderator.
Stalker 3,919 kg. As seen in the hunting blog. This is mostly for recreational hunting with a Zeiss 2,5-10x42 and moderator.
Alpine 3,469 kg. Only configuration that makes the weight limit; with Swaro 3-9x36.
System components weigh:
Rifle 3,005 kg
PMII 1,066 kg
Zeiss 0,633 kg
Swaro 0,464 kg
Moderator 0,28 kg
The Sako Forester action weighs 1,050 kg.
...
Velocity with the 243 and Hornady 87gr Vmax is 950 m/sec with a 18,5" barrel.
The barrel is only 18,5" long. Didn't really pay attention as we were building it.
Short barrel shooting an inferior Bc 0,4 bullet but still first-shot hits at the 0.2-0.4 MIL sized targets I've shot out to ranges of 750 meters (825 plus yards).
Here is a video of me verifying the trajectory calculations
All in all I value my hearing a lot more than the marginal increase in killing window a longer barrel will give me, so next barrel will be at similar lenght.
Put out a new video
Blog entry 9, rifle details
Not really anything new there, just beaming about how pleased I am with this rifle so far
...
Visited the workshop again. He worked and I filmed. I like!
The original plan was to put in a 6,5x47 barrel in the project rifle now, but all my Sako's received good offers and were sold as we were working. It'll now be a 308 and my 280 will be a 6,5x284 and the new owners will have the rifles in May. Bought a Blaser R93 Pro stock with an unusually good trigger yesterday and also got hold of a secondhand 6,5x55 barrel. Ordering a bolt soon.
Anyway, mounted picatinny rails on all three Sakos. Used aluminium as this is more than strong enough and weighs a lot less than steel. The scope will break before the rails so no worries. Put in 20 MOA cant this time.
This is the rail on a Sako Finnbear action. Chose the picatinny system as it provides a rock solid mounting solution.
A small surprise for me. The short-action Sako Forester action weighs 1082gr/ 2.385 lbs complete and the long-action Finnbear weighs 1156gr/ 2.549 lbs. A tiny difference only.
Used Duracoate quite a bit this weekend. Use a mask, was sick for two days after. Subdued the rifle a bit in colour and added some details. The safety now shows only green when safe, and red when unsafe.
I liked this green. Create it by using WWII Olive Green and add same amount of white as hardener.
Used a 1000W lamp for drying this time. After 30min it was dry enough to accept masking tape without marring the finish.
Will not say to much about this as it isn't finished, but the end result will be fool-proof turrets that can easily be marked/remarked. Note how I put the spin drift on the windage turret and also put some yellow (yellow/weak/left) on the scope ring. As said project not finished, it will look slightly different but should be good and user friendly.
This is it for now. Hope this can inspire shooters wanting an accurate rifle without putting out too much cash.
