Just a little background on how these rifles came to be. I have always wanted a pair of rifles that were similar if not the same to basically cover all my hunting from coyotes to elk and after looking at and owning tons of different factory offerings in style and caliber I decided to purge some of the factory rifles that I had accumulated and focus on building a pair of rifles using actions that I liked and components of my choosing. After spending years chasing velocity, accuracy, and caliber perfection I settled on 2 of what some consider the most boring rifle calibers there is.
Rifle 1 – This is a caliber that I have always had in the back of my mind but every time I told myself I was going to buy one I got sidetracked and bought a 300 win mag, a 308, or a 300 wsm. Now those are very good calibers, but nothing could shake the thought of a 30-06 from the back of my mind. Like my dad always told me its tough to argue with millions of game animals and thousands of Nazis to its credit. There are tons of more than adequate factory rifles that are chambered in 30-06 but I wanted to guarantee the type of accuracy I was looking for, so a build began. I started with a tikka T3 action, tikka factory synthetic stock, benchmark 10 twist barrel finished at 22”, threaded muzzle for a suppressor, cerakoted in stainless color and topped with a Zeiss Conquest scope. This rifle is everything I was looking for from an accuracy and handling standpoint shooting 165 grain handloads at 3000 fps and 200 grain handloads at 2600 fps.
Rifle 2 – This is a caliber that I never really thought of as a caliber I wanted but after tons of thinking and reading and talking to my smith I settled on a 6x45. The specs on this rifle are very similar to the one above. I started with a tikka T3 action, Shilen #3 8 twist barrel finished at 22”, threaded muzzle for a suppressor, bead blasted stainless steel action and barrel, and a Leupold VX3 LR 4.5-14 cds scope. After the rifle was finished the plan was to start hunting it right away but the weather did not cooperate, and snow was minimal but have done load work up and lots of range time with it and just like the 30-06 it’s a dandy shooting and handling rifle. Current handloads with 70 grain bullets are at 3150 and I have not been able to work up loads with heavier bullets but that is in the plan soon. Overall, this has been a sweetheart of a rifle and a blast to shoot.
Now as many people know using good components and quality materials is a must when trying to get the most out of a rifle build but even the best materials are only as good as the guy building the rifle. The purpose of this post is to show off my new toys as well as give a shout out to a gunsmith and forum member here for building 2 fantastic handling and shooting rifles the builder is KA Firearms Customization out of Buxton ND. He goes by Dakor on this forum. These rifles were built as hunting rifles and are hunting weights both are sub 8lbs and made to be hunted with and used these are not bench rest weight or competition weight guns.
As a disclaimer here are some pictures of some groups shot with these rifles. One of the 30-06 groups was shot with Federal Blue Box factory 180 grain bullets all other groups are handloads. All the 30-06 groups are 3 shot and the 6x45 is a 5 shot group. So, if you are looking to get a great looking and great shooting rifle built get a hold of KA Firearms (Dakor) and you will be happy with the results.
Rifle 1 – This is a caliber that I have always had in the back of my mind but every time I told myself I was going to buy one I got sidetracked and bought a 300 win mag, a 308, or a 300 wsm. Now those are very good calibers, but nothing could shake the thought of a 30-06 from the back of my mind. Like my dad always told me its tough to argue with millions of game animals and thousands of Nazis to its credit. There are tons of more than adequate factory rifles that are chambered in 30-06 but I wanted to guarantee the type of accuracy I was looking for, so a build began. I started with a tikka T3 action, tikka factory synthetic stock, benchmark 10 twist barrel finished at 22”, threaded muzzle for a suppressor, cerakoted in stainless color and topped with a Zeiss Conquest scope. This rifle is everything I was looking for from an accuracy and handling standpoint shooting 165 grain handloads at 3000 fps and 200 grain handloads at 2600 fps.
Rifle 2 – This is a caliber that I never really thought of as a caliber I wanted but after tons of thinking and reading and talking to my smith I settled on a 6x45. The specs on this rifle are very similar to the one above. I started with a tikka T3 action, Shilen #3 8 twist barrel finished at 22”, threaded muzzle for a suppressor, bead blasted stainless steel action and barrel, and a Leupold VX3 LR 4.5-14 cds scope. After the rifle was finished the plan was to start hunting it right away but the weather did not cooperate, and snow was minimal but have done load work up and lots of range time with it and just like the 30-06 it’s a dandy shooting and handling rifle. Current handloads with 70 grain bullets are at 3150 and I have not been able to work up loads with heavier bullets but that is in the plan soon. Overall, this has been a sweetheart of a rifle and a blast to shoot.
Now as many people know using good components and quality materials is a must when trying to get the most out of a rifle build but even the best materials are only as good as the guy building the rifle. The purpose of this post is to show off my new toys as well as give a shout out to a gunsmith and forum member here for building 2 fantastic handling and shooting rifles the builder is KA Firearms Customization out of Buxton ND. He goes by Dakor on this forum. These rifles were built as hunting rifles and are hunting weights both are sub 8lbs and made to be hunted with and used these are not bench rest weight or competition weight guns.
As a disclaimer here are some pictures of some groups shot with these rifles. One of the 30-06 groups was shot with Federal Blue Box factory 180 grain bullets all other groups are handloads. All the 30-06 groups are 3 shot and the 6x45 is a 5 shot group. So, if you are looking to get a great looking and great shooting rifle built get a hold of KA Firearms (Dakor) and you will be happy with the results.
