Help with a Remington 700 build/buy

[TheHolyLancer]

Hi all,

I am in the planning stage of a Remington 700 build / buy in 308.

I have been looking at a custom chassis for sometime, and it takes Remington 700 short actions. It would come ready to take AICS magazines and a custom trigger ready to go. It is the MK Machining bullpup chassis FWIW.

I have never ever built or brought such a thing, but I wanted something nice (buy once, cry once).

Now, because of what it is, I wanted something light weight and accurate. So I was thinking of a Proof Research 16.5 Inch 308 1 in 10 twist carbon Sendero barrel blank.

I do have a question about its ability to stabilize 175 gr and the more common 155 gr ammo, since I see 1 in 12 is the normal and 1 in 11 is the more common twist for heavier bullet. Will this overstablize the bullets? Or would 1 in 10 still be okay to use with cheaper ammo?

Also, would it need to be chambered? Since Proof Research lists it as a 308 barrel, does that mean it is already chambered? What services do I need to tell the smith to finish it for me? It seems that the barrel will come with a bit of extra length that the smith needs to cut away? And thread the end for a muzzle device?

Now, I want to use a simple action for this (IE not custom), something like https://www.cheaperthandirt.com/prod...47700275536.do or https://grabagun.com/remington-27553...bon-steel.html.

Will these actions work with AICS magazines? I see some websites list some actions as compatible or not. And since the chassis I have in mind already have a trigger, I guess I can take it off? Is truing an action or buying a trued action like http://northlandshooterssupply.com/actions/remington/ something worth doing?

And lastly, given I have little experience and tools in this department (AR 15s is easy, this seems to need a lot more tools and experience). I would be looking for a smith to do this work. I am in the norcal area, but something tells me this work likely needs possible specialists / bolt action guy. And I want to look for recommendations local or otherwise. But again, I would like to know what to tell him to turn it into a barreled action that I can just drop into the chassis my self. So far I think I need to tell him to chamber the barrel, thread the barrel, then fit the barrel in to the action and that is it? Anyone know of a ball park for the price of such a service?

let me know if I gotten any part of this completely wrong, as I am very, VERY new to this area. I don't own a single bolt action anything (I have shot them at ranges) currently and is kind of jumping into it head first.

[fish45]

I think the easiest thing for you to do is find a gunsmith you want to do the work, and tell him what you want. A real gunsmith will point you in the right direction.

700 actions are great for projects where you are building a custom rifle from scratch. A blank usually only comes rifled and contoured and needs to be chambered and threaded. Get the non trued action. The gunsmith chambering and threading your barrel will want to true it himself to be sure the truing was done correctly and your barrel is fitted to your action correctly.

If you’re mainly shooting 175’s I’d go with 1-11. I’m not sure what your distance goal is but if you want to shoot farther than a few hundred yards I’d also get a longer barrel. Most blanks come slightly longer than the finished length you order to allow for material removal when squaring and crowning the barrel.

AICS mags will work with the action, you have to make sure they will work with the stock/chassis. I’m not sure about mk machining chassis but they’re like 2 grand. You would be better served buying a krg bravo (or whatever other brand) and a trigger of your choice. I think a krg chassis runs 450 right now and 2 AICS magazines from them run 80ish each. Some people will tell you to bed the chassis right off the bat, I would shoot the gun first then decide whether you want to bed it or not.

Quality triggers run in the 200 dollar range+/- 50 bucks or so.

In the NorCal/ Bay Area action truing usually runs 200-250, chambering/ barreling an action usually runs 300-350, muzzle threading usually runs 100-150 depending on whether you supply a muzzle brake or not.

I would avoid using cheap ammo through an expensive barrel, it defeats the purpose of buying an expensive barrel/ custom gun.

What part of NorCal? There are a few good gunsmiths around, but they all have different lead times.

[TheHolyLancer]

Bay Area

And the reason for this build is that for cali, you can have a true bullpup length (IE no need for welding on a tube to the end of tavor).

So it actually is 16 inch barrel + 26 inch of OAL.

As for the twist, that is just what is available with Proof Research. https://proofresearch.com/barrels/bo...n-fiber-specs/

Thanks for the advice and ballpark for costs.

[fish45]

Also, I forgot to ask if you were going to try to hunt with it but if it just for range use/ target shooting I would make it a heavy gun (some people will disagree, that’s just my opinion, some guy on the internet. Take it for what you want.). If you’re not set on proof barrels take a look at some of the other premium/ custom barrel makers. I personally like 3 groove barrels and have found that they foul less than any other land/ groove configuration.

[TheHolyLancer]

The thinking is light weight for hunting and what nots.

But with a 16.5 inch barrel planned, I am not sure exactly how much weight it would lose.

What if it was something like a bartlein or krieger? I guess I would need an additional gunsmith service of cutting the barrel down? Or can a blank be cut down to 16 inches without massive re-countouring? IIRC both makers don't offer blanks that short and is like 26 inches or something.

[MongooseV8]

Lightweight for hunting? Ditch the chassis its weighs 4lbs alone. Get a Tikka T3x for a nice quality accurate lightweight hunter out of the box.

You can still find a used Tikka for the same price you're going to pay for just that chassis.

[Citadelgrad87]

[fish45]

If you're dead set on short as possible then go for it, but bull pups aren't the most comfortable/ergonomic.

If its more for hunting and you want lightweight/ carbon fiber wrapped you're better off getting a higher end production gun like a Christiansen Arms.

A custom barrel maker will make whatever contour you want. I personally like Pac-Nor, I would call when I make the actual order to be sure you get the finished length correct but their website is good for designing the barrel you want. A gunsmith can cut down the barrel to whatever length you want if its steel but you're stuck with whatever length you order with a carbon fiber wrapped barrel. Cutting the barrel down to length "shouldn't" cost anything extra and is usually included as part of a barreling/chambering/truing job.

[JackEllis]

Lightweight for hunting? Ditch the chassis its weighs 4lbs alone. Get a Tikka T3x for a nice quality accurate lightweight hunter out of the box.

You can still find a used Tikka for the same price you're going to pay for just that chassis.

I'm no expert on firearms but the one thing I have figured out is that there's no one rifle that can "do it all". If you want a hunting rifle, as a Tikka owner I agree with Mongoose. In fact, just about any modern factory rifle with a lightweight barrel profile and a "standard" stock is good enough for hunting. If I'd known how well the Howa 1500s shoot, I'd own three of them instead of one Howa and two Tikkas and I'd have money left over.

If you want a chassis rifle, I'd say that's a different animal altogether.

[1859sharps]

I'm no expert on firearms but the one thing I have figured out is that there's no one rifle that can "do it all".

well actually there is...it's called a model 70 pre 64 in 30-06, or a Barrett 82a1 in 50 bmg. I can never keep it strait which one it is

[sigstroker]

Lightweight for hunting? Ditch the chassis its weighs 4lbs alone. Get a Tikka T3x for a nice quality accurate lightweight hunter out of the box.

You can still find a used Tikka for the same price you're going to pay for just that chassis.

It's two thousand bucks. You can buy three nice brand new Tikkas for that. Or two decent Sakos. Or...

[MongooseV8]

$2k?

I thought I saw a $500 price tag lol

[MongooseV8]

Yikes the preorder is $500 thats ridiculous

[Varg Vikernes]

Spartan in SJ seems like the best in the Norcal region.

Yea I don't get the infatuation with ultralight weight with ARs. Heavy is better, especially in a LR rifle.

[LynnJr]

On a carbon barrel you want to order it at the length you need it which in your case would be 16.5 inches. You also need to tell Proof you want to add a muzzle brake in case the endcap needs to be longer.
Yes a gunsmith needs to chamber the blank and you can just use the 700 in your links without any fancy truing just a clean up.
As to the twist rate you can use a 13 twist to fully stabilize 190 grain bullets but here in California and for hunting especially we are now required to use non lead bullets. I would opt for a 10 twist even though it isn't necessary for most 308 Winchester's just so you have all your bases covered with the no lead bullets which require more twist. Extra twist doesn't hurt and can definitely help.
If you just want a very light compact hunting rifle the Fix by Q works.
Or
You can get a lightweight stock for a 700 short action around 18-20 ounces and just add the 5-7-10 round magazine if your choice. This allows you to get away from the trigger rod and it's inherent sloppiness.
Also a number 3 barrel 16.5 inches long is going to be very lightweight and cost 1/3 what a Proof will cost you.
As to gunsmithing in NorCal BillyGoat Machine does some very nice work.