Hi guys

Ive got no hobbies to do and am thinking about setting up a custom rifle. I thought I would ask for any comments on this.At this stage it will probably either a Sako Tikka or Savage action and a heavy barrel.The range's that I probably will have access to will be around the 600 meter mark. As for the caliber this gun will mainly used for deer but would like to use light bullets on rabbits for practice.I have though about the .308 but that could change depending on the comments and ideas i get.

cheers

striker

Well, I guess I'll get my obligatory suggestion out of the way being one of the enlightened Savage owners and non-luddites on the board.

I vote Savage or Stevens. Very easy to work on (you can do it all yourself, including barrel changes) and very affordable. Just about all the custom barrel makers make a prechambered threaded drop in barrel for them now.

The only difference between the Savage and the Stevens rifles are the triggers and stock. Savage has the accutrigger, and the Stevens has the basic trigger. Savage synthetics are black, and the Stevens has a grey stock. Both are pretty danged flimsy though. Not the HS Precison or McMillans on the 10FP's, but the factory issue synthetic on the regular sporter or varmint rifles.

I guess it boils down to how custom you intend to go. If you're getting an aftermarket trigger anyway from the get go, go with the Stevens. If you're going to stay stock with the trigger for awhile, get the Savage.

Caliber? Are you going to handload? If so, the .308 is a good option, .243, .260 or 6.5x55 swede. The 6.5x47 looks pretty nice, so do some of the other 6mm's. There are a ton of options out there.

If you're going factory loads, I think I'd stick with the .308 or maybe a .243 depending on the range you're hunting at.

Do a few searchs on the board, you'll find a ton of information on all of the above.

Thanks for the reply gunner.i was looking at getting a 10fp hsp but im having trouble over here due to the fact that they are not wildly known or wanted.

thanks

striker

Im pretty hooked on the Remington 700 actions, allot of peaple work on them, and they are easy to come by.

That's ok Hunter, we'll make allowances. Yep, a lot of people work on them and make a good living doing so. I work on my own rifles.

Yep, so are Chevy Cavaliers, but I don't drive one.

Striker,

I'm sorry bud, I didn't catch the Kiwi part until after I saw your reply. I do believe there is a Savage importer in Australia, but I don't know if that will help you or not. There is nothing wrong with the Tikka rifles, they are generally known as good shooters, the Remington will do ok in a pinch, but the Savage/Stevens are the most user friendly rifles I have ever seen, and the heavy barrel models are just flat out shooters. That HSP model is totally sweet. If I didn't already have one.

I'm going to do a post on the actual technical side of "smithing" a Savage, probably later this spring early summer. I don't think that most folks know how easy it really is. Stay tuned.

Personally, I recommend the Rem700. There a reason why it's the #1 LE and military precision rifle in the US.

CZ!

Shep, I think you just do this to suck me in, but what the hell.



Yep, it's called status quo. "This is the way we've always done it." Up until recently the government, the feds or state levels weren't too keen on getting their troops in harms way new equipment were they? How many LE agencies still required .38 revolvers until not too long ago? And how many still aren't allowed patrol rifles unless it's a pump gun? Look how long it took to ditch the M1903's for that new fangled M1 Garand. That combined with marketing, and the already substantial investment in materials, time, and training, and the fact they are indeed functional and accurate rifles once properly overhauled will keep them around and the standard for a long time.

But in the interest of full disclosure, If I had a building full of talented 2112's to build rifles for me to their high standards, hell, I'd use one too.

Remingtons are good rifles and they're popular, but they aren't the only game in town anymore, and that ole saw is a dog that just won't hunt. Despite what the media thinks, repeating something often enough does not make it true or relevent.

Honestly, until the advent of the Accutrigger rifles, I would have never even looked at buying a Savage. The folks running the old company made bad decisions and kept screwing stuff up. The cast receiver with integral scope mount comes to mind. Their old triggers flat out sucked on most rifles and tuning them was a smith job to get safe results in most cases. The rear flat base for the scope mounts had a nasty tendency of being a bit off as well. The new receivers fixed that.

For a shooter living in modern times looking for a good rifle he doesn't have to put a metric butt ton of money into to get tuned and shooting well, or to have the barrel changed, It is damn hard to beat the Savage.

Also look at Surgeon actions, heard nothing but good stuff about them. Terry Cross works with them an offle lot.

Thanks for the reply's guys.Ive though about the rem 700 action but Im sorta put off due to the truing needed. I don't really know how much it costs here in nz. Ive also found a distributer/importer for savage rifles and the 10fp choate is around $1500 NZ ($1000 US), so i might go for that.Im also sort of put off for custom rifles at the moment due to the cost and political Bull s#*t ive been told about importing rifles.If any one from NZ has done it any reply's are appreciated.

Thanks again

striker

Striker,

Since you are in New Zealand, have you considered a domestic product? The Barnard actions (http://www.barnard.co.nz/) looks like a solid and high precision choice.

--Rootshot

p.s. I am very happy with my Surgeon action.

If you haven't handled a Choate stock, you might want to before ordering it if you can. That thing is heavy and square for my tastes, but then I'm not crazy about the AI stocks either, and those are very popular too. I really like the McMillan and HS Precision stocked models, but I have no idea what the pricing difference in NZ would be, so I defer. But again, that's personal preference and those nice and inert stocks are much easier to get direct than a rifle.

The Surgeon and Barnard are both excellent actions to build on. If I ever decide to have a smith build me a rifle, I would definitely consider either of those, that Surgeon is totally sweet, but that dang smith thing just keeps putting me off.

Personally, I get a lot of satisfaction out of shooting a rifle I put together and tweaked in myself. Not to mention being able to tweak the "other guys" occasionally.

You should take a look at the new Savage Target Action.

Since you are from New Zealand you should definitly take a look at the Barnard actions as they are top of the line actions used a lot in competition.

Precision rifle systems of Australia (www.users.bigpond.com/pdunnprs/default.html) makes kick a** custom rifles built on their own actions

And last but my favourite Australian Maddco barrels and actions, Maddcos barrels are amongst the best there is and their actions are really good too.
Here is a little info: www.6mmbr.com/gunweek004.html

cheers for the replys guys. I woulda replyed myself but the roar is on over here and im hunting in all my spare time.any how im going to just take my time in choosing to build or buy.after all i have no rush yet for the rifle its just an image at the moment.i will definately look at barnard or maddco due to the (hopefu) ease in importing them or getting hold of them.

cheers guys

striker

im running a surgeon and loving it!!!

A bud of mine is shooting a Barnard action/Trueflite Barrel rig in 6.5x55 and I must say it is the cats meow -- All this stuff is semilocal to you in NZ -- cost my bud a ton but I would guess not that bad for you in NZ.
Hope This Helps,R.Cole Sawyer

Hey Guys,
I really like the looks of those Nesika Actions, too. The reports of factory quality seem very good and they have some solidly bad-assed tactical rigs based on a few of their actions....

Respectfully,
Harry

Is it easy for you to pick up a Sako? They are excellent.

Kia ora , Striker I can attest to the quality of Barnard actions , having owned and shot one for 5 years in Fullbore , they are solid as . Think they were also the action of choice for the US PALMA TEAM . The action has a pretty nice trigger also , able to be altered to single or 2 stage .The Barnard action requires no tweaking , screw in a tube and shoot !!!!!!!!! One draw back , single shot only , I think !!
And some real nice Kiwi made barrels right under your nose TRUFLITE ! Which are exported to the US so the Kiwis must be doing something right !!

regards
Veebull