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Custom Rifle

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9pt hunter View Drop Down
Optics GrassHopper
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 9pt hunter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Custom Rifle
    Posted: June/01/2020 at 21:33
Hi!! I am looking to finally purchase myself a custom rifle in a 7mm magnum, and I am trying to decide between Mcwhorter custom rifle and Cooper rifle any suggestion on who really is the best choice!!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rancid Coolaid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/02/2020 at 08:33
Best for what?

And what kinda rifle: ultralight, heirloom, etc?

Beware, once you get a custom rifle - assuming it is a good one - you will get more.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/02/2020 at 10:20
“Custom” covers a whole lot of ground, but since you mentioned McWhorter, it appears you’re wanting a synthetic stocked precision rifle. 

I’ve heard positive things about McWhorter overall, but personally the only time I would have a company/gunsmith build a true custom rifle for me is if I was having extensive metal work and fine wood stock making done on an heirloom type rifle.

What McWhorter does is assemble components that they buy. They don’t make the action, barrel, stock, etc, they buy good quality parts, put them together and apply finishes. This isn’t a knock against McWhorter at all. It still takes skill and expertise to put together a nice finished product. Their prices reflect a fair return on their component costs, time and labor. But, they won’t build you absolutely anything you want. They use a limited list of component parts. You may be perfectly happy with their choices, but if you’re like me, you may have specific wants that they are unable or unwilling to cater to.

I suggest to you another route, one that gives you much greater options for getting exactly what you want. Just buy all the components yourself - custom action, barrel blank, stock, bottom metal, trigger, magazine parts - and send the parts to a reputable gunsmith known for precision work. That way, your choices are much less limited, and you often save a little money. If you wish to go that route, several of us here can make recommendations on component parts and gunsmiths.

Incidentally, Cooper makes some nice rifles, but they are in no way “custom” rifles, because you don’t get to choose all the details of the finished product. You can choose from a list of options, but you’re limited by what they offer. Cooper could be considered “semi-custom.”
Ted


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tejas View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tejas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/02/2020 at 10:31
I agree. For the money your spending, why not choose a custom action, send it off to get barreled and choose what other parts YOU like? I don’t think there would be a huge price difference and you’d have exactly what you want. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/02/2020 at 11:45
My local precision gun smith took a video a while back of him taking a barrel off a Cooper action.  The sloppiness of the thread fit was pretty bad according to him in his vid.  He could really wobble the action once he loosened the barrel a bit.  Not any better than a factory rifle.  He commented for what they cost they should be fitting things to a lot tighter tolerances.  

He will build rifles as Ted has stated.  You can pick out the exact parts you want he will assemble them all for you.  Truly what a custom rifle should be.  He just has standard prices for the different services so you are not getting the huge up charge on the parts etc. 
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/02/2020 at 13:50
I've built a lot of custom rifles. And when I say "a lot," I mean an embarrassing number...as I'm afflicted with an incurable sickness. These days, I don't even buy factory rifles anymore; I build my own because I enjoy the process of creating something truly unique and the pride of ownership that comes from same. I can tell you in most cases, I'll save $2K - $2500 by doing the work myself. If you're not willing or able to do the work yourself, you can still save about a grand by just buying the components and having a good gunsmith or a couple gunsmiths assemble and finish it for you.

There are many excellent aftermarket custom actions (and a couple factory actions for that matter) that make the basis for a fine custom rifle. The advantage with going with a custom action are that you can get the combination of features you want, get tight tolerances and smooth operation, no need for any other "blueprinting" work to true it up, and it will have higher resale value if you ever decide to sell. I have multiple actions from Stiller, Pierce, Borden, Defiance, and Nesika. All are superb. None are necessarily "better" than the others, but some have features and characteristics that I like better than the others for different purposes. Other names you can add to that list include BAT, Surgeon, Mausingfield, Impact Precision, Kelbly's, Big Horn, and probably a few others I'm missing. All have great reputations, all superbly made out of good materials and precise machining. You can't really go wrong with any of those; it's just a matter of what features you want and how much you're willing to spend. I would personally stick with actions having "Remington 700 footprint" dimensions so that you have a wider selection of compatible stocks, triggers, magazine parts, and bottom metal available. In other words, all of the makers above make actions with the same mounting dimensions as a Remington 700, so they are compatible with stocks designed for the Rem 700, keeping your options as wide as possible.

For a 7 mag, I'd get a 1:7 or 1:8 twist barrel, which will stabilize the widest range of bullets. As for barrel brands, there are even more high quality precision barrel manufacturers than there are custom action manufacturers. Brands include Krieger, Hart, Shilen, Brux, Bartlein, Broughton, Benchmark, Rock Creek, Mullerworks, Lilja, Pac Nor, Proof Research, Hawk Hill Custom, Schneider, McGowan... and the list goes on and on...but those are the best, major players. I have barrels from most of those makes, in many bore sizes, and I can tell you that all are great. I honestly couldn't tell you if any are "better" than the other overall. I chose some over others based on availability at the time and whether they had a contour I wanted. I personally like barrels with "5R" or "5C" type rifling, as well as Lilja's 3-groove, as I believe they foul less. You can order a barrel directly from any of them (I believe this is still true), or for a shorter wait, you can order many different barrel blanks from a company like Southern Precision Rifles ( http://www.bugholes.com/Default.asp ), who have many blanks in stock from several of the precision manufacturers. For that matter, they also carry several good custom actions, triggers, and bottom metal in stock too, so you can minimize your wait time. The tradeoff: stuff costs a little more from SPR in exchange for the convenience of getting stuff immediately.

For synthetic stocks, it's hard to beat McMillan for quality, selection, and variety of styles. In addition, they will do custom inlets for actions, bolt handle and ejection port designs, bottom metal, and barrel profiles. They will also apply a variety of finishes for you. Manners is another high quality synthetic stock maker. Though they have less selection and options than McMillan, their product is in the same class. Grayboe is another great option that offers stocks similar in design to McMillan, but at lower price and less selection. AG Composites offers great stocks as well. There are several others like Brown Precision, Bell & Carlson, HS Precision, etc that offer a good product, but I personally believe McMillan, Manners, and Grayboe are your best bets for this style of rifle. Then there's chassis style stocks, but that's a whole other world with another list of manufacturers.

For triggers, the best include Jewell, Timney, TriggerTech, Rifle Basix, Shilen, Jard, Huber Concepts, Bix'N Andy, Elftmann, and likely a few others I can't recall at the moment. I've used triggers from all but Huber and BNA, and all offer superb choices for a custom rifle, some a little better than others depending on a specific application. My favorites among those are Jewell, Timney Calvin Elite, and Trigger Tech Special or Diamond.

For gunsmiths, I highly recommend 2 guys:

1. Pete Pieper out of Hempstead, TX is a good friend of mine, and I trust him completely. He's a man of integrity, he does great precision work, and his turnaround and prices are reasonable for the quality of work he does. I have had him do some degree of work for me on no less than 20 rifles. His turnaround is especially good for me since he lives about 30 miles from me. His specialty is barrel work, whether it be threading and chambering, crown, fluting, contouring, suppressor/brake threads, etc., but he will also do other rifle work upon request. 

2. Karl Kampfeld of Kampfeld Custom. Karl offers a variety of services, and does a fantastic job. Like Pete, he's just an all around great guy as well. I have had Karl do stock painting, Cerakote metal, barrel and bolt fluting, and custom bolt knob installation myself. His pricing and turnaround has likewise been very reasonable, at least when I last had him do work for me.

There are certainly other good, reputable smiths out there, but once I started doing my own work, I kinda lost track of who was doing what, and many of the guys I once used are now retired.
Ted


Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.
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Grubbs View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Grubbs Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/04/2020 at 18:35
I've had a couple of customs myself, and did as Rifledude mentioned....bought the parts myself and sent them off for final assembly.    I had great luck with both rifles.

Since you mentioned McWhorter, they did a great job on a 7-08.   It consisted of a Rem 700 action which  was trued  and  squared, Jewell trigger, Hart bbl, McMillan stock, HS bottom metal with  detachable mag, and  the metal was all cerakoted.   It was pillar and glass bedded as well, and to say it's a tack driver  is an  understatement.    My other was a Hill Country Rifles 7mm Rem Mag, once again built off a Rem 700 action.   I personally have no desire to spend big $$$ on custom actions as I don't think the return on investment is very high, especially when  these shoot like they do.   

They both do great  work, but McWhorter does exceptional work IMO, and they are great guys.  
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9pt hunter View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 9pt hunter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/24/2020 at 10:17
check out guns international I think they have exactly what your looking for! I have purchased numerous guns from them and save a little. I’ve seen some really nice cooper on it. 
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