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Ultra light rifle project |
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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Posted: October/27/2018 at 17:22 |
Inspired by my recent ultra light AR project, I decided to build an ultra light bolt action for hunting. I just finished it a couple weeks ago, just in time for hunting with it this fall.
The components and specs are as follows: - Pierce "Featherweight" titanium custom action, SA. - Lilja 8 twist 3-groove #1 light profile barrel @ 19", chambered 6.5 Creedmoor. - Brown Precision "Pound'R" Kevlar stock. - Timney Calvin Elite trigger, set at 2 lbs. - Vortex Razor HD LH 1.5-8X32 scope. - S&K mounts. - PTG aluminum trigger guard. Pierce makes 2 different titanium actions, one with a receiver made of titanium and bolt made of steel, and the other made entirely of titanium that they call the "Featherweight." This is the Featherweight version. The action is left natural finish, and the bolt has some type of hard nitrided coating, as it came from Pierce. The stainless barrel is finished in "Ionbond DLC" satin gray-black nitride. I settled on 19" OAL to minimize weight and make it handier in tight quarters, without suffering too much velocity loss. I'm happy with this choice, as I'm still getting 2800+ fps with 43 gr H4350 behind Jason's 125 gr Badlands Precision Bulldozer bullets. I finished the stock using a sponge application camo technique that has given good results on several previous stocks. First, after sealing the pores in the stock, I applied a slight texture to the stock with epoxy and a sponge. I wanted to pick up the titanium of the receiver and gray-black of the barrel in the stock finish, so I decided to do a "metallic camo" using titanium, cobalt gray, burnt bronze, and copper metallic Duracoat. I then sprayed 5 coats of matte clear Duracoat on top of the "sponge camo" color coats. To reduce as much weight as possible, I went with a blind magazine config with no bottom metal except trigger guard. Since the rear scope base would overhang the scallop on the left side of the receiver (which looked ugly), I milled relief cuts on all 4 sides of the bases. As a side benefit, the modified bases look cool and shed maybe an ounce without affecting strength in any way. I then had the bases coated with the same DLC finish as the barrel. The complete rifle with scope and mounts weighs a remarkable 5.5 lbs, so this is easily the lightest scoped BG hunting rifle I own! Despite its extreme light weight, it shoots very well! I easily get sub-MOA with my handload of Badlands Precision 125 gr Bulldozer, 43 gr H4350, Lapua brass, and CCI 450 small rifle mag primer. I'm able to touch lands at 2.815" COAL and still feed from the magazine. With this load, I'm averaging 2810 fps even with the short 19" barrel. I couldn't be happier with the way it shoots! The G4 BDC reticle in the Razor HD LH scope is just an outstanding reticle for a "set and forget" hunting scope! Not only are the outer bars nice and bold for good low light visibility and the floating center dot enable precision shots, but the BDC feature actually corresponds to my load very well. With this reticle, I'm able to easily make precision shots on BG animals out to at least 400 yds without touching the elevation knob. With the center dot zeroed at 200 yards, the tip of the fine post (2 MOA drop) below the center dot puts POI 1" below POA at 300 yards. Using the first hash mark @ 4.5 MOA below the center dot, POI is 2.5" below POA at 400. I didn't check the next hash mark down for impact at 500 yards, as I couldn't get out past 400 at my brother's range and 400 yards is pretty much my self-imposed limit for shot distance on BG animals. I couldn't believe how well the G4 reticle works with my load data! Anyway, here she is: Edited by RifleDude - October/28/2018 at 21:57 |
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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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mike650
Optics God Joined: May/14/2006 Location: West of Rockies Status: Offline Points: 14569 |
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Outstanding!
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“A hunt based only on trophies taken falls far short of what the ultimate goal should be.” – Fred Bear
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Sparky
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: July/15/2007 Location: SD Status: Offline Points: 4569 |
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WOW!! Very nice Ted!!
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urbaneruralite
Optics Journeyman Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 479 |
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Sweet rig.
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Peddler
Optics God Joined: July/04/2012 Location: Oswego,NY Status: Offline Points: 13526 |
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👍🥃💥.
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When you are dead, you don't know you are dead.It is difficult only for others.
It is the same when you are stupid. |
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koshkin
MODERATOR Dark Lord of Optics Joined: June/15/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 13182 |
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That is a really good looking gun!
It took me a ton of effort to get Vortex to make the 1.5-8x32 (it helped that the guy I mostly talk to at Vortex also likes this scope type), but I suspect it will be discontinued around the end of the year. I have one and I am actually thinking of picking up another. 5.5lbs with the scope is just remarkable. As far as Jason's bullets go, there is some weird voodoo happening with them. In my 308 with 24" Proof barrel, I am getting his 155gr ICBM to move out at around 3030fps with single digit ES and no pressure signs. Same for 150gr ICBM at 3080fps. There must be something to that short bearing surface. ILya
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Rancid Coolaid
MODERATOR Joined: January/19/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9318 |
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Ted, if you don’t mind my asking, what is the all in on that rifle?
I like it, might need one in a 300WM. |
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Freedom is something you take.
Respect is something you earn. Equality is something you whine about not being given. |
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Peddler
Optics God Joined: July/04/2012 Location: Oswego,NY Status: Offline Points: 13526 |
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💥😂.
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When you are dead, you don't know you are dead.It is difficult only for others.
It is the same when you are stupid. |
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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$3800
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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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Son of Ed
Chuck Norris Joined: June/18/2011 Location: TEXAS Status: Offline Points: 122207 |
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( the $3800----not the rifle....) Edited by Son of Ed - October/29/2018 at 13:52 |
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Visit the Ed Show
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Scrumbag
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: October/22/2013 Location: London, UK Status: Offline Points: 4205 |
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Very nice and happy hunting!
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Was sure I had a point when I started this post...
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supertool73
Optics God Superstool Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 11814 |
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Thats pretty impressive Ted. I really like how it turned out.
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Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.
"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own." |
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cbm
Optics Journeyman Joined: January/11/2008 Location: SC Status: Offline Points: 580 |
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Really nice, I like it a lot !!
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SVT_Tactical
MODERATOR Chief Sackscratch Joined: December/17/2009 Location: NorthCackalacky Status: Offline Points: 31233 |
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very nice...... I like the looks allot.
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"Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln
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SEMO Shooter
Optics Apprentice Joined: January/06/2013 Location: SE Missouri Status: Offline Points: 199 |
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That is a beautiful rifle.
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tahqua
MODERATOR Have You Driven A Ford Lately? Joined: March/27/2006 Location: Michigan, USA Status: Offline Points: 9042 |
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Very nice looking rig and I'm not surprised about your scope choice. I do find the mount choice interesting.
Edited by tahqua - October/30/2018 at 17:49 |
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Doug
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Peddler
Optics God Joined: July/04/2012 Location: Oswego,NY Status: Offline Points: 13526 |
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Doug/Ted, S&K is on Swede Hollow Road, Warren , PA maybe 5 miles from where my wife grew up. How’s that for a small world? Drive thru there fairly often. WOW! I know the building and kinda knew what they did but had no idea they would cater to our 7mm Winkle 👍💥. My wife’s cousin has a Buffalo farm not far from there. |
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When you are dead, you don't know you are dead.It is difficult only for others.
It is the same when you are stupid. |
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mike650
Optics God Joined: May/14/2006 Location: West of Rockies Status: Offline Points: 14569 |
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Looks like that scallop would be a challenge for most bases, excellent Ted!
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“A hunt based only on trophies taken falls far short of what the ultimate goal should be.” – Fred Bear
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tejas
Optics Journeyman Joined: March/08/2010 Location: Lone Star State Status: Offline Points: 575 |
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That’s sharp! Especially like your paint job. Maybe you’d explain your technique?
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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Sure, Tejas.
First, the Brown Kevlar stock comes VERY "unfinished" and rough. It has a prominent seam around the center line on the sides. Since Kevlar doesn't cut or sand cleanly -- it is tough and tends to "fuzz" up when sanded/ground on -- you have to fill the surface with epoxy to harden the fibers prior to sanding. Fill, sand, fill, sand, and repeat the process several times. Then, I evened out the seams and voids in the stock with a mixture of West Systems epoxy and micro-balloons to thicken it. Micro-balloons is a powder consisting of tiny glass or polymer hollow spheres, so when added to epoxy, it not only thickens the mix, but it makes the resulting epoxy fill lighter. I spread the epoxy/micro-baloons mix out with a knife, much like you'd do for body work on a car. The micro-balloons are brown colored, so the fill mix is the brown areas you see in the photos. I contoured the ejection port relief so that the lines followed the ejection port on the action nicely. Again, since the Kevlar doesn't sand well, I brushed epoxy on the surface, sanded to shape, then repeat until I got the sharp, well-defined surface transitions I wanted. The bolt handle slot was way too large for the size bolt handle on this action, so I filled it in with the epoxy/micro-balloons so it would be a nice tight, clean fit to the bolt handle. I wrapped the bolt handle with electrical tape, applied release agent to the tape-covered handle, added the thickened epoxy to the slot, then swung the bolt handle into the epoxy, letting it squeeze out proud from the stock surface. Once it cures, remove the tape and you have clearance between the bolt handle and bolt handle slot. Then sand the epoxy level with the stock surface for a nice sharp slot edge. The front action screw counterbore was really large, so to make it minimalist and fit the action screw tightly, I wrapped the screw head with a little tape, stuck a piece of tight-fitting aluminum tube over the taped screw head to center it into the counterbore, then filled the gap between the counterbore and the aluminum tube with epoxy/micro-balloons mix. Then, I filed and sanded the aluminum tube and epoxy fill level with the stock. After bedding the action, I wrapped the barrel with tape, added release agent to the outside of the tape, then filled the barrel channel with epoxy/micro-balloons so I got a close-fitting barrel channel with the barrel still free floated. Then, sand down the top edge of the barrel channel so it's flat and sharp. I did the same for the trigger guard inlet, as it was excessively large for my trigger guard. Anyway, after I had prepped and filled the imperfections in the stock with my "body work," I brushed epoxy over the entire stock. I let the epoxy set up a little so that it was a bit tacky, then I took a piece of sea sponge and blotted the epoxy surface to give it a mild texture. Once that was done, I did the camo finish. It's pretty simple. First, I mask off the inletting and the buttpad, then spray a couple coats of a base color coat of Duracoat onto the stock. In this case, my base coat was burnt bronze. Then, for the "sponge camo," I just mix up a little Duracoat in a paper plate, dip a piece of sea sponge in the Duracoat, blot off the excess onto a paper towel, then press the sponge onto the stock in a random pattern. I let each color cure for about 30 minutes, then repeat with each additional color until I get the look I want. The sea sponge gives it a "blotched" pattern that I think looks really cool. I let the sponge-applied colors cure for a couple hours, then I spray the whole thing with matte Duracoat clear to even out the sheen. Edited by RifleDude - October/30/2018 at 21:38 |
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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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