Hey guys....first post here. I've enjoyed reading through the threads.

I have a couple of questions for you guys as I love rifles but have no experience in building a custom rifle. I have a Remington Model 700 SPS Stainless chambered in .300 Win Mag. As you may know, this gun has a hollow black synthetic stock which I absolutely hate...lol

I removed recoil pad/butt plate and packed the stock end with granulized steel from an ankle weight. This added about 3 lbs. to the overall weight of the gun and made it balance a lot better. Until then, I just flat out didnt enjoy shooting this gun. Another thing I do not like about the rifle is the finish of the barrel. It has a matte stainless finish, but the texture is rough. I would like the barrel to have the same SMOOTH, slick matte finish of the receiver.

First of all, what needs to be done to refinish the barrel to get that smooth, slick finish?

I would also like to check into a custom bull barrel for this gun with an integral muzzle brake or an add on muzzle brake, whatever is better. I dont know much about these.

Also, I would like to find a laminated stock either in grey or brown laminate to replace the synthetic stock and fit a bull barrel. I would prefer a Thumbhole, but a good heavy monte Carlo style would suffice if a TH stock isnt available.

I have about $1000 to $1200 to spend on this project. I'm looking to turn this rifle into a definate shooter. It gives me about .75" groups at 100 yards now. I would just like to have this gun kick like a .243 or less if possible. I would like to shoot 1/2 MOA and with a low recoil set up, I would enjoy shooting it enough to get proficient at it..lol.

Any help or direction you guys can steer me in would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!
Matt

You can get a nice stock from Richards Microfit. You can sand a barrel to smooth it up but it will get shiney. I sand blast mine after I polish them in the lathe. I get a smooth matte finish that looks good. You need to find a gunsmith that does action and barrel work for the rest. He can give you quotes on truing your action, installing a barrel with or without a brake. I think your $1200 will get you where you want to go maybe with a little change left. I'm curious about the use. The 1/2 MOA is easy and since you didn't say, I'm guessing you want long range accuracy. It is hard to get tiny groups out of the 300 WM at close range. They don't really start to shine until you let em buck at long range and it makes no sense to deal with the recoil if you just want to poke paper at 100 yards. I used to do load development with mine at 100 yards but as you might guess, these weren't the most accurate loads at long range. I burned a lot of H1000 and Retumbo shootin mine in but that's just part of the fun I suppose. A trued action, heavy barrel, bedded into a nice laminated stock and a good trigger....you will be forever spoiled.

Hi Matt,

you can pretty easily rebarrel and restock your gun for less than your working price range...

Like lumberjack said, you need to get out past 100 yards to start seeing what a 300 Winchester will do and most will produce literally tighter groups at 200 yards over what they will at 100 yards...

This next March will be my 25th year of building high accuracy long-range rifles...

Here is a picture of a 300 Winchester barrel with one of my m uzzle brakes that has been screwed onto the barrel, machined, filed and finished with the rest of the barrel to look like it is part of the barrel and not an add-on...

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z132/HonkerHunter_photos/100_0181.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z132/HonkerHunter_photos/100_0205.jpg

As far as thumbhole stocks go, Boyds makes a good lookin stock that can easily take a varmint or target weight barrel...

As with any stock, proper pillar bedding is important as is adequate clearance around the barrel - "free floating"...

As far as the action itself goes, it should be completely blue printed with the bolt having "bushings" installed on it - especially if high accuracy is your main goal...

Something else you could do if this gun is going to used for long-range shooting is have a single shot follower bedded the bottom of the receiver. This allows a little more rigidity to the action and eleminating the spring loaded follower reduces vibrations and that in turn, will increase accuracy when shooting at the more extreme ranges....


A

Lumberjak and Assassin.....Thanks for the help!!!

I own a Howa M1500 Thumbhole Varminter Supreme in .308 Win. I absolutly love it. I love the stock on it. I believe it is a Boyd??

To answer the question about the use.....I'm simply hunting with this rifle. I only said 1/2" groups at 100 yards because I figured that would give me about 2" groups at 400 yards which would quite frankly be better than what I can hold or shoot in a hunting situation.

I mainly want to turn it into a easy to shoot, low recoil, tack driver that I could confidently take 400 to 500 yards shots with it.

I'm not so concerned with shooting paper with it except to practice.

What barrel company would you guys recommend?
Lilja, Krieger, Badger, Pac-nor, Hart, etc???

You do good work ASSASSIN even though sumpin been eatin holes in your barrel :D Yall got gophers out there?

I think any of the barrel makers you mentioned are fine. Might compare prices and/or see if your gunsmith can get deal or has a preference. About half the battle is the installer. A good barrel can be ruined if the chamber is not reamed exactly on bore center line. What you want to do is easily within the reach of the 300WM.

Hey ASSASSIN, it's a ways from you but we been killin all your deer at Muskogee. 12 year old Grandson took his first this year. A huge record book 6 pointer, field dressed at 98 pounds.

pres440,

if you are going to stay with a 300 Winchester, I would highly recommend a Lilja 3 groove barrel with a 1-10" twist....


lumberjack,

no gophers - just a good sharp "center drill"...

CONGRATULATIONS to your grandson...

We still got plenty of deer around here so you hadn't done much to hurt the population. I've put 3 fat does in the freezer so I'm finished for the year....

A