Starting my First Bolt Gun Build

[Bully 749]

Some have seen my 223 build. I was very lucky to be able to go to Michigan and watch the entire build along side a very talented riflesmith. I learned a ton. Along the way I also acquired a good sized lathe and am in the middle of acquiring the tooling to build a bolt gun from the ground up. On my own. All by my lonesome. 

Made a tenon to dimension today. Threaded it as well. Came out pretty well for an absolute amateur. 

I will be building a 6BR for my next one. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I have a stripped action that I will be truing the face, lugs, and all pertinent bolt faces.  I will be cutting the barrel, threading the tenon, and chambering. I will also attempt to time the bolt handle and add a “tactical” bolt knob. The action will be converted to singleshot via a glue in adapter. I may give bedding a shot as well.  It should prove to be an interesting experiment. 

Hoping for success. 

43F2733A-E464-4708-8A5F-F9368F67634B.MOV

[Zeke 5,504]

I’m not gonna lie... I thought this was a telling the parents thread

[Rob0115 1,105]

24 minutes ago, Zeke said:

I’m not gonna lie... I thought this was a telling the parents thread

That’s funny.  Plenty of video/photo documentation please?   Parts list as well?

[Bully 749]

Remington 700 S/A.

Remington 40x stock inlet for BDL.  I'm currently looking for and hoping to find one that is ADL.  

Rock Creek M24 barrel 1:7

Weaver 20MOA pic base

Timney Calvin Elite 2 stage

I'm still working on what glass.  I have an idea or two but I'll have to see how it all pans out.  Budget will be a bit tighter on this glass purchase.  

I will post pics as I have them.  Still practicing making stuff to dimension.  Practicing on a 300 dollar barrel isn't my idea of a good time.  I'm hoping to have it down to some kind of procedure before I get started.   

 

[Eric. 9]

Im gonna follow this.

 

Just a thought- maybe you might want to practice on some cheaper barrel blanks?  Not that i know anything about machining, just sayin'

[Zeke 5,504]

I’m gonna let @Bullyferment. Then get a bully barrel. Lol! Practice on the other guys. Mine will be bully awesomeness 

[Bully 749]

1 hour ago, Eric. said:

Im gonna follow this.

 

Just a thought- maybe you might want to practice on some cheaper barrel blanks?  Not that i know anything about machining, just sayin'

Cheap barrel blanks are still 150 bucks.  

I have a couple of drops from a gunsmith.  Only issue is this...  if I thread/chamber I'm potentially in violation of some stuff.  Hence using solid bar.  No issue.

[Bully 749]

Got the single shot adapter in from Gre-Tan today.  Spent about 30 minutes getting it to fit all nice and stuff.  Only took that long as I wanted it to fit without stressing the receiver.  Got the JB out and made it semi-permanent.  

[Bully 749]

So.....

This just happened. 

I got home from work last night to a package from my ‘smith buddy. He turned the bolt around in record time. Fluted it for me, which is not normally my thing, and added the “tac” knob. I will be doing this stuff myself at some point but I don’t have a mill so I’m out. Anyway, having the bolt in hand lit a fire under my ass. I ambled out to my shop and spent two hours to take 5 minutes worth of cuts. The set-up is NOT fast. I got everything to within .0003” and flipped the lathe on. I was concentrating too much to fuss with pics. 

Action face and lug abutments are now cut square to the bolt raceway. 

I threw the bolt in for a glory shot although it’s next on the chopping block. 

The stock should be here 5/24/18 (tomorrow). I still need a little tooling and will have to wait a bit before I can do any work on my barrel, but it’s moving along. 

Thanks for reading.

[Rob0115 1,105]

You need an FFL soon. 

[Bully 749]

18 minutes ago, Rob0115 said:

You need an FFL soon. 

From your mouth to God's ears...

[Bully 749]

Mail call!!!

Showed up Friday. 

Boyd’s Pro-Varmint in Coyote. ADL/single shot with adjustable cheek and stippling. 

Less than $300 to my door with a code. 

Barrel channel needs to be opened up to fit my barrel but beyond that, I’m thrilled. 

[Rob0115 1,105]

Wow real nice.  Makes me remember I need to check in with my mike and see how my .223 is coming along.  

[Bully 749]

Bolt is in the fixture. I will indicate it I’m in the next day or two and make some cuts. I may do some “pretty work” to it as well seeing as how pretty it is. 

 

Im getting excited. 

 

Oddly im back and forth in stock choice. I just like them both a lot. I guess I’ll keep chugging along on the metalwork for now and make that decision when the time comes. 

[Bully 749]

Bolt is trued up. 

Dialed in to .0003. I can’t get it better at this time. Some can. It’s well within the parameters of “true” for a rifle build. It took about an hour to get it there.

Boltface and back of the lugs are cut true. I put a slight chamfer on the outer edge of the bolt and front of the lugs to make it pretty. 

Next up is the barrel. I’m probably more nervous about that than anything else I’ve done so far. Although the bolt face is a bit hairy as it’s just so small. 

[Bully 749]

Dummy round assembled and getting sent to JGS so they can build a reamer to spec. It’ll hit the mail Monday. 

[Old School 611]

1 hour ago, Bully said:

Dummy round assembled and getting sent to JGS so they can build a reamer to spec. It’ll hit the mail Monday. 

Caliber? Looks like a PPC case.

[medved11 71]

6mmBR I believe

[Bully 749]

40 minutes ago, medved11 said:

6mmBR I believe

Correct, as stated in the OP.

[Bully 749]

Reamer and go-gauge are on the way.  Hoping to see them by middle of next week.  Fingers crossed!!

[NJSigfan 218]

Nice looking build.  I’m fascinated, ok more jealousy of the machining work.  And that stock was a thing of beauty

 

[Bully 749]

9 hours ago, NJSigfan said:

Nice looking build.  I’m fascinated, ok more jealousy of the machining work.  And that stock was a thing of beauty

 

Thanks.  Don't be jealous.  I'm stumbling my way thru this.  There's no special talent here.  

That stock is for sale...  

[Zeke 5,504]

Sooo if I get a savage in 6.5 creedmore( the jean Claude van dam of precision caliber) can we...”we” make it more better?

[Malice4you 627]

56 minutes ago, Zeke said:

Sooo if I get a savage in 6.5 creedmore( the jean Claude van dam of precision caliber) can we...”we” make it more better?

When I wanted a bolt precision gun, I ended up getting a Savage 10FCP-K in .223. Accurate gun, don't get me wrong. But the aftermarket support is not quite as 'there' as it would be for a rem700, so your options may be more limited, especially if you have your heart set on x part. In stock form, it has been more accurate than I am when fed properly, but there were specific parts I eventually wanted which were short single run items that are now not available for my action, where those are easily available for 700s.

How much this would affect you, knowing someone who can build an insane rifle from scratch as you do, may or may not affect you. Just making you aware of potential limitations you may experience by not going with the big name.

If I were starting fresh, I think I would have researched further and gone m700 police in .223 or .308 from the start - prices on GB were probably within $100 of what I paid for the savage, and the 69gr .223 FGMM rounds seem to be the most expensive of the 4 options in .223/.308, so i might as well have just gone .308.

TL;DR: Savages are great guns, but limited aftermarket, consider the future before buying

[Bully 749]

^^^Solid advice. If one can live without 2stage triggers, the Savage lineup is pretty solid. Most stocks and such are available for them similar to Remmy. The trigger issue is huge for me as I am a 2stage Shooter all the way. The Accutrigger is similar, I know. But not enough for my liking. 

I would actually love a single shot PTA Savage action to build off of. I would hard barrel it in whatever caliber fit my fancy at the time. Maybe soon. 

[Old School 611]

16 hours ago, Malice4you said:

When I wanted a bolt precision gun, I ended up getting a Savage 10FCP-K in .223. Accurate gun, don't get me wrong. But the aftermarket support is not quite as 'there' as it would be for a rem700, so your options may be more limited, especially if you have your heart set on x part. In stock form, it has been more accurate than I am when fed properly, but there were specific parts I eventually wanted which were short single run items that are now not available for my action, where those are easily available for 700s.

How much this would affect you, knowing someone who can build an insane rifle from scratch as you do, may or may not affect you. Just making you aware of potential limitations you may experience by not going with the big name.

If I were starting fresh, I think I would have researched further and gone m700 police in .223 or .308 from the start - prices on GB were probably within $100 of what I paid for the savage, and the 69gr .223 FGMM rounds seem to be the most expensive of the 4 options in .223/.308, so i might as well have just gone .308.

TL;DR: Savages are great guns, but limited aftermarket, consider the future before buying

As you know I shoot one Savage small shank.  Totally agree after market parts are limited.  But there's a whole Savage subculture too.  Not that I subscribe to it,  But absolutely yes, stocks are limited for sure.

[TokenEntry 293]

On 6/22/2018 at 2:11 PM, Bully said:

Dummy round assembled and getting sent to JGS so they can build a reamer to spec. It’ll hit the mail Monday. 

If you had not stated it in your initial post, I would have mistaken it for the new 224 Valkyrie round just by the picture alone.

Regards,

TokenEntry

[Bully 749]

5 minutes ago, TokenEntry said:

If you had not stated it in your initial post, I would have mistaken it for the new 224 Valkyrie round just by the picture alone.

Regards,

TokenEntry

Eeeeeek.  No thanks!  

Just kidding.  Great round but not on this one.  If I do a "hot rodded" 22, it'll be a 22BR.  However I think my next will be a straight up .223 again.  

[Bully 749]

I’m absolutely blessed to have a good friend that is a machinist and gunsmith that ties stuff around for me pretty quickly. I sent this last week and it showed up today.  If anyone is looking for top notch work and is not afraid to shop it off, shoot me a pm for his info.

Now that the lug is pinned I have no more excuses. I’m gonna chuck the barrel up in the next few days and get started figuring out how to make this happen. I’m not gonna lie, I’m very nervous. But without jumping in I’ll never realize how sweet it can be. 

 

[Zeke 5,504]

You got this!

One piece of advice... don’t screw it up!

lol