Bully

Besides Beartooth, anyone know of a source for somewhat more reasonably priced lead bullets for .223? I have a bolt gun and although we can't legally have supressors, it's a hoot to shoot subs out of it. I'd just prefer to do so for FMJ prices. They are asking .25 per round plus ship, FYI. I'd love to get that to .15. If not, FMJ it is. C

Yup. I'm gonna get there around 10:30. I'll have my 6.5 and my 223 bolt gun.

Heading to the range in a bit. I'll just be shooting factory and the plinker rounds I have loaded. Hoping to do a bit better than last time. I'll try and grab a coulple of target pictures if I remember. C

For a "starter" rifle, this could be a great deal. 7/08 gets very little respect but it's a flatter round than 308 and less prone to getting tossed around. I think the appeal with 308 is the availability of match ammo, and match components. But yeah, there are "better" options out there. If you are gonna do it, I would buy a 500 dollar 700 from your shop of choice, shoot it, then rebuild from there. And as nice as the Tikka is, you will have more options on a 700 platform. I just built a Savage, so I know first hand how frustrating it can be to find something cool only to quickly discover that "it's only for 700's a this time." I would also advise against getting caught up in the 5R, HS, cool out of the box stuff. If you're gonna build it, you're gonna just want that stuff gone. The more expensive barrel won't be worth much at all and the HS, if in awesome shape, will get you 200 back and you'll most likely have to ship it. If anything, get the cheapy and the chassis and shoot it that way until you are set on caliber choice and barrel/barrel length. If you get into it, welcome to the rabbit hole... C

Nifty little cartridge. If you do it, I'd love to see. Good luck.

Get a good, sharp bit and use a drill press. Use cutting oil and go slow. I can't imagine it being difficult. I've done devices in my garage and never had an issue. I have a linear comp. It doesn't do a lot. However if it's for an AR, it doesn't really have to. Good luck.

Thanks BHunted. SC, I certainly will.

Pics as promised

Had her out today for her first outing. Shot a mixed bag of factory and hand loads. I am just trying to get used to shooting her. It's my first chassis system and as of right now I'm sold. Rifle shot sub MOA off a bipod and my shoulder, no bag. It took some doing but it happened. Just at subOA tho, a . 75ish. I took a quick measurement with a tape and tossed the target. I'm not all that worried as I have not begun to develop loads for this rifle. I have some work ahead of me first establishing a decent zero and going from there. Also the bullets I shot are 140gn SST's so not the most spectacular. I will work my loads up in the next few visits. All that to say, I love this rifle. Thanks to Michael at Tier1 Defense for all his help along the way.

Heading to the range. Report and pics to follow. C

From all I read, with the components I have on hand it won't be a speed demon by any stretch. But I should be closed to 28ish without any pressure issues. I'm gonna run 130's with Varget. RL15 would get me more speed for sure however I'm not looking for crazy speed and I'm looking for solid practical accuracy, not in the .1's. Also I want to consolidate components and I load Varget in my 223 and I did load it in my 308 so I have some to work thru. I will keep you apprised C

Thanks T Bill. I'm hoping it all works out.

Thanks folks! Eric, I'll keep the thread going through the load development stages. I'm pretty sure the gun will shoot well. Me, well we'll see.

Thanks. Tangent: It makes me a bit sad that this sub-forum doesn't get as much "play" as the other rifle forums. C

She comes home Monday!!! I can't wait to get ahold of this.

Thanks Rob. I do appreciate it. C

Well, It looks like this one is real. Facebook is gonna shut down sales of firearms between private individuals. They are saying that too many sales go on without background checks. FFL's will continue to be allowed to do business. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/facebook-announces-stricter-policy-firearms-234522278.html Sucks. I've been able to purchase some good stuff on the NJ facebook page. And, the classifieds here pretty much sucks. Now what? C

Yeah, you got the wrong impression. I am so excited to go pick this up I can't even begin to say. I have pretty humble finances and this is the first "custom" precision rifle I've owned. I went fairly all out on this. For me. It's why i went with the Seekins rail. It was/is the right thing to do for this rifle. Could I do better glass? Yup. Could I do a better action? Yup. Could I do a better stock? Yup. However for what I want and what I'm gonna do with it I don't necessarily think that I would. This rifle should be pretty perfect. C

I have a rail. It would have been just fine. I changed it to a Seekins. It's on order. If I hadn't done that my rifle would be complete. First world problems for sure.

Why did I have to change my mind on the rail...! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?!?!?!?!?!?!

100% truth.

Mine is the Savage on the left!!! I'm getting so psyched for this. It's like Christmas came a bit late.

Let me know when you're ready for visitors...

I'm not a competitor so I'm good with the weight of it. From everything I've heard and read, this is not gonna be a lightweight. That'll be just fine off a bipod for fun.

Thanks. I'm stoked!