jpretle
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Anyone know John Bredderman
- Thread starter Threejs
- Start date
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First, let me say that I appreciate you coming forward and clarify the issue. Having said that, the quote was reasonable with what is all involved. Like others noted, there's always two side of the story and glad we heard yours.
Yes, I have been working with my gunsmith since 2003 and also have steered new clients his way.
Not really sure if it's a personal discount as a token of his appreciation for me being a repeat customer but I'm very fortunate for our excellent working relationship. Most of the time our transactions are sealed by a good old handshake.
I have access to 5 gunsmiths within an hour's drive, one of which is 2 miles from my house, but I keep going back to him.
Cheers!
Ed
So I had received my M24 build about a month ago now, but I wanted to give an accurate and fair review of the rifle that John had built for me. Let me start from the beginning, and some of my background. I am a Military Police Officer, designated marksman for my squadron, an armorer, shoot competitively on the outside and an avid reloader. I've built a lot of rifles both in and outside of the Military, almost all AR style rifles, In every caliber you can think of that would work for this platform.
I paint rifles, and have worked as a machinist apprentice for over a year. So I have an idea of the concept behind machining, but wouldn't call myself a machinist. I originally wanted to do the entire build myself, starting with a blue printed/ Trued Remington 700 Long Action. (Because that's the action the US Army went with when Remington won the contract for the M24, knowing that they would eventually switch over to 300WM) I came across some blueprinted 700 actions on I think GB, and reached out to John to inquire about them. We exchanged numbers and explained my project to him. He said he could get ahold of a genuine M24 Rock Creek 5R barrel from the company, and before I knew it he was building the rifle for me. Which now I am glad he talked me into it. I was way in over my head with this build. It took awhile for the barrel blank to come in, which John said it would. It started at 27", and he cut it down to OAL of 24", which he was right about because I couldn't find a definite answer online if it was 24" from the recoil lug to muzzle or 24" including the 1" threaded into the reciever. The Marines M40 is cut to 25" OAL with an inch threaded into the reciever, so they measure from the recoil lug up and call it a 24" barrel. I had got ahold of the correct HS Precision stock, but was used because they don't make them anymore and it was in rough shape. There was a nice gouge taken out by the trigger assembly, which he inserted a stud and permanently filled it in. He then coated the stock and barreled action in Cerakote matte black, and did an excellent job on the finish. The barrel came out really nice, with the proper recessed crown at the muzzle. Chamber, throat and rifling were all cut clean with a beautiful finish. I borrowed a bore scope from my old Shop from when I was a jet engine mechanic. He did an excellent job bedding the barreled action to the stock. Perfect match, and very clean job. Over all, I am very impressed with John's work. It wasn't the cheapest and quickest way to go about owning an M24 Sniper rifle...but this will definitely shoot tighter groups then any of the 24's in our armory. And hey, the reason why we build rifles over buying complete firearms is the hunt and satisfaction of putting something this amazing together. John is very knowledgeable and passionate about what he does, and his work reflects this statement. We have spent many hours on the phone discussing precision shooting, rifle building and our love for the sport. It did seem as if he responded faster towards the beginning of the build, but I know he's got a lot going on and he always got back to me. Even if it took a couple days.
The barrel is about broken in and really starting to settle with under 200 rounds of hand loaded 175gr SMK. I cloned the M118LR sniper round with 43.1gr RL15, and haven't really ventured outside of that load combination yet with this gun. Its what worked in my SR25 clone, so I figured it would be a good starting point. I feel that with the right powder/powder charge/primer/bullet weight/seating depth/neck size I can eventually find the perfect custom load for this rifle and could potentially shoot a 1/8th inch group. The only thing I still need to do is get the front of the barrel and receiver drilled and tapped for the front and rear sight base's and get the M24 roll mark on the receiver. (I placed the front base on the barrel for pics)
These pictures do not do the rifle justice.
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I paint rifles, and have worked as a machinist apprentice for over a year. So I have an idea of the concept behind machining, but wouldn't call myself a machinist. I originally wanted to do the entire build myself, starting with a blue printed/ Trued Remington 700 Long Action. (Because that's the action the US Army went with when Remington won the contract for the M24, knowing that they would eventually switch over to 300WM) I came across some blueprinted 700 actions on I think GB, and reached out to John to inquire about them. We exchanged numbers and explained my project to him. He said he could get ahold of a genuine M24 Rock Creek 5R barrel from the company, and before I knew it he was building the rifle for me. Which now I am glad he talked me into it. I was way in over my head with this build. It took awhile for the barrel blank to come in, which John said it would. It started at 27", and he cut it down to OAL of 24", which he was right about because I couldn't find a definite answer online if it was 24" from the recoil lug to muzzle or 24" including the 1" threaded into the reciever. The Marines M40 is cut to 25" OAL with an inch threaded into the reciever, so they measure from the recoil lug up and call it a 24" barrel. I had got ahold of the correct HS Precision stock, but was used because they don't make them anymore and it was in rough shape. There was a nice gouge taken out by the trigger assembly, which he inserted a stud and permanently filled it in. He then coated the stock and barreled action in Cerakote matte black, and did an excellent job on the finish. The barrel came out really nice, with the proper recessed crown at the muzzle. Chamber, throat and rifling were all cut clean with a beautiful finish. I borrowed a bore scope from my old Shop from when I was a jet engine mechanic. He did an excellent job bedding the barreled action to the stock. Perfect match, and very clean job. Over all, I am very impressed with John's work. It wasn't the cheapest and quickest way to go about owning an M24 Sniper rifle...but this will definitely shoot tighter groups then any of the 24's in our armory. And hey, the reason why we build rifles over buying complete firearms is the hunt and satisfaction of putting something this amazing together. John is very knowledgeable and passionate about what he does, and his work reflects this statement. We have spent many hours on the phone discussing precision shooting, rifle building and our love for the sport. It did seem as if he responded faster towards the beginning of the build, but I know he's got a lot going on and he always got back to me. Even if it took a couple days.
The barrel is about broken in and really starting to settle with under 200 rounds of hand loaded 175gr SMK. I cloned the M118LR sniper round with 43.1gr RL15, and haven't really ventured outside of that load combination yet with this gun. Its what worked in my SR25 clone, so I figured it would be a good starting point. I feel that with the right powder/powder charge/primer/bullet weight/seating depth/neck size I can eventually find the perfect custom load for this rifle and could potentially shoot a 1/8th inch group. The only thing I still need to do is get the front of the barrel and receiver drilled and tapped for the front and rear sight base's and get the M24 roll mark on the receiver. (I placed the front base on the barrel for pics)
These pictures do not do the rifle justice.
These were all shot at 110yds. This is what the rifle shoots pretty consistently, and as I previously stated...with this powder charge. I still need to find out what she likes!
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I shot this on the way to work this morning. That's a 5 shot group measuring about 0.383"!!!
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I shot this on the way to work this morning. That's a 5 shot group measuring about 0.383"!!!
Very nice but your pics are not showing up.
smokepoler
Well-Known Member
In reference to barrel length, ATF defines it as muzzle to breech face, not recoil lug.
Bookredsox
Member
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2016
- Messages
- 14
Your absolutely correct but when comparing an M24 to an M40 - the M24 measures the actual barrel length and the m40 measures from the recoil lug. The shooter wanted to be as correct as possible with the barrel length. Not sure why the Marines measure that way but thats what they do. Bottom line the shooter wanted the rifle to be an M24 clone - the least I can do is build him exactly what he wants. He spent plenty of time gathering up parts and the last thing I was going to do was overlook a little detail. It was a fun build and I sure learned a lot about the differences between an M24 and an M40. Had no clue there were so many little differences... Thanks again for letting me be part of the M24 build!!
The more I shoot this rifle, the more I get impressed. Still have not shot factory/ issued 175gr M118LR through her, been working up powder charges. She really settled around the 300 round mark, consistently holding 1/2" 5 shot groups at 100yds. The 3 shot groups usually measure 1/4"....but I have shot one 5 shot group that measured in at 0.260 best group I have ever shot in my life. Better than how my duty M24 groups. She likes Noslers over Sierra Match King, which sucks cause I bought 3,000 smk for the election in case that bitch won. Groups better with the brass FL sized over Neck Sized, which also sucks because I invested money into the neck sizer and 5 different bushings costing about $20 a piece. I still need to have the holes for the front and rear sight base's drilled and tapped and the M24 roll mark for the rifle to be finished to clone spec. John did not feel comfortable drilling into the barrel, and I'm glad he didn't risk it if he didn't feel confident and was honest. I have to say, that this was absolutely worth the wait. Army records have shown that the M24's groups actually got tighter when reached the 10,000 round count, passed the recommended life of the barrel, so hopefully my future kids will be enjoying this rifle someday too. Thank you again John. I'm trying to get out of the clone game....6 clones is enough for me, but I have always wanted a MK13, so when the time comes to build that or a custom rifle where I don't have to follow Military guide lines.....I hope that you will again be my gunsmith. I'll try again to figure out how to get my pics up here.
