Dirtboy,
Just curious, how did they "ACCURIZE" the Mark V receiver with its multiplain bolt lugs and receiver bolt lug supports????
I hear this all the time that these Wby receivers are accurized when in fact they are simply lapped in best they can get them. Sometimes this means ALOT of lapping and this is generally not the best method to do it.
You say you spent $2900 which was much less then a full custom rifle, really.... How much does a Wby Mk V cost? Even a used one will give you +$1000 bite in the wallet so now your looking at a minimum of nearly $4000 you have in a USED rifle for that matter. Resell value is gone which is not a concern if you keep the rifle forever but if for some chance it does not shoot well, like you said, you take your chances, $4000 is a hell of a chance.
Especially considering that you could do the following:
Borden timberline Magnum receiver
Seekins 20 moa rail
Holland Comp recoil lug
Jewell trigger
Wyatts extended internal mag box
BDL floorplate, follower, spring and receiver screws
Lilja #4 contour Stainless steel, fluted barrel, 24 to 26" finish length
Barrel fitting and chambering
Muzzle brake
McMillan carbon fiber BDL stock
Pillar bedding
Bead Blast matte finish
Chambered in 300 RUM
Tested and proven capable of 1/2moa accuracy or better
Shipped to your FFL
Total, just over $3800, Less then you had in your 30-378 wby and in a rifle that would likely match its performance pretty easily in standard length barrels and on average, far outshoot the Wby based rifles. Plus this, your not paying $4000 for a used rifle with no resell value. The full custom rifles have several times more resell value then a modified factory rifle.
-To cut the cost even more, you can use a #3 contour barrel, drop the $130 fluting charge and your down to around $3670 for a complete rifle including 20 moa tactical rail base.
-IF you wanted to go even further, replace the Seekins 20 moa rail with a set of two piece bases for the Savage Accu-trigger receivers. These can be made very light and had for $30. This brings you down to a $3580 total rifle cost.
-If you can live with an extra 1/4 lb of rifle weight, you can get the standard McMillan stock without the carbon fiber shell and save another $100, thats down to $3480.
-You can also go with a less costly but still quality Timney trigger and drop rifle price down again to $3380, still for a complete custom rifle that will hold its resell value.
Now your talking about a full custom rifle, no used parts, no highly modified barrels, proven accuracy before shipping, much better resell value, and for only $500 more then you paid for your Mk V........
Weight wise, it may be slightly heavier then your rifle but only by a few ounces I would bet and you would never have to worry about the potential problems with the CA barrel sleeve from heating up like we have seen so often in the past.
I see no real advantage to the Carbon barrels from a practical stand point and this is from someone that has fitted many dozens of them to customers rifles and been able to test them side by side with all steel barrels.
IN actual testing, by hanging weights off the end of a barrel that is chucked up in the lathe by its threads and measuring the barrel flexing, even a relatively small contour all steel barrel had noticably less flex then a large contour carbon wrapped barrel so the barrel stiffness claim is not true. Pound for pound carbon fiber may be stiffer then steel but we can not use a 4" cylinder on a rifle so its smoke and mirrors to be honest.
Another disadvantage, a carbon sleeved barrel from CA can not be set back and rechambered whereas most all steel barrels offer the ability to set the barrel back at least once and refit, rechamber and reinstall offering extended barrel life for minimal cost compared to a complete new barrel fitting. IT will not offer the life of a new barrel but it will offer a life extension which is not even an option with the CA barrel.
Paying this type of money for a shilen based rifle just does not make much sense to me. As a precision rifle builder, the process does not make alot of sense to me, you take a button rifled barrel, turn it down, glue on a carbon sleeve and then screw on a threaded cap to hold things together. Several red flags fly when I look at this process.
The main red flag, When you turn down a button pulled barrel in diameter, the bore diameter will increase in size..... This is not a good thing and it can not really be avoided, especially when you turn the barrel down to the degree that CA turns their barrels down to. I do not know a barrel company that would back their button pulled barrels after such a conversion is done. Generally when a bore diameter increases in size, accuracy suffers.
This is not as much of a concern with cut rifled barrels which makes me wonder why they are not used. To be honest, I believe its simply because of cost. I have not seen where CA will even use the Shilen Select match barrel, just the standard Shilen barrel.
Simply put, do not think that their rifles are a steal for price, they are not, you can get much more for no more or even less money and have a much better investment for your money.
If you want a CA rifle, by all means get one. They generally shoot well enough for any big game hunting. I would not call them a precision long range weapon by any means, at least the 6 I have personally shot did not produce the performance needed for a true precision long range, big game rifle but if your wanting a rifle that you can pack all day and then shoot over shooting sticks or off a bush you lean over which seems to be the CA way of shooting watching their videos, I think you would likely be happy with their rifles.
If your looking for a true long range precision rifle that will hold its value, there are MUCH better places to put your money.
I am not saying these are bad rifles, they are just not precision long range rifles, they are lightweight packing rifles pure and simple. This may sound like a pretty harsh opinion of CA rifles. IN some ways that is correct but more accurately, I am much more passionate about the customer getting a good return for their investment and in my professional opinion, there are MUCH better ways to go for the person that wants a quality precision rifle.
