OK, here's how she turned out. Put together by Jim Myers of One Hole Gunworks.
- Remington 700 Action. Action face squared and lugs lapped into full contact. Ceracoated.
- #4 Brux Barrel finished at 26". Beadblasted with snakeskin pattern. Name and Caliber engraved.
- Shilen trigger, adjusted to 2.5 pounds.
- Holland recoil lug.
- Remington LSS Stock. Epoxy Bedded.
- Pacific Tool and Guage Aluminum Bottom Metal.
- Burris Extreme Bases.
- Burris Signature Zee Rings.
- Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14 with turrets.
Have only done minimal load development, and only put 4 groups on paper. Largest group was 1.17" while doing the "break in" cleaning regime between each shot. (FWIW, what a pain in the butt! I now realize why I had never tried this until now, and why I won't be doing it again in the future ). Two of the four groups were in the .5 MOA range. Groups were shot at 100m:
Winchester 7mm Mag brass with 71.5gr R22 behind 100gr Hornadys averaged 3649fps. Weatherby brass weighs about 20gr less, and gives about 85fps less with the same powder charge. 7 Mag brass formed easily into .257 Wby with one pass through a .257 full length die. Runout was horrible though (I HATE expander balls! ), with some cases having as much as .012". Even with the most crooked ammo I have ever loaded, she is showing huge promise. I look forward to seeing what she'll do when I get some straight ammo in her. I have a Forster die set coming (back order). When I get them, I'll send the sizer back to Forster to have the neck honed to .004" less than my loaded ammo measures, and won't have to use the cursed expander any more. In every instance I have tried it, it has made a HUGE difference in runout of loaded ammo and a noticeable difference in group size.
Shot a few clays from 300 yards. From the 100m zero, it only takes 2 MOA to get on at 300 yards. The speed has to be seen to be understood. The trigger breaking and the puff of dust from the target berm seem simultaneous. Recoil is surprisingly mild. Seems on par with, or maybe a little less than my .308.
This rig is going to Wyoming Pronghorn hunting with me in October. Can't wait!
John
