Apologies for the impromptu pic, haven’t bothered to take any nice ones yet.
Just finished this build. It was originally purchased as a cheap varmint weight utility rifle in .308 from Dick’s for about $350. I bought it for the Savage model 10FCP action and older style barrel nut, which I favor.
I stripped it, re-stocked it in an inexpensive Choate tacticool stock with an aluminum bedding block. I lapped the block, then skim-bedded the action, leaving the barrel free-floated from the lug forwards, and the lug itself fully supported in epoxy (West) with a west filler for strength. Then I mounted the barreled action and fitted the stock (I like prone rifles with a lot of pull length), added a cheek rest. Mounted Talley rings, made a 35mm lap, lapped the rings, then mounted the scope and leveled it. Add a bipod, and a Millet 6-24x mil/mil scope, and shootin time.
If the barrel shoots, I’ll hang on to it long enough to burn it out, but ultimately the gun will be sporting a Bartlein heavy varmint weight barrel in either 6.5 or 6, and I haven’t decided which yet, or which case. So interesting to me, that people are starting to win matches with .243’s now. Good old .243
Up until now, the most accurate rifle I’ve ever owned, was also the cheapest. A Remington 788 in .243, with a Tasco 3x9 scope on it, that I bought for $149 on sale at Woolco in 1980. It had an 18 1/2" barrel too, and a three round detachable magazine. It had no right to do it, but it would routinely shoot .25 MOA, it was light weight, cheap to shoot, no recoil, ugly as sin, and it was a laser. It would easily vaporize a prairie dog at 400 yards, and fully disassemble them out to 800. I did switch the scope to a 10x weaver with a micro-fine cross hair, but that’s it - no smithing other than stoning the trigger a little. Every shooter who ever saw me shoot that gun offered to buy it. There has to be one on the positive end of every manufacturing bell curve right? This gun was it. The one.
Lost in divorce court.
Sure hope this gun shoots. Didn’t spend much on it, but the odds are in my favor. No wife.