Criterion Tomato Stake?

I think not ;D

Well this has been the longest build ever for me. Mostly because this is for my son Dustin (aka Rooster) and I wanted him to be as much a part of the build and selections as possible. Teenagers seem to be pretty busy and he is no different. But we managed to find time to work on this project together.

I picked up the rifle at a pawn shop. An older 110 with a wooden stock in .270. I t probably took me two years just to find this particular rifle as I wanted the wooden stock.

We discussed what caliber to go with and initially thought the .308 as I already have dies and cases but I started reading about the .260. The more I read the more I liked it so the decision was made to go with it. Additional reading lead me to the Criterion barrels. I figure I would give it a try also.

What started out life as an ugly brown .270 ended up a cool looking snake skin .260.

http://www.myfishingpictures.com/dat...Savage_III.jpg

I wasn't really crazy about the snake skin finish but Rooster was tickeled pink and that is what matters.
The initial load development indicates the best round so far is a 120 g Sierra over 38.5 g of Varget. The small squares are 1/4 inch.

[img width=336 height=450]http://www.myfishingpictures.com/data/500/medium/3_shot_development.jpg[/img]

Here is a couple more taken during load development.

[img width=336 height=450]http://www.myfishingpictures.com/data/500/medium/D_260_II.jpg[/img]
[img width=336 height=450]http://www.myfishingpictures.com/data/500/medium/D_260_III.jpg[/img] the skull was a surprise to him and he loved it. Is the Criterion a tomato stake? I think not.

Nice build Onceinawhile.

Is that a factory wood stock? How did you do the snake print on it?

It looks like a factory wood stock, I have one in the closet.

Beautiul rifle! Thanks for posting.

Tony.

yep factory wood stock. to open up the barrel channel I took and old varmint barrel and wrapped 60 grit sand paper around it and worked it back and forth until I had complete clearance.

For the snake skin I used some packing paper from Disney World. My family went to Disney awhile ago. When they brought thier goodies home I noticed the paper and thought CAMO!!! The paper had oblong holes cut in it and it has some what of an accordian fold to it. Put a few coats of desert tan on then hit it with od green. Since I wanted to surprise Rooster with the pain job I did it alone. If I had had two more hands I could have held the paper down better and had a better pattern. Where the green blotches is where the paper did not lay flat on the stock.

BTW the target group is only a 3 shot group. The next trip to the range will be 5 shot groups.

that is a nice shooting tomato stake! very nice build man