.243 Model 10 rebuild to .260 Rem step-by-step

Going to chronicle my first full custom build from start to finish in photos/descriptions for everyone to follow. Being my first build hopefully it turns out well... been getting a lot of help from others on the forum with regards to how-to's which are greatly appreciated.

So... Here is the donor rifle as she came off the shelf: Plane-Jane Model 10 in .243, black synthetic (hollow) stock, blind magazine

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psoqn4obb5.jpg

Next up as soon as I get the materials/tools in: taking off/putting on a barrel

Subscribing.. Good luck with the build

Look forward to seeing it.

Ordered bottom metal today from Savage's website; part number 106238 per another user on the forums. Paid $78 including shipping; no idea when it will arrive. Did get email confirmation today that my B&C stock should arrive Wednesday by end of day.

Will add photos as work is done...

Since you are changing the barrel out , what brand are you going to use ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jonbearman

Since you are changing the barrel out , what brand are you going to use ?

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Currently doing homework on the barrel before ordering but leaning towards a Shilen 1:8 26" varmint contour.

Ordered barrel, new barrel nut and lug, and action/barrel wrenches from the folks at Northland. Great folks, phone call was pleasant, they had what I wanted in stock, and were very helpful. Anticipated delivery of Monday...
So; as it sits right now I have the donor rifle on hand, new stock arrives tomorrow, new bottom metal comes in Friday, barrel and tools arrive Monday. Ended up going with a 26" Shilen stainless select match varmint contour.

I feel like I'm 10 and Christmas is next week....

Got your "go" gage? This'll be fun.

This kind of transformation is how "beautiful" begins.
Looking forward to it.

Parts are starting to come in... got my go gauge and new bottom metal today; did a fit test on all of it and it all goes together (which means I at least halfway ordered the right parts right?). Only discrepancy is that the trigger guard from the old blind mag. stock does not work with the DBM metal in place. This is fine by me since the original was the cheap plastic and should probably be replaced anyways. Tomorrow I will take a piece of bar stock I have laying around and try my hand at making one... will post pics of the process (assuming it goes well). Until Monday after work I'm stuck with this:

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psgrdyfxdu.jpg

Which B&C stock is that?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by natesatt

Which B&C stock is that?

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M40 Style Varmint/Tactical.

Came home today to a box on my porch from the good people at NSS... opened it up to a bunch of shiny stuff and just as importantly my action wrench (thing is a BEAST) and barrel nut wrench.

Old barreled action is about the same length as the new barrel:
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psoecgohvp.jpg

Old barrel came off of the action pretty easily; I put the action wrench on, slipped the barrel nut wrench on, hit it with a rubber mallet twice and it broke free and was able to hand-twist the action off of the old barrel.

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psrmiyrqpx.jpg


Got all the main components together for a double-check fit test... making sure I didn't have to do any inletting on the barrel channel and that everything still lined up with new barrel on. One thing is for certain after mounting everything up... I don't see myself shooting this off-hand without spending some more time in the gym.

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psceqhtziw.jpg

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psndz2b3ls.jpg

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...pssoocbsic.jpg

Now I have it all pulled back apart again... Wednesday construction will resume after I get some more goodies in.

As a sidebar... Kudos again to the NSS folks; the barrel, action wrench, barrel nut wrench, recoil lug, and barrel nut all arrived very well packaged and protected exactly when they said it would. Placed my order Tuesday, arrived less than a week later.

Earlier I mentioned making a trigger guard out of a piece of bar stock... that project due to a lack of proper tools did not go well so ordered a new one from Midway along with a few other items for the build.

Going to try out DuraCoat's rattle-can in MagPul FDE and will post pictures of the process and end results as well. Figured for $30 the worst thing that can happen is I have to take it all to a friend's house and bead blast it off if it looks like garbage. Best case is I end up with a good matte finish on the action and barrel that won't spook any of my future freezer stockers.

Got a few more parts as well as my DuraCoat in today; started to prep everything but weather kept me indoors so spraying everything down/scrubbing clean wasn't going to happen; no garage to do smelly things like that in. So; whilst trapped inside I got everything sorted out and figured out how I was going to hang all the parts to be painted, pretty much wire through drill holes except the barrel, used the end cap that it shipped in along with some 550 cord and a dowel rod to rig up a way of holding/hanging it while painting and drying. Also decided to do a little customization on the magazine floor plate.
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0l5omez6.jpg

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4o1iymrr.jpg

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psxtg7dk8y.jpghttp://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psf5hlxbee.jpghttp://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psavfiudbx.jpghttp://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psrs3vcfga.jpghttp://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psyshzloud.jpg

Any new pics? I'm doing a similar build because this is a sweet rig and I just found a deal on a short action.

Had to go out of town for the weekend; have all the metal parts soaking in degreaser while I'm gone except the barrel in preparation for putting on the dura coat. Will snap some more and post once I get back in and start coating.

Got back home today and pulled everything out of the degreaser. Hit it all with a bit of brake cleaner to make sure there wasn't any gunk/oils left then sanded everything with 220 grit as well as some dremel sanding to rough up the surfaces for coating. Surfaces that are "precision ground" I left alone as far as sanding goes. After sanding did a wipe down with some denatured alcohol to make sure everything was clean again then taped up the surfaces I don't want coated (again, the precision mating surfaces) and used modeling clay to plug up the action threads. Tied everything with picture hanging wire, plan to use a dowel rod inside an old plastic storage tote as a make-shift painting area. Hopefully tomorrow after work the weather will cooperate and I can get everything painted up.

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psyai5qveg.jpg

Started the duracoat today. I say started and not finished because I discovered that one can which is supposed to cover "2 to 4 firearms" didn't quite do that. I got the magazine base, bolt body, bolt nut, barrel nut, recoil lug, and trigger guard coated with 4 coats as well as 2 coats on the action. In the defense of the manufacturer; I put down multiple fairly heavy coats.

Following a video posted by LCW on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_onlukWppJU I used a hair dryer to help speed up the dry time between coats.

Below are a few pictures of some of the parts I got done that are drying as this is going out. Ordering another can of the product and should be finishing this stage by Friday.

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psbjyhf3po.jpg

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psytkyzja1.jpg

after letting them cure for 24+ hours got the parts that were done with coating pulled and started putting some pieces back together. Bipod, magazine, and bolt are all back together. Really liking the contrast of OD/Black/FDE. Now just to get the action and bottom metal finished and the barrel coated!

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psjshym9vn.jpg
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...pssdokaxfr.jpg
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psh5baokyg.jpg

Looks sharp! Definitely keeping up with this thread. Totally agree with the contrasting colors, looks really good!
Scooter

Thanks Scooter; this far most frustrating part of the project has been waiting for materials to come in. Getting itchy for a range day!

I agree wholeheartedly! Lol....on my first build I had to wait about 20 weeks for my barrel, drove me nuts! But all the waiting was very well worth it especially range day!
Scooter

Yup... tomorrow I have my .260 dies and shell holder, can #2 of duracoat, some brass, and a box of 129gr. Accubond LR's that should be waiting on the porch when I come home from work. Problem is that I'm still pondering what glass to put on it so I'll have rifle done, ammo loaded, and still be trying to figure out what scope I want. Well, allow me to rephrase... what scope that fits the budget that I want.

I understand that too! What kinda work ya gonna be doin with it? Target, critters etc....and what type of budget are you trying to stay in. I just went through this on my new remage conversion.
Scooter

Mixed bag... It will be my "ground blind on long fire breaks" rifle for deer season but plan on seeing how far I can make steel plates go ding too. I'm trying to keep the glass under $1,000 and I know there are a ton of options in that range... narrowed down to Leupold, Vortex, Sightron .... Vortex is currently leading the pack, looked through a VX-III and a PST and for my eyes couldn't notice a difference in the quality of the glass; and with Vortex's military discount program the PST is well within the budget.

Ahh...i see, sounds like some very good options. I picked up a burris veracity 4-20x50, a couple weeks ago for the remage build and just looking through it I really like it. You maybe interested in it. Its FFP, zero stop turret, 30mm tube...and such. It in the 800 range but I found it at gunsinc for about 625. Just another option to add to the headache lol. My head was starting to hurt after looking for scopes.....very daunting task in my opinion.
Scooter

Oh gee thanks... Just added another possibility to the list. Seems the more I talk to folks about glass the more complicated my situation becomes rather than less. Optics are such a touchy subject and everyone has different eyes and experiences and it's almost like the ONLY scope to own is the scope I own because it's extra super awesome and if you don't like my scope you are dumb...

Final duracoat application done today on barrel, action, bottom metal, and touch up on the barrel nut. With the amount of coating I've done on all the metal parts I shouldn't have to worry about rust or chipping for the next 300 years. Going to let everything hang overnight and tomorrow afternoon should be putting everything back together for the final assembly. For those following on the scope/glass decision; decided to go with the Vortex PST 6-24x50. Talked to quite a few folks who own them as well as looking through several different models and quality/features for the price; especially with their factory direct mil/LEO discount just couldn't be beaten. Down side is... going to take a while to get it in. Which means probably no range day with the new "toy" for a while but plenty of time to get several different loads done for testing when everything is done.

All the parts are together... everything went really smoothly except a few spots on the barrel nut where the wrench nicked the duracoat off... all in all looks pretty good except that. Let me know what everyone thinks!

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...pse0bss6jb.jpg
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...pswbwamazh.jpg
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...pszqgza3ge.jpg
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psctcldoke.jpg

Some more pics...

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psdqzjrrg3.jpg
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psc348qwbi.jpg
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...pshpbsr1nt.jpg

Looks Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks... just have to touch up that spot where the barrel nut wrench chipped off some of the duracoat on the nut... tried to coat everything taken apart to get all the nooks and crannies... everything but the threads and the inside of the action where the bolt lugs engage the integral lugs is coated; also left the bolt handle and bolt head natural to provide some contrast. Just going to have to put one last coating on it with it all together to cover up the boo-boo. Real crappy part is I'm still undecided and will likely have to wait a while on the glass before I can see how it shoots but... thinking I've got a winner here.