Custom Build's Submissions

The Customs Builds section of the website has been woefully neglected for a number of years now, so this thread is going to serve as a place to submit your builds to be displayed there. To be considered your posts will need to contain the complete spec's of your build (preferably written out in paragraph form) as well as a short paragraph explaining why you built the rifle and/or how you plan to use it. Pretty simple, and pretty much the same stuff you're already posting in your photo threads - I'm just asking you take an extra minute or two to dress it up a little.

As far as photo's go, a minimum of three good photo's are required, with four to six being preferred. One photo should show the entire rifle's side profile (recoil pad to muzzle), while the rest should be close-ups of different parts/features of the rifle. Only one target photo will be permitted as the point of this is to show off the rifles and the various accessories and options available rather than how well you can shoot.

Required Details:
- Base action or donor rifle
- Cartridge
- Barrel Spec's (brand, length, twist)
- Stock Brand/Model
- Trigger
- Scope mounts
- Accessories/Upgrades (i.e. fluted bolt, custom bolt handle, adj. cheek piece, etc.)

We're looking for complete builds using aftermarket components here, not basic rebarrels and/or stock swaps with factory take-off parts.

ONE GUN PER POST PLEASE

I'll start!

Maxis Project

"Why aren't there any magnum Axises?"

I'd seen this question a few times on the forum, but it was never paired with a sufficiently satisfying answer. Mainly there was speculation about the Axis' flimsy stock and its integral recoil lug or differences in heat treating. A closer look at the rifle led me to uncover the two design philosophies underlying the Edge and Axis design: build a rifle cheaper than the 110 so the 110 will look more like a prestige model, and use a manufacturing method that out-110s the 110. The second point is where the magnum conundrum comes into effect. The Axis is a testament to stripping down production costs. From its closed top receiver that's used for every chambering from .223 Remington to .30-06 to its cheesy stock with interchangeable magwell/trigger guards, the Axis is meant to do as many things as it can with as few new parts as it can get away with.

This brings us to the bolt head. On factory Axises, the bolt head is an off the shelf, short action, standard chambering bolt. The Axis firing pin is of the fixed variety, which means that, whatever bolt head is used, the distance from the end of the bolt head shank to the bolt face must be the same as a short action standard bolt head. Savage's current magna currently use one of two push feed bolt heads: the short action (106190) and the long action (103960). Neither of these parts are short enough to use the Axis' firing pin and thus must be modified. My project picked the long action, but only because it was far more plentiful.

Building Begins

Now that we understand "why not?", it's up to me to answer "why?" Part of it was that I wanted to do something that had never (so far as I could tell) been done with an Axis. Another part of it was that I had recently gotten the idea of long range shooting stuck in my mind, and after building a long range .243 Winchester, I was looking for the next big thing. I had recently gotten an astonishingly good deal on a stainless Axis at Cabelas, and it seemed like a natural fit.

The choice of .300 Winchester Magnum was a relatively simple one. Though I'd read many good things about 7mm Remington Magnum for long range shooting, my reloading tubs were stocked with many .308 pills, including some heavies for my .300 Blackout. I hit up Apache Gun Works for a stainless, 1:10, 26" varmint contour with a 5/8-24" muzzle thread, and, as usual, he delivered the goods. The muzzle initially wore a cheap but astonishingly effective brake I purchased off Amazon, but it now is the home of an AAC 51T brake, making Maxis one of the hosts for my 762-SDN.

The action needed little modification. The bolt head modification, the details of which can be found in my YouTube video, was the only unusual step in the process. I traded out the factory trigger for a silver Timney 633, which better matched the overall aesthetic than my usual shim and trim trigger job. While the factory .270 Winchester magazine seemed to work okay with feeding .300 Win Mag cartridges, I was worried that it was prone to failure based on the difference in the difference in rim diameters. With the help of another YouTuber with a magnum 111 Trophy Hunter, I determined the magazine to use with .300 Win Mag was item 109179. I also threaded the factory bolt handle to 5/16-24" (see the other YouTube video) and made a phenolic knob for it myself...out of a bigger phenolic knob.

Stock

Until recently I'd been a big fan and proponent of Boyds stocks. All but one of my Axis projects are built with Boyds, and this one is no exception. Being a long range gun, the Tacticool (now "Pro Varmint") seemed an obvious choice. The reputation of the painted plywood typically used in Boyds Tacticools and Pro Varmints is not the best when it comes to strength, so I opted for pepper laminate, which would compliment the bare stainless metal of the barreled receiver. I had Boyds add the 1" Limbsaver recoil pad because I am a pansy, and it used to be super cheap compared to installing it myself.

The stock went through the usual Boyds improvement procedure of the day: take included plastic trigger guard and throw it in the trash where it belongs, install steel (in this case stainless) trigger guard, pillar and bed the stock with brass pipe and Devcon, and drill the butt stock for a cheek riser. The Kydex cheek riser is a Karsten clone of my own design and manufacture. I spray painted the stripes on it to make it blend in better with the laminate.

Add-ons

When I first started the Maxis project, the scope was the Primary Arms 4-14x44mm FFP that is now integral to the Taxis project. Despite not officially being sold as okay for a magnum rifle, it held up fine. I just wanted it on my main rifle. I opted instead to put a SWFA 12x42mm mil-quad scope on this rifle. It is held in two Leapers UTG Max Strength low rings on an EGW 20 MOA rail. I also threw on a cheap scope cant indicator I picked up on Amazon and some Butler Creek flip caps. The cant indicator isn't my favorite, as I prefer the bubble level to be off to the side rather than directly in front of the elevation turret.

The bipod I use is a swiveling Caldwell 6-9". I haven't got much to say on the matter.

Base rifle: Savage Axis, stainless. Home bolt head mod.
Cartridge: .300 Winchester Magnum
Barrel: Apache (standard) 26" varmint contour, 1:10. Muzzle threaded 5/8-24, AAC 51T brake.
Stock: Boyds Tacticool in pepper laminate with 1" Limbsaver pad. Home pillared and bedded. Stainless trigger guard. Homemade Kydex cheek rest.
Trigger: Timney 633 (silver).
Scope: SWFA SS 12x42mm in UTG Leapers max strength low rings. EGW 20MOA rail.
Accessories: Home threaded 5/16-24" with homemade phenolic knob. Caldwell 6-9" swivel bipod. Some sort of cheap scope level. Butler creek flip caps.

http://i.imgur.com/6HeDJgd.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/B7NHIn7.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fmPkHiO.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/MZhFtpR.png

Thanks Doc!

Specialty Pistol built for use at Wy-Shot and the MOA 2016

I masterminded this after lots of conversation on the ride home from Wyoming in June of 2015. In July 2015 I ordered the action in a box for 2016. Finished weight had to stay below 12Lbs for the hunter class at the MOA.

http://i63.tinypic.com/24q653o.jpg

Action-PTA part#18184 Trigger set at 6 oz

http://i67.tinypic.com/2n74ia9.jpg

After I received the new action I cleaned it well with breakfree and lubed it well with TW25. I then opened & closed the bolt maybe 2-300 times. Wow this thing turned out exceptionally smooth, I was surprised.

The stock was the next item. Man are pistol stocks hard to find and expensive especially if you go with a chassis. The 7 fingers weighed to much to stay under 12lbs finished. I decided to use a Choate and cut the butt off with a hacksaw. I was going to shorten the forend but my wife talked me into leaving it full length, she said it will steer better off the bi-pod. As always she was right.

http://i64.tinypic.com/qpl6wk.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/2il0hte.jpg

With a weight of the stock and action established I needed a barrel. I called McGowen but they did not offer 1-7.5 twist nor did they chamber for the 243 match. After a lot of looking and shopping I called Jim at NSS whom I had never spoken to before. Everything was good but we couldn't come up with a barrel weight. I sent an email to Criterion and they promptly got back to me with with a best guess which turned out to be on the ounce when I received the barrel. Jim really helped me with the small details while we built the barrel order form. I'm surprised he put up with me, I hope he sees this picture just so he knows how it turned out.
http://i68.tinypic.com/14cdt3p.jpg


Next after a lot of shopping for brakes I decided to get one of Ross' which was 35 dollars shipped. I head spaced the barrel to the action and my wife and I used masking tape on 3 locations around the barrel so we could index top center using the tapped holes in the action for the scope base. I boxed the barrel & brake sending them to Chris at Bayside custom. I had them back in a week with a beautiful job of machining.

We reassembled the barrel and brake to the action, then into the shortened stock with the full length aluminum block. Weight on the kitchen scale was looking good.

I ordered a 6-24 FFP Vortex on Feb 8 with my military discount. Thanks Vortex for remembering us old guys. Well that one didn't arrive in time so I found a 4-16 FFP Vortex, the 6-24 arrived a few hours before we drove out of the yard leaving for Wyoming. I went to mount the Vortex in the XTR rings which I had for a couple months and took a sucker punch. The rings were the correct 30mm but the tray underneath had 1" inserts. I was really starting to run out of time now. A panic call to Burris and the guys had a set of 30s in the mail. Now it was time to work up some loads and hit the range. After trying several powders I settled on HV-100 with 105 Hornady match bullets.

After a year I just barely finished in time to pack for the trip.

http://i63.tinypic.com/28u71hg.jpg


barrel- Criterion 15" light varmint tapper- chambered in 243 Match- Twist 1-7.5- muzzle threaded with 11 deg crown machined when Criterion built the barrel
Brake- Ross installed by Bayside Custom
stock- Choate given the hacksaw treatment
optics- Vortex 4-16 FFP XLR retcle
Base- EGW (Zero) Rubber band to hold the open bolt from sliding back when carried
Rings- Burris XTR Signature mounted using 30 min offset inserts. Its possible to go to 40 with the XTR rings.

Bipod- Harris 6-9 swivel
case- Plano Black Friday sale
Rem brass-HV100 powder-105 Hornady Match
Started with a new in the box action July 2015
finished May 2016
Weight 11lbs 6oz

Thanks Iowa Fox! I'll get it posted up on the site either tonight or tomorrow.

Funny how everyone always wants to show off photo's of their guns on the forum, but nobody wants to take the extra couple minutes to type out the complete build list and a paragraph or two so we can highlight their rifle on the homepage. Come on guys! Help me out a little here.