Thinking of building a "tactical" rifle

Not an everyday one, really, but seems like it would be fun. I have a Mod 11 LH bolt, currently 223 but thinking of putting my 243 barrel on it, and thinking of some sort of chassis for the stock. Lots of reasons for the 243, main one being, it's what I have for a barrel, and dies, bullets, etc. Some of the other calibers seem fun, but no desire or funds to change EVERYTHING, barrel, stock, dies etc.

I looked at the Savage Stealth and it's way out of my budget. Also a 243 with something like a 105gr match bullet will fill the bill nicely for any "long range" shooting I will ever do. So there, caliber isn't really a discussion topic. I MIGHT eventually rebarrel it to a faster twist, for higher BC bullets, but that would be it.

My rifle is stagger feed, so who makes a REASONABLY priced chassis for this model? One with detachable mag. I have to add I really don't like the look of the stealth. I do like the look of the ones where the barrel shroud seems to flow straight off the receiver, better than others.

I have not ruled out the possibility of building my own. I am not a machinist, so that would be a challenge but I have ideas in my head. I can braze aluminum, but not sure if it's strong enough. Might depend on design there. I can braze or weld steel, if I went with thin light weight steel.

Here's what I had in mind, if I can't find a commercial one I like AND could afford (fixed income kinda thing). I am thinking a V (angle) to bed the receiver, with the angle welded to tubing that surrounds the receiver. The angle can be heavier to take the force of recoil at the lug, and the welded tubing would allow the stock bolts to go through it into the receiver.

The tubing would have to be milled (somehow) to allow for the bolt operation, and removal, and the angle and tubing would have to be recessed to allow for the magazine to feed through it as well. Ideally, I would be able to thread the front of the tubing to accept an AR style barrel shroud or something resembling one.

Then there are the grip, trigger, and stock. I THINK this is doable, but not sure.

I saw on the web, somewhere where a guy is machining his own, but he is way above me in skills. His looks professional. Mine, if I do it, would look serviceable.

Anyway, DIY is only a thought, obviously buying is easier, just not sure if it's affordable, for me. Some of them just do not look too complicated.

Living here in Kalifornia makes an AR version VERY difficult to even consider, too many restrictions. I KNOW I do not want an AR-10 version, too heavy and bulky, and as I said, I already have the bolt gun.

I have searched the net, a bit, for a chassis, still don't see anything close to my price range (under $500, way under preferred) that I like the look of.

Also, for a DIY, what magazines seem to work best and are readily available?

What's your budget? MDT makes a chassis that fits the stagger feed and left hand actions. It will probably be cheaper than anything you can build in the long run.

The MDT LSS for only one option is about 400 beans.
But if this 243 barrel you have is a factory twisted thing, don't waste your time; it ain't gonna stabilize the 105's reliably.

My budget is small, but the big issue isn't the total, it's more of being able to do it piecemeal. Kinda like an allowance sort of thing. :)

Yea at $399 (starting) that is about as reasonable as it will get I suppose. It will still be close to $500-550 when completed, that's getting up there for me.

I am still leaning on the DIY end. The receiver is 1.350" in OD so I will start by looking at 1.5" OD aluminum tubing and go from there. I can see challenges ahead in the magazine area, but that's will make it even better IF I can pull it off.Materials will be cheap by comparison.

I was out looking my donor rifle over today, THINKING I had a SA synthetic donor stock to use for another idea, and realized it is a LA stock. :(.

Does anyone know the OD of a barrel nut, std, not the smooth one? I forgot to measure that part when I had it apart.

According to data on the Barnes 105 6mm target bullet requires a 1-10 or faster, so it will be worth a try. If not the 95's will do till funds call for a faster twist barrel. Not a big deal to me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by darkker

The MDT LSS for only one option is about 400 beans.
But if this 243 barrel you have is a factory twisted thing, don't waste your time; it ain't gonna stabilize the 105's reliably.

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Yes but that does not include the buttstock or anything else. The buttstock alone is almost $300 for fixed. There is the AR adjustable, but not sure I even like the look of it.

OK sourced a RH synthetic stock that will be the base of my project. I will take pics and post them, it it all works like I hope it will.

Question on AICS mags, could they at all be made compatible with a stagger feed receiver? I would not use Savage bottom metal, but will fabricate my own. Would it just be a matter of positioning the magazine at the proper location for proper feeding?

As I said, I will be building my own mag well and release system.

Pull off the staggerfeed box, and it can feed from a different mag system. May need minimum tweaking.

Look up tube gun chassis on the web. I played around with the idea of making my own too.

Get that aluminum tube, drill and cut, and tap it for a grip, put on a butt pad, and you are on your way. Drill or machine out the tube like it were an AR handguard. Tap it for picatiny rails.

Braze together the magwell to accept AI mags.

At least, that is what I dreamt up on my napkin doodles...

Well, for this first attempt, I am using a donor synthetic stock. Mainly because I don't have to mess with getting some way to mount the receiver. Most likely I will cut the buttstock off and fabricate or graft an AR style buttstock to it, in a way that looks good and is solid (to be determined), and the bottom will be easy to cut to proper shape for the extended mag well. I will use sheet metal and bend it to form the mag well, and I THINK I can build a tab on the front and back of it, that will use the receiver mounting bolts to hold it in place. The tabs will be sandwiched between the stock and receiver.

Once i see how the AICS mags lock up, I can make the release lever to work with it. From what I see, they look simple. I have a few ideas for the forend, but will see how it starts shaping up. I'd like to make a piece that comes from under and around the barrel, that a barrel shroud can mount onto. Again, I will have to see how that goes. I want to leave the front open enough to accommodate any diameter barrel I choose. But for now it will be the sporter barrel I have.

Fun stuff.

Ok do you have a 243 bolt or bolt head? This will have to be changed since u said this action is a 223. 223 and 243 don't share the same bolt head. What kind of stock are you using just a factory?

Yea I have changed it back and forth. I still have barrel and bolt head, and internal mag setup as well. I will use the internal, until I acquire an AICS mag to use for measurements. My donor stock arrived, and yes, it's factory synthetic.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hereinaz

Pull off the staggerfeed box, and it can feed from a different mag system. May need minimum tweaking.

Look up tube gun chassis on the web. I played around with the idea of making my own too.

Get that aluminum tube, drill and cut, and tap it for a grip, put on a butt pad, and you are on your way. Drill or machine out the tube like it were an AR handguard. Tap it for picatiny rails.

Braze together the magwell to accept AI mags.

At least, that is what I dreamt up on my napkin doodles...

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I have tried this using mini 14 mags with 223 rounds, and still might get that done. Some tweaking still to be done. Having 5, 10, or 20 rounds of 223 available with a bolt gun would be fun at times. Plus the ability to swap mags for more.