Maxis Project - Rolling Chassis Complete

I finally got a chance to take my .300 Win Mag Axis to the range and am happy to report that the rifle and my face are still intact, though some would say the latter isn't anything to be proud of. The weather was crappy, and, comprising sugar, I was concerned about melting. This means that I didn't stretch its legs or shoot groups beyond getting it on paper, but I ran about 20 of 150gr and 180gr hunting ammo with no immediate warning signs of impending failure.

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Specs: Savage Axis stainless receiver, used Savage (I think) 26" stainless .300 Win Mag sporter—not magnum—contour barrel, Boyds pepper laminate Pro Varmint stock with 1" Limbsaver recoil pad and homemade pillar bedding, EGW 20MOA rail, Primary Arms 4-14x44mm FFP scope.

I'm hoping to get a heavy barrel from Apache once orders open up again. By the time I get a new barrel, I should have some more rounds through it. Then, once the gun is apart, I'll give it a more thorough examination for setback, but I am cautiously optimistic about this project!

Very nice, great job

very nice! I think I would have had the receiver trued for a standard/heavy lug to handle that kind of recoil, but it will be interesting to see how it holds up!

Looks great. Stainless makes sense. Should hold up well.

What do you think of the scope? I have heard good things about it for the cost.

It's pretty nice. The glass is okay. I'd put it on the same level or maybe a hair below my Philippine-made scopes in terms of clarity. I don't know how it will function in lower light or higher glare situations. The eye relief is painfully restricted at higher magnifications. It's still far enough from my face that it won't bite me, but even the miniscule difference in head position between sitting at a bench and laying prone seems to be enough to make it hard to use. The controls seem to be good too. They feel a tad soft on the clicks, but they respond appropriately to adjustments.

Thanks for the complients. Other than the forthcoming barrel upgrade, I have yet to finish my standard trigger job by installing a lighter spring. It is already shimmed, but the weight is still quite high. I just finished threading the bolt handle, and they just get easier with practice. This one didn't even take an hour. My selection of potential bolt knobs just arrived too. I must say it's nice living so close to McMaster-Carr but not living in Ohio, because standard shipping gets my stuff here the next day and I don't pay sales tax.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LoneWolf

very nice! I think I would have had the receiver trued for a standard/heavy lug to handle that kind of recoil, but it will be interesting to see how it holds up!

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So far so good on that front. I know it's only early on, but there are as yet no signs of undue stress on the recoil lug or the bedding. I had thought about facing the receiver. Apart from not wanting to wait, I liked the prospect of having a few extra threads' worth of engagement on the barrel. The long action bolt head I used is over a tenth of an inch longer than the short action bolt head Axises come with, and I wanted to preserve as much barrel-to-receiver contact as possible.

The only damage I notice anywhere seems to be on the action screw sockets, but I suspect that's from me trying to put too much torque on them and possibly a worn driver bit.

Wondering how this rifle is performing, and holding up? This is very similar to my prospective build. I have a 111 in .300wm and I am planning to order a stock for it, pretty much the exact same one as you, in the next month. That will be the first major upgrade.

Coincidentally, I just had the rifle at the range today!

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As you can see, even the old $80 beater barrel from Numrich still has some life left in it. The flyer on that group was the third shot in a broken up string of five, and I suspect it was caused by a combination of a hot barrel and shooter fatigue. We'll see how its performance changes when my Apache barrel gets here!

There are still no signs of trouble from shooting a magnum round. The recoil lug is still holding strong in the stock. Given the good accuracy I've been getting, I'm apprehensive about tearing the barrel off to inspect the interior. Still, when I probe the lug races in the receiver with a dental pick, I can't feel any dents, depressions, or nonconformities. I don't know if setback is as much of a bugbear facing a 111, since those receivers were (and possibly still are, I don't know 111s that well) occasionally built into magna by the factory. Axises, on the other hand, are only offered as standard centerfires, and, while further testing will be needed to confirm that my magnum Axis is safe in the long run, my results so far indicate that the Axis is up to the challenge.