Well guys, as a single person far from home on Christmas, I got a little bored today......
It officially starts! Just took the barrel nut wrench, a 1/2" ratchet wrench, action wrench, and a little extra muscle from my roommate to help hold things steady. Here in a bit i'll get the other one off as well. Barrels, recoil lugs, triggers, and new barrel nuts should be here this week or next, and i'll really be able to make some progress!
Jim is that for sure. Oh lordy you are going to like that Shilen!! Bet it does the 175SMk like you want it to at 1 grand. Boy does it ever start with Savages. No cure it!Jim came to the rescue with a Shilen 26" in .308Win. He is such a nice guy, that I couldn't say no to new barrel nuts, and Rifle Basix Sav-1 triggers.
Last edited by wbm; 12-26-2012 at 11:10 AM.
This looks like too much fun...
I had some thoughts of doing something like this for my son when he got back from Iraq when he left this summer.
Well we got a Christmas present in that his unit got shipped back early as they had sent too many over and they weren't needed.
So we were totally unprepared for his arrival Christmas eve...now I've got to work on a "Happy Late Merry Birthday" present.
Now to find a Stevens 200 short action LH to start with....might as well add a RH too so we can have some friendly competition.
Keep up the good work and letting us know how it goes...
Originally Posted by lonestardiver
lone, I don't know about where you are at, but no one here carries the Stevens as everyone is pushing the Axis. I have only ever seen 1 Stevens on the shelf, and that was over a year ago! So if you don't easily find one, have your favorite shop order it in for you (what I had to do). For barrels, definitely give Jim @ Northland Shooter Supply a call. He had another 2 or 3 Shilen select match 26" barrels in stock, in .308 win, and more in other calibers.
I think my problem is finding the left hand model. May have to go for a model 10/11/12/16 in LH just to get the donor.
Well folks, the McGowan, recoil lugs, and metal trigger guards arrived today. Next week should see the arrival of the barrel nuts, Shilen, and triggers, so that I can finally assemble all but the stocks and paint!
Here's a question for you all. Does anyone know a place that has B&C Medalist Tactical stocks, in stock? Specifically i'm looking for one in olive web, the other in tan web and it looks like Stockys is completely out of all B&C stocks for the 4.40 centerfeeds, and i'm having a difficult time locating anywhere else that sells them. I could go Choate, but I really do not want to. I just do not like the design of them.
"broken", Shooters Discount.com has Black/Gray web, ODgrn./Black web, Gray/Black web, in stock .... Tan/Black web is Out of
Stock. Price- $240. I got mine there, they were good to deal with. Keep us filled in & Good Luck :) ..... Jim
Jim, you're a life saver on the OD stock. That rifle is going to get an earth brown finish on the barrel/receiver. Might have to go with a black/grey web stock, and an o.d. finish on the other if I can't find a tan stock.
Well gang, here are some more updates.
Ordered:
Brownells:
Alumahyde II in O.D. green and Earth Brown - $12.99 each
Impact Sport Electronic Earmuffs - $49.99 each
$139.91 shipped
Shooter's Discount:
B&C Savage Centerfeed or Inline Feed S/A Medalist Tactical/Varmint -OD/Black Web $240.00
B&C Savage Centerfeed or Inline Feed S/A Medalist Tactical/Varmint -Black/Gray Web $240.00
$498.00 shipped
Tactical Works:
Savage Tactical Bolt Handle BT-Style Black (RH) x 2 - $27.00 each
$61.50 shipped
Last night I assembled both receivers, barrels, barrel nuts, and recoil lugs. I was able to get 1 of the EGW 20 MOA rails mounted. Unfortunately a couple screw heads stripped out on me on the other, so I have another set on order from EGW. Word of warning, the metal these screws are made from appears to be pretty soft, so be careful with them!
In the below picture is the result. The Shilen is on top, and the McGowan is on the bottom:
When I checked my mail this morning, both of my bolt handles from Tactical Works were waiting for me. These were a pretty simple swap. It just takes a 1/4 allen wrench, and a little muscle.
Below are the bolts with the new Savage factory over sized handles installed. I propped up the original bolt handles next to them for a good size comparison. The new bolt handles are much larger, and feel alot better in the hand.
Very nice.
Can't wait for the final completed pics and range reports.
Love what you are doing and the reasons behind it!
Following this thread with anticipation now.
Can't wait to see the final builds and hear about his reaction!
Very cool. Can't wait to see the finished product!
Great project. What you are doing is helping me on my build, my stuff is all stainless.
Took about an hour to polish up the slotless barrel nut. Working on the stock stainless trigger. Over two hours into it and it is less than 25% done. Stock was very rough.
Can't wait for you rifles to be done.
brasse, these won't be staying as they currently look. In fact, my Alumahyde II in OD green and earth brown showed up today from Brownells
Yeh yours will look cooler, part of the fun is making it exactly as you want it.
You have a huge fan base here, we all wishing we could do the same thing.
Any of you could do this for a friend or loved one. It's just a matter of collecting the parts, and then putting it together. Besides, what says I appreciate you, like a high quality firearm?
Should be on a Hallmark card "What says I appreciate you, like a high quality Savage firearm? "
Good job and good man broken6r. I am following this thread with much anticipation too.
Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all of the support!
On a related note, the jolly man in the brown sleigh showed up today. Below is a little mockup for you all. This weekend will see some sanding, and hopefully painting of the McGowan setup with Alumahyde. With any luck, my replacement screws from EGW, for the Shilen, will get here soon so that I can get it finished as well!
McGowan mockup in it's stock:
That is a very nice looking rifle. I am looking forward to hearing a side by side comparison of the two rifles and seeing how they shoot. Please keep the gun pron coming. You are doing a great thing here, my hats off to you.
Quick weekend update for you all. I just finished painting the McGowan in earth brown. That brown, with the O.D. stock, is going to look really really nice together. Since it is too early to touch it, and therefore I can not get you folks a proper picture, below is the best I could do showing the color differences.
Very nice.
What did you do to prep it?
matt, 150 grit sand paper to every surface getting painted, and a good wipe down with alcohol to remove all oil/ect. I painted it in 3 separate parts: receiver/barrel/rail, bolt body, and trigger guard. In the last parts of prep I removed the trigger/safety mechanism from the receiver, and wedged the tips from q-tips in the muzzle to seal that off. A .308win muzzle takes precisely 3 q-tip heads carefully wedged in to get a complete seal at the crown, without the cotton going everywhere. The bolt got heavily taped with 3M painters tape, except for the bolt body. Other than that, I hung everything down in my heated utility room using a heavy duty nylon twine that can take the weight. The "paint" used was Brownell's Alumahyde II in earth brown. In the above picture it almost looks like a WW2 era flat O.D. green, but it is definitely not. Once it has hung/cured for awhile I will get that rifle assembled and try to get you folks some completed pictures in proper lighting. And once my replacement rail screws from EGW arrive (hopefully Monday), I can get the Shilen setup prepped, painted, and curing as well.
With how easily the factory trigger/safety mechanism came out, I do not forsee any issues in swapping the factory trigger for a Rifle Basix Sav-1 and getting it adjusted nicely. In fact, the most difficult thing that I have done so far was to remove the magazine from the factory tupperware stock. That one took a lot of very careful prying with a flathead screwdriver to accomplish. However, installing it in it's new O.D. green B&C Tactical Medalist stock was the exact opposite. Extremely easy.
This week will see orders of match grade ammo and cases for the rifles, once I know what length I am going to need. It is crazy how close this project is getting to completion. I am also getting really excited to see my buddy's reaction, and find out who is right. His wife, or myself. Is he going to cry as she suspects? Or is he going to kick my butt for spending so much on him, as I suspect? Maybe both? Only time will tell!
Gotcha.
For finding out case length, it can be tricky.
My last savage had a 26" barrel and it would not fit in a 46" case. Had about two inches hanging out.
Members who have read this thread in the last 1 days: 0
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks