Now its started

[BruceP]

Well the decision (from my earler post) has been made. At least the first decision has. I talked to my gunsmith friend today and then I went straight to a local sporting goods store and bought a use Remington 700 as the basis for my first custom rifle. It will be in the wildcat cartridge I talked about, the 35 on the 280 Ackley case. We are both leanlng toward the Douglas #3 Barrel. Now to decide the smaller details like finished barrel length, type of stock, etc. You know this is fun!  :grin:  :sniper:  :-D
BruceP

[smoky]

Take a look a McMillans website.  There are quite a few stocks that are already finished.  May fit what your looking for and you won't have to wait the normal 12 weeks.  I also highly recommend a Pacmayer Decellerator Pad.  It really will help with recoil.

Smoky

[BruceP]

McMillian does make some great stocks, I have one on my Winchester M70 featherweight and I love it. I am leaning toward a laminate for the new rifle though. Maybe a Boyd's JRS Classic. Anyone have the Boyd's JRS stock. If so how do you like it? Also after some discussion with Dave at CH4D about a die set I may change the chambering to the 35 Whelen Ackley imp. instead of using the 280 Ackley case necked up.
BruceP

[Mikey]

BruceP:  I picked up a Boyd's JRS for a Mauser I have yet to sporterize, so although I have the stock I haven't put it to use yet, Dang.  It's a nice looking stock, appears to be cut right and brings well to the shoulder - it feels like it would the the stock of choice for me for that Mauser.  Nice color and nice grain.  For the price I can't complain.  Hope this helps.  Mikey.

[BruceP]

Thanks Mikey. Every little bit of information helps. This is my first custom gun. While I have my ideas about what I want I can still use all the help I can get. It may be my last gun for a while also. The wife and I just got someone started on building us a garage onto our house. Then on June the 26th someone went to sleep driving and crossed the centerline and hit my car just behind the door going all the way to the bumper. I found out this week they plan on totaling out my T-Bird so now I have to buy a new car kind of unexpectedly. At least the Lord saw fit for me to walk away without a scratch. If I had not went off the road before the impact it would likely have been head on. Oh, buy the way I did not buy the Remington 700 to use for the action untill after my accident and knowing that we might have to get another car my lovely wife never said a word. :grin:
BruceP

[BruceP]

I talked to the 'smith today. I will be getting the Douglas barrel only we decided to go with a #4 instead of the #3 and the chambering will be the 35 Whelen AI, and not the 280 AI necked to 35 cal. The dies will be cheaper and it will be easier to form brass. He will also be fitting a heavy recoil lug. I am going to check on the boyd's JRS Clasic stock. He wants to try and have everything finished in time for me to work up a load for deer season.
BruceP

[PaulS]

BruceP,
What changed your mind so drastically?

PaulS

[kciH]

BruceP,
I've got a 35 Whelen 40 degree, I also have some data from a past issue of Handloader for the cartridge.  If you'd like some info, send me a PM.

[BruceP]

PaulS, I assume you mean changing my mind on the chambering. The biggest factor in that change was after emailing Dave Davison from CH4D, about dies. He ask me why the 280 Ackley case. I told him the reason was an increase in case capacity over the 35 Whelen Ackley. The next day he replied back and said he had ran some calculations in his Accuload program and that according to the program the increace in capacity would be about .3 grains of water, or .006 cubic inches, for an aprox. gain of 1 grain of powder. The program showed a 36 fps. gain in velocity. That is less than I would have thought it would be just by looking at the cartridge drawings in the manuals. The difference in the cost of dies did not matter that much since it would be a one time purchase but the added time of case forming for 36 fps I decided was not worth it. I know that I have to fire form either one but I wont have to neck the brass up first and if I had to I could shoot factory 35 Whelen ammo.
I changed my mind about the contour of the barrel after the gunsmith said that a #3 would be fairly light in a 35 cal. and he suggested the #4.
BruceP

[PaulS]

BruceP,
I was talking about the cartridge change. Thanks for the clarification. The jump from 280 diameter to 35 was what I was addressing. I am also beginning the search for a custom project and was going to go with a wildcat - but now in looking at the difference between the wildcat and a standard 257 Roberts it makes more sense to go with the 257 Roberts than to buy custom reamers, dies and get  an increase in velocity potential that is similar to what you are discussing. I chose to stay with the same caliber because it was where I started - the need that I had.
I have the medium calibers and large bores covered to the extent that I want but I have always used my 3006 to dispatch varmints (130 HP at 3000 fps) but I can do a better (lighter bullets at higher velocities) with a 25 caliber and still have overlap into the deer hunting potential.

PaulS

[BruceP]

PaulS
Sorry if I was not clear in the first post. The bullet diameter was always going to be 35 caliber, only the case being used has changed. I have however shot a 280 Ackley Imp. that this same gunsmith built with a medium weight (not sure of the #) Lilja barrel finished at a full 27". That was a sweet shooting rifle.
Is your 25 caliber project going to be on a long action or short? I have The Ruger 257 Roberts that I had first started to use for this 35 cal. project and it is on the 3006 length action and I know that a lot of people recomend this for the 257,but while the magazine is long enough to seat the bullets out to a longer length, the throat on the Ruger is not.  :idea:  Maybe I should have the throat lengthened.
BruceP

[PaulS]

BruceP,
OK, I misunderstood - I thought you were going to use the 280 caliber and then switched to 35 - I was confused and probably just didn't read the post correctly.

I have a Remington 03A3 that I got for free (less a bolt) that I will be building the weapon on. I am going to go with the Douglas #7 which is a bull barrel. I have to do some research on twist rate for the barrel  (I am unsure what is offered for this barrel) but I want a twist rate that will handle the longer bullets but I will be shooting shorter lighter bullets most of the time. I am going to use a Timney trigger at hunting weight (4 lbs) so that it will shoot like my other rifles. The stock I am going to try to make on my own - laminating strips of venier with a matched color epoxy. I am hoping to make the stock light enough to get the whole weapon to as near 10 lbs as I can. I am not worried about recoil with this weapon but I would like it to handle like my bigger guns. I haven't chosen a scope but I do know it will be fitted with a BDC high mag scope. The weapon will be used for varmints and targets with the possibility of occasional use as a deer rifle.

PaulS