Varminter Build or Factory buy

[bigfellascott]

No I haven't.. the parts are all ordered and on their way. Not yet assembled. That might be the go once it comes back from the smith I did think of that what is it $40 on eBay?

I think it's $60 now and he's living in Tassie Now - if you need his contact details let me know.

[Gwion]

Yep. $60 return posted within a week.

[MalleeFarmer]

I cannot find him on eBay. I would appreciate his contact details of someone has them.

Cheers
MF

[WayneO]

That is going to be one amazing rifle when its all done.
I like the choice you went with for the scope, a good 6-24 x 50 is just what the doctor ordered. I have Hawk 6-24 x 50 scopes on a few of my rifles and they work really well. I went with the Hawk because they are dirt cheap and have illuminated variable reticals.
That little 6SLR is like a laser beam.

[Gwion]

I cannot find him on eBay. I would appreciate his contact details of someone has them.

Cheers
MF

He's no longer on ebay. Will PM his email address if Scott doesn't first.

[MalleeFarmer]

Cheers..

[Gwion]

PM sent, mate.

[MalleeFarmer]

Cheers Gwion. Missus ended up getting me a scope for our anniversary got a 4.5-18x44 Bushnell LRHS so far the clicks are much more crisp than my ET6245FG and the turrets are more user friendly and have zero stop and glass is definately better. Looks pretty good. At $1400 it would wanna be even though retail is 2k. Also the GRS stock (Gwion suggested them earlier in the post I'd never heard of them before) arrived and my EGW HD mounts. All I need now is a barreled Action to put it all together on and I'll be right..

[Gwion]

Very jealous! All sounds good, mate.

[MalleeFarmer]

Well I have my barreled action back and I'm like a kid at Christmas. I couldn't wait to get it all together so I have assembled it finger tight and admired it for the last half an hour. I have everything I need to start shooting except powder and bedding compound. I have got 2 boxes of 105 Amax and 1 box of 87gr Vmax bullets. And 100 pieces of brass to resize.

Here is an overview of my rifle now.

Howa SA blued.
Maddco Howa Varmint profile 1-8 twist barrel. With a ZCR brake. Chambered in 6slr
GRS Sporter Varmint stock in Green Mountain.
Bushnell LRHS 4.5-18x44 scope
EGW HD mounts and rings.

I will be bedding the action into the stock and will also be bedding the rail as there appears to be about 3-4 thou clearance at the rear of the rail when only the front screws are firm. And then I'll Lap the rings and mount the scope.

Have to be thankful my wife let me spend 4K on a rifle. Keen as to get it finished and start using it.

[Gwion]

Looks the goods, Mallee!
Very nice.

[Squiddy]

Nice!

[bigfellascott]

Very nice MF, what does the stock feel like to hold and use? I really like the look of them but hate the price! I look forward to seeing how it shoots, should be a rippa with the Maddco screwed on it.

[<<Genesis93>>]

I do like the stock, and it looks like the hand would hold very comfortably with that contouring...

Also the brake looks rifled?? or is it the shadows......

[Gwion]

Mallee, now that i'm off the phone and on the big screen, i can see that one's gone 'straight to the pool room'!

Looking forward to seeing loads developed for it!

[on_one_wheel]

What a great looking rifle.

That barrel looks like it's got some serious length.

[bigfellascott]

Did you end up getting the trigger worked by Glen?

[MalleeFarmer]

Bigfella,
The Grip Feels real nice and comfy but a little odd since I'm mainly used to traditional style hunting stocks, the ability to adjust for LOP and cheek weld makes it feel even better although the forend is way to wide for freehold feels weird. Which doesn't matter as I've built it as a long range varminter so all is well. No I haven't had the trigger done yet as I just got the rifle home this weekend but I will send it off soon. I may take the trigger off my .308 and put it on this rifle while i send this one off to be done so once I have it bedded lapped and sighted in I can develop loads while I wait for the nicely tuned trigger to be returned.

Gwion, definately went straight to the pool room... Then promptly to the safe! I can't wait to start developing loads either even more to the point I can't wait to find a good load and start busting bunnies and foxes with it. Perhaps the odd long range "sighting in session"

On One Wheel, the barrel does look oddly long doesn't it. I think it's a combination of the shortish forearm (2" shorter than boyds) of the GRS and the almost seamless transition from barrel to brake. I never liked the big brakes with the wings out sideways. The barrel itself is only 26" +50 or so mm for the brake.

[MalleeFarmer]

Genesis, nah it's just the shadows I almost had to go have another look.

[bigfellascott]

Yeah definitely send it off to glen you'll love the trigger he sends back - they are chalk and cheese.

I used an unmodified one a few weeks back what a pile of s**t it was lol.

[MalleeFarmer]

Yeah definitely send it off to glen you'll love the trigger he sends back - they are chalk and cheese.

I used an unmodified one a few weeks back what a pile of s**t it was lol.

Was it the "HACT" trigger? The earlier ones I've used have this horrible "step" in them you pull in the creep then pull harder and think it'll fire but they had a weird step and then pull harder again and off they went. not the creep and then reasonably crisp break of the HACT trigger I don't mind my standard Howa trigger once I adjusted it, nothing like the timney on my Mauser but fairly good for a stock trigger.

[bigfellascott]

Yeah definitely send it off to glen you'll love the trigger he sends back - they are chalk and cheese.

I used an unmodified one a few weeks back what a pile of s**t it was lol.

Was it the "HACT" trigger? The earlier ones I've used have this horrible "step" in them you pull in the creep then pull harder and think it'll fire but they had a weird step and then pull harder again and off they went. not the creep and then reasonably crisp break of the HACT trigger I don't mind my standard Howa trigger once I adjusted it, nothing like the timney on my Mauser but fairly good for a stock trigger.

I've got pretty much all the diff versions of the Howa Triggers (I think there's 3 or 4 diff versions over the years?) the HACT was better from the factory so to speak, the original as I call it had more adjustability in it compared to the HACT but both are excellent triggers when worked, they really are fantastic after some Glen magic so to speak, as good as any quality rifle trigger I've ever used and they can be set real real light if you like em that way (not recommended on a hunting rifle) but I've had them set that light that you could quite literally set them off with a feather! Only problem having them that light was you had to remember not to touch the bloody thing at all unless you were ready to send it which is a PITA if you are out spotlighting/varminting so I adjusted it back up slightly to around the 1-1.2lb mark I guess and much better now, still light but more user friendly.

I couldn't believe how bad that trigger was on the Vanguard, I'm sure mine weren't that bad originally or maybe I'm just used to a good trigger now? I've tried my mates Sako with set trigger and I'd say most of mine are set just a fraction heavier than that now, I can make em lighter if I want but as I said it really is light enough without being too touchy if you know what I mean.

Glen sends you some info on how to re-install and adjust if needed or you can send it back to him to do if you don't feel confident in doing it yourself (trust me it's easy once you know what to do) - by far the best $$ I've spent on my rifles so far, really makes them a pleasure to use.

[MalleeFarmer]

Why I'm waiting for my bedding compound to show up.

[MalleeFarmer]

Finally realised why people bed their rails and Why I'm waiting for my bedding compound to show up.

[Gwion]

That doesn't look right at all, mate. I'd be looking for a replacement. My rail sits nice'n'tight on my Howa action.

[MalleeFarmer]

I thought that too but if you only firm up the front screws it may be the same. When I sat it on without tension it sat perfect and it took no pressure from the rear screws to get it to seat. Having said that I'm not overly experienced with mounting rails so I might put this out there to those in the know in the gun smithing section.

[Apollo]

That is what happens with this type of Action design .. ie Howa / Remington with the rear being lower. Mass produced actions aren't exactly all the same and nice and true. The advice is all over the net to check the alignment of the rear by just installing the front screws.

I put a rather expensive high quality Steel Ken Farrell Rail on my custom Remington 700 and the instructions that were supplied said exactly that..use the front screws to check the alignment of the rear and mentioned that in the majority of cases it will need bedding otherwise you will pull the rail out of shape.

I used JB Weld for my bedding compound, Kiwi Clear Boot Polish as the release agent and WD40 to remove surplus compound before it set. It was fiddly but was all worth the effort.

I had a much stronger Ken Farrell Rail on my Tikka T3 .. ie no cutout for the port. I found that the machining of the top surface of the action was not perfect and when the rail was tightened it pulled the action out of shape so much so the bolt was difficult to cycle.

[Gwion]

Bloomin' heck. Better check mine and bed it if necessary. All looked good when I installed it, though.

[MalleeFarmer]

Pillars are done just need to fit them.

[bigfellascott]

Nice one mate - a friend of mine is machining up 3 sets for my howa/boyds