.30-06 Class Project Rifle

[dakota.potts]

4 semesters, not 4 years. It equals less than a year and a half. I'm taking machining classes to get an associate's as well so it is 2 years for me

[dakota.potts]

Got to take my rifle home today. It's not "finished" in that I have a couple tweaks to make but it is done, assembled, and as a complete rifle. I have to do some slight fitting of the bedding tomorrow to get the action to sit fully flush in the stock where it was before, re-mount the recoil pad, and install/boresight the scope.



The bolt assembly finished and re-assembled. I am hoping to be able to keep it blued. However, it's standard in our class to polish the bolt bodies because the extractor and ejector will scratch the bluing. I like the two-tone contrast of the bolt body with the stainless parts. You can also see a little bit of the nitre bluing on the safety lever here.



Closeup of the action area. You can see the yellow the trigger here as well.



Looking too serious and angry here (I do that if I forget to smile in pictures haha) but here I am holding the finished rifle.

I will be out to the range on Saturday shooting to see how she groups

[1stmar]

Good luck Dakota.

[g.willikers]

Very impressive for sure.
But you do look like you should be building flintlocks.

[bamaranger]

I have greatly enjoyed this post and the pics.

Well done Dakota.

[dakota.potts]

Thank you everybody. Got the scope mounted (a Leupold VX-1) and boresighted it today. Also tested the trigger with a Lyman trigger scale; returning an average 2 lbs. 14 oz. with no adjustment on my part. It is a very nice trigger.

I picked up two boxes of ammo today to test it out tomorrow. One box of 165 grain Federal Fusion and one of 178 grain Hornady Precision Hunter. We'll see how it groups

[Reloadron]

Thanks for shariong the entire evolution, pretty nice and your rifle is nothing short of sweet. Years ago I would take short two week courses at Montgomery Community College in Troy NC. These were NRA courses and each visit I enjoyed talking to the full time regular students and looking at their work. Had a guy locally who did incredible bluing but he got out of it, hard to find anyone around me who does bluing work.

Ron

[DavidABQ]

Thanks for posting this journey of yours! I thoroughly enjoyed this thread.

[hooligan1]

Nice rifle dude, it will be a nice shooter too.

[Jbotto]

Very nice work and fun to watch the progress in the pictures, Dakota! Congrats on a nice looking rifle! How'd it shoot?

[p-dub-mt]

Very nice looking rifle. Thanks for the in-depth post.

[Zorro]

Dump the wood stock.

No advance in rifle technology has done more for accuracy than no more wood stock.

Take your pick Graphite or pure Aluminum.

[dakota.potts]

Very nice work and fun to watch the progress in the pictures, Dakota! Congrats on a nice looking rifle! How'd it shoot?

Thanks for all the encouragement here. I would hunt with it in a heartbeat based on the results I got, but I'm not where I want to be on paper. The best three shot group came in under an inch, and I'm working on eliminating variables to see if I can get consistent 5 shot groups right around one inch. It seems to be somewhat susceptible to point of impact shifts when the barrel heats up, so I'm working on eliminating different things that could affect it to see if I can tighten that up. I've also only gotten on paper with Federal Power Shok and Remington Core Lokt, so it's possible I haven't found a factory ammo/bullet weight combination yet that my rifle prefers.

[Scorch]

Dump the wood stock.
No advance in rifle technology has done more for accuracy than no more wood stock

Well, yes and no. In general, I agree, but synthetic stocks are about as appealing to look at as a tube of toothpaste: perfect in every way, smooth, streamlined, but nothing distinctive or appealing in the least. The most appealing thing about high-end composite stocks is usually the paint job on them. Besides, graphite and fiberglass stocks go from the sublime to the ridiculous. Some will enhance accuracy, others may actually have a detrimental effect on accuracy. A well-bedded wood stock can deliver as least as good of accuracy as a poorly fitting generic synthetic stock. On the other hand, most people don't want to put the time and energy into bedding wood stocks so that they will deliver good hunting accuracy.

[Gunplummer]

My first experiences with "Plastic" stocks were with the M-14 and M-16. I was not impressed.

[tobnpr]

A well-bedded wood stock can deliver as least as good of accuracy as a poorly fitting generic synthetic stock. On the other hand, most people don't want to put the time and energy into bedding wood stocks so that they will deliver good hunting accuracy.

I would submit, as good as the most expensive and well fitted, synthetic stocks.

A rifle action has no clue as to the material in which it's situated.

A correctly bedded wood stock- and I mean correctly, which is not just throwing epoxy in a few places and torquing down screws- will deliver the same end result (if not better) than a precisely machined CNC chassis system.

PLENTY of benchrest competition shooters use laminated wood stocks.

With epoxy bedding and pillars, there's no dimensional changes- and therefore no variations in torque values and stock fitment. You simply cannot achieve a more precise, zero-movement fit of receiver to stock than a mirror-image epoxy "mold". At the end of the day, all that matters is that the action is stress-free (not being "warped" by action screw torque), and does not move in the stock under recoil. Whether that's in wood, composite, or aluminum is irrelevant.

Fact is, despite the precision of CNC inletting many shooters (including those at the highest levels) still mill out $1K stocks and epoxy bed the actions.

[Wyosmith]

You are doing very well Dakota.
My complements.
One tip I might give you is to remember the 60-40 rule for classic forends.
I leave about 60% of the visible barrel in open air and 40% of it in wood. Makes for a nice overall look. Some men like the barrel to be 50-50, so there is no right or wrong way, but the 60-40 look is very classic and most customers prefer it.









Sorry about the poor photography, but you can see the lines and profiles even if they are a bit blurred.

[Jbotto]

I've also only gotten on paper with Federal Power Shok and Remington Core Lokt, so it's possible I haven't found a factory ammo/bullet weight combination yet that my rifle prefers.

You shot under an inch with the cheapest ammo you can find? I'd say keep looking for better ammo. I bet that rifle shoots a lot better than it's telling you right now! I've shot decent groups with the Power Shok, but always around the 1.5-2" mark with Core-Lokts. Find some premium ammo to shoot and really see what you can do with it! Congrats on your success!

[BusGunner007]

[dakota.potts]

You shot under an inch with the cheapest ammo you can find? I'd say keep looking for better ammo. I bet that rifle shoots a lot better than it's telling you right now! I've shot decent groups with the Power Shok, but always around the 1.5-2" mark with Core-Lokts. Find some premium ammo to shoot and really see what you can do with it! Congrats on your success!

Thanks for your enthusiasm I did manage one 3 shot group, taking out a flyer, at under an inch but so far that's been the outlier. Most of my groups are right around 2" with the ammo I currently have. I have another box of the Powershok and I'm going to bring a timer with me to fire them 2-3 minutes apart, as well as play with my rest position to see if pressure on the forend is affecting the groups.

Once it's as tight as I think it will shoot with that ammo, I'll try some other stuff. On my list to try is Hornady SST/Superformance, Winchester Silvertip, and Federal Gold Medal Match. Like I said, I'd hunt with it in a heartbeat in its current condition and tightening in the groups is really about personal satisfaction at this point