I must be crazy!

[taylorce1]

Great looking "free" rifle you got there Taylorce1. Maybe I missed it so forgive me if so, what scope did or are you going to mount on it?

Right now I have a Nikon Monarch in 2-7X32 mounted on it. Don't know if I'm going to stick with that scope or put a different one on it. I just picked up a 4-16X40AO Bushnell Elite 4500 and 4-12X40AO VXII Leupold. I'm just thinking both of these scopes are too big for this rifle and what I want to do with it. Either one of these scopes would add a little bulk to the whole package.

BTW never said it was a "free" rifle just a "cheap" one!

 

[GLK]

Depending on the intended use these(scopes)all would be good choices. Unless I am wanting to shoot extreme long range I personally prefer the 2-7 or even the 1. something to 5 or 6 range of magnification. That's right you said you won the rifle at auction, not that it was free. Also could you educate me some on the 6x47 cartridge? Be sure and let us know how it does on the coyotes.

 

[taylorce1]

There are actually a few different 6X47 cartridges the other two main ones are the Swiss Match and Lapua. My 6X47 happens to be based of off the .222 Rem Mag case. I was cruising through my Sierra reloading manuals and found it decided to play with it. The 6X47 was an old bench rest round used before the PPC came on the circuit from all the information I've gathered. Here is a nice little read on some cartridges and mine is right below the .308 cartridges, it was actually produced commercially as the 6X47 Federal. http://www.6mmbr.com/compcartridges.html

The data I’ve got shows 55 grain bullets approaching 3500 fps and 80 grains slightly over 2900 fps. Of course that is all with the 24” barrel and I shortened mine down by 4” to make a handier rifle. Still all my data shows about an extra 200 fps over the .223 Rem with equal weight bullets. That is what really enticed me to go with it over the standard .223 Rem.

 

[Blue Grass]

So how much $$$ and how many hours total do you have invested in your "free" rifle? BTW, looks like a nice rig.

 

[taylorce1]

Took about 4 hours to do the rifle. Sanding every thing down took about 30 min. Priming took about 10-15 min, painting took the longest time, about 2 hours, had to sand down a couple of mistakes. Tear down and reassembly took about an hour since I waited till everything got here. Still got some time to go on it as I need to shoot the stock one more time, and then clear it. Metal still needs a finish of some sort, and I'm going to replace the plastic trigger guard.

As far as price goes it isn't cheap to do all this:

Rifle $280
Barrel $260
SSS Trigger $97
SSS Recoil Lug $28
Tac Bolt handle $42
Leupold PRW $35
Weaver bases $6
Hornady Dies $60
Paint & Clear $10
Plastic Primer $7
Acraglas kit $23
___________________
Total $810

That didn't include any shipping that I had to pay on these items as well. Nor any reloading componets, primers, bullets and powder. Plus I had a scope on hand from an old rifle I had traded or else I'd have been looking at another $200-300 in this rifle. While not cheap I did get the satisfaction of doing it myself, that is as far as assembly goes.

 

[KMAY]

Can i get some more pictures of what you did to the stock? The stevens i held at academy had some really sharp lines so i kind of passed on it but i want a cheap 223 that i can tinker with and not worry about screwing it up too bad.

Plus 223 is a lot easier on the wallet and the shoulder than the 30-06 that i have. Haha.

 

[taylorce1]

Well I finally got to bloody this rifle today. Took out a little pronghorn today with it. One shot 300 yards full frontal shot with a 70 grain Nosler BT leaving the barrel at 3066 fps. My buck ran about 50 yards and piled up. He has only about 12-13" horns, and I didn't get any pics because when I dropped him because the temp was pushing 90 degrees at 2 p.m. this afternoon.

I wasn't going to shoot this little buck but he kept coming back to the doe that was with him that my buddy dropped. I would have liked to have found a bigger one, but the only had one more day to hunt and this was the first legitimate shot I had at a buck all day. At least one where they were not running full bore all across the prairie.

While this little rifle I put together and is amazingly accurate I'd say that 300 yards is about the limit on this rifle working effectively on game larger than varmints. Sure was fun to finally test this rifle out on somehting larger than a paper target or 20 oz Coke bottle.

 

[Scorch]

Well I finally got to bloody this rifle today

Well, it's about time! I was beginning to think you had joined Greenpeace. Just kidding! Sounds like it works fine! Now fire up the BBQ!

 

[taylorce1]

Here are some of the groups I've been able to produce with this rifle. I'm able to hold most 5 shot groups as well under an inch with the load it likes.

It likes 26.5 grains of H332 with a CCI 450 primer and 70 grain Nosler BT. Using JBM Calculations this little rifle gives me a MPBR of 311 yards with a 3.5" radius.