280 being made-barrel suggestions?


iron buck

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I have Gary Stiles making me a 280 based on a LH mauser action. This rifle will be built s a light(er) weight hunting rig. My "mountain" rifle. Built Along the lines of a M70 featherweight or Mauser pattern "B" hunting rifle. Turkish walnut stock made trim with the schnable forend. Point pattern checkering. My initial thoughts are to go with a # 1 countour Douglas barrel cut to 22" Do you thing that light barrel would screw up the balance of the rifle ? Should I add a bit of weight & go with a #2 contour? How would the profile of the #1 compare with that of the Winchester M70 featherweight?

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Re: 280 being made-barrel suggestions?

The #1 Douglas barrel weighs in at 2.25 pounds. Your stock will probably be around 3 pounds. The action with a trigger will be about 1.5-2 pounds. Gary Stiles should be able to make the balance correct by a little hollowing in the buttstock if needed. This will be hidden inside the buttstock. The Mauser while a great action is not one of the better choices for an ultra light gun. It can be made into a nice light packable rifle though. You will be adding 4-6 ounces by stepping up to a #2 taper. I don't know what the profile of the Featherweight is. I don't have any myself.

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Re: 280 being made-barrel suggestions?

Thanks AJ. I know the mauser is not perfrct for a light weight gun, but this is the second & last LH action I have so it will be used for the task. I don't really need a super light weight rifle. Just one made as trim as posible. The action weighs about 1.5 lbs if I remember correctly.I am not worried about lugging an extra couple of ounces. I am guessing that with a 2-7x Leupold VX-II I will be comng in around 7 1/2- 7 3/4 pounds or so. When finished I will weigh ito be sure.

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Re: 280 being made-barrel suggestions?

ONLY because a buddy of mine used to work there. He told me some stories that made me go elsewhere. For the most part Shaw has decent stuff ....but they also have enough quality issues that I decided to go elsewhere. I drive past shaw several times a week...........if I had confidence in the lead times & quality it would be an easy choice. But that is not the case.

For my whelen, I could have had a shaw barrel for a VERY reasonable cost. But went with Douglas instead. I will do the same with the 280.

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Re: 280 being made-barrel suggestions?

I have never heard anything good about Shaw barrels. The best thing I have heard is they are on par with some factory barrels. They are the cheapest route to go though. I would go with at least a Douglas, Shilen, Pac-Nor, Hart, Lothar Walther, or others in that line.

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Re: 280 being made-barrel suggestions?

I think you would be happier with a #2. Great Caliber and great selection. Nothing wrong with Douglas. I have on on my super match M1A. Simply awsome. On turn bold guns I like Kreiger. But, anyone you have listed is good. For a custom mid bore gun the 280 is about as good as it gets. For The hot 33 and 375 CAL, I like the Kreiger barrels. They are cut rifled and I think it gives them a little edge over button rifled barrels. What do you guys think?

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Re: 280 being made-barrel suggestions?

You can go directly to thier websites and get pricing. Chrome Moly runs a little less than stainless. Most of them run about $325-$370. Douglas has different grades. Quite honestly the top quality is reserved for bench shooters. Get the standard grade and save some money. With a good 140-150 grain Nosler, Swift, or Sierra bullet your still going to shoot .750" groups. Keep us informed of the project, we love it when a plan comes together!

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Re: 280 being made-barrel suggestions?

A lot of guys talk highly of the Pac-Nor stuff. I've never shot a Pac-Nor equipped rifle. But they seem to have a heck of a selection and some real reasonable prices.

Just thinking out loud. grin.gif

P.S. Iron buck...............Do you realize you are unofficially becoming Gary's retirement plan?? grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif

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Re: 280 being made-barrel suggestions?

I have two Pac-Nor barreled guns. Both are their stainless super match barrels that were threaded and chambered by Pac-Nor. Chris Dichter at Pac-Nor is a good guy to do business with.

Here are the barrels I mentioned and a few others:

Pac-Nor

Douglas

Shilen

Montana Rifleman

Lilja

Lothar Walther

Krieger

BlackStar

Broughton

Hart

Spencer

Using any of these will give you a very nice gun. I would definately go for something that is hand lapped after the rifling is installed by cutting or button.

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Re: 280 being made-barrel suggestions?

I would look at the 1:10" twist. Most factory guns in 7mm Mag are about 1:9.5" but The 1:10" will stabilize the 140 and 150 gr bullets. The 175 gr bullets will need a faster twist on the other hand. I would drop down to the 1:9" if you intended to shoot the 175 gr bullets. It's better to overspin them than underspin them.

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