I am currently running a decent remington 700 Win mag and want to do some serious upgrades for next year. I am pretty well sold on the 300 and 215 hybrid load for it, so that’s the load and cartridge I am building around. Right now I am thinking Manners EH1 stock in scorched earth color paired with a 26 proof carbon barrel, 26” and Sendero light contour. I currently have HS precision DBM on my rifle and I really like that setup with very little magazine sticking out of the gun. I’m for sure gonna have the action tuned and probably go with a CE or Jewell trigger. My optics are already set, Zeiss V6 3-18x50 with Seekins base and rings. I’m thinking this is going to be a 9-10 lb gun, the range I am looking for. Anyone have any tips other than get the stock ordered now? Lol
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Long range Medium weight hunting rifle build ideas?
- Thread starter tlsmith22
- Start date
I’m running a very similar setup for my long range hunting rifle. Mines a short action Bighorn with a Manners EH1, 24” Sendero contour Bartlein and a Vortex 6-24 AMG, chambered in 7mm RSAUM.
Based on this years hunting, there isnt a thing I would change. The rifle tips the scales right at 12lbs and handled business out to 778 yards with ease. I would suggest going with the Manners mini chassis on your build as well. It doesn’t add a ton of weight over a conventional DBM / Pillar bed job and makes for one helluva solid setup. It sounds like your running a DBM setup with AI style mags now, so you know the convenience of just being able to slide a magazine in and go. My first build was an ultralight so I went with BDL style bottom metal. I hated loading and unloading that damn thing with the hinged floor plate.
Other than that, it sounds like you will have a bitchen rifle. My only concern would be the barrel. For the win mag I would opt for the standard sendero contour UNLESS you are really tryin to shave ounces. There only a few ounces ( 3-4 oz ) difference and in my experience the larger diameter plays better with the magnum calibers.
With what you have spec’d out, I wouldn’t be surprised if it came in around 9lbs flat.
Is it gonna be a pure hunter or will you shoot recreationally with it also?
Based on this years hunting, there isnt a thing I would change. The rifle tips the scales right at 12lbs and handled business out to 778 yards with ease. I would suggest going with the Manners mini chassis on your build as well. It doesn’t add a ton of weight over a conventional DBM / Pillar bed job and makes for one helluva solid setup. It sounds like your running a DBM setup with AI style mags now, so you know the convenience of just being able to slide a magazine in and go. My first build was an ultralight so I went with BDL style bottom metal. I hated loading and unloading that damn thing with the hinged floor plate.
Other than that, it sounds like you will have a bitchen rifle. My only concern would be the barrel. For the win mag I would opt for the standard sendero contour UNLESS you are really tryin to shave ounces. There only a few ounces ( 3-4 oz ) difference and in my experience the larger diameter plays better with the magnum calibers.
With what you have spec’d out, I wouldn’t be surprised if it came in around 9lbs flat.
Is it gonna be a pure hunter or will you shoot recreationally with it also?
It’s gonna be a pure hunting rifle. I have just gotten accustomed to that style of rifle stock and I think it looks better also. I agree with the mini chassis idea, I had been debating that and basically just needed someone to confirm my thoughts to add it.
I never thought abt that. If it doesn’t, I’d just go with different bottom metal. I just thought it would be nice to use since I already had it and it looks and fits so good. I feel like the mini chassis is a huge improvement over pillar blocks.
Not necessarily a problem, but for a whole 3 or 4 ounces you will get a barrel thats a bit stiffer. My only experience with a Sendero light Proof was on a 300 WSM my dad put together and it shot decent enough. You won’t go wrong with either.
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There's lots of different chamberings available now, but I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with a Win Mag either. Personally, not having any Magnums now, I'd probably go for a Win Short Magnum ... or .300 Norma Magnum, if I wanted MORE.
This one with the chassis system and mag weights 3lb 11oz. Without the adjustable cheek it would be really light. I’ve just almost gotta have the adjustable cheek.
The scopes my biggest weight problem. I want to mount my Schmidt but damn they’re heavy!
Im collecting parts for a hunting build now as well. So far I have:
Kelbly Atlas long action w/ magnum bolt face
Proof .284 1-8twist sendero light @ 26”
Scott Wiechel self timing break (will swap back and forth with AAC 300TM)
Wyatt’s MBE3 and magnum follower
Hawkins hinges floor plate
BAT action screws
TriggerTech Special trigger
Will be chambered in 7mm Remington Magnum
Just need to order an EH1 or EH2, leaning towards a more traditional EH2.
Kelbly Atlas long action w/ magnum bolt face
Proof .284 1-8twist sendero light @ 26”
Scott Wiechel self timing break (will swap back and forth with AAC 300TM)
Wyatt’s MBE3 and magnum follower
Hawkins hinges floor plate
BAT action screws
TriggerTech Special trigger
Will be chambered in 7mm Remington Magnum
Just need to order an EH1 or EH2, leaning towards a more traditional EH2.
The 7 mag is a great round. Another cartridge I considered but already setup to reload 300wm, so its a no brained to stay with it. I have an Alaskan Ti rifle I’m gonna build off of and it has HS precision DBM, so all I have to have is barrel, stock and trigger.
Makes sense, I wanted 7mmRM because back when the ammo shelves were bare a few years ago, there was ALWAYS 7mmRM in stock! I wanted my dedicated hunting rifle to be a common caliber, easy to find in any store and a non-wildcat.
That is an excellent point many of us handloaders forget. 300wm, 7rem mag, 7wm, etc are almost always on shelves in every Mom and Pop and big box store across the fruited plains. Some luggage monkey loses your 6.5x284 or xxx on the way you could be out of a hunt before you put your boots on.
