Put together a 6mm ARC bolt rifle. I have Savage 110 Desert Tactical in 6.5 CM, used that as the basis for the ARC rifle. Ordered McGowan barrel in early May and got the barrel mid August. It’s Savage Tactical contour, 26” target crown, and weighs about 4 lb 13 oz. I used a Northland shooters barrel nut and recoil lug. I bought both PTG and Savage PPC bolt head, and the OEM 223 front bolt baffle. Wound up using the PTG bolt head w/ front baffle. Have upgraded extractor kit w/ large detent ball and upgraded ejector. Used PTG Go/No-Go gauges. Bought a MDT 6mm BR magazine. Had MDT LSS chassis for Savage laying around, and Magpul PRS stock.
Used Viper barrel vise and NSS action wrench, factory barrel wasn’t too difficult to get off. New barrel went on nicely, headspacing was a breeze. After about 60 rounds, no issues at all feeding those rounds from the MDT mag to the chamber. However, even with the upgraded extractor, there is a 50/50 chance of the extractor pulling the case out of chamber. Doesn’t matter if I run it hard or soft.
First trip was 15 to 20 rounds of factory 108 ELD and 105 BTHP Black ammo, nothing to write home about. Got home, noticed loose nuts/bolts on stock, and the bolt action screw needed tightening. Tightened them up, cleaned the barrel. Barrel was super easy to clean with Wipe Out cleaner, minimal copper fouling.
Next trip out was pretty good. Shooting hand loaded 108 gr ELD Match (these were seconds bought from midway earlier this year - I sorted them by ogive length) Randomly chose 30.2 grains of Lever from Hornady manual for bolt guns, seated them 20 thou off the lands. Manual calls for 2750 fps from 24” barrel; over 15 shots I averaged 2,840 fps in my 26” barrel using Lab Radar. (Factory 108 gr Match ammo for six shots in my 26” barrel averaged 2,784 fps - but factory ammo is loaded for gas guns.) The hand load groups were from 1.00” to 0.5” @ 100 yds. I’ll readily admit I’m not the most consistent shooter. I used an Atlas cal bipod and rear bag. It was overcast and upper 60s, low 70s.
When I ordered the barrel I seated dummy rounds with 108 Hornady ELDMs with boattail junction at the shoulder/neck junction, they throated it to fit those. Even with the 108 eld bullet shoved into the lands, they easily fit the MDT mag. I also have a bunch of Berger 108 BT target bullets that I’m going to load up next, to see how they shoot. Those cartridge base to ogive lengths are similar to the 108 ELDMs.
Once I get a piece of real estate sold, I’m going to splurge a little on Bighorn Origin or TL3 action and move the barrel over to that and get MDT LSS-XL and their stock (not a huge fan of PRS stock) or maybe ACC chassis.
rustynutsdesigns.com
