"Poor" Man's M40A1 Inspired Remington 700

[Roman Dmowski]

I received and put together my M40a1 inspired project. It's designed to (a) be a decent shooter (b) not break the bank and (c) follow the aesthetics of the M40a1, while not being a true copy by any stretch.

It's a Remington 700 5r "Milspec" with Varmint contour, cerakoted by Yeti Firearms. For now it has the stock X-Pro trigger, but will probably upgrade to a Timney if the X-Pro proves inadequate.

McMillan M40a1 stock with BDL inlet. Stock bottom metal for now. May use heavy duty PTG or something else down the road.

SWFA SS 10x42 with MOA Reticle and MOA adjustments. Butler Creek scope caps. I was on fence of MilDot and MOA, but I tend to think more in "inches" and fine them more intuitive, as is the math for the rough IPHY formula for MOA range estimating. I have a Kenton Industries custom scope cap coming for 168 gr Federal Gold Medal Match and local (hot, low sea level) conditions. I also have the zero stop shims.

DNZ one piece rings and mount for now. This system makes a lot of sense to me and is well reviewed. It's probably the furthest off the mark appearance-wise from the original, and I may someday add IBA style one piece base rings. But for now it's in "shooting shape."

Turner AWS brown sling. I realize the original M40A1 was usually a lighter tan. I always thought it contrasted quite a bit, and I've seen them this dark or darker in some photographs after presumably being wet, dirty, covered in saddle soap, and all the rest after life in the field. The brown matches the brown in the forest mold stock almost perfectly.

One Tigris stock pack.

Anyway, off to the races.

All in this cost approximately $2,650 to date.

 

[2c1fr]

Op that is a gorgeous rifle and I think anyone would be proud to own it thanks for sharing!

 

[pmclaine]

Nice job.

I have a spec M40A1 and what I call my M40A1ish.

I like my spec A1 for the appreciation you get for guys that used them. Its a great rifle....
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But......Its 1979 technology, its kind of a long musket, I like to shoot paper in hopes I can make bullets hit a specific spot on a target not just a steel plate. The MST100 while great for USMC requirements isn't always the best for a snowflake at the bench. So I built my M40A1ish that incorporates features from the original M40 up through the A5. The main benefits are the more user friendly scope and the shorter barrel....

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Point being...Don't let your variance from historical accuracy bother you if it makes your rifle a better shooter.

 

[Roman Dmowski]

Very nice rigs. Thanks all for the kind words.

 

[TorF]

Why not get an additional authentic El Paso Weaver T10?

 

[pmclaine]

Weaver T10 is a fantastic scope and would be legit for an early M40A1. You might pick one up off Ebay +/- $300.

In order to make my M40 more shootable I replaced the Redfield with a Weaver T10



My combination is not legit but I opted for shootable over historical.

 

[pmclaine]

Waiting for USO to start shipping the MST100s I ran a Weaver K10B on my A1. The adjustable parallax at the bell was great. I Sharpied all my ranges on the elevation dial so I could get to where I needed to be and back. It ran out of elevation at about 700 yards though....



The scope did well enough


You have time. Save money, buy a Hart or Schneider barrel while shooting your own barrel out. Buy a TwoManAttack lugged scope mount. Send it all off to a good USMC A1 builder, have him cut the receiver, modify some bottom metal, bed, Good to go!

 

[TorF]

Weaver T10 is a fantastic scope and would be legit for an early M40A1. You might pick one up off Ebay +/- $300.

In order to make my M40 more shootable I replaced the Redfield with a Weaver T10

My combination is not legit but I opted for shootable over historical.

A Rem700 BDL Varmint topped with a T10 and T16 was my bigbore metallic silhouette rifle for a few years around 1980. The rifle was also used for big bore field target and moving target shooting. I still have the scopes and they have been used extensively on all sorts of air (Diana 75 ), rimfire and cf rifles over the years. As late as 4 years ago I won a national (Norway) championship with the then 33 year old T16. The target turrets on these T-series are still my benchmarks. I have a PM2 but I'm in doubt if it will wear as well as my T-scopes. I have app 120000 rounds through one Anschutz 54 with constant dialing of turrets on average every 5 shots.

 

[Roman Dmowski]

Sighted it in this weekend. Went to Tenoroc in Lakeland for the first time. Not a bad range at all (though only 100 yards).

Took a little while with adjustments to get on paper, but it (and I) shot OK, in the 1-1.5 MOA range. I have along way to go, of course. Also, the bolt was stiff and I learned all about greasing the cam surface in addition to lugs after I got home. Hope it's not a timing/headspace issue.

One of my biggest problems is just holding the center of the crosshairs on the center of the target. Breathing and movement seems to make it jump all around. Need to focus on shooting positions and squeeze technique. Also, while I didn't find the weight of the XPro trigger a major problem, I didn't like how smooth and slippery it was relative to the old ribbed style. I ordered a Timney.

 

[pmclaine]

Nothing wrong with that for first time out. A lot depends on ammo, if you don't reload FGMM should work well. Are you shooting off bags front and back? A good solid bag rest will help steady the cross hairs. I like to have my front bag closer to the mag well than the fore end. If the trigger was an issue for you you are probably going to get good return on investment with your new one.

Keep shooting!

 

[Roman Dmowski]

Just a front bag. I'll need to experiment with rear bag a bit. I've never used one before.

Thanks!

 

[pmclaine]

Just a front bag. I'll need to experiment with rear bag a bit. I've never used one before.

Thanks!

You will like it, it really helps steady the gun.

Fill a sock, preferably one of your friends clean ones, fill it with sand and give it a try, Lock the gun in your shoulder pocket, squeeze or unsqueeze the sock to adjust your elevation.

No need to spend big money trying it out.

 

[Redmanss]

I really like this build - simple, functional, sleek. Of course though, I'm biased...

Sling: Yep, they didn't stay bright for long, I used saddle soap on mine whenever I would get a brand new one, and a lot of other guys would darken them up with cammie paint or whatever too. A bright ass sling in an FFP is a bad thing.

Trigger: I don't blame you for wanting the grooved trigger shoe, I really don't like smooth outside of (some) handguns or shotguns either. Timneys are good, especially for the money, but there's many out there that will work. To stay in the spirit of the M40A1-esque build, I would at least stick with a black curved shoe.

Rear support: A sand sock like pmclaine is talking about is perfect, although I gravitated away from those on the M40A1 for most usage outside of long strings of 100yd groups as they're slow and I'm not in the prone a whole lot anyhow. Other common (and cheap) fixes are dry beans or rice in a sock, poly pellets from the WalMart craft section in the same for real lightweight, or what I mostly use is a rag in my fist for the non-firing hand while grasping the rear sling, started shooting that way not long after I graduated school and haven't gone back since on that gun. I'm always needing the rag for wiping sweat off my head anyhow, nice to have it handy that way.

Scope: I'm a big fan of the rear focus classic SWFA SS models, hard to beat for the money, and it will serve you well. I'd only upgrade if I came across an ERGO equipped used USO ST-10 or S&B 10x PMII for a good price. I like the Weaver T-10 (especially if old US built), but lack of anything other than a basic reticle leaves me wanting more.

Employment: Relax behind the rifle, gain a good prone position directly inline with the barrel, keep it snug in the pocket, get the parallax out of the reticle, and go easy on the trigger. Did you bed the action into the stock? If not, that could be part of the issue. Otherwise, try running some 175gr FGMM through it, that's a well known favorite in those 5R actions.

Nicely done rifle though, hope it's a true shooter for you once everything settles in.

 

[Roman Dmowski]

Took it out again (this time at Shooter's World in Tampa).

I also added the Kenton Industries BDC knobs. Note that these knobs sit higher on the SWFA optic than the OEM knobs. Whereas the OEM appeared to sit at three revolutions from the bottom, this appears at 7, even though it's zeroed either way.

In addition, I had the Timney Thin 510 Trigger added as well. Not a dramatically different trigger pull, but lighter, and ribbed, unlike the smooth OEM trigger. It was marginally better than stock.

I did experiment with the "rear bag," and the change from that was dramatic. Best group was about .5", three in one hole, at upper left. Upper right is just two shots.

 

[pmclaine]

Great shooting.

Love the bullet holes in the bench - got to love public ranges.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Now those are some good looking groups to go with a good looking rifle! Nice Job

 

[mackdrvr]

Nice rig OP. I like it.

 

[Dvando20]

Always a fan of DIY M40A1's that aren't butchered. Very nice build! Been working on one myself with the new Grayboe Terrain stock and SWFA 10x SS. Used badger base and rings just for that extra rigidity.