300RUM

I would rather catch one nice trout than 6 little ones. Hate picking the tiny bones out of of those little guys.

There is a product I have used that kind of fits in with this subject. Brownell's sells something they call spray grit. It is basically small pieces of silica mixed in an aerosol adhesive. I used a High Tech Specialties stock on a build and wanted a more textured surface where my hands went. I used the spray grit then painted the stock, I was lazy it is all one color. This was about 6 years ago and the grit has held up well. I recall the adhesive being fairly clear so it might be possible to use it over an already finished surface.

You are the Rembrandt of rifle stocks. An awesome post and beautiful work. After I fire the last box of shells and pull my .308 apart to re-barrel I am also going to lengthen the stock. I was thinking of trying a cammo pattern. It would keep me amused while I wait for the new barrel. A pattern is something I have never tried before. The stocks and actions I have painted have all been a single color. Lots of great pattern ideas here. When you mask over the checkered areas on the stock how do you ensure a good seal? Use a stiff brush to get the masking to conform to the checkering? If a rifle is not behaving does its ammo get a bottom locker?

I have worked in the freight industry for 30 years and have rarely had to decline to handle a shipment. Items I have transported vary from The radioactive waste from Williams AFB, the computers that control reactor 3 at Palo Verde, down to pop tarts and diapers. It is generally fairly simple to follow the policy of the company you work for and laws that apply to any specific items being transported with the exception of HM regulations which are somewhat complicated. All you really need to get through it is the ability to read and some common sense. For many the later seems to be a controlled substance and they do not have a prescription.

I showed her this exact excerpt from the UPS website on shipping guns and gun parts. Sounds like you need to go back with a laptop and play Ron White doing the "You can't fix stupid" routine, just for her.

You were probably in the socialist republic of Cook County Illinois. I had pretty much the same experience there at a similar age many years ago.

From the UPS site UPS accepts firearm parts for shipment, provided the part is not a "firearm" as defined under federal law; the contents of the package cannot be assembled to form a firearm; and the package otherwise complies with federal, state, and local law. (Note: Receivers or frames of a firearm and firearm mufflers/silencers (also referred to as suppressors) are considered "firearms" and are accepted for transportation only if shipped in accordance with UPS's requirements for shipping firearms.) UPS accepts packages containing firearms (as defined by Title 18, Chapter 44, and Title 26, Chapter 53 of the United States Code) for transportation only (a) between licensed importers, licensed manufacturers, licensed dealers, and licensed collectors (as defined in Title 18, Chapter 44 of the United States Code), and government agencies and ( where not otherwise prohibited by federal, state or local law (i) from an individual to a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector; and (ii) from a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to an individual. A call to her supervisor about her anti-gun agenda that does not comply with UPS policy might be in order.

Congratulations on your new "project". If the trigger is a pro mark-x they do not play very nice. When I built my lightweight I was out of work for 6 months with a broken ankle, plenty of time to waste. I sat at my workbench and tried to turn a pro mark-x into something I could live with. It was a miserable failure.

A compass? Anyone still use one of those things? I still carry and use one even in the GPS age. There is always the possibility the GPS will die. Another use is to help project a waypoint. Say you shoot a deer 600 yards away. Finding it can be a challenge. Even though you can see it laying there you will have to go down through a canyon to get to it and will lose sight of it. You probably ranged it with a laser so you have an accurate distance. If you shot was inclined use the “corrected range” or “true ballistic range”. With a decent compass you can get an accurate degree reading. You can enter this information into most GPS units under the “project a waypoint” function and create a waypoint where your deer went down. You go to the waypoint and your deer is nowhere to be found. Why? Because your waypoint is over 100 yards off. The problem is that you entered a magnetic degree reading into a GPS unit set to true north. In Arizona that causes roughly an 11 degree error. If you still use a compass you may want to set your GPS to magnetic north. I talked to someone the other day who made that error this season and it caused him a lot of stress. Just thought I would throw this up here and maybe save someone from experiencing this problem.

Do you have a level on the scope and was the rifle level for all 3 holds?

I drive a tractor-trailer for a living and have been wearing native for many years. I really like them. I try to find them in the close out section at REI and save a few bucks.

Must be why I'm tired today I didn't get in enough hunting last night. Congratulations on the bird.

Choosing a cartridge is always a challenge, so many good options. When I first started planning my lightweight I thought I would use 7WSM. The rifle would weigh 7.5 pounds scoped and field ready. When I did The Recoil calculations I chickened out. I then considered .260 REM and 7mm - 08. That was a real hard choice. If it was only a deer and goat rifle I would have used .260 REM. When I added elk into the mix I felt 7mm - 08 was the better choice.

Barrel length versus velocity. I researched it a bit before I built a 20 inch barreled custom lightweight 7mm-08 AI. The following data is from a test done by Charlie Sisk, a custom rifle builder. He cut down the barrel an inch at a time and chronographed each length. 270 Winchester Hodgdon 4350 54 grains Federal GM210M Winchester brass 130 grain Sierra 27 3115 26 3093 25 3071 24 3054 23 3035 22 3027 21 3001 114 fps from highest to lowest

You might consider a light compact short action in 7mm-08. It could handle elk out to 300 yards. If you ever draw a Hunt in steep terrain it can be nice to have a light Mountain rifle. On other hunts it could still be a very effective backup rifle. As far as barrel length you probably only gain about 20 FPS per inch.

That is one sharp looking table.

I put a Wyatt's box in my .300 about 4 years ago. It will feed reliably with a 3.835 COAL. I'm sure since it is a stamped part there can be some dimensional variances between magazines but based on my experience your COAL expectation should be accurate.

I am sure Mr. Foxworthy would be quite impressed.

It can definitely be nice to find a well built rifle off the rack. However there is just something about building one that I really enjoy. The last 700 I bought came out of the box and completely apart without ever being shot. There was a pile of parts on the floor and action, bolt, trigger guard and action screws on my bench. A big smile was on my face and my wife was looking at me like I was insane. It is now a compact custom lightweight. The Berger VLD seems to be real touchy about how far it is seated off the lands. I load a series of rounds adjusting the COAL by 0.005 to 0.010 each set. As I fire the COAL sets I usually encounter a length that makes the bullet happy.

Welcome to the world of not having the gun 3 benches down register on your chrono. Of not losing data due to varying light conditions. Of not having to put the unit on the 25 yard line to get readings with some cartridge/powder combinations. Of not needing to take a tripod and go through all the setup just to chrono 5 rounds. Use the Gauge bar and keep the strap tight on the barrel and it should not cause you problems. In the middle of August, when the weather is real nasty, you can now go chrono some rounds at 2:00 AM if you want. A slight POI shift with the chrono attached seems a small price to pay for the advantages. You are going to zero the gun to the load without the chrono attached.

If you are working with a semi-auto you can also watch what the extractor does to the rim. If you see an area of the rim completely bent back or the sharp forward edge of the rim badly rounded off you probably have high pressure. In real bad cases the extractor may tear a section of the rim off and leave the case in the chamber.

The guy next to me at the range today had a LabRadar. It was reading my rifle as well as his. He felt it was probably due to a setup error on his part as he was just getting used to the thing. He did mention it drained batteries pretty quick. The magneto speed can load the data to a micro SD card. It also has an internal memory that will hold the strings. If you do go with a Magneto Speed the one thing to pay attention to is the set-up gauge provided with the unit. Use it. If you get the gap to far off you can get erratic readings. Yes, being attached to the barrel the Magneto Speed does have some potential to cause POI or grouping issues. I have not had a big problem with it. As long as it remains secured in place there seems to be a level of consistency to the effect it has.

I have a Magneto speed and highly recommend them. I also have a CED. It is now only used for bows and pistols.

I have had two impact pullers shatter on me, so I use an RCBS collet puller exclusively. I admit that I almost never have occasion to try and pull a factory load, but when I do, I put a round in the press and run the stem of the seating die down until it contacts the nose of the bullet. Then, I remove the loaded round and run the stem down another turn or turn and a half. I then run all the cartridges to be pulled through the seating die, setting the bullet a few thousandths deeper and breaking the grip of the crimp. It also works with loads that have cold-welded the bullets to the case. The easy way to pull a factory round. I while back someone gave me about 100 rds of .308 Remington Core-lokt. I wanted the brass but had no use for the bullets or powder and was not interested in firing the ammo myself. I gave the ammo to someone who would enjoy shooting it and they gave me back once fired brass. Quick and easy.

12 190 gr bullets in a small shipping envelope mailed from Chandler to Tucson came out to $3.39 if I made all the right choices on the USPS site.