These seem to be pretty popular lately. I've been slowly working on mine for the last few months and I figured I'd start a build thread and keep it updated as I go along.

I picked up a Remington 700 ADL Varmint chambered in 308 Win on a trade for $250. It had a 26" varmint contour barrel, Mossy Oak Brush synthetic varmint style stock and came with a Center Point scope and Harris Ultralight 1A2 bipod.

My plan was/is to build this into a budget precision rifle. I was originally going to target shoot with it, but I decided I would like the rifle's primary purpose to be a precision hunting rifle, capable of at least MOA out to at least 500yds with handloaded hunting ammo.

I never had a firm budget in mind, I just wanted to go for the best bang for my buck while not scrimping too much when it came to the items that make the biggest impact on precision.

Here is the cost breakdown so far (I will continue to update this as I go along):

Rifle, Scope, Bipod: $250
SPS Varmint Stock - $45
SPS Bottom Metal - $50
Bedding Compound - $40
Barrel Cut and Threaded - $100
Thread Protector - $24
EGW Scope Base $45
KRG Bolt Lift - $34
Extended Bolt Knob - $22
Paint for Stock - Call it $10 (I had most of it, but bought some primer and clear coat)
Aluma-Hyde for Bolt - $12
Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50mm FFP - $675
TPS TSR Low Scope Rings - $84
Butler Creek Flip-up Scope Covers - $21
Burris XTR Low Rings - $54
Breakaway Coaster - $12
Rifle Basix L-1 K Trigger - $134
Triad Tactical Stock Pack - $54
___________________________________
Total $1666



Take-off's that have sold:
Harris Ultralight 1A2 - $50
KRG Bolt Lift - $30 in trade value
Camo ADL stock - $73 net from ebay
TPS TSR Low Scope Rings - $ 66 net from ebay
___________________________________
Total $219


Current total investment after selling take-off's:
$1447

I also bought a few tools along the way, such as a wheeler torque wrench and scope leveling kit, but I don't consider them part of the build cost since I will use them plenty in the future on other projects. I could say the same about the Devcon, considering I have more than half of the container left, but I'll leave it in the build cost because this project was the only reason I originally purchased it.

Here is a picture of it right after I got it:

Shot it a few times during hunting as set up originally just to verify function. Pulled off the scope, rings and bases and took a picture of it as reference:



I opened up the barrel channel a little on the factory stock on order to free float the barrel, then I decided I would rather have some sort of drop down floorplate or detachable magazine to easily empty the ammo before getting into the truck while hunting. I posted up a want ad for a SPS/BDL take off synthetic stock while I was researching the more expensive aftermarket options. I was able to find a good deal on an SPS Varmint stock from a forum member and he directed me to a good deal on an SPS floorplate on another forum. I decided to go this route for the time being instead of spending 3 or 4 times as much on an aftermarket option.

Got the stock and floorplate in the mail, picked up a KRG bolt lift and EGW Scope base, temporarily mounted them up and took another reference picture.



Then I had the barrel cut down to 20 inches and threaded by a gunsmith in Mobile. I wanted to eventually be able to mount a suppressor and I like the idea of the 20 inch barrel for hunting. The rifle balances much better with the shorter barrel and it is also much more maneuverable in and out of vehicles/shooting houses/etc. Since I'm not looking at getting out past 500yds anytime soon, I gained more than I lost in shortening the barrel, in my opinion.

The gunsmith did a great job, from what I can tell, and had the rifle back to me in a week:


While the rifle was at the gunsmith's shop, I ordered some Devcon steel putty to try my hand at bedding the action. I had never attempted this before, so I watched a multitude of videos on Youtube on the process. After doing some additional web research, I was confident to give it a go. I didn't take any pictures during the process because I was focused on making sure I did everything right.

I did take this picture after I got it all taped up to cure:


The bedding job went very well, but a large piece of bedding pulled up from the tang when I made an upstroke with the needle file inside the action screw hole while trying to enlarge it a little. This led me to drill some deeper holes in the tang around the action screw to promote better adhesion of the bedding compound and try it again. The next time worked perfectly, but again, I didn't take any pictures during the process.

Just wanted to note here what I discovered right before I bedded the action. The recoil lug is not square with the action screw. From what I've read, this is a pretty common problem with current Remington QC. I decided not to worry too much about it, since I saw some pictures that were MUCH worse.

Once the bedding was done, I painted the stock. I decided to spray a base coat of flat tan, then lay a net over the top while I sprayed some black, OD green and a sort of foliage green. I ended up blending most of the top colors together for the most part, but it still has some color variations.

Here are a few close ups:







I painted the bottom tan to cover up where the net was bunched up and zip tied together.



I also put 3 coats of matte clear on top for durability.

This part was previously posted in it's own thread, but I'd like to put it here to keep everything together. If the mods have a problem with that, I'd be happy to delete one or the other.

I got tired of scraping the skin off my thumb knuckle on my scope when I worked the bolt on my Remington 700, so I've been looking into an extended bolt knob for a while. It has been pretty low on my priority list because I have other things I've been saving up for and I haven't been shooting anytime recently anyway. I have priced out a few different options and most of them are between $80 and $120 for the knob and installation, with anywhere from a week to 8 weeks turnaround. I wasn't exactly opposed to paying that price, but I did a little research and decided I could give it a shot myself. I picked up a teardrop shaped, knurled knob from ebay for $22 shipped and decided to get to work last Friday night.

The only tools I used were: an angle grinder, a dremel with sanding drum, a set of files, some sandpaper and a 5/16"-24 die. It was a fairly simple process, I just took my time to make sure I didn't make (m)any mistakes. I followed the Badger Ordnance instructions and they worked perfectly for me.

Started like this. Drew a couple lines with a silver sharpie to make sure I didn't go too far with the angle grinder initially. BTW, I used a 60 grid sanding wheel on the grinder.



This was after about a minute with the grinder. I tried to go slowly so the bolt didn't get too hot.



Started working around slowly, being careful not to go too far.

At this point, I moved inside to my workbench and started with the sanding drum on my dremel. I worked my way down slowly, measuring every couple minutes with my calipers. This was also the point where I started trying to make the shank perfectly round.





Down to boss diamter of .313, as concentric as I was able to get it with files and sandpaper. I got it to about .003 runout, as best as I could measure. Flattened and slightly beveled the end to help start the die.



Got the shank upright in the vise and started the die.



Discovered this after I backed the die off. This is the infamous casting void that people worry about when threading the existing bolt knob on Remington 700’s. I plan on filling this in as best as I can with JB Weld, rethreading it and calling it a day.



This is what the final product looks like. As you can see, I had my file slip a couple times. As soon as I get the casting void filled in and the bolt knob loctited down, I plan on blending the knob into the handle with Devcon then either painting or duracoating it.



It took me about 6-7 hours to get this done, but I went very slowly and measured way too often to keep from messing up. I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out and I’ll be sure to post more pictures when I get it all completed.

The JB Weld was good and dry by the time I got home yesterday afternoon, so I went ahead and re-threaded it.



Not perfect, but it's better than it was. We'll see if it holds up for the long haul.



After I got done doing that, I Loctited the bolt knob on and smeared some Devcon around the base of the knob and onto the handle.

Got the Devcon sanded down into a contour I'm satisfied with last night. I'm going to wait on any sort of coating on the bolt right now, because I'm probably going to be doing a similar blending job with a muzzle brake in the near future. Once I get that done, I'll probably get someone to Cerakote the entire barreled action and bolt. I would love to do it myself, but I don't have a curing oven.

Here is how the rifle currently sits.











My next step is to bed the scope mount this weekend and keep saving up for the scope I want. I am up in the air about ordering a cheap muzzle brake I found. I can pick it up for around $35, but I will most likely need to blend it to the barrel contour with Devcon to make it look right since the OD of the back end is less than my barrel OD. I'm worried about it becoming basically permanently mounted. I'm going to start a thread with a few questions before I decide.

I've been trying to do some thinking about my final goals for this project.

The scope I'm looking strongly at is the Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50 FFP. The way I see it, this scope should be able to suit my needs until far into the future.

After the scope, my next purchase will probably be an aftermarket trigger. I've been considering a Rifle Basix or Timney 510.

After the trigger, I'll probably order a suppressor. Maybe Alabama will change their regulations and I'll even be able to hunt with it in 2014.

Eventually I'd like to get a Manners MCS-T4A stock with their Mini Chassis system, but that's so far in the future that it could change 10 times. I would probably end up going with any type of aftermarket stock or chassis, if I could get a good enough deal on it.

I'd love to hear any input on my build so far or my future plans. I'm learning as I go, so any insight from the knowledgeable members of this forum would be much appreciated!

A lot of work there, as long as you are happy and it is a shooter, great job!

Nice work. Looking forward to seeing how it shoots.

I'm heading up to my camp next weekend to do some fishing, shooting and maybe a little hog hunting. I may throw that Centerpoint scope back on it and see what it will do at 100yds with some factory ammo I have. I probably won't have a chance this weekend to work up some handloads, nor time next weekend to do a ladder test.

After all the work I've put into it so far, I really hope it shoots well. I also eventually plan on re-barreling it and truing the action, but I would imagine that the factory barrel should be able to hold MOA or better out to 500yds. I would love to achieve 1/2 MOA, but I'm not holding my breath for that with the factory barrel.

You did a great job on that. Looks very good.

Looking good. In my humble opinion rifle Basix is a better option.

M.O.A. said:

Looking good. In my humble opinion rifle Basix is a better option.

Click to expand...

I had never heard of Rifle Basix until you mentioned it to me a while back. Since I don't have any experience with either, can you tell me what the differences are?

Thanks!

Bedded my scope base this weekend. It didn't come out perfectly, but I think it should be plenty good enough for my purposes. I decided I am going to throw the cheap scope back on it for this weekend and see how the rifle shoots. Hopefully there won't be a problem with the scope and I'll be able to get a true assessment with factory ammo.

Looks good, keep us updated when you go to the range.

Nice job of blending that bolt knob!

Because they are super easy to work with and adjust easier than most others.

I decided to try painting my bolt with Aluma-Hyde. Went to Gold Mine yesterday, but they were out of black. All they had was OD, tan and brown. He is ordering me some and it should be here in about a week. Will update with more pictures when I get it done.

TennJeep1618 said:

I decided to try painting my bolt with Aluma-Hyde. Went to Gold Mine yesterday, but they were out of black. All they had was OD, tan and brown. He is ordering me some and it should be here in about a week. Will update with more pictures when I get it done.

Click to expand...

I have a couple of cans of black that you are welcome to if you don't want to wait...