I recently received a proposal about having a pinned topic for "Custom Rifle Blueprints" from one of our members and after some thought, decided to offer up the topic to see potential interest and if there is indeed a following...

To be quite honest, if I were to embark on such a project, I would be at somewhat of a loss as to where to start myself, without spending an unnecessary amount of money and research when there is a world of information in the hands of those that have already been the route...

No promises, but I am willing to monitor such a thread and see if it has 'Legs' enough to warrant it being a pinned subject at a later time...That will be a decision for the Administrative Board.

I would like the following guidelines to be observed:

1) Posting in the thread is restricted to those that have real custom builds, as opposed to factory stock rifles that have been minor or cosmetically modified..(No ARs)
2) Posts are detailed as to actions, barrels, triggers, stocks
with specifications on each...
3) Posts are restricted to verifiable positive/negative results observed from builds, rather than personal opinions of those not having personal experience on the subject with details listed in item 2...(such posts will be deleted from the thread)
4) While naming gun smiths that may have done some, or all, of the work may happen, links to their services will not be permitted unless they are Banner Sponsors on this forum...

OT,
Would a factory action that's been trued/squared, lugs lapped, ect., with an aftermarket barrel installed and say a different or tuned trigger be considered a custom?

K22, I would think that what you describe would be considered a custom, as opposed to just changing out the trigger and stock, like many do...

The whole idea is to have some specific information, and results, for those wanting to undertake such a project without reinventing the wheel, so to speak...

It's hard to evaluate where the best place to put your money and feel pretty sure of getting the results you desire without solid input from others...

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Asking questions is one of the main purposes of the whole forum...Just expect to get a variety of opinions and that is one reason this thread is pretty well restricted to answers from those that have first hand experience with custom builds...

There are combinations that sound good on paper, but fail to meet expectations and it's that knowledge that is the most helpful to those jumping into the process...

I talked to a local gun smith about the value of blue printing a factory barreled action and he advised that unless I was willing to go 'whole hog' with a new barrel, and other upgrades, I probably wouldn't see that much improvement in accuracy...At that point, I had little idea of where to go without risking a lot of money on an 'iffy' project...So I think a thread like this can be of great benefit to quite a few members...

Now that is some very sound advice. I've had 2 customs done,(which I'll post about later), both had the actions trued up (blue printed), both shoot very very good, but not much better than a factory rifle I own.
If I was wanting to shoot tiny groups at 400 plus yards, (like that smartaleck Tim was showing ....... ), then yes, you would see the advantage. Oh, and super nice rifles and shooting Tim, I'm duly impressed.
As for wood stocks, I've always been of the impression that unless it was inletted (opened up) with a lot of clearance, it would be affected a lot by the different weather/humidity patterns even if pillarbedded. I still believe that to a point, until I started working parttime for a company that makes wood stocks with a very interesting aluminum chassis installed. I do the inletting and we keep the clearances to 5 thousandth at the action and about 15 thousandth barrel clearance.
So there you are, wood, which really is prettier in my opinion (RePete will have a heart attack if he reads this ) , can be made used to custom build for any type of weather conditions.

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Remington 700 short action - started as a 1992 built rem 700PSS in 308.
Action fully blue printed - lugs squared, bolt face squared, action threads recut, action face squared, bolt nose squared, EXT.
PTG .250" surface ground recoil lug.
Rock creek rem varmint conture barrel - 8 twist 16.5" from breech to crown.
Chambered 6.5x47mm Lapua with custom reamer for 123gr. sierra matchking's.
Badger thruster muzzle brake installed with muzzle threaded 5/8x24.
factory rem 40x trigger tuned to 2.5lbs.
Badger bolt knob installed.
Scope base screws opened to 8/40.
seekins precision 20MOA base and 30MM medium rings.
Nightforce NXS 3.5-15x50 NP-R1 HS.
Manners MCS-T4A DBM Badger mini chassis, 2 front and one rear sling stud, coyote tan, standard shell.
Harris S-BRM 6"-9" notch leg swivel bipod, alpha bravo pod lock.
Accurate Mag 5rnd AICS compatable 308 magazine.


100 Yards 5 shots, 123gr. Hornady A-MAX, New Sized Lapua brass, 41gr. H4350, CCI 450 primer.
Im now running 123gr. Sierra MatchKing's (finaly found some) with same accuracy and powder charge.
No pics but holds 1/2MOA at 400yrds (farthest ive had it so far).
Muzzle velocity is running 2650fps at 60* and 800' elevation.

22/250AI
Stiller Pred
Pacnor 26" 8 twist SSM
Mcmillan Rem Hunter
Jewell trigger
HS DBM - 22/250AI feeds flawlessly
Leupold VX3 8.5-25 LRT mounted in Burris Sig Zee rings Stiller 20moa base
Smithed by Bob Green





200 yrds 75gr Amax still needs some load work

20/250
Stiller Pred action
Pacnor 26" 9 twist SSM #5 contour
Mcmillan Rem Hunter
Jewell trigger
Leupold VX3 4.5-14x50 CDS





100 yrds center group is 5 shots 55gr Berger