About 4 months ago I set out on a fun project. I decided I wanted to try out a wildcat cartridge, learn how to put together a bolt gun (remage barrel, headspace, etc) and work up a load that was under 1 MOA. Today, I finally put the mammoth together. Altogether it weighs a touch over 11 pounds (YIKES!). I am extremely proud of myself that I was able to see this from conception to reality with the speed bumps that arose.
A couple things to note:
1. If you are going to build a "custom" rifle, do it. Don't skimp on some parts. You'll eventually replace those budget parts with what you wanted in the first place and costing you more $$.
2. Make sure the stock is inletted to your action. I didn't and the magazine was causing the bullets to hit under the feed ramp. I had a buddy use his mill to give me some clearance at the front of the magwell so I can have reliable feeding. Not an issue on either manufacturer (Defiance or MPA), I should have read about which magwell cut is which. All is good now and it feeds 100%.
3. A 338 caliber is probably unnecessary for any hunting I do or will do. However, I wanted one and so I did it. Lesson here is that if you want something, it doesn't have to be practical or fit a mold. If it turns you on, do it!
4. Online communities are generally great. I know forums of other varieties get bogged down with some crap but this forum and another (that had a TON of info on 338 Sherman builds) was supremely helpful and ultimately led me in the right direction. A ton of people helped answer my questions, ideas, and gave me tips/tricks to complete it. Thanks to all those who answered any questions I had, however dumb. Thanks to those who started threads or shared knowledge in them as well. I gleaned a TON of info from this site and others.
Here are a few pictures of the mod I had to do to the feedramps as well as the whole thing put together. I have other rifles that I will venture into back country hunts, this will be a fun rifle for the shorter distance ones. I will hopefully be shooting this in the next week and will provide real world accuracy and speed testing. Feel free to ask me any questions if you have any.
A couple things to note:
1. If you are going to build a "custom" rifle, do it. Don't skimp on some parts. You'll eventually replace those budget parts with what you wanted in the first place and costing you more $$.
2. Make sure the stock is inletted to your action. I didn't and the magazine was causing the bullets to hit under the feed ramp. I had a buddy use his mill to give me some clearance at the front of the magwell so I can have reliable feeding. Not an issue on either manufacturer (Defiance or MPA), I should have read about which magwell cut is which. All is good now and it feeds 100%.
3. A 338 caliber is probably unnecessary for any hunting I do or will do. However, I wanted one and so I did it. Lesson here is that if you want something, it doesn't have to be practical or fit a mold. If it turns you on, do it!
4. Online communities are generally great. I know forums of other varieties get bogged down with some crap but this forum and another (that had a TON of info on 338 Sherman builds) was supremely helpful and ultimately led me in the right direction. A ton of people helped answer my questions, ideas, and gave me tips/tricks to complete it. Thanks to all those who answered any questions I had, however dumb. Thanks to those who started threads or shared knowledge in them as well. I gleaned a TON of info from this site and others.
Here are a few pictures of the mod I had to do to the feedramps as well as the whole thing put together. I have other rifles that I will venture into back country hunts, this will be a fun rifle for the shorter distance ones. I will hopefully be shooting this in the next week and will provide real world accuracy and speed testing. Feel free to ask me any questions if you have any.
