Building my 6.5 Creedmoor

[Txhillbilly]

I'm finally going to start building my 6.5 Creedmoor.
I've had the barrel for several months,but couldn't decide whether to buy a used rifle for a donor action or just buy a new action. I bought a new Savage stainless Varmint action with the 1.5 lb target Accu-trigger from Northland Shooters Supply. I should get it tomorrow.
I also bought a NSS trued barrel nut,SSS .250" recoil lug,Weaver 20moa 1pc rail.

I'm hoping to get the barreled action together and headspaced tomorrow.
Since funding is running low at this moment,I'll just borrow the Choate Tactical stock,Burris Signature Zee rings,and Sightron SIII 6-24x50 MOA-2 scope from my Savage 10FCP 308 for a while.

As funds allow,I will be putting a Nightforce 5.5-22x56 scope,and when I decide on which stock to go with for this rifle. I'm looking at Bobby Hart,Manners,McMillan,Stockade or H&S Precision stocks.

I'll post pics as I assemble this rifle.

 

[kwo51]

Just raise the dept sealing. Happy Happy Happy:025:

 

[Txhillbilly]

Just raise the dept sealing. Happy Happy Happy:025:

Yes,That's what I need to do. Ha Ha Ha!

 

[Txhillbilly]

For those of you that don't know how easy it is to build a Custom rifle off the Savage 10/110 platform,I'll give you an idea of how it's done.
I've built several rifles off of savage actions,and they are great shooting rifles.
You can do it cheap,or go crazy on whatever you decide.If you buy a used rifle for a donor action,you can build a custom rifle pretty cheap.

I picked up my new Savage Varmint action today from my dealer,and have had my E.R.Shaw 26" Varmint contour 6.5 Creedmoor barrel for several month's.
I prefer a higher grade of barrel like Hart,McGowen,Pac-Nor,etc.,but for the price I paid on a group buy for a 7mm-08,and this 6.5 Creedmoor barrel,I couldn't pass it up.I don't expect 1/4 moa groups with these barrels,but I have a few loads with the 7mm-08 that are under 1/2 moa,so I'm happy with the Shaw barrels.

Savage Varmint action and Shaw barrel-

After cleaning all of the threads,I screwed the barrel nut on the barrel,put the recoil lug on the barrel,and then screwed the barrel onto the action.
Note-The recoil lug has a detent pin that goes into a slot on the action,make sure it is in the slot before trying to tighten the nut.

You need a set of Go / No Go gauges for whatever caliber your doing.

Insert the Go gauge in the chamber,close the bolt,and screw the barrel down until it stops.Then screw the barrel nut down to the action,and just go hand tight.
Open the bolt,and close it again.You should feel a little resistance while closing it.
I always wrap the action with blue painters tape to protect the finish from the Action wrench.

Continued-

 

[Txhillbilly]

The new centerfeed actions are a little different than the older staggered feed actions.
I needed to modify the cap of my action wrench. It's pretty simple,you just need a round file,and a flat file to smooth the round cut off with.
Make a small notch in the cap where the detent pin of the recoil lug is,if you don't do this,you will damage the barrel nut when you are tightening it down.
Modified action wrench-

Next,install the action wrench onto the action,and tighten the bolts-not too tight,it just need to hold the action not crush it!

The barrel nut wrench has 2 different nut groove styles on it. Make sure your using the correct end of the wrench on your barrel nut. One end is for square grooves,the other is for round grooves.

 

[Txhillbilly]

Now you can tighten the barrel nut,I get it tight by hand with the wrench,and then use a rubber mallet,and hit the wrench a couple times.
You don't have to get it gorilla tight,just tight!

After the barrel nut is tight,check your headspace again. Open and close the bolt with the Go gauge again.
*Leave the Go gauge in the chamber while your tightening the barrel nut.*
The bolt should close all the way,and have some resistance while closing with the Go gauge.

Next,insert the No Go gauge in the chamber. The bolt shouldn't close with the No Go gauge.

Continued-

 

[Txhillbilly]

If everything checks out with the headspace,your done with the barreled/action.

I took the scope/rings off my 10FCP 308,and the took that barreled action out of the Choate tactical stock.Then I installed the 6.5 Creedmoor barreled action into the stock,and torque the action screws down.
Next,I installed the Weaver 20moa 1pc rail on the action.

Then installed the Burris Signature Zee rings,and Sightron SIII scope from the 308 on the rail.

Finished rifle-

It took me less than an hour to put this rifle together,and all I need to do is boresight the scope,and set my dies up so I can load some test loads for it.
Hopefully,it shoots as well as it looks!

 

[jongoudy]

How did it end up shooting? I was planing on buying a Benchmark or a Shilen barrel but i keep going back and forth on the whole build.