.30 XCB wildcat, from scratch.

[btroj]

I don't care what others think of the rifle. Tim and I spent many hours discussing what it could, and should, be.

I am just not interested in my rifle being fodder for bickering over theories. I will leave it at that.

I do think Tim has done an excellent job of making the rifle I wanted. That is what counts. Yes, my wife and daughter chose the laminate colors. A rifle like this deserves to be seen. The beauty will be on the paper, not the bench.

Thanks for everything Tim.

[butch2570]

I believe that most of the comments here have been intended as "all in good fun" but the fact of the matter is that a custom build requires an enormous outlay of money, even if you are only buying the parts. Brad let his family decide how this rifle is to look, and that has been made fun of "all in good fun". Any further comments about Brad's rifle or his families choice of colors will be deleted, as it has been taken personally by him here.
There is nothing dishonorable about involving your family in a major purchase like this as it must have their blessing in order to go forward. To be laughed at for making a decision like that is understandably offensive.

Brad, I built this rifle for you and your family to enjoy. It's wild, it's eccentric, and it's going to shoot better than any other gun you own. I applaud the way you went about this, as well as your patience. I believe that it will be well worth it to you when you receive this rifle, and you will not be the only one in your home who is impressed.

Agreed, this is no place for criticism, of a person's decisions on what they are buying , especially if their families are involved. Hope it performs to your expectations , and hope your family loves the finished product of their choosings....

[btroj]

Thanks Butch.

If it shoots like it looks it is gonna be fabulous. I have no doubt it will meet all my expectations in appearance and performance.

My wife and daughter are gonna love the stock. Just what they were after.

[butch2570]

Thanks Butch.

If it shoots like it looks it is gonna be fabulous. I have no doubt it will meet all my expectations in appearance and performance.

My wife and daughter are gonna love the stock. Just what they were after.

If your family is happy then Good Deal , Hope it shoots well for you. If every person here wanted everything exactly the same, what a boring life this would be...

[cbrick]

I don't understand why all the who-ha about Brad's stock or what it's all about. I like it actually, it shows thought, individualism and pride of ownership, all very good things. Were it my rifle I would be quite proud to show up at the range with it.

Rick

[MBTcustom]

I don't understand why all the who-ha about Brad's stock or what it's all about. I like it actually, it shows thought, individualism and pride of ownership, all very good things. Were it my rifle I would be quite proud to show up at the range with it.

Rick

I agree! In fact, I'm just a little bit sad to be sending this on down the road. I'm thinking I will build one of these for myself only I'm really partial to that electric blue or the grey laminate. You just can't beat this for practical shooting. It's not quite as wide as a true benchrest gun, but it will ride standard bunny ears quite well.

[swheeler]

I think all the stock comments were just good clean fun, I know mine were.

[btroj]

Where did this idea I care what people think of the stock come from? I don't care what anyone else thinks. I just chose to ignore those comments, they weren't worth commenting on.

Rick is dead on about why I chose the stock. I wanted it to be mine, to stand out, to be different.

[MBTcustom]

I assumed that was why you withdrew your permission to post pictures here. That is the most logical explanation, of why you would prevent the membership from seeing a rifle that is being built for you in hopes that you can further the sport and the general understanding of subjects such as lube, and HS shooting of cast lead. This rifle was built to be a test bed for your experiments, and all that is asked in return is that you tell us how it did. No rifle that has left my shop thus far has been as perfectly suited to that end as this one is.
The one part that I would change is that I would have chosen a flat bottom action, but that's nothing but personal preference.

I'm not sure what your plans are for this rifle Brad, but I'm sure it will be awesome, whatever you do, and I hope you could see your way clear to let us know if you find out anything with this.
I have done everything I can to minimize the fog created by an improperly built rifle. Hopefully everything that you will get back from this will be raw data that reflects the boolits only, and the loads that launched them.
Very awesome.

[cbrick]

I for one will be extremely disappointed if I don't see groups that includes all the relevant data. What other reason could there be for following a nearly 400 post thread?

Dunno if I would change the action as Tim suggested but the very first thing I would change is that 2 pound trigger. A 2 pound trigger on a bench gun? Really? When it gets down to about 6 ounces watch the groups shrink. Once everything is set for the next shot, proper on the bags, correct grip, shoulder, sight picture & everything exactly as on the last shot the last thing you want/need is to wait on a 2 pound trigger while the sight picture goes to h*ll. Far worse yet is sudden pressure on the trigger to get it to go off while everything still looks good.

Ok Tim you fired my match revolver, it has a 12 ounce trigger, you fired my XP in full length 308 and it has a 6 ounce trigger . . . So what did you think? A bench gun NEEDS a bench trigger, a hunting/field gun needs a hunting/field trigger. Two very different things for two very different purposes. The triggers are the reason my match revolver will never go hunting, it's why my hunting revolvers will never go to a match.

5-6 ounces with zero creep, how sweet it is! Anyway play with what you have but when you start to get serious about the groups with a bench gun start thinking trigger.

Rick

[MBTcustom]

Ok Tim you fired my match revolver, it has a 12 ounce trigger, you fired my XP in full length 308 and it has a 6 ounce trigger . . . So what did you think?
Rick

I think it was very very nice.
I also think I will never send a trigger out of the shop set that light.
Brad's trigger is able to go lower I think, but I was having trouble with it. Seems like 2 Lb is about where it's safe, and any lighter than that, you're going to have to be very very careful how you close the bolt.

[btroj]

Safe is a big thing. Well, at less to me it is? I would love 6 ounces but not at the expense of reliability and safety. I'm sure Rick agrees. This is the price on pays for using a Savage action I suppose.

What I post for groups will be decided later. I haven't decided how much open discussion I'm interested in as I know where it will lead and I'm not going there.

[cbrick]

Dunno what's available for a Savage action but a quality trigger is perfectly reliable at 6 ounces. It is also quite safe when properly used and that's at the range and on the bench, never to be carried in the field. A quality trigger is also very important shooting groups from the bench and from reading this thread I take it shooting groups from the bench is the very reason this rifle exists.

Just sayin . . .

Rick

[btroj]

I went with a well reviewed after market trigger. Had the action been a Remington 700 I would have gone Jewell and never looked back, sadly they don't make a Savage trigger.

I will go as light as I safely can. I just don't want an AD when closing the bolt.

[MBTcustom]

I went with a well reviewed after market trigger. Had the action been a Remington 700 I would have gone Jewell and never looked back, sadly they don't make a Savage trigger.

I will go as light as I safely can. I just don't want an AD when closing the bolt.

True that.

[Doc Highwall]

I don't care how the rifle looks but I do care how well it shoots. Form follows function, and I am sure Tim has done his best to make sure it shoots.

[Doc Highwall]

Sgt.mike, thanks for the update. I forgot about Tim's surgery as I am up in Homer Alaska helping a friend build a house, the roof trusses go up today. The Wi-Fi here at the camp ground is terrible and keeps stopping making it hard to check in here at Castboolits.

[taco650]

Very nice build Tim.

I'll also vote for a 35 caliber version of this round.

[MBTcustom]

Very nice build Tim.

I'll also vote for a 35 caliber version of this round.

If this is successful, I hope to produce a whole line of XCB wildcats. Including 7mm, .338, .358, and .416
This is the pilot though, and honestly, it's a well balanced round.

[country gent]

Btroj and Good steel, I know all aboyt family decissons concerning rifles, I have an Ar 15 here in the safe ( both match rifle and service rifle uppers fit to it) its powder blue with clouds down the forearm and top of buttstock. Winnie the Pooh and piglet on one side of stock piglet and eyeore on the other Owl is up in the top corner on this side. Alot at the winter league matches made fun of this rifle till it beat them. One old timer borrowed it when his rifle was down and shot cleans rapid sitting and rapid prone both the first time with it. It was my wifes rifle and she had to "do something about the black stock" LOL. It too is the best of parts krieger barrels jewel trigger sights. Guys would give it funny looks until she came of the 600 yd line with 196-198 and a decent x count. Looks are most important on paper. But being proud of what you bring is important also.