New Rigs: What I wish I had done differently

I believe it starts with what are you expecting to do with the rifle

Weight —- I built my 40 to be back packed to the stand. My 45 break action is my light handy carrying rifle. You want a light weight bolt gun you are going to have to look where you can shave ounces. Stock, bases, rings, optics and barrel length and contour.

Barrel —- I went long. I went for muzzle velocity knowing it would be a long range gun.Make sure to have a twist rate to spin the heaviest projectiles you ever intend to shoot. My bore is not completely uniform diameter the entire length. I would recommend a Brux for that reason.

Action—- I wish I had a side bolt release for DI

Scope— I bought a high end Athlon first focal plane 3–15. Wish I would have went with more magnification (never use it lower than 5 power) and should have bought a Nightforce. I do like the first focal plane. It is easy to adjust holds or I can dial for shot.

Base—- I went with a steel base with a recoil screw/ lug.

Trigger—- Triggertech now I want them on every rifle I own.


Stock —- Still using the the laminate stock I got when the action was bought as a laminate stainless Remington Smoker. Thinking of getting a chassis. The reason for switching is I shoot a lot of AR’s now and feel wound be more familiar.

Ramrod—- my gun has a thimble for ramrod I like having it but I take the ramrod out when shooting.

Magazine well —- holds 1 powder charge primer and bullet.

Muzzle break—- get the biggest gilled one you can find.

If you want reasons for anything I didn’t list please ask. I am more than willing to share my opinions. Of course others may vary.

Being one of the fortunate ones I guess, having had many different SMLs starting with the ole Savage MLII, (several different variations).

Remington 700 ML conversions, about every configuration one could imagine, from 22"-28" bbls, light to heavy.

Then the 700 CF platform & clones, again about everything one could think up other than a pistol.
Calibers including .50,.45,.416,.375 and some pistol bore thrown in there.

2 different break actions, one in.45 and one in.40.

What would I do different? Nothing at all.
Have I ever been totally satisfied with a build? yes I have, how long did it take to arrive at that point? about 12 years, several guns and a bunch of money later.
I seemed to chase the hot rod stuff for a long time, more speed, heavier higher BC bullets but along with that came two things, weight & barrel length.

being primarily a hunter those two factors don't really play well for the type of hunting I do.
While I'm not a smallish guy by any means I can handle the weight but that doesn't mean a long heavy gun is user friendly for a guy that likes to take some long hikes or that is stuck in the confines of a shooting house or blind.

while a 15 lb gun can serve double duty on the bench and in a shooting house I finally learned by trial and error what works best for me.
I learned that by looking back to see which guns I always dug out of the safe to hunt with.

What do I consider Long? to me 28" is a fairly long barrel, yes I have had longer but I was trying to gain all the speed I could with heavy pills.

how do I classify weights? scoped of course. JMO also


Light: 9 1/2-10 1/2 lbs, you can go lighter but one must shoot lighter bullets or at slower speeds
what does it take to get there?
A light carbon fiber stock, 2 lbs or less
a shorter lighter profile barrel, I like 24" in #6 or Sendero with a 6" shank on either, fluting helps keep the weight down, the #6 will be several ounces lighter, the brake needs to be of a shorter lighter variety.
other places to save weight? using aluminum parts everywhere you can.
scopes? this is where you can blow your self imposed weight limit in a hurry.

Mid weight: 10 1/2- 13 1/2 lbs
A fairly light stock, under 3 lbs
24-26" tube of the same profile with brake of choice, again fluting helps with weight but not necessary to meet this limit if you go light in other areas.
scope can be of the beefier variety, NF NXS etc, 2+ lbs with rings

heavy weight: 13 1/2 up
lots use 28" # 17 or even heavier barrels for the big loads
lots of different stock options here from mild to wild.
a good brake of choice
2 1/2 lb + scope and rings, NF ATACR and lots of others fit this category.


So having had guns that fit all of these classes what do I prefer? again JMO
I have settled on the light gun, after a 733 yd kill last October in Colorado I proved to myself that it will do anything I desire in a hunting situation and do it very accurately with good speed, Is it the right choice to shoot the KY Challenge with? No but I have done so and did ok, a match gun needs to be in the heavy category to be more user friendly on the bench.

I  like my Apex .40, will likely never part with it, it too fits in the light category.

I like Joel like a side bolt release as well as a fly cut bolt face, honestly the Mesa action is the perfect platform for my needs, others may like other actions better?
Is a custom action necessary? Not at all, the factory 700s and Savages make a fine gun.

The more of these things you handle and shoot both on the bench and in the field the better idea you have of what you would do different next time if anything?

I hope by the time this thread runs it course new guys or those considering a new build will have a better idea of what they would want.

Well, you old guys, I feel sorry for you! 🙂 Bill, I could even legitimately be your father. I’m closer to 76 than 75. But. You make a really good point - get a rifle that you can not only use today but for the foreseeable future.

Happly, I would change nothing of either of my 40s other than possibly the size of my powder chambers which are 60g on each rifle. On the ultralite, 60gs precludes the usage of H4198. I think a 200SST, 195Bs and 225/8 AM with low to mid 50gs of H4198 would be a great very low recoil load. I’m currently using 253 PHs/62g H322 with extreme accuracy and recoil about like a non-braked, light 243/100g bullet. I’ll use this indefinitely. Well sub-MOA thru 300 yards. All I need.

On the very heavy, robust 40 (18# ready to hunt), I’d have a 70g powder chamber, maybe, but no regrets with 60.
The choice between a 9/16 or a 5/8 breechplug should take into account the desired minimum powder chamber size for a 40. For a heavy 40, no less than 70 and for a light 40, 50g.

On a 40 for light to moderate loads, I’d always get a full sizing die. The lighter the load, the lighter the bullet the more difficult it is to get quick, consistent obturation. Why not just start with virtually full obturation (4085) or at least a start (402)?  Still would full size for comparatively moderate loads in the heavy 40 (2870/275g bullet).

So, fortunately, I don’t have any “I wish I would have’s” on either 40. For a hunter, who isn’t interested in >350 yards, an ultralite 40 is as good as it gets, IMO.

Here is Jimbob’s masterpiece and one of it’s successes .

For those of us who have our muzzleloaders primarily to hunt, and then, only short to moderate ranges (0-200 primarily for me) , our “light” MLers can likely suffice. Both of my lighter 40s, which includes my 10ML2/40 PN are highly adequate thru 350 yards.

If I’d gotten my light Jimbob 40 first, I doubt that I would have gotten the very nice, accurate heavy 40. I know this is like a broken record but for short to medium ranges, a 40 has a trajectory/recoil advantage over larger calibers.

Before I got either Jimbob 40, my only 40 was my very nicely bedded, 10ML2/40 PN. It has a much more robust BP/bushing than the Savage plug. I know this load was a bit hot, but I was shooting a duplex 7/70 with 225 sized AcuMax’s @2,950 with ESs in single digits. Cloverleafs @200. A 225AM could easily be shot well beyond 2,700 with light recoil.
Light 40s just have to be experienced to be fully appreciated.

Bill, I couldn’t be your father, legitimately . I think I read 53, not almost 63 as it reads now. Maybe, I’m getting old.🙂 You broke the categories down very well.

Concerning the ultralite, I’m very impressed with just how accurately the rifle shoots now that I’m shooting full sized, annealed PHs. I’m convinced that lighter bullets and lighter loads are significantly helped by full sizing and DI.

Kyle. One of the places I’ll hunt has a maximum range of 326 yards with a significant chance for a 200-326 yard shot. I’ll be in a Rhino blind. For this blind only, I’ll have my heavy rifle with its 6x24 S3. Everywhere else, the ultralite.

For me and hunting its really hard to beat the CVA Scout 45 cal. with shots out too 300 yards, plus the COST FACTOR!  I do have a Bolt gun with a Nightforce NX8, its in a laminated thumbhole stock, Brux Mod. Sendero and its pretty heavy, but walking to a tree stand and a Vero Vellini sling its a cake walk at the age of 68. My next build will be another 45 cal with a lighter stock from Mc Millian, same type scope, Same set up. Like the way they shoot,

Interesting but just think what you could be getting with a Pittman 250 grain bullets. Just saying…..

My thought is around 49gr of 4198 and a 225gr-240gr should be ok even in a lighter contour shank such as a Remage. Although i dont have a QuickLoad type estimate of peak. I think its pretty close though. I seem to remember someone shooting that amount of 4198 and getting around 2500fps but i dont remember the bullet weight. It may have been in a 225gr.