Homegrown lightweight 7mm-08 AI finally finished, well maybe.

[300RUM]

When I mounted the new scope this rifle was finally finished. Well, never say finished, the rings and rail could possibly change when I remount a scope on the AR receiver I “stole” these rings from. Finding this rifle its own scope was an interesting experience. For the first few years I mounted a Leupold VX-II 2-7 x 33 I had already. At 10 ounces it was nice and light but I felt it would be better to upgrade the scope and pay the price in weight. Next I swapped scopes off my AR receivers to see how they worked out. They were a Vortex viper HS-T 4-16 x 44 and a Leupold VX-R 3-9 x 40. I preferred the VX-R but still felt I wanted a better scope for this rifle. One day I sat down and started seriously shopping. I found a Nightforce 8 – 32 x 56 that I thought would be nice for another rifle from a dealer offering $400 off to get it out of his inventory. I had to help the poor guy out. That put the scope search for the 7mm on hold. A little while ago I started shopping for a scope for the 7mm again. Based on a list of features I wanted in a scope I began a search for possible matches. I felt I was fairly thorough but only came up with one, the Nightforce NSX compact 2.5 – 10 x 42. I posted a thread asking for ideas. A number of people offered suggestions. Lance (lancetkenyon) was incredibly helpful. He would make a suggestion and I would whine about it being 5 ounces to heavy. He would come back with another suggestion and I would complain it was not good enough. After all of this I still had only 1 possibility, the Nightforce. I already owned two other NSX models and really liked them so I wasn’t complaining but I had thought it might be interesting to try another brand. I ordered the NSX compact. When Nightforce says NSX compact they mean it. The Front slot on the picatinny rail had to be milled off to clear the objective bell due to the scopes short length.

 

The rifle itself has an interesting story. In the fall of 2011 I had a New Mexico antelope tag. The goats took me for a 7 mile walk carrying a 13 pound .300 RUM on a sling. Every time I tried to line up a shot either sitting or prone the contour of the landscape interfered. I was not going to attempt a 400 to 600 yard shot standing. As the chase continued I was thinking how nice a real light rifle would be. Finally, late in the afternoon, I got a clear 400 yard shot and dropped a goat. I went back to camp and got my pack frame. On the way out, just before sundown, my left foot stepped into the opening of a burrow hidden in the grass. When I pulled my leg out the foot was twisted about 45 degrees inward. I got to splint my own ankle and crawl a mile back to camp in the dark. Then I loaded up camp and drove myself out. Yes, this is a major risk when hunting alone.

 

I drive a tractor trailer as my primary occupation so I was going to be out of work for a while. Rather than wasting my time watching TV I began researching light rifle options. At 5.7 lbs. the HS Precision PHL seemed ideal. At $ 3800 it wasn’t so ideal. I decided to build my own lightweight rifle. I purchased a Remington 700 LH youth model and went to work. I used A High Tech Specialties stock and pillar bedded the action. The receiver was milled to accept a Wyatt’s extended magazine with a 2.975 COAL capability. A Shilen #1 contour 20 inch barrel was installed and chambered for 7mm-08 Ackley improved. A Timmney 511 trigger and a Callahan striker assembly were also used. I did all the work on this rifle myself including threading and chambering the barrel, blueprinting the action, lightening the action, opening up the ejection port for the longer COAL and fluting the bolt. Brownels spray grit was uses to give the stock texture where the hands are placed. Aluma-hyde dark grey Parkerizing was applied to the barrel and action, O.D. green was used on the stock. The current rail, I almost hate to admit, is a weaver tactical model. It has held up well to much firing and many scope changes. It has earned some respect and might get to stay. The rings are Valdada, borrowed from one of my AR receivers, another lower priced part that has performed well. A Flatline ops ACI mount and ACI along with a Blackhawk sling finish things up. The gun can launch a 140 Nosler Ballistic Tip at 3000 FPS. The rifle came in at 5.8 lbs. With all accessories mounted and 3 rounds in the mag it is 7.6 pounds. For me there is a lot of personal satisfaction when I carry this gun knowing that I built it on my own. However, I do not recommend breaking an ankle so you have time to build a rifle.

 

 

[lancetkenyon]

I dig it!!!

[Hoss50]

Pretty sweet rig. Just 1 problem. The bolt is on the wrong side...

[azhuntnut]

I'm so happy to see you have the bolt on the correct side. I had the same caliber for a while, but never had the chance to work up a good load. I want to build another one similar to what you did. David

[Cell4soul]

Nice looking rifle. Post some picture of how it shoots when you work up a load. Do you have the machining equipment to chamber the barrel?

[Big Browns]

Sweet gun!

[COA]

Cant wait to retire and work up loads for every caliber on earth!!!!

[PRDATR]

Looks great, how did you like the stock?

[Zeke-BE]

It was cool that I got to hold it and check out your scope! Very light and a sweet looking rig

[300RUM]

The rifle was built in 2012 but never got it's own scope till recently so I never felt it was complete. The sunshade for the scope finally arrived Tuesday. I just worked with scopes borrowed from other guns. Of the powders I tried H4895 is my favorite. Between being blown out to Ackley and the COAL being extended by 0.130 I gain 6% internal capacity over a standard 7mm-08. With H4895 the maximum 7mm-08 charge + 10% produces 2950 FPS from a 20" barrel with a 140 gr bullet. The Hodgon manual used a 24" test barrel and achived 2769 FPS. The manual shows Varget achieving higher a higher velocity in 7mm-08. This does not hold true in my gun. The gun has produced plenty of sub MOA groups but with its light weight is more susceptible to flyers produced by minor shooter technique errors. Three years ago Iused it in a sitting position, without a bi-pod, to take a deer at 330 yards. Two years ago during deer season the weather was terible, gusting 30 MPH winds. Late in the afternoon a friend who was with me spotted a steel plate across the canyon. We ranged it at around 550 yards, milled it and concluded it was 12" square. With no deer to be found it seemed like an excellent opportunity to experiment. I fired up the kestrel and applied ballistics, attached a bi-pod and dialed in the scope. I allowed myself 3 rounds, 2 hit 1 plowed into the dirt 3.5 feet to the left. On the miss the 30 MPH crosswind dropped right as I fired. The windage correction for the shot was 5 feet. A miss is still a miss but it was neither the fault of the rifle or ballistic data. The experiment proved my ballistic data was good and the little rifle could reach out a bit even in foul weather. I will be out at the range with the new scope. If I get a target that is not too embarrassing I will put it up here.

 

I am fortunate, my father and I have a mill and a lathe. If I decide to chamber a round I buy the reamer and headspace gauges, if needed.

 

I am pleased with the stock and would buy another. It is probably the biggest weight reduction on the gun. I chose to purchase one in raw form just out of the mold. I had to do the final fit and finish work to get the action to set in properly, the barrel to center in the channel, the bolt handle to clear when cycling, cut it to length and fit a recoil pad. I probably worked pretty cheap versus buying a finished one but I wanted to do everything possible on this gun by myself and I had plenty of time to waste.

[WHT_MTNMAN]

Hi tech specialties is one of my favorite...very lightweight and comfortable for me..I have one on my 300 ultra and one on my 280ai

 

Great little rifle...very cool..

[300RUM]

Hit the range today for the second time after a 5 month absence. First I fired the 7mm-08AI. I got the scope roughly zeroed the last time I was out. I used my H4895 load with a 139 SST swapped in place of the 140 BT. The SST is a bit cheaper so I used them for powder tests and still had some. Zeroing a scope seemed like the time to use some up. My previous experience with them in this gun was they were not quite as accurate as the BT but it was not a huge difference.

 

Photo 1 7mm-08 AI 5 rounds group 1
Photo 2 7mm-08 AI 3 rounds group 4 I only had 18 rounds left. Groups 2 & 3 were about like group 1, I really blew 1 round

 

I took my heavy barrel .308 as a control to see how well I was shooting. It is a gun usually shoot well. Varget and a 168 Nosler CC was the load.

 

Photo 3 .308 5 rounds group 1
Photo 4 .308 5 rounds group 4 Groups 2 & 3 Each shrunk a little.

 

I was not expecting to see something like photo 4 so soon after being away so long. I am a good enough shooter to get my share of groups like this but not good enough to expect them constantly. It made my day. I think I was the biggest accuracy problem for the 7mm-08 AI. Firing such a light gun accurately can be tricky. It is easier for slight motions to knock it off target. I will probably try adjusting the trigger down a little more. I expect the .308 had an advantage being second.

 

 

 

 

[gemihur]

W0W!!!

Fine shooting, for sure.

Here's my present project, a Contender in 7mm JDJ #2 which is a rimmed 7-08 AI or a 7mm Super Bower or a 7x307 AI

 

[Crazymonkey]

14 hours ago, gemihur said:

W0W!!!

Fine shooting, for sure.

Here's my present project, a Contender in 7mm JDJ #2 which is a rimmed 7-08 AI or a 7mm Super Bower or a 7x307 AI

 

Beautiful  stock !! Who made it ?  As contenders are no longer made stuff is getting  harder to find .