Jgun

Argonaut, sounds like the popular opinion is that the 6.8 is the best choice, I don't own one so you should give more weight to the posts by those that do, but, just to pass along what I've been told/have read on it, it is supposed to be a ballistically good round, hard hitting as stated above, the complaints that I've heard, are that the mags are proprietary (unlike the BLK), and some have reported reliability issues with them. there have also been posts about bolt longevity problems due to the AR 15 type bolts being relieved to accept the larger base of the 6.8 cartridge. They are also going to be more expensive to shoot than some others. I don't know what the max effective range of the 6.8 is, but from my 18" barreled 300BLK AR, I have found that my 125 gr hand loads show a substantial drop at 200 yds. I haven't tested 110 gr loads yet, but I'm thinking that your going to need an optic with a BDC reticle set up for 300BLK if you hope to use it at long range. I think of the BLK as a 300m cartridge. I haven't experimented with the Wilson, but if you decide to I'd like to hear your results. I think that it may help in trying to decide on a caliber, if you narrow down your parameters. What specifically will you use it for, how many rds are you likely to put through it a year, would the possible shorter bolt life be something that might deter you from the rd? And now I have a new cartrige to research, 30HRT. Good luck with your project and please keep us informed.

You might want to do a search of .260 Rem or 6.5X47 for long range, and 6.8 SPC, 300BLK or even 7.62X40 Wilson for mid range. Each of the three mid range cartridges all have advantages and drawbacks compared to the others. You have to decide if factory ammo is a must, are you trying to build it as inexpensivly as possible, do you want the most commonality with the .223 guns, etc. All three of the mid cals will use the same AR 15 type lower so if your planning to make your own you could get started and wouldn't need to commit to the cal until you were ready to buy your bolt and barrel.

At what range do you intend your longest shots to be?

Every time I look at these pictures I drool. Makes me want to attack a project as challenging as this, on my bridgeport. Wish I had your tooling. Tell me, Do you think it would be substantially more work, to make one of these from billit? It sure looks like you have to make cuts on 90% plus of the surfaces in order to make one using the forging.

I like that. Hope it really is light weight. I'm also hoping that it will accept some type of spacer so that I can adjust the LOP.

and I thought the Barrett was supposed to be indestructible. Glad I wasn't the one shooting this when it blew up!

I don't know..... dosen't look PC to me. Aren't guns required to be finished in socially acceptable colors so that they don't look intimidating? Didn't you get the memo?

Just curious, have you tried different types/brands of mags in your lower? I could understand that if your lower was on the tight side of the tolerance, the mags might not drop free (which would be a problem for me) but unless your exaggerating about your GF holding the gun for you, it sounds to me like something is wrong. If the fit is slightly snug, maybe you need to clearance a couple of mags for it, but you shouldnt have to force them in or fight to get them out.

I'm wondering if any of the members can help to identify the weapons these guys are holding? The black rifle on the far right appears to be a Barrett, and some of those near by look like bolt guns, they all look to be snipers weapons but the pictures not that clear and my eyesights not that great. I have no interest in debateing the non PC issue from the article, I'm just curious about the hardware. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/09/us-marines-nazi-ss_n_1265930.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk1%26pLid%3D134290

One of my friends went with .260 Rem over .308 on his bench rest bolt action build. He told me that it was ballistically superier to the 7.62X51, flatter shooting, with longer range. I was considering possibly trying it in an AR, but, I'm thinking it might have the same issue of excellerated wear and short barrel life that you're describing with the .22-250

I saw a torture test on several different brands/types of collapsing stocks that was done by some members on another forum. I think that the test consisted of dropping each stock (mounted on an AR 15) on to a concrete floor, from a height of 6 feet, and seeing how many times they could do it before the locking mechanisim failed. I don't know if this duplicates anything that you might ever expect to happen to your stock, but not surprisingly, many failed on the first drop, some made it 5 or 6, but if I recall correctly, the only collapsing stock that did not fail was the UBR. It certainly is heavier than the CTR/MOE/etc. stocks, but it's apparently demonstratively stronger than the others as well. Only you can decide if that extra strength is worth the extra weight.

Since I'm not knowledgable on this subject, could you guys give a short discription on this rd ? I'm assuming that with the smaller dia bullet it's a flatter shooting rd, but how does it do for range? Does it use the same bullets as .223?

Very nice!, That's an 18.5" barrel right? Is it one of Smiths Melonite coated barrels? I'm curious as to how accurate they are. I don't see that many guys that seem to be running them. Only thing i might mention is that if You do any run and gun stuff with it, I find that those red dots tend to get banged up when mounted at the front like that, much less prone to damage when you run them back further, like in line with the front of your ptimary optic. That rail from M14.ca looks like a nice way to mount an optic on a non M25 receiver, I'm looking forward to the release of his Blackfeather stock, I think it may turn out to be a better alternative to the McCann's CF if it turns out to be as light as the developer is claiming. Unfortunatelly, it won't work with my Rear lug receiver, or heavy barrel, so I won't be able to try one out until I build a second M1A. Good luck with the SEI Sage.

That's the way the 650 is setup. You have those little thumb tack looking pins, and once you remove one ,you can pull the rd. It's just that (as with any progressive I guess) once You have a couple rds that need special attention it breaks the rythum of your loading, and you have to be careful when reintroducing that rd not to locate it in the wrong place on the shellplate. Not good to try to deprime a case with a live primer, or put a second primer in on that already has one.

i have to agree with you on the auto index sometimes being a PITA when something goes wrong. It's kind of like an assemble line making cars. if you run into a problem at one station, everything comes to a grinding halt. What I genreally do with mine is to pull out any rd that has a problem as soon as it happens, and if nothing needs to be adjusted on the press, I just continue on from there, addressing the problem rd when I'm finished with the rest. I find that for loading 9 major for IPSC it's pretty tough to beat, for loading rifle I think the speed advantage might be outweighed by the ability to manually rotate back and forth of the 550. I'm thinking about going for a Redding T7 for my precision rifle loading. I'm thinking that the turret may offer some of the convenience of the 550 at a much better price. By the way, I'll look for the link to the tool heads I mentioned. It's my understanding that the advantage offered in the non floating is that the 5 or 6 stations are drilled/threaded more accuratedly than the cast Dillon heads. The advantage of the floating head is that each individual die is able to float independantly of the others. I read about them on one of the bench rest forums. From what I gather, they are considered to actually help when loading for max accuracy. Don't know if that's as good as a high end sngle stage, but probably faster. I'm thinking that the beauty of the turret is that you have the indexing head, but are only loading (and therefore aligning) one shell plate/die at a time.

Dinzag sells this one which is a copy of the AK 74 brake and fits .30cal barrels with 5/8"-24 threads. I've got one I picked up but never used. If you're interested I'd let you have it for $25 plus shipping. ww10.aitsafe.com/cf/add.cfm?userid=C3255014&product=74MB6324++74+Brake+5/8-24&price=35.00&return=www.dinzagarms.com/brakes_hiders/brakes_hiders.html

Welcome, If you've been building bolt guns and M1A's, building the AR's not going to give you any surprises. With your skill and lathe, you're in a position to make a truly custom barrel. the only thing your going to have to deal with that you may not have encountered before will be the installation of your barrel extension. I have not yet built a bolt gun but hope to try building one soon. I'm presently in the middle of my first M1A build, (waiting for my chamber reamer to arrive) so I may have some stupid questions for you. Hopefully you'll take it easy on me.

I posted this before but it seems to have gotten lost. (some funny stuff going on for me with the site the last two days) I have the 650, which I have used only for pistol loading. I understand that there are aftermarket tool heads available that are made to closer tolerances than the Dillon parts, which are supposed to be improve shell plate/die alignment for loading precision rifle cartridges. I believe you can get floating tool heads as well. I'm not sure since I've not used the LNL, but prior to the quick change die bushings didn't the Dillon and LNL dies mount the same except that you could switch out complete toolheads with the Dillon but not the Hornady? I've only used the powder measure that came with my Dillon, so don't know if other powder measures would work, but since it uses a standard 7/8"-14 thread I don''t see why it shouldn't. If your talking about using a manual powder drop like the RCBS or Redding, the 550 loader might be a better choice due to it's manual indexing. I hear that the SDB loader is an excellent choice for use as a dedicated one cal pistol cartridge loader. If I had more space I'd consider one myself, they seem to be available pretty cheaply on the used market, and with Dillon's warantee, if there's anything wrong with a used one (or any other used Dillon) they will make it right.

I was mistaken. The thread I had read was comparing the LNL to the Redding T7, which I have been considering for precision rifle loading. The part I did remember correctly was that the posters preferred the LNL to the T7. I'm not sure if I would consider the two comparable, since one is a progressive and the other is a manual turret. I'd still be interested to hear your reasons for choosing the LNL over the Dillon press? /www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-247361.html

I read a thread comparing the LNL to the Dillon, (which I own). The concensus was that the posters liked the LNL better. I've not used it, but am curious why you are considering it over the Dillon, is it price? I'll take a look and see if I can locate the thread.

Are you saying that there are actually nongun related websites on the internet????? I like DBBP.com among other MC related sites I browse.

something to give you a frame of reference. This is a good price for one of these. www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php? ubb=showflat&Number=3093139#Post3093139

I was thinking the Knights as well, but thats way more than $2500 as speces by the OP.

This is the one I'm talking about. I'm going to try to pick one up when back in stock, I'd like to build a minimum length, non tax stamp upper. shopwilsoncombat.com/Wilson-Combat-Match-Grade-Barrel-300-AAC-Blackout-Recon-SR-Tactical-147-1-8-Twist-Stainless/productinfo/TR-300RCS14/

What 9-36X are you running? Can you tell me what you like/don't like about it? I'm considering a high X scope and am trying to collect information.