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The makings of the perfect Cub rifle!

WanaBNACub

Registered User
Off Airport
After all the mountain hunts I have been a part of over the last 10 years I decided it was time to work on a new lightweight project rifle to strap on to the cub wing. I picked up a severely beat up old .270 Rem 700 village rifle from a trooper auction in McGrath and got with Derrick Moffitt from Last Frontier Custom Guns, LLC. I had been trying to decide on a good medium to long range caliber that packed a punch. There are hundreds of choices so it was pretty difficult, but I went with the .280 Ackley improved. The goal of this rifle wasn't necessarily to be the lightest rifle ever made, but to be a perfect balance of very light weight, accuracy, durability and functionality. I will update this thread as the build progresses.

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This old rifle was beat! Every part was rusted, the stock was cracked and the barrel had been chopped off with a hacksaw. It was the perfect donor for the action and the price was right!

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The weight of the rifle to start with was 6.5 lbs as is with no scope, rings or sling. I am hoping to get it to 6.5 lbs with the scope and sling but retain the #2 barrel contour for durability and accuracy. We will see how close we can get it.
The barrel is a Bartlein #2 contour and will be fluted.

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The stock is a McMillan ultralight and will be modified slightly and dipped in a camo pattern of some sort when its finished.

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We stripped the original rifle right away and this is the only part that will be used in the new build. It weighed in at 14 1/4 oz before any machining.

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We started with a little lightening right away! Sure looks different than the beat up broken piece I dropped off!

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New ultralight fluted Gre-tan fluted firing pin along side the old one.

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And the new fluted ultralight bolt with some further lightening work done.

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The barrel was cut down to 23" and then ported, for 22" of useable barrel length.

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And then Fluted to shave off a little more weight.

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We also shaved down bolt shroud for a tad bit more weight savings and a custom look.

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And both sides of the receiver were ported and shaved as much as safely possible. There isn't an oz we could lighten it up any further without going to a #1 contour barrel and sacrificing a little too much in my opinion...

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Absolutely beautiful

I have not desired a rifle like this since about ten years ago seeing a custom Rem owned by a friend

Your project rifle has me thinking!! Thanks
 
Looks good. If it were mine I'd cut and recrown right behind the ports. Porting is a ruptured ear drum waiting to happen.
 
Jewell trigger? I go to walmart and buy brand new 243 or 308 700s and take the actions out of them for 300 and some bucks and go from there. Ive got 2 of those McMillian lightweight stocks but there a little spendy so with the walmart stock from the rifle and a dremel and a little glass bedding there in my opinion just as good for basically free. And i bet just about if not as light as the McMillian. But please dont tell me you have all these machines in your garage to do this. Your action looks awesome. Did you weigh it after the machining.
 
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Porting is certainly a subjective issue and shooters either love it or hate it. Personally I fall into the second category. Although it does attenuate muzzle rise during the recoil event it doesn't reduce actual rearward kick, and I have no tolerance for the painful screeching ears I'm left with after firing such a rifle. In my opinion a .280 is going to rise enough to preclude witnessing bullet impact whether equipped with porting or not. I've owned (past tense) ported rifles and shotguns and wouldn't have another if it were given to me. Shotguns are even worse offenders because you get all the noise penalty with no benefit because they don't generate enough pressure to make it work.
I'm sure someone's going to mention ear muffs/plugs, but in a hunting or practical shooting situation I have neither the time nor inclination to put them on. With that I'll conclude my opinionated rant.
Beautiful rifle in any case. I really like the flat-fluted bolt. The #2 is my favorite contour and the Gre-Tan striker is the first thing I put in a 700. I must say your original striker has a remarkably straight spring. Most of them look like a slinky that got stepped on.
 
porting can also provide a quick followup shot or seeing the bullet impact on the first shot....so I hear8)

I have 3 rifles that are ported/breaked and several that are not. When it is all said and done they all will be. I don't mind the extra noise and found personally that it is not as bad as most claim, but for followup shots and when my wife and daughter are shooting it, they are worth their weight in gold. I can actually get my wife and daughter out shooting since I put a break or ports on my larger caliber rifles. My daughter drew a Unimak Island Brown Bear tag for May this year and will be shooting my .375. She shot it once prior to the break instal and hated it. She was pretty worried about the hunt, but now she is pretty confident after shooting it a few times after the break.

Jewell trigger? I go to wallmart and buy brand new 243 or 308 700s and take the actions out of them for 300 and some bucks and go from there. Ive got 2 of those McMillian lightweight stocks but there a little spendy so with the walmart stock from the rifle and a dremel and a little glass bedding there in my opinion just as good for basically free. And i bet just about if not as light as the McMillian.

We went with a Timney. My gunsmith has had several issues with the quality control of Jewel's he's installed lately. I am going to do the same thing with my next rifle. The price was right for this one and with all the machine work we were planing to do it was perfect. I agree with the McMillan stock vs the newer factory stocks. Probably not the quality difference for the price point, but they do have a reputation for a bulletproof stock. So for this particular build I decided to pay price...
 
Man thats going to be a nice sheep killing machine! I really like all the porting and shaving work. What optics are you going with? Did the trooper (Gibbons?)in McGrath give you any history of that rifle? The hacksawed barrel looks like I should recognize it, and no it wasn't mine.
 
No, unfortunately I didn't get the story behind it. I am sure it was probably an interesting one! I am going with a Swarovski Z3 to top it off.
 
In 1966 my dad purchased a Rem .270 identical to the one you started with, and ultimately handed it down to me. It by far is the best riffle I have, and best I have ever shot. Still use it over several new guns. It is old and accurate, and needs little attention...look like you have created a nice riffle.
 
Years ago I had a Winchester model 70 short-action carbine modified for the 250-3000 Ackley,
and discovered that due to the sharp shoulder angle that it didn't feed very smoothly--
if you threw the bolt in a hurry quite often the top round out of a full magazine would bind.
Also discovered that due to the fatter shoulder it would only fit four in the magazine, vs five with the standard 250.
Not sure about the 280, but the 250-3000 Ackley only gives you about an extra 100 fps --
I like my little rifle but sometimes wish I'd just had it chambered for the standard 250-3000.
 
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In 1966 my dad purchased a Rem .270 identical to the one you started with, and ultimately handed it down to me. It by far is the best riffle I have, and best I have ever shot. Still use it over several new guns. It is old and accurate, and needs little attention...look like you have created a nice riffle.

I have an old Ruger 77 Mark II that I have had for 26 years. I have taken a tremendous amount of game with that rifle and it has been extremely accurate, but its heavy. My last hunt with it was my sheep that I took at 431 yards and my daughter shot her caribou with it and had a perfect shot at 179 yards. I am hoping to pass that down to my daughter one day if she keeps up her love for hunting.

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Took the already lightweight Talley rings down another half oz. Should be mounting the scope by the end of the week.

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Paul Reed of Alaska Hydrographics worked his magic on the stock today. He started off by prepping and sanding the stock.

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The base coat applied

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Prepping the tank with the film

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And dipping the stock

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And here is the finished product drying

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I love it. I live 10 miles from the home of Remington in Ilion NY and am not a Remington fan. Well the old 870s are the exception of course. You threw away 90% of what my neighbors built so you should have a winner when your done. Looks like your having fun with the build

Glenn
 
Remember Glenn those factory remington 700s are as good as they come or ever well. Except for off a bench with all the goodies its not humanly possible to shoot better than the rifle, unless its been used as a crowbar. But still its cool to have something just the way you want it.
 
Remember Glenn those factory remington 700s are as good as they come or ever well. Except for off a bench with all the goodies its not humanly possible to shoot better than the rifle, unless its been used as a crowbar. But still its cool to have something just the way you want it.

Only thing important is that you trust what your shooting and can place your shot where you want it. Who ever made it.

Glenn
 
Timney Calvin Elite trigger adjustable from 8oz to 2.5lbs



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And the finished rifle ready for scope mounting

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This thing is a work of art as well as a precision tool!

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And finally the finished product heading to the range to break the barrel in and see how she groups before we tear her back down and send it out to be melonited prior to final assembly and her first hunting trip in Apr!

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Nice rifle And fun project ! Just bought a Savage 111 with Nikon scope, 270 left hand, brand new for $390. 7.5 lbs with sling. Pretty nice rifle for the $$.
 
What's the final weight?
What load/bullet are you planning to use?
Loud ?
What's your thoughts on accuracy?

You're really going to strap that out on the strut?
Hope you don't set it down on the tundra and turn around. It might disappear on you !!

Jim
 
What's the final weight?
What load/bullet are you planning to use?
Loud ?
What's your thoughts on accuracy?

You're really going to strap that out on the strut?
Hope you don't set it down on the tundra and turn around. It might disappear on you !!

Jim

Final weight is 6lbs 13oz complete. I am going to work up a load for now based on Nosler 140gr Accubonds. This is the accuracy with off the shelf ammo of the last 7mm Derrick built.
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I would be happy with anything even close to that!

Yes, I am sure it will be known to ride on the strut from time to time, and then on my shoulder or pack frame as soon as we touch down! :)

Ill let you know on the loud part.
 
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