Building a dream rifle of your own

Guns Magazine, Nov, 2002 by Holt Bodinson

The bedding compound I selected was Brownell's stainless steel filled epoxy called "Steel Bed." Steel Bed contains 73 percent stainless steel powder and is mixed in a 1-to-1 ratio. Working time is about 20 minutes. What makes this product ideal for bedding a magnum class rifle is its strength, and unlike older steel filled formulas, Brownell's new stainless steel compound will not rust.

As you can see from the finished picture, the action and a portion of the barrel tenon were bedded in Steel Bed while the barrel was free floated.

Proof Is In The Shooting

Legacy's dovetail fitted rings were just getting into production, so I substituted Weaver rings and bases to mount a proven Lyman 4X scope on the Legacy-Shaw-Boyd's .338. The assembled rifle was just about as perfect as I could have wished for.

It balanced right at the magazine box and handled well. Throwing it to my shoulder, I was dead centered in the scope. Now if it would only shoot. At this point in the process; there is always a bit of anxiety about final performance. Assembling one of my favorite and most accurate .338 hand-loads consisting of 73.0 grains of IMR 4350, a Federal 215 primer and a 210 grain Nosier Partition (this is a maximum load according to Nosler), I headed to the range.

There's a temptation with a new rifle, particularly one that you've built, to skip the barrel break-in process. I don't skip it but I don't go to the laborious lengths that benchrest shooters do.

I follow a simple formula of one shot-clean; two shots-clean; three shots-clean; until I've completed ten cycles--in other words, 10 shots-clean. My method may not be ideal, but it's a lot better than what we used to do, which was nothing. And even when we did nothing, those old "unbroken-in" barrels shot quite well and continue to do so.

For the first six shots, I selected Federal's Premium Safari load consisting of a 250 grain Nosler Partition. I fired one round and then cleaned. After the second shot I noted I had a spread of about 5/8 inch. At the third shot, the group opened to 7/8 inch. Hmm.

I cleaned the bore with Remington's mildly abrasive bore cleaner, and then, with the tension building, fired the next three rounds. These plopped into a nice round group of 3/4 inch. It shoots! While my 210 grain Nosier handload shot as well, it shot no better than those Federal Premium loads.

Final Analysis

Examining the cases, I was pleased to see that the firing pin was striking the primer dead center, indicating excellent concentricity for a Model 98. Examining the locking lugs, lubricated with Shooter's Choice "High-Tech All-Weather Grease," I found both lugs were bearing evenly, indicating precise, close tolerance machining. I was impressed. Frankly, one sees very few new actions of any type that bear evenly on both lugs.

The Legacy-Shaw-Boyd's .338 project was a resounding success. With some good components and a bit of sweat equity, you, too, can build your next hunting rifle at a very affordable price. And with the instructional videos available today, it's never been easier.