So I sold my 338 Edge to a friend that decided he had to have one and didn't have time to wait to have it built. I really didn't want to sell it but he made an offer for the whole package (rifle, dies, brass, bullets and 5#'s of powder) minus the scope that I couldn't refuse.
I already had a blue printed action in the safe so I ordered a new barrel in a slightly lighter contour than the original rifle and few hundred bullets.
As soon as the barrel arrived I shipped the action and barrel off to a gunsmith. S&S Precision had built the last four rifles for me but with Stick's retirement I had to find a new shop. Since this is a bit of a wildcat cartridge I decided to use the guys that designed it at Defensive Edge. Shawn Carlock answered the phone himself every time I called and always seemed eager to answer questions and help out with a little advice. As soon as UPS picked up the components, I called McMillan and ordered a Game Warden stock for the new rifle.
Talk about fast, I had the stock in five days and the barreled action in eight days after that.
Next came one of my least favorite parts about a new rifle build, inletting the stock for the oversized recoil lug and heavy barrel contour. After a couple hours, a hundred feet of masking tape, 10 sheets of sandpaper and enough dust to cover the whole shop I had the barreled action in the stock.
Today was time for barrel break in and a little load development. I loaded 25 rounds using a safe starting load and began the exciting chore of shoot one then clean, shoot one then clean, ........, shoot five then clean,..........., finally done!
I loaded 3 rounds each in .5 grain increments starting at 4 grains under to 1.5 grains over the previous load and went looking for the max load the rifle would shoot safely. Looking at my notes the new rifle is a little better than 10 f.p.s. faster for the same charge weight but it's early and I expect to see that change a little as I tweak the charge and seating depth.
I found the rifle's maximum charge and it looks like it will prefer the same charge as its big brother.
I know that this is just a three shot group but I bet with a little fine tuning this could easily be the norm for this rifle.
I definitely had seller's remorse when I sold the Edge but it looks like everything is turning out fine. From start to finish it has taken just 37 days to buy, ship, build and assemble the new rifle. Overall I think it may have been a good idea to sell that first one since it gave me a chance to make some minor changes in the components and end up with a rifle I believe will suit my shooting and hunting style a little better.