So for years I’ve been wanting to build my custom dream gun. Just couldn’t come to terms with spending 4-5k on just the gun. So after selling a few guns and some horse trading, I decided to build it myself. I’ve built several AR’s but never a bolt gun. I knew I wanted a high end custom action and a carbon barrel. This gun will serve as a long range/ hunting rifle.

So I decided on these parts for my build:

Defiance GA Hunter action
Proof research 24” barrel
Timney Elite hunter 2.5 lb straight trigger
KRG Bravo Stock
Area 419 hellfire break
Fishnet panty hose
Krylon paint
A few armorers tool
All in $2,600

I know this is not a cheap build but honestly this would have cost about $3800-4K to have a gun builder to make.




Already had the Leupold Mark 8 optic, just a new paint job. I was pretty pumped about the build and having the sense of accomplishment of doing it myself. But taking on this project I was nervous about the accuracy I was going to get. I was really hoping for a 1/2 MOA gun. To be honest it wasn’t that difficult and I would encourage anyone thinking about doing the same go for it, I am very pleased with the results.

All factory ammo, shooting of bipod and rear bag

Great build and great shooting!! Where did you get the prefit barrel from? Any issues on headspace or was it g2g right away?

Nicely done, looks like a fun project that turned out great. I’ve wanted to buy a custom action and shouldered prefit barrel for a while. Lots of options available these days for $2500 or so

I’ve wondered why proof barrels are all the rage for a while, seemed gimmicky to me and more about looks than performance but obviously they shoot very well.

Bought the action and barrel from Altus shooting solutions. I mainly went with proof because of the weight savings. Same profile and length is a steel barrel would have been another 5lbs. Gun without optic was 8 lbs. as it sets now it’s 11.5 lbs

No issues I naught some go and no gauges just to verify but it was perfect right out of the box

Awesome and a ton of props on the home gunsmithing. I hope to follow in your path soon.

Wicked! Congratulations on your build, looks like a real winner!

Awesome!
Rl26 and 4831sc are your friends... with the 6.5 creed!

Good to know. I’m in the process of setting up my reloading setup

Congrats! That rifle will be special to you for all the work you put in.

X2....great looking rifle that clearly preforms ....

Why did you choose 6.5 creedmore and what do you plan to do with it? How heavy is it?

Where did you get the mesh bag?

New Fine Arts sells a lot of them

Nice work on the rifle. Could you give us wannabes a detailed description of installing the barrel?

Any wallyworld sells laundry bags as well.

Tighten barrel in the vice add a dab of silver anti seize to threads and screw the action on. One decent bump on the action wrench and you're done.

Nice setup

That's awesome.

Nice work and excellent results!!

Very nice....Good job!!!

Pretty much it. Like I said its not that hard, torqued it down to 65 ft lbs per proof and done

I was wondering how much attention was needed to ensure the proper fit of action to barrel.

This reminds me of the days when guys would build their own computers from parts available from various sources. Of course some of them went on to build much bigger things.

Congratulations on building something you're sure to cherish for some time, or at least until you decide to sell it for a nice profit.