Target Sports

PROJECT RIFLE PART TWO: SILK PURSES AND SOW'S EAR

Created on 14th May 2009

Last month VINCE BOTTOMLEY rescued a shot-out Winchester - this month he's turned it into an accurate rifle. Read on to find out how...

IF YOU missed part one of this article in last month's Target Sports, then a word of explanation is needed. Fellow scribe Laurie Holland was a bit disappointed with his 243 WSSM Winchester Stealth, in that he burnt out the barrel before he managed to get it to shoot! The options were not good - fit a new barrel, which would cost more than the rifle is worth, or scrap it. Yes, Laurie could have sold it on to ‘the trade' but it would have inevitably ended up in the hands of some poor shooter and obviously, he didn't want that. So Laurie challenged me to turn it (the sow's ear) into something tasty (the silk purse).

Last month, we dismantled the Winchester into its component parts for further evaluation. The burnt-out barrel was of course scrapped and now we need to start the rebuild but first, our choice of cartridge.

I must admit, I was thinking of something on the lines of the 6 or 6.5 x 47 Lapua, or even a 260 Rem. but Winchester intentionally kept this action very short to improve overall stiffness and the ejection/loading port is tiny - the Lapua would be way too long. The 243 WSSM cartridge is just 2.2" in length so anything based on the 6.5x47 Lapua case or larger is out of the question.

In fact, there aren't many cartridges around which we could use. Realistically, the 6PPC or something based on the 6BR Rem are the only real options. Even a 223 Rem would be too long. Well, I'm always singing the praises of the 6BR yet I've never owned one - I think I'm about to! The reamer took about a month to arrive. Nothing fancy this time, just a bog-standard 6BR but I've had the free-bore ground to suit the 90gn Lapua Scenar bullet. Yes, we could have opted for a 105gn bullet but this would sacrifice a little velocity and I'm looking for a genuine 3000fps at the muzzle.

Now that we have settled on a cartridge, we can confront our biggest obstacle, the bolt-face. That strange Winchester bolt-face will not be easy to ‘bush' to suit the smaller case-head. The WSSM bolt is a legacy from the old ‘controlled-feed' Winchesters but without the Mauser-style extractor. The WSSM case-head measures 0.535" on the rim - it is slightly rebated - against 0.473" for the 6BR. Therefore we need to silver-solder a 30 thou ring, or at least part of one, into the bolt-face. Some adjustment may also be needed to the sliding extractor. So that I could properly evaluate the feed/extraction problem, I decided to thread and chamber an old 6mm barrel. A bit drastic maybe but I didn't want to ruin a brand-new barrel-blank if the thing wasn't going to cycle properly.

The bolt bushing exercise came out rather well and the 6BR cartridge fed easily from the temporary loading ramp that I had made to replace the box-magazine follower. The extractor even worked but then there was a problem - the round dropped off the bolt-face before it reached the fixed case-kicker and sat there in the action. Not good. Back to the drawing board!

I needed to somehow prevent the fired case dropping off the bolt-head. Eventually a shooting colleague came up with a suggestion that sounded feasible. A 2mm hole was drilled in the bolt-face in the six o'clock position and a suitable pin Araldited in place. A bit unconventional maybe but it worked perfectly. Even the standard extractor functioned with the smaller case-head. Of course, we were using dummy rounds at this stage but thankfully everything still worked with live ammunition when I took it to the range.

However, I was concerned that my ‘pin' looked a bit like a firing-pin and in the event of a jam or miss-feed it could somehow detonate the primer. I tried to get it to do this with a dummy round with a live primer but no powder. I couldn't get it to hit the primer but to be on the safe side I decided to install a second pin, close to the first one. This would eliminate the possibility of accidental ignition.

The next job was to thread and chamber my new Bartlein barrel. For the record, this is a heavy profile 30", five-groove, one in eight twist, stainless-steel blank which I obtained from Fox Firearms of Manchester. I might have saved a few dollars by ordering my own barrel direct but Fox had a few in stock. I saved months of waiting and with the current dollar/pound situation I'm not sure it even cost me any more. For those interested, Fox hold a stock of around 50 stainless barrel-blanks in all popular calibres, lengths and profiles.

I finished the barrel at 30" although personally I'm of the opinion that 28" is plenty for a 6BR cartridge. However, I still have my reservations about the project and if it doesn't make a decent competition rifle I have enough length to chop off the tenon, re-chamber and re-use the barrel on another rifle.

A tactical-style bolt-knob completes the metal-work, so we can now turn our attention to the stock. Firstly, I still need to make a decision on what will be the prime use of the rifle. Initially, I had tactical in mind but without a magazine that's out, so what else? Well, the 6BR cartridge is pretty handy as 600yd benchrest round as Laurie Holland found out when he shot his own 6BR at 600yd and managed a sub 3" group. Unfortunately, the stock will need extensive work if we are to use it rested. The beavertail forend is fine but the butt slopes too much on the underside to ride the bag properly so we will have to sort this out.

After much hacking and the application of dollops of car-body filler, I ended up with a workshop covered in dust and a strangely-shaped stock. At the same time, I milled out the barrel channel to take the much heavier profile Bartlein. The original Winchester stock was finished in a black ‘tactical' stipple finish but I have no easy way of reproducing that so I had to sand off all the stipple and go for something completely different.

A high-gloss single colour tends to show up any defects, so I made an attempt to create a random pattern which I have seen on other fibreglass stocks. The idea was good but the execution could have been better. After a few coats of clear lacquer it doesn't look half bad - from a distance it's a ‘silk purse' if ever I saw one!

I initially tried to use the original floor-plate cum integral box-mag, but there was no chance with the 6BR. It just didn't want to feed so I made up a single-shot ‘follower' which feeds our little cartridge reliably. The follower is a snug fit into the action and is now glued in place so effectively, I've made the action into a permanent ‘solid-bottom, single-feed'. Just to flash it up a bit, I've polished the floor-plate and trigger-guard.

One final job, before we drop in the barrelled action - that trigger! The Winchester trigger is just about as unsophisticated as you could get - not much different to what you might expect to find on a 19th century muzzle-loader! Fortunately, if you remember, Laurie gave me a Riflebasix replacement. Appearance-wise, it's much the same as the original Winchester and I was contemplating its worth but buddy Dave Wylde of South Yorkshire Shooting Supplies (SYSS) has carried out a few Riflebasix upgrades on Winchesters and assures me that it's a worthwhile fix.

The Riflebasix trigger offers an adjustable sear and this allows a lighter let-off to be attained which, while not in the Jewel trigger league, certainly makes a 100% improvement. However, it's easy to set the trigger too light and risk a ‘slam-fire' so be careful if you contemplate this modification. If you are struggling with your factory Winchester trigger, SYSS always keep a few Riflebasix in stock and will fit it for you if you prefer.

The HS Precision stock has an integral aluminium bedding-block and, with the Winchester's flat-bottomed action and built-in recoil-lug, no further bedding is required - in theory. Ideally, the under-surface of the action should mate perfectly with the surface of the aluminium bedding-block but in case they don't, I'm applying a thin skim of Loctite Hysol, which will hopefully absorb any minute imperfections.

The Winchester had two quarter UNF screws holding the action into the stock but the action actually has three screw-holes. For some reason, the centre one is not used with the Stealth. Is a third screw necessary? Probably not. Can it do any harm? Again, probably not - providing the three screws are carefully torqued up. It can always be removed if it is affecting accuracy.

The Farrell Picatinny rail is now back in place - glued (Araldite) and screwed - and I'm using my spare Leupold 36BR benchrest scope and Leupold QD steel rings. All that remains is to take our new rifle to the range, break in the barrel and see how it performs.

I've no idea of a load but again Dave Wylde came to the rescue. I wanted to use a Vihtavuori powder and Dave gave me a load using Vit N135, which he uses in his own 6BR with the 90gn Lapua Scenar. As usual, I don't like to give specific loads but there is plenty of information on the www.6mmBR.com website to get you started. As the 6BR is still popular with the 300m ISSF shooters, it's also possible to obtain really good factory ammunition and Lapua offers match quality cartridges loaded with the 90 and 105gn Scenar bullets.

With Dave's load, the Winchester was soon turning in the kind of performance I was hoping for - sub. half-inch groups at 100yd on a very cold and blustery Boxing Day. This was fortunate as I didn't really have time to develop a load and run in the barrel! The chronograph was indicating a healthy 3140fps but I had the odd ‘sticky' extraction so I knocked the load back one third of a grain and fortunately, it still held sub half MOA accuracy at a
solid 3000fps.

My modified stock rode the bags like a true benchrest rig though the trigger is certainly not up to benchrest standards! This really is a remarkable little cartridge though. It's so nice to shoot and is almost recoilless, cheap to feed and deadly accurate. Sadly, few manufacturers offer this chambering but once again, Savage Arms has taken the lead and now offers a target rifle
in 6BR.

Plinking at 100yd is all very well but this rifle has to perform in the heat of competition. A couple of days later we had a 600yd UKBRA shoot coming up so this would be the Winchester's real test - sow's ear or silk purse?

I already had one win to my credit in the UKBRA 600yd championship, so I decided to entrust the Winchester to the 2007 UKBRA Benchrest Champion, Jeanette Whitney, while I played safe with my 22 Dasher. It was a good choice and the Dasher gave me another win but the Winchester acquitted itself well in Jeanette's hands with a best group of 4.3" at 600yd. It was a very windy day and I never got below 4" with the Dasher, so not too bad.

The Winchester Stealth is now a very accurate and competitive rifle but unfortunately the work on the bolt would be cost-prohibitive for any disgruntled Stealth owner and the Riflebasix trigger does not come up to competition standard. Although our rifle is accurate and has all the appearance of a silk purse, the sow's ear still lurks beneath the glitter.