£900 tactical rifle (fantasy) build

[meles meles]

'course, we could always revive a former plan and slip a nice stainless 7.62x54R barrel in a SMLE...

[Sandgroper]

'course, we could always revive a former plan and slip a nice stainless 7.62x54R barrel in a SMLE...

As much as I like being different and experimenting - I don't get this idea of an SMLE and 7.62 Russian combined. I can see no advantages in trying it, especially when you could simply re-barrel and tweak a M-N, a rifle designed for the 7.62 Russian.

A quick look on GT shows the cheapest M-N a £100 cheaper than the cheapest No4, £150 less than an SMLE and only £25 cheaper than a P14.

You might as well use a P14 over a SMLE or a No4, then again, the £25 you save by buying a M-N could go towards ammo.

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/inde ... 27109.html

You could always do something really different (AFAIK) and develop an improved version of the 7.62 Russian - similar to the 303 Epps.

[phaedra1106]

As for the Howa 1500, a standard barrel version can be got for £450 if you look for Weatherby Vanguard instead, it's the same rifle. The magazine conversion kits are polymer not metal, got a 10 round .308 kit from Midway USA for about £50. The heavy barrel Varmint Howa is around £510 for just the action, quite a few spare standard Hogue stocks being sold s/h quite cheaply or if you can get over to the US the Axiom stock is only £110 instead of £2-300 here.

[Blu]

A second idea we are turning over in our little brain is a rifle based on the venerable, but still in production, 7.62x54R round. A nice stainless barrel will allow us to fire low cost milsurp fodder without needing to go overboard on cleaning: we're sure a clever ooman could recommend the correct number of grooves and a twist rate to maximise performance. Maybe even use a standard Mosin nagant M1891 receive unless there is something else out there at a reasonable price. Pop it in a Joe West stock and it may well rival a SV-98

Not a bad idea you have there Badger. I'd add to that a tunable muzzle break along the lines of the Browning one to cut down on recoil and for better accuracy. I have one on my 270 WSM and it's an excellent piece of kit. The tunable bit is really good as I have watched previous hand loads that were so so really come together and tighten right up.

Blu

[ovenpaa]

What about doing something wildcat(ish) with the 54R? possibly blow the shoulders and front end out slightly so it will still chamber military ammunition but give you the advantage of something slightly quicker with home loaded ammunition. look on it as a 54R Improved.

I know the 54R has been necked down to 6,0mm and as far up as 9,3mm but I have never heard of an improved version which is not to say it has not been done at some stage.

[Sandgroper]

What about doing something wildcat(ish) with the 54R? possibly blow the shoulders and front end out slightly so it will still chamber military ammunition but give you the advantage of something slightly quicker with home loaded ammunition. look on it as a 54R Improved.

I know the 54R has been necked down to 6,0mm and as far up as 9,3mm but I have never heard of an improved version which is not to say it has not been done at some stage.

What I said, a couple up!

[ovenpaa]

What I said, a couple up!

Ooops. Well great minds and all that tongueout

[meles meles]

Wildcatting the 7.62x54R may be A Good Thing, but it's beyond the capabilities of we small brained creatures, for the moment at least. We don't do pawloading. We want a rifle that is something different and that fires off the shelf canned bangs.

One option is to build an ersatz SV98 using a MN receiver, custom stainless barrel and a nice stock. Maybe a tunable brake too, as suggested by Blu. The SMLE conversion is another idea. The objective of that is not to make some supergun but simply to return to service a shot out SMLE which just happens to fire a cheaper and more readily available round than .303. Who knows, if funds and circumstances permit, we may try both options. It doesn't have to be an SMLE, it could equally be a P14...

[meles meles]

This might have legs, oomans. We've just discovered that Lothar Walther can do stainless steel barrels and have 7.62x54R chamber reamers. We're contacting them right now...

[Steve E]

'course, we could always revive a former plan and slip a nice stainless 7.62x54R barrel in a SMLE...

You can stick one in but the SMLE magazine and more importantly the bolt face may not cope with the rim of 7.62x54 and the Bolt and magazine of a P14 may not cope either.