The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Can a "tactical" rifle be built for under £900?

(Apologies for using the "tactical" tag, what I mean is a rifle with heavy barrel, scope rail, bi-pod, changeable magazines and combined with stock that can give under 1 MOA accuracy to at least 600 yards and can compete in the McQueens)

Someone is selling a Howa bottom metal and 10 round magazines on eBay for around £103 - not bad as the Yanks are selling them for around $100.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Howa-1500-Mag ... 2a1f35cd8c
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Howa-Detachab ... 2a1f2a5c1b

This got me looking at the Howa 1500 Varmint and reviews. Although it will not set the world on fire, with some work you can achieve under 1 MOA with the right ammunition.
I see on GT that you should be able to pick up a new .308 Howa 1500 Varmint for £600 with a Houge stock.
Add £50 for a Bi-pod and £60 for a Picatiney rail and you have enough change to buy a second magazine and or a good bag.

Anyone care to build a fantasy "Tactical" rifle with new parts cheaper?

PS: I have had a Houge stock on my 10/22 and it was OK but I don't fancy shooting a .308 with one. Should I actually build such a rifle I would buy a cheap as possible Second Hand rifle £450 get it re barrelled £600, and put it in the GRS Varmint stock £425 with the above magazine job £105 = 1 nifty kit for around £1500

DM

We're thinking of a Howa as the basis of a similar low cost, high performance 'tactical' rifle, though our idea was to have it in 6.5 x 55 Swedish. maybe a stock from Joe West, possibly a Dragunov style...

The Howas come with a Pic' rail as standard. The stocks do not get a good review though - might be a better option to change the stock.

Bottom metal is not available in 6.5x55 for them

Mike

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

meles meles wrote: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

I'm liking the sound of this you could be onto something :goodjob:

Alan

meles meles wrote:Pop it in a Joe West stock and it may well rival a SV-98

Hmm... he makes bloody good stocks but the lad really could do with a haircut...

:lol:

We think the money should go on the barrel: that's what has the greatest effect on the accuracy. After that, a decent trigger in a sturdy receiver. Anyone any suggestions as to what a good twist rate and number of grooves would be for 7.62x54R with a 150 gn bullet ?

Has the set considered one of these
http://www.rusmilitary.com/html/firearms_saiga.htm
At under £500 you could not go wrong if it was just to throw lead down range, for a little more you could go for the "sniper" version with the Dragnov style stock,

DM

Oh we already have an AIA Lee Enfield jungle carbine in 7.62x39 equipped with AK47 mags when we want to throw lots of diddy little rounds downrange for a minute of madness. What we want now is something capable of longer range accuracy...

For a barrel, a .303 might make a good starting point as both it and the 7.62x54R fire a .311 bullet. Currently available 7.62x54R rounds are loaded with 150 gn light bullets rather than heavy 170 gn bullets (the .303 is 174 gn?) - might that make a difference to the required twist rate?

An interesting thread here re the cartridge
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234353


Re loading info at the bottom of the page
http://www.reloadersnest.com/frontpage. ... iberID=216

DM