Project

**SPD** · 06-30-11, 08:20 PM

It was long overdue. My PD has given me some money to pimp out all of our tac team's precision rifles to something a little more user-friendly. We have 6 Rem 700Ps in .308.

The first thing I did was update our ammo. We have been shooting Black Hills .308 BTHP match for as long as I've been there. I wanted something with better terminal ballistics, and we found little zero shift when we tested the BH 168gr AMAX. Just a little tweaking, and the accuracy was very nearly the same (still shooting very decent groups). This year we are completely switching. I am still looking for a good barrier round, and was considering the Speer 168 gr bonded round. Any opinions and experience along with a place it can be found (or a good alternative) appreciated.

Next, the HS stocks were functional, but I didn't like the top-stuffers and wanted a DBM. Turns out to buy a badger system and have it inletted cost about as much as just getting McRee stocks. Since I wanted a better finish than the standard remington rustomatic, I got the stocks unfinished so we could just coat the whole rifle at once. One of our guys used to do custom car painting, so he's going to cerakote the rifles and stocks for us. I just got this one rebarreled with a shilen #7 countour cut to 20".

We are only rebarreling the one to see if there is any significant gain in accuracy vs the factory bbl (which we are cutting down to 20" on all of them, set back and rechambered). Oh - and it really looks kinda cool in the white with the the raw stock. Very terminator-ish.

My second question to anyone with cerakote experience - is the air-cure cerakote close durability-wise to the oven-cure stuff? Also, how important is it to sand blast the part first? Should I coat the bolt? Is there anything (except the trigger) that I should avoid coating?

Next is mags. We only got 1 AICS 10-rd mag per rifle. I plan on ordering more immediately. Is there any advantage to having the 5-rounders or should I stick to the 10-rounders? Also, are the Alpha mags worth a crap (they are slightly shorter for 10 rds, a little less expensive), or should I stick with AICS (which can be hard to find). How many mags should I have on hand? I was thinking one mag of the regular duty ammo, and one mag of barrier ammo.

Optics - right now we are straight up Luppy 3.5-10x40 Mk4 mil dot M1. All SFP. I wanted to play with FFP and mil turrets. My admin wanted to stick with Luppy since we have had good luck with them (none have ever had a single problem - yes I just knocked on wood), and the NF FFP mil-mil equivelent is quite a bit more expensive per copy. My concern with the FFP reticle is it becoming small when we dial it down to low power (which is common, since I want to see where everyone is as well as possible, and typically we don't end up that far away from the BG house anyway).

Now this question is just for LE guys - how is your experience with the crosshair issue on FFP scopes? Is it a non-issue that I'm creating in my mind? I'm not unhappy with our optics, but mil/mil and FFP seems to be all the rage, and I can't ignore that it is simpler to not have to convert from MOA to MIL.

Lastly, we switched to all TIS slip-cuff slings and Storm Tactical data books last year, and have been happy with both. We also just bought one Luppy 100yd rangefinder for every two-man team (we only tested the Luppy rx1000 and the outwardly similar Leica 1200 rangefinder, and had much better luck with the luppy - which surprised me).

That's my current project. Any opinions appreciated.

**Jenna** · 06-30-11, 08:42 PM

Originally Posted by SPD

Oh - and it really looks kinda cool in the white with the the raw stock. Very terminator-ish.

**pgg** · 07-01-11, 05:42 AM

that is a purty rifle. I'm curious how it will shoot

**MacLean** · 07-01-11, 05:46 PM

Gorgeous rifle!

Doc Roberts did some of your work for you on the ammo selection:

LE .308 Loads - M4Carbine.net Forums

About midway down he gets into barrier blind stuff.

**SPD** · 07-02-11, 01:40 PM

I put a luppy Mk 4 M5 FFP 3.5-10x40 on it. Not sure if I'm sold on the FFP reticle for LE work. It gets awful small on low power, and when dialed up, the thicker stadia aren't as thick as the SFP M1's we have. Plus there is no illumination available yet. I asked Leupold about converting our old scopes to M5 knobs, and they said that won't be available until 2012. They have no time frame on the illuminated reticle for the current M5 FFP scope, so that's not going to happen soon.

I'm honestly considering going with NF so I can get mil/mil second focal plane and an illuminated reticle without stepping up to the higher cost of the FFP nightforce.

Right now we have six rifles being sand-blasted so we can cerakote them Tuesday. Then we'll assemble everything, take them to the range, and shoot them on the rest to see how they group (to take out as much human error as possible). I'm optomistic.

**Bob Loblaw** · 07-02-11, 03:08 PM

those look like something from Starship Troopers

**MacLean** · 07-03-11, 01:50 AM

Originally Posted by Bob Loblaw

those look like something from Starship Troopers

Wait until they are Cerakoted. They are going to be pure evil.

**mavriktu** · 07-03-11, 05:47 AM

O.K. O.K. I am going to be real mean here for a moment,dont really mean to BUT,I made one of those in the late 50s, yep,got an erector set for Christmas and I ....

just kiddin,BUT some of the older peeps on here WILL have to admit....

**SPD** · 07-03-11, 06:03 PM

Yeah, it does look erector-set-ish too.

One of these days I need to build an f-class rifle and just chrome plate the whole damned thing just for giggles.

**SPD** · 07-10-11, 09:27 PM

This finish is turning out great.

Very matte colored. Scraped a few inconspicuous spots - this cerakote is tough (smells horrible when baking, though). Very pleased with how this stuff turned out, even though it was a PITA to get the metal prep done right.

This is a base coat for all the rifles to protect the metal. We will rattle can them as needed to match the season / environment.

Here it is while being coated by our painter.

He is incredible. Here is a tank he is doing. All free-hand.

Wish we had the money for him to customize each rifle, but rattle-canning them to the environment makes more sense.

**lewisipso** · 07-10-11, 11:25 PM

Wow.

**JohnSmith** · 07-12-11, 09:22 AM

Where I'm from you can have a rifle like that too. If you paid for every bit of it.

Amazing. They look fantastic!

**Ducky** · 07-12-11, 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by SPD

He is incredible. Here is a tank he is doing. All free-hand.

Ok, I will chime in on this. Where this chick's hand is, and the shape of it, looks like she'll be tickling someone's privates on those long rides.

**Captain America** · 07-13-11, 12:46 AM

Originally Posted by Ducky

Ok, I will chime in on this. Where this chick's hand is, and the shape of it, looks like she'll be tickling someone's privates on those long rides.

You are so cynical. She may just be checking for a hernia.

'cough' 'cough'

**SPD** · 07-13-11, 07:17 AM

Originally Posted by Ducky

Ok, I will chime in on this. Where this chick's hand is, and the shape of it, looks like she'll be tickling someone's privates on those long rides.

Maybe that's the point!!

Still not done, actually. She is going to be holding a flame in that hand. And you don't want flames near your junk on a long ride.

Oh, yeah - and the rifles are done. All six. We go shoot them today.

**pgg** · 07-13-11, 08:22 AM

Let us know how they shoot. I know you can shoot so I figure we can expect half inch groups at 500 yards

**Ducky** · 07-13-11, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by SPD

Maybe that's the point!!

Still not done, actually. She is going to be holding a flame in that hand. And you don't want flames near your junk on a long ride.

Duh, thanks. I recognize her now. Liz from Hellboy.

**SPD** · 07-16-11, 01:21 PM

Well the rifles are more accurate than I am. 5 shot groups ranged from a bit less than 1/2 moa to 3/4 moa. I'm relatively certain that had more to do with the shooter than the rifle. It has been over 100 every day this month and fatigue sets in quick. I'm very happy worth the ergos of this setup, and the detachable mags are so great.

Now if I can just get atk to send me that barrier ammo!