SERVICES

All barrel work is performed on my Prototrak 1630SX CNC lathe. Every barrel is dialed in directly off the lands and grooves with an Interapid long reach indicator. Barrels are supported at both ends for rigidity and support during machining. The chambers are drilled and bored prior to finish reaming to provide long tool life and maintain dimensions on the reamers. I use a chamber flush system to keep the chips flushed out of the chamber and provide constant lubrication to the cutting edges of the reamer. Every barrel chambered is documented and logged so it can be duplicated in the future if necessary. All barrels are checked for proper headspace and also measured to verify they’re not oversized or have runout. Headspace is measured directly using a GO gauge and Barrel Micrometer Tool to repeatedly set headspace to within 0.001” every time.

Currently I have a limited choice of chamber reamers, but customer reamers will be used if they’re in good condition. I will not use rented reamers as they pose a higher risk of cutting poorly and often don’t include a print or any actual dimensions. If I don’t have a reamer and neither does the customer, we can discuss purchasing options based on the specific chambering the customer is requesting. Customer supplied reamers will only be used on that customer’s barrels unless they give permission to use the tool on a case by case basis.

Every rifle I build is either stress free bedded and bolted in or glued in on target rifles only. I also offer these services to customers’ completed rifles, if the stock is worth the time and effort. Every bedding job is treated the same and my techniques are built around a final product that is clean, robust, and stress free. I prefer to glass bed Remington 700 actions and clones and other commonly used custom and factory actions. The benefit of this process is an action and stock that fits like a glove with no room for movement and prevents binding and stress. The end result removes any potential errors in stock to metal fit that could lead to flyers and inconsistent point of impact on target. For more details and specifics please reach out and see if it’s something I can do.

When I build a rifle and I’m mounting the scope, I take extreme care to make sure the scope is not only level but also setting stress free in the rings. I offer the same services to customers wanting me to mount a scope to their rifle. For rifles without integral scope bases, the action is cleaned and coated in release agent so the rail isn’t permanently mounted. I then bed the scope rail to the action ensuring 100% contact between the receiver and the base. This guarantees contact between the two surfaces and reduces the chances of a loose scope base causing erratic point of impact shifting and or damage to the scope mounting screws.

I also bed every set of scope rings that I mount on a rifle I’m building. This is also a service available to customer’s rifles. Just as the scope base to action interface is important, the scope to ring fit is also critical. I scuff up the rings to remove any coatings and give the epoxy a strong surface to bond to. I then apply release agent to the scope tube to prevent a permanent bond. When the job is finished the rings will 100% contact the scope tube leading to a stress free clamping on the scope and providing much better support to the scope to prevent slipping in the rings under recoil or drops.

Before a customer decides they need a new barrel, scope, stock, etc I recommend this service when a customer’s rifle doesn’t meet their expectations. There are many small details that add up to make a rifle perform good or bad, any one of them or the combination of several that aren’t right can cause problems. I mainly prefer to offer this service to customers with custom rifles or semi custom rifles built on modified or unmodified factory actions such as a Remington 700. I also will offer this to certain higher quality factory rifles. I believe many factory rifles have too many variables that can lead to poor performance and the cost of the service vs the rifle’s value isn’t usually worth it.

My initial evaluation includes testing the rifle for function, and a thorough overview of the entire rifle without extensive disassembly or shooting it. The customer’s ammunition will also need to be examined in the initial diagnosis. Any issues found will be corrected if they’re simple such as loose action screws. The customer will receive a report documenting the results of the diagnostics. Further review and range testing can be discussed if the initial evaluation doesn’t solve the issues.

Range testing will be performed by me using benchrest equipment to ensure a solid shooting rest and setup is used for the testing. The rifle will initially be shot with the customer’s scope, if applicable, then will be tested using a proven “shop scope.” The ammunition will be provided by the customer and must be high quality factory ammo, ammunition from a custom manufacturer, or in some cases the customer’s reloads.

After all testing and diagnostics are performed, all issues will be documented and provided to the customer. It will then be up to the customer to pursue any necessary work to correct the issues.