# Firearms and Shooting > Projects and Home Builds >  Omark improvements

## ebf

Thought I'd start a thread for the Omark project currently underway...

I've been shooting my first 18 months of FTR with a Trademe $400 special, it's getting to the point where I need to make some changes to keep improving.

The initial Tasco Varmint 6-24x42 scope has been upgraded to a Clearidge Ultra XP5 4.5-22.5x50 I bought off Tahr

Bipod has been upgraded from a Harris to a Davies Triggers F-Class one.

Rifle wise I was lucky to get a season-old TF UM 308 barrel for free from a club mate. Also received an Anschutz 1407 lefty stock from another club mate.

Yet another club mate is an ex army armourer, and has helped me out with a Nielsen adapter and machining services  :Thumbsup:

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## ebf

1st trip : old barrel off, action trued, new barrel re-threaded and chambered
2nd trip : nielsen adapter fitted, chamber headspacing sorted, alu bedding block rough machiningAlu block before it went into the stock
3rd trip : more machining on the alu block, recess cut in the stock, bedding block epoxied into the stock

The stock is from a lefty Anschutz 1407, still need to drill and epoxy a pin into the pistol grip to re-inforce it for full-bore


Alu block before it went into the stock

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## ebf

4th trip: machining away the back of the action area on the stock (Omark action is a very different shape than the Anschutz)



We discovered that the pistol grip already has a dowl in it, so that is one less job  :Thumbsup: 

Starting to clean up the alu block and fitting the action.

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## ebf

Had some spare time this morning to do several "woodworking" type jobs on the stock...

The spacing for the holes on the new buttplate is different, so had to remove the bottom thread sleeve, and fill it with a plug. Also need to fill in an area of the stock void to give "meat" for the new hole.


Cutting plugs to fill the old hole.


Turned a dowel to match to size of the void and planed it flat.


Block for the slot we cut out of the stock. Will be machined / carved to match the Omark action.


All glued up


Marking the butt-plate edges on the stock


Limbsaver installed on the butt-plate, rough grinding finished on the back plate, still have to to the stock side.

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## stug

Nice work, it's very satisfying custom fitting something to fit yourself.

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## Barefoot

That's keeping you busy  :Thumbsup:

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## ebf

Next trip the recoil lug is getting a slight champher on the front edge to make it easier to pull it out of the bedding.

Couple of pillars for the stock to make it metal on metal tightening.

Need to drill holes in the stock for the action bolts. One of the previous trips we drilled and tapped a rear action bolt hole into the action.

Then bedding, keen to learn all about how that is done.

Once I get the completed rifle back I am going to seal, prime and paint the stock.

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## Shamus

Tidy work @ebf - always good to see a nice job being done

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## zimmer

> Next trip the recoil lug is getting a slight champher on the front edge to make it easier to pull it out of the bedding.
> 
> Couple of pillars for the stock to make it metal on metal tightening.
> 
> Need to drill holes in the stock for the action bolts. One of the previous trips we drilled and tapped a rear action bolt hole into the action.
> 
> Then bedding, keen to learn all about how that is done.
> 
> Once I get the completed rifle back I am going to seal, prime and paint the stock.


Nice work EBF.  Years ago I pimped my Omark but not to the workmanship standard yours is coming out at. Same as you I drilled and tapped a hole just fwd of the trigger and pulled down on that screw and the king screw.  The action back from the rear new rear screw is totally floating. Also added a Jewel trigger. Decent stock/bedding/trigger made a major difference to its performance.
Just a matter of waiting now for September....

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## zimmer

> Next trip the recoil lug is getting a slight champher on the front edge to make it easier to pull it out of the bedding.
> 
> Couple of pillars for the stock to make it metal on metal tightening.
> 
> Need to drill holes in the stock for the action bolts. One of the previous trips we drilled and tapped a rear action bolt hole into the action.
> 
> Then bedding, keen to learn all about how that is done.
> 
> Once I get the completed rifle back I am going to seal, prime and paint the stock.


When I bedded mine I put 3 layers of insulation tape on the fwd edge of the recoil lug and one layer on the sides.

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## ebf

> Just a matter of waiting now for September....


Yup, counting the days !  :Thumbsup: 

Last time SSR had the rifle he lightened the trigger to 850g, wasn't aware of the Jewel trigger option, only knew about Davies.

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## kimjon

Looking good, love a project thread...will follow your progress, keep up the good work.

Kj

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## Hunt4life

Loving the progress thread. Looking good

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## ebf

Right, so slight break from gunsmithing for the last couple of weeks while I helped my gunsmith build a deck rail/balustrade.  :Grin: 

Back into it this week...

First up some woodwork I did at home... We are changing the bolt handle to a straight rod, so the bolt recess in the stock is not as deep as the previous version.


Started tapering and carving the back to match the action. I carved a slight v into the join line, and mized up a bit of hide glue and sawdust to hide the join.


Back over the hill today to continue with the complex stuff... The point of no return !!! Starting to lay down resin onto the alu block....  :Zomg: 


After lunch we worked on an action wrench for my Remmy 788 switch barrel project. Will take some pics of that tomorrow.

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## kimjon

Looking good

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## johnino

Wow great project ebf. That'll really be something to be proud of.

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## ebf

Near the end !

Got the action out of the bedding last week. Cleaned up the edges and also made a couple of ferrules for the action screws do that it is metal on metal contact.

Torqued the barrel, trigger and bases back on.

Starting with prep for painting now. Made up a stand to carry it inside between coats, the workshop is way too dusty to leave it drying in there.

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## Gibo

What colour Ebf?

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## ebf

Candy blue, like Mazda or Suby Imprezza.

Sanding sealer times plenty.
Primer
Silver base coat
Blue on top
Clearcoat

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## ebf

Making tape came off today, coz the rifle is being put back together  for some load testing before final paint.



Total weight (ready to shoot, including bipod and scope) at the moment is bang on 8.0 kg ! FTR limit is 8.25, so it might need to go on a bit of a diet if I get a heavier scope....

A new problem is that it does not fit into my safe with the but pad wound out  :Grin:  new barrel is 4 inches longer than the previous one.

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## Pop Shot

Nice project!

I would love to get into competitive F class shooting at some stage. Will look into it the not to distant future.

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## ebf

Did some test firing on Tue morning, nothing exploded and I still have all my fingers  :Grin: 

Relieved a bit of the stock behind the bedding area.





Second primer coat on, just repeating a cycle of prime check for imperfections, spot fill, sand and prime again.

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## ebf

Done more testing today.

All 5 shot groups @ 100yds, looking promising.

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## veitnamcam

Looks like its gonna shoot :Cool: 

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## steven

> Nice project!
> 
> I would love to get into competitive F class shooting at some stage. Will look into it the not to distant future.


Depending on where you are a club might have a good FTR gun, Ive used Petone's FTR gun, easily capable of winning events ie 50.10s at 1000yds (though I think I'm on 49.6 or 49.8).

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## ebf

Ready to rock-n-roll  :Thumbsup:

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## Frosty

Good effort, beast of bipod it has.


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## ishoot10s

Yes, great looking result. :Thumbsup:

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## Pop Shot

Looks sh*t.

I'll take it off your hands though  :Wink:

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## deepsouthaussie

Mint project @ebf , hows it shooting over distance?

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## johnino

A & C look promising. What's up with the stringing in C?

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## ebf

> Mint project @ebf , hows it shooting over distance?


even better than I had hoped for  :Thumbsup: 

managed to win opening day 2 weeks ago, 56 & 59 / 60, last group was 1 shot short of a sub-moa 10-shot group at 500yds  :Zomg: 

shot it at 600yds yesterday, got 48.01 and 54 on super-v targets @ 600, fishtailing wind, but perfect waterline, so poor scores due to my wind calls, rifle was doing exactly what it was supposed to.

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## ebf

> A & C look promising. What's up with the stringing in C?


hehe, I went with B  :Grin: 

i am looking for the smallest group with the most shots...

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## deepsouthaussie

Awesomeness

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## steven

Good job EBF....very good job

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## ebf

shot 800 yards today, got 53.01 on the super-Vs  in some pretty sneaky wind  :Thumbsup: 

Hail interrupted play, so no 2nd string  :Oh Noes:

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## Tahr

Marvelous.

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## veitnamcam

goes to show what can be done with a secondhand barrel.

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## ebf

> Marvelous.


Going like a Boeing  :Grin: 

The Clearidge I got from you is sitting on top of it.

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## ebf

> goes to show what can be done with a secondhand barrel.


Yeah VC, there'll be a good supply of good 2nd hand barrels this year. Palma team going to USA next year, so plenty guys putting on new barrels.

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## ebf

Good times, shot 300m today, ISSF targets - 10 ring is 100mm and X is 50mm. Nice to be shooting in sunshine and warm weather.

Got 98.02 for the first string, and followed that with 98.02 couple of hours later  :Thumbsup:

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## kiwi39

Go the flying purple people eater !!

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## ebf

Shot the Te Puke Champs this weekend. Had a really good shoot, learnt a couple of new tricks  :Thumbsup: 

600yds - got 84/90 for this one (75.09 in TR terms).


Shooting in the rain and mist, with a stiff left breeze - yeah right, we're not bonkers !

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## ebf

Had a good weekend, came 2nd in Ladies Longs yesterday (8/9/1000) and 1st in Karori 1000yds champs today.



Grim conditions today, very wet with fishtailing wind.

Good to meet @Cyclops, and congrats to his son on 3rd today and some impressive shooting with the model 12 Savage 223 at very long ranges.

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## scoped

pity the rain didn't clean the cup for ya. nice shooting, I take it that's a 1st place for the karori club?

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## veitnamcam

How did  you come second in ladys?

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## ebf

Karori is the organising club, the compo is the NZ 1000yds National Champs, and I shoot for Trentham club.

A Karori member won F-O and another Karori member was second in FTR

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## ebf

VC, I just shaved my legs and put on a bit of lippy  :Grin: 

Annual compo organised by NZ Ladies Rifle group/team. Followed by 1000 yds champs on the Sun. Good fun to shoot it, gives us a chance to practise longs for Nationals in Jan, and they organise lots of spot prizes. 2nd place yesterday got me a nice home made Xmas fruit cake  :Thumbsup:

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## veitnamcam

> VC, I just shaved my legs and put on a bit of lippy



That is one scary mental picture!


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## steven

> VC, I just shaved my legs and put on a bit of lippy


 :Sick: 

Sorry but your your dog is still better looking....

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## Cyclops

Thanks ebf, the penny didn't drop and I didn't connect your online presence with you face to face.

Thanks to everyone who helped my son over the weekend. He really learnt a lot and will be back for the nationals. 
I was very impressed and grateful for the very friendly advice that everyone offered my son at his first (and not last) visit to Trentham. 

He (son) was first in FTR at 800 yards on Saturday with a 57.2, which was pretty good for his first ever round of shooting at Trentham.
Possibly his best ever score at 800 and in his top few scores.

His first (ever) shot at 1000 yards with a standard Savage Model 12 .223 was an impressive 'X' which surprised and pleased everyone.
We think we are at the safe maximum load for the rifle of 24.7g 2208 with a 80g AMAX projectile. 

His first shooting in the rain at 1000 yards was (a 7 shot detail) 6,6,6,2,2,5,5 showing a good start and finish which earnt him his 3rd place.

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## ebf

No worries, great to see a young guy with obvious talent - god knows we need to encourage every single kid that show interest to shoot NRA coz the sport is dying a slow death...

We should try get D behind a 308 with a suppressor on one of the slow days during Nationals, just to see if he finds that ok, couple of folks in Karori club have good setups, so will be easy to arrange.

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## steven

The trend for the F open class seems to be a smaller diameter, currently 6 or 6.5mm seems to be what is winning. I indeed wonder on whether  5.56mm 80gr (or more) might make a show in the future. Not sure what the rules are on FTR and 556/223, must look them up, might surprise a few people with "conventional" views banging away with 308s.

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## Cyclops

> No worries, great to see a young guy with obvious talent - god knows we need to encourage every single kid that show interest to shoot NRA coz the sport is dying a slow death...
> 
> We should try get D behind a 308 with a suppressor on one of the slow days during Nationals, just to see if he finds that ok, couple of folks in Karori club have good setups, so will be easy to arrange.


Sounds like a plan - feel free to organise the rifle and I'll supply the shooter.  :Thumbsup: 




> The trend for the F open class seems to be a smaller diameter, currently 6 or 6.5mm seems to be what is winning. I indeed wonder on whether  5.56mm 80gr (or more) might make a show in the future. Not sure what the rules are on FTR and 556/223, must look them up, might surprise a few people with "conventional" views banging away with 308s.


F/TR is either .233 or .308 calibres. 
My son first tried a .308 but he could be seen flinching before pulling the trigger. 
He was immediately more comfortable using a club .233 then a loaned .223 before we bought a .223 for him use. I thought he'd be better off learning good habits with the .223 than bad habits with a .308 - and the right .223 can be competitive out to 1000 yards.

Some clubs don't mention the option .223/5.62 on their websites or FB pages which might discourage some potential shooters.

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## scoped

would, but my throat will only last so long  :Grin:

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## steven

The cure for flinch is dry firing IMHO. So I dry fire my 303 in the dining room a few times a week, cured the flinch I didnt know I had developed until I dry fired the 303 in the dining room.  Get him to do that ever night for 2 weeks, 12 or 24 rounds max.  

556Nato often isnt mentioned as it isnt a "man" round, or other such stupidity.  I dont disagree with a 223/556nato to 1000yds, it only popping paper after all. Bear in in mind however the electronic sensors only work at supersonic. Not sure of a 556 can still be so at 1000yds, not that I have looked yet I'll admit, a job for the future, 90gr projectiles maybe.....

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## ebf

Steve, one of the Trentham (ex UH) guys has a 223 and uses 90gr moly coated, goes well up to about 600yds, but gets blown out when the wind is pumping. KW also has a 223 that gets used for juniors at LTTS sessions.

This weekend we did not have high winds, most I ever used was 4.5 or 5 minutes at 1000, it was all fishtailing downrange.

The margin of error with a 308, even using 155gr projectiles is just a lot less, so it will be interesting to see how cyclops jnr's 223 does when we hit 10+ minutes of wind at some stage during nationals. Personally, I think that between a decent buttpad (Limbsaver) and a suppressor, you can kill just about all the recoil in a 308, and it is still legal for FTR. The can might give you some carbon fouling issues, but there are enough anal folks in NRA style that clean between ranges, so nothing new  :Have A Nice Day:

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## veitnamcam

I would have thought 223 would be similar ? similar case size vs bore size,like the same powders.
Is there just not the good bc bullets available or it cant push them fast enough?

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## Cyclops

> I would have thought 223 would be similar ? similar case size vs bore size,like the same powders.
> Is there just not the good bc bullets available or it cant push them fast enough?


From our comparisons with electronic target data (velocities at target)  a 308 is 100-200 fps faster at the target than our 223 at all distances (if I recall correctly). But the data is only valid for comparisons on the same target on the same day. 

I - now - think our 223 with our maximum safe load will still be supersonic at 1000 yards.

While we haven't shot in windy Trentham conditions we have shot at very, very windy Ashburton conditions (even the experienced shooters agreed the windiest in a long time) but not at 1000 yards. My son was competitive even in the strongest wind.
We'll just have to wait to see what happens at the nationals.

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## ebf

Interesting point VC, Amax 80gr is G7 0.231 compared to Scenar or HBC Dyer at 0.236

My head says you could well be correct, but my heart kinda goes "not so sure"  :Grin: 

25% saving on projectile cost and half the powder, going to be interesting to see how this pans out...

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## steven

There is also a 90gr round, I did some casual reading last night and really the amount of effort spent on the 223 to make it work and get the results it does is astounding, the wind though is ugly.  I am not sure that the USA ranges get such variable wind as us? 

This was interesting and about the best piece I found,

Who all is shooting a .223 long range? - Page 2 

The cheaper shooting is a big plus given how things seem to be going.  Im quite tempted to try an AR15 at 600yds and less for the hell of it.  Might cause a few heart attacks at Trentham though, "oh my god its a black thing that self ejects cases!!!!!"  what the hell I like stirring complacent ppl.

   @Cyclops, with a 308w, 30inch barrel, lapua match case, Fed 210M, HBC 155gr projectile and 45gr2208 is just enough supersonic to register every time at the E-target. So if you are clocking 1200~1250fps should be OK.   I have some e-targets around here somewhere.....

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## Cyclops

@steven we've successfully shot e-targets at 900 yards, yet to do so at 1000 yards. 

Manual targets at 1000 yards require alert markers as the 80g Amax don't hit hard or leave large holes.

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## kiwi39

> VC, I just shaved my legs and put on a bit of lippy 
> 
> Annual compo organised by NZ Ladies Rifle group/team. Followed by 1000 yds champs on the Sun. Good fun to shoot it, gives us a chance to practise longs for Nationals in Jan, and they organise lots of spot prizes. 2nd place yesterday got me a nice home made Xmas fruit cake


Mrs EBF know about this cake, or did you scoff it in the car on your way home  ???  :Wink:   :Thumbsup:

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## ebf

she was sitting next to me at prizegiving.

big table with lots of goodies, you got to go up in the order you finished and pick what was left, i told her right at the start, if nobody else gets the cake Im grabbing it  :Grin: 

if they keep handing out baked goods as prizes I might start taking this shooting lark a lot more seriously, hehe....

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## steven

> Mrs EBF know about this cake, or did you scoff it in the car on your way home  ???


I'd be wondering on her take of the lipstick.

Guess these SouthAfricans are more "liberal" then they let on.

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## ebf

Ivan, forgot what username you use on here, can you pls PM me.

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## northdude

old thread i know nice job you did there ive just bought a project omark myself what kind of bipod is that

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## muzza

I also have a new Omark project. Mine is well bedded and has the correct central sights so I will use them to begin with. 

Not interested in competition shooting , just playing around on a low budget.

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## omark

Really loved your posts and pics on the omark build ebf. They are my favourite rifle of all. I will never forget the many days I spent in the 80's and 90's on ranges in lovely locations all over the country being taught to shoot by retired gentleman who were true rifleman (many having served as rifleman). Looking through a central sight and being taught how to  clean (with sweets) "tune" and look after the trusty Omark is something I will always remember (along with getting a split eyebrow from the central eyepiece when the rubber cup fell off, and getting booted by the straight stock of the 44B).

What a fantastic rifle they are!

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