The sooper dooper pig 300wsm project thread

[dannyb]

Starting this thread for my latest project....if i can't sell "the one" I'm sure gonna have fun changing it up and modding it.
First a little history.
Started life as a 270wsm which i had already modded with a stug stock, finnlight barrel, fluted bolt, javelin bipod, flush mount and a Greystone titanium brake.
Pictured below



I shot my first stag with that rifle and accounted for a lot of venni, for reasons not even known to myself i sold it to @hillclima and he looked after her so i could pursue several other "the one's".....fast forward another year or so and i have owned some smashing rigs but had always felt a little empty about selling my original "the one"
I'd told hillclima if he ever sold my old Sako I wanted first option to buy it back and over the course of his ownership i had made a couple of half arsed dreamer enquiries to buy it back.
Then one day outta the blue he messaged me and said he wasn't using my old Sako and was seriously considering moving it on....
Well I had literally only weeks earlier taken possession of yet another "the one" Benelli Lupo and got a load developed but the pangs i felt knowing i may miss out on buying my old Sako back and risk loosing her forever was too much to bear.
Negotiations were made and hillclima the gent that he is agreed to give me a few weeks to offload the Lupo so i could buy back the Sako.
Mission successful after a couple of weeks that seemed like years i had my Sako back home and set about checking loads and a little quick load development due to adding a suppressor as the muzzle brake was really anti-social especially when hunting with mates.
I also added an atlasworx bolt shroud, alloy bottom metal, contessa 20moa rail and lightweight ringsto further customize the rifle to my liking.
Pictured below not long after getting her back.





Unfortunately although adding the suppressor made it much more socially acceptable to shoot with mates around it totally ruined the balance of the rifle and made it a bit of a pig to drag around hanging off the end of s 24" barrel.....hmm pig there's an idea.....
So the next evolution began first by sourcing a 300wsm barrel as "one does not shorten a 270wsm" no matter what @Micky Duck says
I happened to have a brand new unfired tikka 300wsm barrel fall into my lap so the evolution began.
I did a bit of homework around how short you could chop a 300wsm and still have a rifle more than capable by some margin of being sn ethical 500y rifle on large red deer.
Soon enough i settled on 19" and decided i would give 200gn eldx the thumbs up as even at moderate speed i am told they h8t like the hammer of Thor and after crunching some numbers i figure somewhere in the vicinity of 2600-2750 fps should be realistically achievable.
Next port of call, contact Zac at North Canterbury Gunsmithing and run my plans by him and get the ok to drop all the bits to him for fitting chopping and a slight tweak to the chamber, also asked Zac to mill the edge of the Contessa rail as the ejected cases where hitting it and falling back into the chamber.
A week later Zac has got all the work done and i have my "the one" back in my custody. I quickly made a DIY cheek rest as the rail sat the scope up a little high for a good cheek weld.
Pics of rifle as returned to me by Zac.



TBC....

[dannyb]

After all this i chucked it on the scales to see where it was at....
I was a little surprised it was a gnats dick over 4kg.....slightly heavier thsn i had hoped for.



I spent a bit of time looking at it and the more i looked at it the more i wasn't completely happy with a few things, the povo looking cheek rest i built up out of foam matt, duct tape and an old sock also the chasm of a gap between the objective lense and the barrel which was caused by the fact i couldn't mount the scope any lower due to the rail.
I contemplated buying some Talleys but having tested positive for the Spicy flu i couldn't go in to Gunworks where Amanda and Ronelle have always been kind enough to let me test fit Talleys to make sure i had a good match for my objective clearance.
Then it hit me take the rail off re fit the factory weaver mounts and see where that sat the scope before taking an educated guess and plunging more $$$$ into a set of Talleys.
So i did that and surprisingly the scope sat with what i consider to be pretty much perfect objective to barrel clearance (sweet fuck all but not touching) this also negated the need for my povo cheek rest mod as the ocular end of the scope was in a much better place for a natural cheek weld.
Pics below of contessa rings on factory weaver mounts.







Then i decided after shedding the weight of the rail and my povo cheek rest i should weigh it again....
Ideal under 4kg even with the bipod factored into the equation.

Without bipod


With bipod

[dannyb]

Next step will be to commence load development so whilst I'm locked up on house arrest i will get some inital charge weight ladders loaded.
I was worried about mag length with the 200gn eldx but after talking to a few people i was informed that the factory precision hunter 200gn eldx was loaded shorter COAL than what i was currently running my current 270wsm load with 145gn eldx.
I'm also told they are super accurate loaded in this fashion and plenty grunty enough.
So I'll persist with them and start at mag length and work my way back to factory COAL if i don't find a sweet spot out further.
Here's hoping

[MB]

More money than sense...

















I like it

[chainsaw]

good decision to remove that rail, given intended hunting range of 5 - 600 yards you'd never get the benefit of a 20moa cant. Watching with interest, my 300wsm load is based on Berger EH 180gn pills & Hyb100V.

[Gibo]

What do those scopes weigh?

[Tahr]

You would save another 10oz by going to a 3-18 Swaro Z5.
That would be the cheapest per oz gain (loss) you could make. $1000 for the trade. $100 per oz.

[dannyb]

What do those scopes weigh?

595g whats a Swaro z5 3-18 weigh ?

[Tahr]

595g whats a Swaro z5 3-18 weigh ?

450 g. Not quite the saving I thought. Still a saving though.

[dannyb]

450 g. Not quite the saving I thought. Still a saving though.

Fortunately for me z5's are not exactly thick on the ground or I'd likely already have one on Laybuy

[Flyblown]

At that speed, the long 200gr ELD-X is only marginally stable in the Tikka 11” twist barrel.

On a cold winter’s day on a good height hill, Berger calc’s have it as around 1.3 - 1.4 depending on your velocity. JBM is slightly more generous as it takes into account the length of the plastic tip.

Either way, that’s not too flash and could well be inaccurate, especially if you are at the bottom end of your speed range.

Something to consider. The 178gr might be a better bet.

[dannyb]

Funnily enough I was just looking at that....anyone got any experience running 200gn eldx in a tikka 300wsm barrel ?
Or just swap em for 180gn NBT's may just do that I think, when I was originally working this all out I had factored a 1:10 twist barrel....oh well.

Because I'm impatient I've opened 1 box of the eldx already, so will give them a nudge anyway. If they don't shoot I can rehome them with someone I know who uses them.

[Micky Duck]

yeah ok...alright...so maybe, just maybe mind,the new forever smoke pole looks ok to cart around the hill......but Mate,just wait till you see my Howa in her sexy new dress.....AND she got blood on her today,the 3 x scope was just enough to remove neck of 80lb oinker at 80ish yards this morning....couldve done with a big pack horse to help cart it out...just about rooted me carting it to ridge top..... nope I will not put her on the scales....just like Maroline M...sometime big girls are more fun LOL...besides the .223 in her ugly dress is for the times I need lightweight......

[Micky Duck]

180grn .308 = hammer of Thor

[Cigar]

Seems sorta like getting back together with a favourite ex-girlfriend, then buying her new breasts, butt, face and personality...not much left of the original!