JavaScript is disabled
Our website requires JavaScript to function properly. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings before proceeding.
So you just do this for the halibut? Cool hobby, amigo. Wish I had that kind of time and scratch available...
The .300 came from the need to make a short-action round feed in a long-action receiver. I tried and tried to design a shell that would use the base datum diameter of a 300WSM, but that is one of the largest ODs short of .590" shells that there is. I ultimately had to have a new barrel made and design the shell from Square One. It took me several months to finalize the dimensions because I just did not know what I wanted versus what could be cold-formed. I eventually decided to use the '06 case length, shoulder angle and neck length because it's a design proven over 100 years and several billion rounds fired in WW I, WW II and Korea. Everything nowadays is short & fat with steep shoulder angles and near-zero case taper. I wanted an easy-feeding rifle, so I used the gentle shoulder angle from the '06.

The rifle was a half-minute gun before the rebuild from 300WSM to 300NDM. It's now a quarter-minute rifle, and five-shot groups in the .200s are certainly attainable. The best it has done is five shots having a 0.135" center-to-center from 100 yards. The rifle is equipped with a 6-24X x 50mm Vortex Viper PST scope. One of these years I will get my act together and make it hit that 10" steel plate from 1000 yards. It's a long walk out and back, so I'm just not all hyped-up to do it. I have thought about bringing my bike out to the desert and riding it out to the target and back, but my purpose-built shootin' pickup (see below) hasn't run since November 2015. I had that top custom-built. It's five feet high inside, has a shootin' bench in there and lots of other things you'd need when you head into the desert for a day of shooting. The top provides all the shade you'd ever need on a hot & sunny day. You could even shoot when it's raining. The rear has two swing-out doors that provide all the access you need to get in and out of it.

The .358 was done because I wanted to see what the 300NDM would look like as a .35-caliber. I started it in July 2012. Eleven months and $4500 later, I knew. The .358 Sierra Stomper is a sledgehammer. I like to say it will kill anything on the planet short of elephant, hippo and rhino. I'll never know for sure because I will never go to Africa and hunt with it. I'll never hunt anything on the North American continent, either. It was built in an attempt to get 4000 foot-pounds of muzzle energy from a 250-grain bullet and to deliver two MOA accuracy at 250 yards, which is about the effective limit of the .35 Whelen. The recoil of the Stomper is so vicious, I can only shoot it about a dozen times and I've had enough for the day. The rifle for the 300NDM weighs nineteen pounds; recoil is about what you'd expect from a .243 Winchester.

To bring these rifles to fruition I had to have Hornady Manufacturing and Lee Precision make forming dies (4 by Hornady), reloading dies (2 sets by Hornady), neck-only dies (2 sets by Lee) and Factory Crimp Dies (2 by Lee). Each die is around 75 to 90 dollars; can take up to a year to have them made. I also had special-length trimming mandrels made to get consistent trim lengths. I started out by turning the necks on the .300 to get 0.002 inches of clearance, but there is a total neck clearance of 0.001 inches when the necks are not turned, so I don't bother to do it anymore. The necks of the .358 are not turned; there is 0.005 inches of clearance there. Cases were formed from Hornady .375 Ruger Basic brass until Hornady quit making it. I now use the factory-formed .375 Ruger case. If Ruger ever quits making the rifles for that case, I'm SOL.

shootin-truck.JPG three-mildcats.JPG

I have the time and scratch available to do this because I am not married. I am also fat, bald and uglier than sin-- which is why I am not married. Some would say being afflicted as I am is a curse. I praise God for Him having made me as He did. Sure, I want a hot blonde and all that jazz. I'll never have it, but look at the money I'm saving! No wife, no kids, no ex-wife, no ex-kids, no college tuitions, no braces on the kids' teeth, no house with five bedrooms and three bathrooms-- the list goes on and on. I can spend my money as I see fit. I will never have to say "I'll have to ask my wife" about anything. If I see a rifle I want, I just say "Wrap it up! I'll take it."

Stomper-steps-600.JPG
 
Last Edited:
Right this moment I would have to say my Savage 30-06. Been spending a lot of time looking at new bolt rifles. I am hoping that there will be a new .308 bolt gun in the safe soon.

Leaning towards the RPR or mossberg tactical.
I have a Savage FC-SR Bolt Action .308 for sale. It has a threaded barrel with a Miculek Muzzel brake, Warne 20 MOA scope mount with Warne rings and a Leupold 6-18x40 Scope. Fired 6 rounds to dial in scope, cleaned her and back in the case. I don't get out often enough to use it so I'm selling or looking to trade for a compact 1911 style 45 with a 3" or 4" Barrel. If you're interested, send me an email with your contact info and I can get you some pictures. As equipped I'm into it for @ $1500 and open to a reasonable offer. Thanks Bob
 
I have a Savage FC-SR Bolt Action .308 for sale. It has a threaded barrel with a Miculek Muzzel brake, Warne 20 MOA scope mount with Warne rings and a Leupold 6-18x40 Scope. Fired 6 rounds to dial in scope, cleaned her and back in the case. I don't get out often enough to use it so I'm selling or looking to trade for a compact 1911 style 45 with a 3" or 4" Barrel. If you're interested, send me an email with your contact info and I can get you some pictures. As equipped I'm into it for @ $1500 and open to a reasonable offer. Thanks Bob

Ended up buying a Tikka. Absolutely the best purchase I ever made.

IMG_0435.JPG
 
Ended up buying a Tikka. Absolutely the best purchase I ever made.
I have a stainless lefty T3 in .30-06 Springsteen. The actions on a Tikka work so smoothly, I have to wonder why every other major manufacturer's bolt-action rifles aren't as equally smooth. I like how they are designed to allow the user to easily replace bolt handles without taking the rifle to a gunsmith. I replaced the plastic bolt shroud on mine with a stainless one from Vertebrae in Norway. There are several outfits here in the States that offer angled bolt handles and enlarged bolt knobs. I want to put each onto mine; just ain't done it yet. Mine is in a lefty, Applejack Red Featherweight Thumbhole stock from Boyd's. The rifle is being kept at another location; its frequent user says it will ring the gong at 500 yards all day long...
 
Last Edited:
I can't even SEE that far...
A 25X scope brings it all in for you. That's my minimum power for such a distance. Some guys use 20X; I have even heard of shooters using 14X. I have a 40X on an AR that will stick 'em close if the idiot on the trigger doesn't fail himself in the clutch. It has a 16" x .936" stainless bull barrel, a free-float foretube of rifle length, a JP Enterprises precision trigger set way down and a 3½-pound lead slug in the fixed A2 buttstock. Sets really nice in the bags...
 
If money was not an issue I'd have some answers different than the ones I'll put forth here. I use my bolt guns for hunting and in my price range the Ruger American has done me well. Very accurate and affordable, though it's a bit homely. I have some old M77's and though they are a little less accurate they have decent walnut and remind me of the rifles the old guys had when I was growing up.
 
Thus far I'd have to say the Krag rifle is my favorite, but I don't have a whole lot of experience with bolt actions. I've only shot an Enfield MkIV and Mauser Kar98, trainers in .22lr that were single shot. Also I've shot a Ross rifle, but it is so picky with ammo I can't call it a favorite even if it is extremely accurate.
I like the Krag because it is accurate and has a unique loading system.
 
Wanted to get into LRS so I jumped off the deep end. Shooting pistols is fun but gee, needed a challenge. Still new to me but doing a lot of reading. Have yet to get to the local range with this one.

Bergara LRP Elite in 6.5 Creedmore. Currently using a Tango 4, 6-24 -50mm FFP Mrad with 20moa rail.

8304A9D1-1739-4E61-A2BC-66059E8181CC.jpeg

9BFF3083-88FE-45FA-8BC4-BBA32336D2F8.jpeg
 
1925 Commercial Magnum Mauser by Holland & Holland, built as a .375 H&H and reamed by me to .375 Weatherby Specs! This was re build by me and my Grand Parents as my first rifle project under their tutelage and it turned out amazingly! It is by far my most favorite rifle and gets used all the time! Kicks like a mule, but it does the job every time! Same ballistics as the 7 mm Rem Mag, so it also makes a excellent two gun battery with a 7 mm!
4392
Second fav is a 1903 A4 Springfield dated 1944 and built in the newly liberated Rock Island Arsenal in the Philippines! It was sporterized by Stoeger in the early 1950's and when I got it, it was worn but serviceable, it now wears a Criterion 4 groove National Match barrel cut down to 23 inches and it is a real tack driver!
Third is an Ultra Rare Tikka SuperVarmint in .30/06 and it's my high altitude, long range elk rifle! Sako/TIkka built these before all the "Long Range Hunters" Became popular, and they stopped after only 2 years production! 4393

Forth fav, my K-31 Sporter re barreled to .308 Winchester, lightning fast strait pull bolt, and modern performing chambering, as fast as any lever action and FAR more accurate!
4394

Fifth fav is my SAKO TRG chamberd in .300 WIn Mag, a serious rifle for serious work! Has every trick in the book and most not in the books! Its a stunning performer within it's narrow window of uses, but I would fight with that rifle before all others!
3386.jpg
 
Last Edited:

Upcoming Events

Crossroads of the West Gun Show
Las Vegas, NV

New Resource Reviews

Back Top