Originally Posted by
Big Uncle
That sounds like a fun, exciting, and ambitious project. I guess one of your pair will be chambered in .416 Ruger, but what will the other one be? Are you going to put iron sights on or just go with slick barrels? How many recoil lugs and how many cross bolts?
It is really smart to start with a commercial action like the M77 instead of the way I started with old Mauser types of actions that had to be modified. Those older rifles that I had were ultimately expensive and really too heavy.
I do have a stainless Mark II chambered in .338 that I do not use very much, but was concerned about feeding issues if it was rebarreled to .416. Maybe I will learn something useful from your project.
"Ambitious" seems to be a very appropriate word for this 'twin rifle' project!!!
So... Kinda a long story...
Initially when my wife and I conceived this "little project" for our new Safari Rifles, we were planning on pair of Ruger M77 Hawkeye Guide Guns in .338win mag and .416 Ruger. As I mentioned before, I ultimately decided upon building custom rifles instead. Since we don't really need another mid-bore and big bore rifle rotting in the back of our safes, we decided to build a pair of switch-barrel rigs. One rifle will be a 7mm Rem mag plus a 338win mag, the other rifle will be a 300win mag plus a 416 ruger and a 458win mag. I'm still debating fluting on the 7mm and 300wm barrels to shed a bit of weight. Planning 24" barrels across the board.
I talked to a few smiths, and did a lot of talking to Ruger about the differences in parts between the 7mm Rem Mag, 300 Win Mag, 338Win Mag, and 416 Ruger Guide Guns - they all share the same mag boxes, followers, bolts, etc. Same rifles except for the barrels.
The 7mmRM and 300WM barrels will be slick, but the 338, 416, and 458 barrels will have open sights - planning for 2 or 3 leaf express NEGC's on hand fit sight bases. 3 scopes, two Leupold VX-3 4.5-14x50mm's plus one Leupold VX-6 1-6x24mm, all on Warne QD rings. My wife and I use the Leup VX-3 4.5-14x50mm on multiple rifles, and will leave that on her 7mm/338 for plains game, with the 1-6x going on the heavy rifle for cape buffalo.
Right now, I'm not planning on any additional recoil lugs on these rifles, as I've had two Ruger Mark II's in heavy calibers (458 Lott and .416 Rigby) that did just fine with only the infamous Ruger factory cast recoil lug. I DO, however, intend to bed with Devcon Steel or maybe Devcon titanium, with an ample bedding depth for strength.
I do plan to add two "magnum cross bolts" to the stock, one behind the recoil lug, and one through the trigger bridge. I'll also be stealing ol' Larry Potterfield's trick from his "safari rifle" build on their youtube page, and reinforcing the stock grip-neck. I've broken two stocks in my life and ruined hunting trips, and I'd dang sure hate to have one break on the other side of the world. Probably unnecessary, but sure won't hurt anything either.
Since you mentioned Mauser type's, I'll also mention that I also have a CZ550 action sitting on the shelf waiting for a 416 Rigby barrel - apparently I had money burning a hole in my pocket and was placing a big order at Brownells, so I couldn't help myself! Can't fit a Rigby in a Ruger long action, and I miss having one in the safe.
I should have the barrels from Shilen by mid-summer, then I'll do the finish fitting on the stocks for the sight alignments and scopes, before the fitting stock goes out for duplication. Hoping to have them put together and roaring fire sometime around spring/early summer of 2016.