Sawtooth Rifles #66 .338 Lapua Color Selection

Finished Rifle - Sawtooth Rifles #66 .338 Lapua
Stiller Tac 338 Single Shot
McMillan A5-Adjustable Woodland Spectre
Bartlein 1.35 Rem Varmint Finished at 30" 1:9.3 twist
Piercision 4 Port Slabbed Brake
Jewell Trigger'
PTG Trigger Guard
Nightforce 5.5-22x56 Moar
Nightforce Ultralight Rights
Vortex Low Profile Bubble Level
Magpul Flat Dark Earth Cerakote
Atlas PSR Tall BT47-LW17 Bipod

Blending in, near some southern Idaho sage and dry grass.

Below are pictures of the McMillan A5 Stock in Woodland Specter, after filling the barrel channel to match the smaller profile.  Rifle: Sawtooth Rifles #66 .338 Lapua on a Stiller Tac338 Single Shot.

Shades of tan and brown Cerakote samples.  The Desert Sand (square plate on left) closely matches the tan in the stock.

Colors that combine the green and tans - Field Drab on left, Foliage Green on right (closely matches the foliage color in the stock)

The Cerakote colors that closely match the McMillan Woodland Specter colors.  L-R - Desert Sand, Mil Spec OD Green, Magpul Foliage Green

Sniper Grey (L) and Armor Black (R)

Sawtooth Rifles #55/56/57 Cerakoted in Magpul Flat Dark Earth, with our custom mixed pattern on the stock. An example of our original color plan.  Our plan was to go with a bit less black on the stock shadowing.

 

Sawtooth Rifles #62 with the same stock pattern, and Mil Sped OD Green Cerakote.

McMillan Woodland Spectre mocked up with a Magpul Flat Dark Earth Cerakoted barrel action.

McMillan Woodland Spectre mocked up with a Magpul Foliage Green Cerakoted barreled action.

Magpul Foliage Green Ceracote vs McMillan Woodland Spectre

Cerakote Examples - Armor Black

Cerakote - Armor Black

Armor Black is a great Cerakote color to fit the needs of those wanting a matte black.  It never looks out of place on a firearm and matches black anodized aluminum well.

Armor Black has a slight greyish tint, and isn't as dark or glossy as Graphite Black, but is blacker than Sniper Grey.

Armor Black looks great with most other colors and wood.  It is also a good color to use as a contrasting color on small parts with a different color on the larger parts.  We also like to use Armor Black as a shadow color in our camouflage patterns.

A Ruger Redhawk refinished with Armor Black.  The cylinder, trigger assembly, and hammer were left polished stainless.

A Springfield Ultra Compact 1911 finished in Armor Black (frame) and Sniper Grey (slide, grips, and small parts)

A Remington 870 Express given a new life with Armor Black

An even bigger Ruger Redhawk with Armor Black on the main components.

A Sig Sauer P225 refinished in Armor Black

Some aftermarket Bushmaster ACR forend parts in Federal Standard and Armor Black.  These are available from Argonauts Reincorporated at http://www.argonautsreinc.com/

Build #1: .22-250 Rem Varmint Barrel for a Savage 110

Sawtooth Rifles - Build #1:  .22-250 Remington Varmint Barrel for a Savage 110.

Spec's:

Action:  Savage 110
Barrel Blank:  Adams and Bennett, .224 Cal, 1:12", CM, F54 contour, finished at 26"
Stock:  Bell and Carlson DuraMaxx
Bottom Metal:  Savage Metal trigger guard
Trigger:  Tuned Savage non-accutrigger
Rings/Bases:  Leupold
Optic:  Leupold VX-III 6.5-20 x40, 30mm tube, Varmint Hunter Reticle
Finish, Metal:  Armor Black Cerakote (barrel only)
Finish, Stock:  B&C factory finish

For our first barrel job, we talked a good friend into trying out a new barrel on his Savage 110.  His factory Savage was a sporter weight .22-250 Remington so he wanted to stick with the .22-250 to allow testing with his current components and handloading equipment.  We sourced an Adams and Bennett F54 blank for the job.  This is an economic blank that gets good reviews, and the F54 is fairly similar to a Remington Varmint profile.  For this build, we simply machined the barrel blank to fit the Savage action as it was, and sent the finished barrel to our friend to install and test.

The first step in preparing the blank for a Savage was to turn down the diameter of the tang end of the barrel to the dimensions required for the Savage.  The tang was left oversized of the savage thread, so it could be turned  down further later when it could be aligned by the bore.

The barrel blank set up in a collet chuck, supported by the tailstock.

Turning down the tang of the barrel blank.

The barrel was then set up with spider chucks on each end and aligned with the bore true to the lathe's axis.   The outside diameter of the tenon was then turned to the thread's required dimensions and then the tenon was threaded and test fit to another Savage action.

Alignment of the chamber end of the barrel blank.

Threading the barrel tenon.

Testing the thread fit on another Savage action.

With the thread fit satisfactory, it was time to cut the chamber.  The finishing reamer was used to cut the chamber to the proper depth.  On the Savage rifle, the final headspace is set using the barrel nut to lock the barrel into the receiver at the proper depth.

Initiating the chamber reaming process.

Checking the chamber depth with a depth micrometer and the GO-gauge.

The barrel was then swapped end for end in the lath and a varmint/target style crown was cut after aligning the end of the bore true to the lathe's axis.

Target crown cut on the opposite end of the barrel.

Comparison of the finished barrel and similar blank, chamber end.

Finished barrel and a similar blank, crown end.

The chrome-moly barrel was then finished with Cerakote, in Armor Black and sent to our "customer" who installed it on his rifle to see how we did.  I doubt we are going to get it back ;)

Finished barrel, with Armor Black Cerakote applied.

Barrel #1 installed on the Savage rifle.

Range Day!

Five shots - just under 1/2 MOA on the first day.  Not bad for the first build on its first day at the range.

Keywords:  SR#1, .22-250 Rem, Armor Black