Yeti GOBOX Collection

First blood with new custom.

turbobrick

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Messages
568
Location
Carson City, NV
So, last year, @van franke from Plains Precision Firearms was part of a raffle for Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society promoted by @Oak here on HT. I was contemplating a new build and was impressed both with Van’s generosity with his time and money for a good cause, and with the level of work he was consistently turning out.

I’d already started collecting parts for my next attempt at the perfect do everything rifle, and unfortunately, my favorite local gunsmith had recently passed, so I was looking for someone to put it all together.

My last attempt was a Pierce titanium action, HSP stock, 22” Proof barrel, it was great, but I chose the wrong caliber, .260 Remington is awesome, it just doesn’t quite have the horsepower I was after for a do all gun, while it did absolutely hit my weight and length goals.

This time, I was looking for light, short, and powerful. I ordered a blueprinted Model 7 from PTG. They took months to ‘complete’ the action, it arrived with a gaping hole in the receiver for a bolt stop, but with no stop in the hole. I sent it back, and they took even more time to make a bolt stop for it, when it was ‘done’ I sent it right to Van, and he figured out right off the bat that the bolt stop they made didn’t allow full rearward travel of the bolt, and they had helpfully blind pinned the damn thing in.

So I sent it back to them for keeps and ordered a factory Model 7 donor and sent it to Van. He quickly found that this action was so far out of spec he couldn’t even begin to blueprint it. It was then that Van recommended buying a new Defiance Machine AnTi action, they had just came out with a Model 7 footprint receiver. So, I ordered one and we waited.

Finally, it arrived and Van put the thing together, did the break in, and sent it to me in record time. I got to reloading, ran out to the range, got it all zeroed, and was blown away with the gun, it’s amazing. I managed this 9 shot sub MOA group despite mediocre marksmanship and sub-average reloading skills. This is with minimal load development, H4350 and 162gn Absolute Hammers at 3070fps.

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The first hunt after completion, was my wife’s shorter than ears pronghorn tag here in our home state of Nevada. She was nervous and wanted to be able to set up and calm down for a minute before having to shoot, and fortunately mid day on our second day out, after about 6 miles of unsuccessful stalks, I spotted a doe and small buck about 200 yards out.

They were just nervously standing around as pronghorn seem prone to do, but the buck kept getting exactly between us and the doe. My wife sat calmly with the rifle on the Bog Pod Deathgrip, waiting for a clear shot, and finally when they separated, the doe turned broadside at 225 yards, and Shannon dropped the doe in her tracks. This was her first ever harvest, and it was an awesome experience, I was so amped I carried the whole doe back to the truck.

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This is just the start for this rifle, we have three more tags yet this season, it’s going to get a ton of use, and hopefully more successful hunts.

Here are the rifle specs:

Defiance AnTi Model 7 action 300WSM
Proof Research Light Sendero 22”
Manners EH8+ stock
Badger Ordnance M7 bottom metal
Timney Hunter trigger
Talley rings
Vortex Razor LHT
Griffin Armament Sportsman Ultralight can
Weight w/suppressor and magazine: 7.9lbs

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Many thanks to Oak for bringing Van to my attention, and to Van for knowing his craft and having the patience to get this build just right.
 
choice,congrats to your wife on her success with the 300 wsm caliber,,
lots of guys moan n groan about the kick etc
 
choice,congrats to your wife on her success with the 300 wsm caliber,,
lots of guys moan n groan about the kick etc
My wife is tough as nails. She started with .22s but jumped quickly to .30-06, then to 300wm, and has been the only person who shot my Ruger Alaskan in .454 Casull, laughed, and asked for more. Just last week she shot this WSM and my Tikka in WSM to 500 yards. Now granted most of our rifles are suppressed, and that obviously helps with recoil, but I think anyone can shoot any rifle if they are introduced the right way and have the right mindset.
 
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Congratulations to the Mrs. on a sucessful hunt!

My wife doesn't hunt, but enjoys trips to the range from time to time.
Started her off with a 22 Mag bolt rifle.
Found a Rossi R243 heavy barrel single shot for her, which she shot well. But didn't like the break open action for shooting from a bench.
She took over my Stevens 200 in 7mm-08AI.
When the barrel was shot out on that, i traded in the Rossi on a Savage 110FP in 223 Rem for her.
But it doesn't have enough "ompf" for her on long range steel targets.
So she took over my Savage 111 in 7mm Rem Mag as her favorite range rifle.

My daughter on the other hand is rather recoil shy. Started her on 22lr in a Browning semi auto take down. Then the 22 Mag bolt rifle.
She wanted to deer hunt with me, so bought her a 243 Win bolt rifle. She only put 3 rounds out of it & traded it on a bow.
Now she likes shooting my Ruger 77 MKII in 257 Roberts. Then i built her a 7X57 Mauser on a Mauser action. With a purple Boyds AT-One stock. (I feel like i'm going to He** for that)
But she loves it & shoots it.
 
Very cool rifle, I’ve always wanted to do a custom build on a Mod 7 action. Will have to take a serious look at the Anti action.
 
Very cool rifle, I’ve always wanted to do a custom build on a Mod 7 action. Will have to take a serious look at the Anti action.
I'm really pleased, its a very well made action for a reasonable price. I like the integrated recoil lug and side bolt stop/release. Its nice that the 7 is even shorter than a short action 700.
 
Don’t know how I missed this thread. Congrats on the sweet rifle and for having an obviously awesome wife!! My wife went elk hunting with me once and she likes to shoot some but that’s about it.
 
I’ve been working on the load a little more in preparation for my late cow hunt here in NV. The previous load is the 162 Absolute Hammer at 3060fps with H4350. I was able to get the 162s to 3160 with Hodgdon Leverevolution powder. It was grouping sub-MOA at 100 even while trying different loads, so I had high hopes at longer distance.

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Even with my marginal shooting ability, I was able to get consistent sub-MOA 300 yard groups. When I started this build, my goal was to get a much shorter rifle with as little performance loss over my 300wm as possible. My arbitrary number was 3200fps with the 162s and 22” barrel. I think 3160 is the ceiling, and with 300 yard groups like this, I’m ok with that.
 
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