DIY project rifle

Well on Black Friday I picked up a Remington 700 varmint in 22-250 for around $450 bucks. I'm really not a fan of long barrels and since this rifle was sporting a 26" heavy contour barrel , something had to be done. I hunt a lot out of trees, brush and out of my truck while driving senderos at the ranch. A short compact maneuverable rifle is ideal for the conditions I hunt in, and I'm a sucker for short heavy barrels. I ordered an 11 degree crowning tool along with the proper collet and arbor from midway.



I took my rifle and since I don't have a barrel vise I used my Tipton gun vise and strapped it in. I also taped off the areas where the finish of the rifle may be scuffed.





I used a hose clamp at the desired length of 18" to keep the blade of my sawzall somewhat true. Then I cut the barrel off.



I used a flat file to true and deburr the cut. Then chucked up the crowning tool and slowly cut the new crown using dark thread cutting oil. After some thumb work with sandpaper out from 220 to 800 grit, I was finally satisfied with the look of the rifle and the crown.





While I know that 18" is shorter then most would like. I'm confident that it will suite me fine since I'm only really ever going to shoot out to about 300yds.

That is darn fine work!

I really like my short barrel rifles. I grew up hunting in the thick brush and mountains of West Virginia. Being able to maneuver a rifle through a briar thickets was a great advantage.

Way to take the bull by the horns.

Nice job.

Looks like you did a good job. How much weight did you cut off? And how's the balance now?

I wanna hear a range report of a 22-250 with an 18" barrel. Can you please post the results? That crown looks dang nice sir!

Should have shot for numbers before and after. I think it would have been interesting to see what kind of FPS difference there is.

I say the following in all sincerity and and in the most positive way possible...

Ah, southern engineering at it's finest!!!!

Being an engineer, I feel like some snobby butt wipes I work with forget the heart of engineering is to solve a problem in the most cost effective and technically viable solution as possible given the resources around.
Two giant thumbs up for u. I wish some of the guys I work with had the approacha be mindset u do.

Hey guys the rifle is way more balanced then before with the extra 8". I will weigh the piece I cut off to give a more accurate number as to how much it lightened the rifle. Before cutting the barrel the rifle weight was ridiculous in the front end. The rifle is still not as balanced as I would like, but I'm confident that adding bases, rings, and a 14 variable power scope that it will be just about right.

As for a range report, I'm off Friday and plan to head to the range to sight it in at 200yds using factory hornady soft point 50gr bullets. I will also run some 50gr vmax as well.

Thanks for the compliments fellas!

Good Job! I have the same rifle with the 26" barrel and it shoots 5 shots you can cover with a penny using 50 gr V-max superformance ammo, but like you it is very heavy out at the end. I am very curious to see hoe it shoots being 8" shorter!!!!

Great job and I'm real interested to see the range report. Replacing those cheap factory stocks makes a difference also....It did on my .308 for sure.

tagging in bec i have the same rifle but changed the stock out with a hs. Shoots really good now but i would like to cut it down some.

I'm most interested in what kind if fireball comes out the front of that thing!
As well as accuracy and velocity of course.

I like the ratchet strap gun vise. I'll have to remember that trick.

Looks really good congrats on the chop!

Well today was my first day off so I ran to Jewell in San Marcos and picked up a trigger for $211 out the door, pre tuned to 1lb. Which I installed in about 5 minutes at the range. I was more than pleased with the results out to 100yds achieving .5 MOA or better. I would suggest this modification to anyone who owns one of these rifles and is looking for a more compact version. My rifle shoots sub MOA with both Winchester 45 gr white box as well as hornady 55gr soft point. At 50 yds I was able to cut the same hole in a three shot group, and at 100 I was almost as accurate off of sandbags. I tried to upload pics but am having trouble using tinypic tonight. I will be heading back to the range on Monday to try the rifle at 200 yds. I was using the factory provided bases, warne rings and a Nikon 4.5-14-42 scope.