Long Range Tactical Rifle

Here's something I thought everyone might like to see: I recently finished my first custom sniper rifle build. This one has gone through lots of stages in the past two years, but finally ended up nailed down, albeit much differently than I had in mind from the start! It was originally going to be a wood stocked target gun, but it ended up a tactical rifle...And a great one at that!

Here's the specs:

Caliber: 30-06 Springfield
Action: FN Mauser 98, 1952 production
Barrel: Douglas Air Gauged Premium 26", 1-12" twist, No 7 contour
Bolt: VZ-24 Czech Mauser 98 with forged bent lever and tactical knob
Stock: Bell and Carlson tactical
Optics: Bushnell 4200 Elite 4-16x40mm with adjustible objective and Weaver QD rings
Finish: Walter Birdsong's Black T spray on coating and parkerizing

Lessons learned: Shoulda went with a 1-10" twist on the barrel (one complete turn of the grooves every 10 inches) to stabilize rounds heavier than the 175 grain range.

Special thanks:

Fritz Matti of Matti Fine Arms: Thanks for all the lessons, my friend. Benoit, if you are out there too, you're the man.

Mike Rescigno of Tac Ops: Mike put the awesome texture and paint on that stock for me, installed the bolt knob, and had Walter Birdsong apply his Black T finish, which is simply the best firearms finish I have ever seen anywhere. Big words, but true nonetheless. Mike's shop, Tac Ops, deals with 450 Law and Military organizations across North America, and makes the best tactical sniper rifles in the world. I'd put that claim up against anything else out there.

Mark Lammers of LOSOK Custom Arms: Mark is a police officer/sniper and owner of a custom rifle building company. I really couldn't have gotten this done without his help.

Mel Ewing of Sniper Central: Thanks for the info, advice, and smokin' price on optics, old bud.