Anyone build their own custom bolt rifle? Interested to start picking up pieces to put one together and wondering if it as easy as I read. With the available actions and prefit barrels it doesn't seem any harder than putting together an AR. Want to go light and portable for hunting out west. Something that folds up to put in my pack when needed.

Carbon fiber barrel
Lightweight folding chassis
Custom action (Rem 700 based)

Any recommendations?

If you buy the action and barrel already put together, then you just need a torque screw driver to set it in the chassis. Buying barrel and action separate puts getting head spacing right into the equation. Pretty simple if option A. Option B adds a layer.

I bought a old Savage 223 and had the action cerakoted. Then I replaced the barrel with a 6x45 pre fit. I had to buy a couple tools and a set of go/no-go gauges. Great little rifle for the cost of a couple tools and a barrel.

Would love to step it up to a $$$ build once I get a kid out of college. Been eying the 6GT.

Proof barrel
MDT HNT26 chassis

Pretty easy to do with a Tikka, and you have a functional gun while waiting for new parts.

I'd skip the carbon barrel unless you want to pay more for looks. I have one, my next will be normal stainless steel. My carbon 6 barrel doesn't shoot any better than the stock Tikka barrel did.

I've done a few. I really like Terminus Zeus QD actions. I also have an Impact that's great but like the short bolt throw on the Terminus.

Proof CF barrel
Trigger tech diamond trigger
Manners hunter or McMillan Gane warden stock
For folding Chassis MDT, MPA or XLR
Hawkins Bottom metal
https://www.instagram.com/p/DA7M3t6P1U1/?igsh=MWg1bGN3YmtranJxcg==
https://www.instagram.com/p/ChF9hpjvtCy/?igsh=MXM3Ymg4N2FnNzd6cw==

suburban cowboy said:

---

Proof carbon barrel
MDT HNT26 chassis

---

And a Lone Peak Fuzion Ti
+ Triggertech Diamond

I have built three a 22cm and 6.5 PRC bath on aero solus actions and a 7PRC o a Zermatt action. It is very easy to do so long as you get an action that takes pre-fit barrels!

Yep, planned to use a Remington 700 clone that takes prefit barrels. Several options out there, just difficult to pick without them in hand. Mack Brothers Element is catching my eye with a Proof barrel. I like the XLR Element and MDT HNT26.

How do you like the Aero action? I've read some mixed reviews around but they have solid pricing.

https://northlandshooterssupply.com/

I like these guys. They carry Zermatt/Big Horn, Savage and Aero actions. Good barrels too. And tools.

Should be some good deals coming up on Black Friday. I put this one together as a lightweight rifle a few years ago.

Lone peak razor action
Straight jacket armory prefit CF proof barrel
Trigger tech special trigger
Element Mg folding stock

How did you pick the action manufacturer? Bunch of choices that all seem comparable. Only two main things I can think of are integrated recoil lug and lightweight. Even with those you have about a +- $500 variance.

OP, what is your definition of "light," and is the ability to fold the buttstock your primary goal? The reason I ask is because no chassis will ever be as light as the lightest of the CF composite 1pc (non-folding) stocks. So, if lightness is the most important goal, you will probably have to sacrifice the folding stock option, unless there is a folding stock weighing less than 20 oz out there I'm not aware of. The lightest folding chassis I'm aware of will weigh in the neighborhood of 26-32 oz, whereas you can get non-folding stocks as light as 16-18 oz.

Also, keep in mind that CF barrels are mainly just for looks. They are lighter ONLY when compared to all steel barrels of the same diameter. A light #1 profile all steel barrel and even some #2 profile all steel barrels are lighter than any of the CF barrels because they start with a steel core blank that is around #1 profile in the center portion of the blank and then add CF wrap around it. As light as CF is, you are still adding material to the same basic diameter blank as you can get without CF, which anyway you slice it, adds weight. It does add stiffness to a light steel contour, which may or may not improve grouping ability. I have a few CF wrapped barrels. I've not seen any better accuracy out of them than a quality skinny steel barrel gives me. Contrary to hype, it does not make your barrel cool faster either. Bottom line, it's mainly a cosmetic thing. I love the look of CF as much as anyone, but on barrels, the benefits are way overstated. The only thing you can really count on CF wrap doing is look cool and lighten your wallet.

I built a stupid light rifle with the goal of trying to build the lightest bolt action I could. It consisted of a Pierce Engineering all-titanium action with a Lilja #1 contour 18" barrel in a Brown "Pound'r" Kevlar stock, Vortex Razor LH 1.5-8x32 scope (12 oz, discontinued) and S&K mounts. I built it with blind magazine to further reduce a few oz. The rifle with scope weighs a shade over 5lbs. The lightest rig you can build with any chassis will be at least 6.5 lbs.

Ultra light isn't necessarily my goal or I'd buy one of the current Ti offerings off the shelf. I am looking for portability while hiking with it out west. Something to ideally put in my bag and forget it is there. Sub 8 lbs or so and the folding stock.

I built this rifle during Covid so part of it was what was available at the time. Lone peak also has a reputation as being super smooth and I wanted something lightweight and stainless steel so this fit the bill. I love the action and anyone who's ever cycled it has commented on how smooth it is.

My rifle above is 7.875 lbs without the scope and 9.6 lbs with the scope so definitely could build something lighter if you wanted but I find this one portable and would highly recommend the folding action.

As far as other actions to chose from there's quite a few. Defiance makes several different ones with a wide price range and another one that caught my eye in the past was Falkor. The easiest thing to do would be to buy a barreled action unless you already have a barrel vice and headspace gauge.

Here's a list of some barreled actions available:
https://straightjacketarmory.com/product-category/barreled-actions/

As mentioned above the carbon fiber barrel doesn't really do anything special apart from look cool. It does allow you to have the larger 5/8" thread if you want to run a suppressor vs a comparable weight stainless steel sorter barrel which may require you to get a 1/2" to 5/8" adapter (not a big deal).

My suggestion, if price is no object (which is usually not the case): Defiance AnTi, or Pierce SkeleTi action (both have headspace held to within .001" or so for pretreated barrels) in an XLR "Atom" magnesium chassis w/folding stock mechanism, Smoke Composites CF buttstock, CF grip, any quality barrel maker's lightest contour pre-fit barrel in 18-20" length, TriggerTech Special or Diamond trigger, with a scope weighing 16 oz or less. This should give you an all-up weight of around 7 lbs and will be about the lightest, most compact chassis rifle possible. Notice I said lightest possible, certainly not least expensive. But ultimate weight reduction comes at a price.