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A few months ago, I purchased a Remington 700 LTR, chambered in 223. It came from the factory with a 20" barrel and had a H&S Precision stock. It was a nice rifle that the previous owner had taken care of.
However, I already had a 20" 223 bolt action. So this new to me Remington 700 was just begging to be changed up a bit.
I called Alex @Vernonia MW and enlisted his help. Within a few days, we were in his shop, kicking around ideas of what to do with this thing. And the idea of cutting the original barrel to 14.5" and pinning/welding a Surefire brake came up. I had never owned a bolt action that short, but the idea was intriguing. After some back and forth, it was decided - a super shorty it was gonna be.
Alex set to work on the factory barrel - cutting, crowning, and threading the muzzle. Then he timed the Surefire brake by taking a tiny bit of material off the shoulder. I have no idea what kinda black magic math he does to figure out the amount of material to remove, but the brake is indexed perfectly.
Next he focused on the bolt knob. The factory Remington knob was replaced with an aluminum knob that he turned himself. Way better feel than the tiny factory one from Remington. Then the factory trigger was swapped out for a new Triggertech Special. Again, much better feel than the factory unit.
Finally, he went to work on the factory stock, adding an Area 419 Arca rail and a Victor Co. stackable cheek rest. As usual, running a thermal on a bolt action typically results in at least one, if not two colossal pains in the butt. Either the LOP is too long and/or the optic sits too high. As much as I wanted to make it work, the LOP was just too long with the H&S stock. This issue was solved by placing an order with Manners Stocks for one of their CS2 models. The adjustable LOP is perfect for getting the proper eye relief with the Super Hogster that I mounted up.
In the end, I couldn't be happier with the changes that were made to this rifle.This thing shoots as good as it looks. A 10-shot group of Nosler 60gr Ballistic Tip handloads results in one ragged hole at 100 yards.
Lastly, a huge thank you to Alex at Vernonia Machine Works. His level of skill and attention to detail are second to none. Can't wait for him to start to work on my next build.
However, I already had a 20" 223 bolt action. So this new to me Remington 700 was just begging to be changed up a bit.
I called Alex @Vernonia MW and enlisted his help. Within a few days, we were in his shop, kicking around ideas of what to do with this thing. And the idea of cutting the original barrel to 14.5" and pinning/welding a Surefire brake came up. I had never owned a bolt action that short, but the idea was intriguing. After some back and forth, it was decided - a super shorty it was gonna be.
Alex set to work on the factory barrel - cutting, crowning, and threading the muzzle. Then he timed the Surefire brake by taking a tiny bit of material off the shoulder. I have no idea what kinda black magic math he does to figure out the amount of material to remove, but the brake is indexed perfectly.
Next he focused on the bolt knob. The factory Remington knob was replaced with an aluminum knob that he turned himself. Way better feel than the tiny factory one from Remington. Then the factory trigger was swapped out for a new Triggertech Special. Again, much better feel than the factory unit.
Finally, he went to work on the factory stock, adding an Area 419 Arca rail and a Victor Co. stackable cheek rest. As usual, running a thermal on a bolt action typically results in at least one, if not two colossal pains in the butt. Either the LOP is too long and/or the optic sits too high. As much as I wanted to make it work, the LOP was just too long with the H&S stock. This issue was solved by placing an order with Manners Stocks for one of their CS2 models. The adjustable LOP is perfect for getting the proper eye relief with the Super Hogster that I mounted up.
In the end, I couldn't be happier with the changes that were made to this rifle.This thing shoots as good as it looks. A 10-shot group of Nosler 60gr Ballistic Tip handloads results in one ragged hole at 100 yards.
Lastly, a huge thank you to Alex at Vernonia Machine Works. His level of skill and attention to detail are second to none. Can't wait for him to start to work on my next build.
