The sooper dooper pig 300wsm project thread

[dannyb]

Starting this thread for my latest project....if i can't sell "the one" I'm sure gonna have fun changing it up and modding it.
First a little history.
Started life as a 270wsm which i had already modded with a stug stock, finnlight barrel, fluted bolt, javelin bipod, flush mount and a Greystone titanium brake.
Pictured below



I shot my first stag with that rifle and accounted for a lot of venni, for reasons not even known to myself i sold it to @hillclima and he looked after her so i could pursue several other "the one's".....fast forward another year or so and i have owned some smashing rigs but had always felt a little empty about selling my original "the one"
I'd told hillclima if he ever sold my old Sako I wanted first option to buy it back and over the course of his ownership i had made a couple of half arsed dreamer enquiries to buy it back.
Then one day outta the blue he messaged me and said he wasn't using my old Sako and was seriously considering moving it on....
Well I had literally only weeks earlier taken possession of yet another "the one" Benelli Lupo and got a load developed but the pangs i felt knowing i may miss out on buying my old Sako back and risk loosing her forever was too much to bear.
Negotiations were made and hillclima the gent that he is agreed to give me a few weeks to offload the Lupo so i could buy back the Sako.
Mission successful after a couple of weeks that seemed like years i had my Sako back home and set about checking loads and a little quick load development due to adding a suppressor as the muzzle brake was really anti-social especially when hunting with mates.
I also added an atlasworx bolt shroud, alloy bottom metal, contessa 20moa rail and lightweight ringsto further customize the rifle to my liking.
Pictured below not long after getting her back.





Unfortunately although adding the suppressor made it much more socially acceptable to shoot with mates around it totally ruined the balance of the rifle and made it a bit of a pig to drag around hanging off the end of s 24" barrel.....hmm pig there's an idea.....
So the next evolution began first by sourcing a 300wsm barrel as "one does not shorten a 270wsm" no matter what @Micky Duck says
I happened to have a brand new unfired tikka 300wsm barrel fall into my lap so the evolution began.
I did a bit of homework around how short you could chop a 300wsm and still have a rifle more than capable by some margin of being sn ethical 500y rifle on large red deer.
Soon enough i settled on 19" and decided i would give 200gn eldx the thumbs up as even at moderate speed i am told they h8t like the hammer of Thor and after crunching some numbers i figure somewhere in the vicinity of 2600-2750 fps should be realistically achievable.
Next port of call, contact Zac at North Canterbury Gunsmithing and run my plans by him and get the ok to drop all the bits to him for fitting chopping and a slight tweak to the chamber, also asked Zac to mill the edge of the Contessa rail as the ejected cases where hitting it and falling back into the chamber.
A week later Zac has got all the work done and i have my "the one" back in my custody. I quickly made a DIY cheek rest as the rail sat the scope up a little high for a good cheek weld.
Pics of rifle as returned to me by Zac.



TBC....