Having been fortunate enough to be around a multitude of firearms in my military, professional shooting, and overseas contracting careers, as well as writing for RECOIL, I can say I have never after seeing it, wanted another man’s rifle. This all changed on the cold side of a mountain in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho during an epic elk hunt.
This unknown lust is the fault of none other than RECOIL’S own Iain Harrison. He had the brilliant idea of conducting a Lewis-and-Clark level expedition, which comprised of flying into the Frank Church, hand inflating two white water rafts — which he did not help with at all — and then rafting down the Salmon river through class III and IV rapids for days while setting up spike camps to look for elk. Mr. Harrison also loves long walks straight up the mountain sides for hours in the dark to enjoy a cup of tea, and to see his “friends” suffer.
During this epic elk hunt, I packed my SIG Cross chambered in .308 that has a custom Helix 6 18-inch barrel and shoots hand loads out to 600 yards without issue. I assumed the Cross was an excellent choice for this style of western backpack hunting due to its folding stock, overall light weight, and accuracy with the aftermarket Helix 6 barrel.
After all, we all know “ounces equal pounds” and according to Iain “kilometers equal miles.” I spent a lot of time dialing in my hand loads for my Cross prior to this hunt. I knew the rifle’s performance in and out, and I was very excited to take it on its first hunt, especially one of this epic magnitude.
But little did I know, I was about to have something happen to me that has never occurred in my life. As I mentioned above, I have had the benefit of shooting almost every firearm in the SOCOM inventory from small arms, to the Dillon M134D, and even a 40mm and 105mm out of an AC-130 gunship. One would think being exposed to this level and variation of awesomeness would satisfy a man’s thirst for firearms, to be happy and complete with his one favorite, and to never look at another man’s rifle with inappropriate looks or thoughts.
Mr. Harrison’s gun defied this logic and caused me to feel something I had never felt before — lust for another man’s rifle. Please keep in mind, we were stuck together in the middle of nowhere for days on end, so I knew if I attempted to cheat on my Cross with Iain’s rifle that both he and my rifle would know, so I kept it cool in the raft, around the campfires, and while hiking for hours on end.
I never mentioned how enamored I was by his rifle’s sleek lines, slim profile, and powerful yet exotic caliber that was much better looking and better performing than my SIG Cross. Finally, in a moment of weakness, I broke down and had to inquire as to what his rifle was all about, and he told me. Once I received all the information, I did what any man and good friend would do. I went and got my own with one slight upgrade (because you always one-up your friends).
The lesser-known .284 Winchester caliber has been around since 1963. It was originally designed for short-action Model 88 lever-action rifles as well as the Model 100 semi-auto. It never gained popularity and was essentially forgotten about and the rifles were discontinued. Its main limiting factor was the fact that it was a short action chambering, which limits its power and penetration capabilities. What man wants those qualities in his rifle? As it turns out, Harrison did.
He found a wildcat variant called the .284 Shehane, which allows for a little more powder in each round for his short-action model to perform slightly better than the original .284 Winchester. The .284 is one of the few calibers that reloaders have figured out works in short action, medium action (for example, the Mauser M98), and long action configurations.
So, what does a good friend do when his hunting partner admits to having a short action? Yes, you guessed it, you go and build the longest action you can find, and you let him know about it’s power and penetration capabilities compared to his much much shorter action that has less powder and felt recoil.
Almost immediately upon returning to an area with cell service, I started my build with the MDT HNT 26 chassis. The chassis is a magnesium alloy rifle stock with a carbon-fiber forend, pistol grip and a foam-filled buttstock. I knew this was the perfect starting point for my build, considering this is the exact same stock that Iain had for his build.
I opted for the folding stock option, which weighs in at 34 ounces, but also adds the ability to fold your rifle stock on the side of your pack when hunting and for ease of transport. The barrel is a custom-ordered Patriot Valley Arms carbon Osprey Barrel Works 18-inch 1:8 twist chambered in .284 Winchester. I opted for the Timney HIT trigger due to its lifetime warranty and the fact that it is heat treated to 56 Rockwell and has a NP-3 plated sear.
These qualities, plus its ease of end user adjustability, make it a great option for hunting in any condition. In order to keep our relationship quiet, I opted for the new lightweight Nosler SR-30K suppressor. The K-can, named after the German word “Kurz,” meaning short (insert another joke here about Iain’s short action), weighs only 7.2 ounces and averages a noise reduction level of 21dB.
It is ideal for lightweight builds but is not made for sustained rates of fire, and Nosler openly admits that about this suppressor, so if that is an issue for you, please be aware of that limiting factor with the K-can. To top off the build, I decided to mount the 4.5-22×50 FFP Vortex Razor LHT (Light Hunter Tactical) with the XLR-2 Reticle, which weighs in at 21.7 ounces. The optic was designed for hunters, and its light weight, magnification range and reticle were perfect for what I was going for.
Finally, in order to show Mr. Harrison how to properly do something correctly, I decided using a short action was obviously inadequate, a medium action was, well, mediocre at best, and that the only way to ensure he received the message was to go with the same .284 Winchester caliber but in the long action. This was easily done by contacting Defiance Machine in Columbia Falls, Montana.
I asked them what they thought would send the most blatant message to Mr. Harrison, and they suggested the only option was the Defiance anTi-X, which uses pre-hardened 416R stainless for the receiver and a 4340 chrome-moly bolt and comes in at only 24.4 ounces. Did I mention it’s a long action?
Like the Timney trigger, the MDT chassis, and the PVA barrel, the Defiance action is the perfect tool for hard use in austere outdoor conditions. Additionally, by going with the longer action, I was able to “load ’em long” similar to F-class world championship shooters that use the .284 or variations of the round to include the .284 Shehane and the 6.5-284.
After testing several loads and using the Garmin Xero C1, my PVA barrel and I finally agreed on the Barnes 139-grain LRX seated in Peterson brass. Using CCI large rifle primers and 58.0 grains of 6.5 Staball, I was averaging 3,175 fps out of the 18-inch barrel with the Nosler K-can and shooting .75 MOA groups at 100 yards. Take that short action, Iain! The overall rifle weight came in at a lovely 8 pounds and 4 ounces including the optic, suppressor, and Spartan Precision M-LOK adapter for their line of carbon-fiber bipods and tripods.
Knowing I have bested my friend and fulfilled my dream of building an amazing long-range, lightweight hunting rifle, I now sleep easier at night. I have an amazing rifle, a very capable hunting round, and I also know that he knows my action is much much longer than his. Overall, I can honestly say I have the perfect hunting rifle, that is until he mentioned overall barrel length and how it enhances performance. @recoilboss always wins.
Read the full article here
