I have a friend who got a Rem 700 SPS in 300 Blackout set up with a Silencerco Harvester, and it's been a great rifle for him. He gave me all of the information (Leupold CDS scope, rifle specs, who built it, etc) and the guy's name, with a warning that the guy was great but very slow.

Contacted the guy up in Wyoming, and he readily agreed to make me a "me too" rifle setup, still had all the information. He buys the scope and shoots the rifle to provide precise information for the folks at Leupold, which is why I wanted him to do the work. Yes, I can do it but I don't have the time energy or inclination to try it and attempt to get it as good as a pro does. Armed with the knowledge that it was all moving forward, I ordered a can (not a Harvester, folks here steered me to the Silencerco Hybrid), which is still in prison. Fortunately for me, I had not given him any funds at this point, though I'd approved a written estimate.

Flash forward to this week, and I find out that said gunsmith is apparently off the reservation, nobody can reach him and he isn't returning calls.

All of that to say, I am looking for a very skilled guy who I can buy the rifle and scope from (or alternatively, ship to him/her if that isn't the way they do things) and get the whole setup shooting like my buddy's gun. I'm sure there are a plethora of folks capable, but I don't know them, and really don't want to take a chance on providing box ballistic data and getting a turret back that sucks....

Anyone got the perfect candidate?

seekins,
https://www.seekinsprecision.com/
clark custom,
https://clarkcustomguns.com/
They come to mind. Honestly. Why don't you give it a whirl. Since your can is in the slammer for x number of months more. Take your time and do the work your self. If it comes to something like bedding, or blueing. Look for a regional guy that can.

4th option
https://www.silencershop.com/f...ncio-hunter-30.html/

Customizing a rifle based on the Remy 700 platform is something many 'smiths can do. Almost certainly you have a few within easy driving distance of your home. I don't feel it's necessary to ship a rifle half way across the country to a special 'smith, especially for a 300blk build. To be honest, the blackout isn't the long-distance uber-accurate chamber that only the talented few can build.

If you really need a specialist for the build, you should have the following items in the bag:
- The 700 action would be trued (blueprinted, squared) by the 'smith.
- You'd probably throw away all the other parts of the rifle.
- You would know the load you wanted to shoot -- the type of bullet, the charge, and the length of the cartridge.
- You'd have the 'smith start with a blank barrel and cut the chamber to your specific load.
- You wouldn't be looking for a CDS dial on the scope. It would likely be a first focal plane scope, and you'd have ballistics tables for your bullet flight.

I'm guessing you just want an accurate and fun rifle, as close as possible to the one your buddy owns. Fair enough, that's a reasonable request. So....what to do?

You should locate and purchase the rifle you want. Few 'smiths will do this for a Remy 700. In the event you do have a 'smith that will provide this service, he will likely ask for money up front from you. I know one 'smith who will buy parts for me up front, but it's because I did a bunch of business with him. I suspect he does this only for a very limited number of clients.

Once the rifle is completed, you can obtain the information Leupold needs for the CDS. You should have at least 100 rounds shot through the barrel first, then obtain the rifle's muzzle velocity for chosen round. If you don't have a chronograph for the MV, find a buddy and borrow his.

Then contact Leupold for CDS info on the scope you purchased. They will want muzzle velocity, type of bullet, scope-over-bore height, and your normal altitude/temperature/pressure (or just Density Altitude). Understand that if you shoot a different type of bullet, with a different muzzle velocity, at different air densities -- the CDS may, or may not, remain accurate.

Let me guess: The guy in Wyoming was Ryan Kelsey of Diablo Custom Rifles?

I keep coming back to this thread. Other than saying that your friend thinks his rifle is great, you don't say what kind of loads he's using, target results, ranges, purpose of his rifle etc.

It's pretty easy to obtain a Remington 700 in .300 AAC, or a Ruger, or probably three or four others I don't know about. If you really have to have one built, I've had two very reputable builders tell me that the latest Remington 700 actions (the actions; not necessarily the rifles) are very good. Squaring the action should be part of the barreling job; if the builder acts like it's an option, go somewhere else. Blueprinting is a term that is often used by snake oil salesmen. You can save time by going out in your backyard and burning some money. Find a good barrel and trigger, pick a stock, and have it put together.

I really think that the Leupold with CDS is one of the last scopes I would pick for a .300-221 Fireball/ .300 Whisper/ .300 AAC Blackout. If your sure you're going to be shooting the same bullet weight at the same velocity, go for it. If you ARE going to, I'm not sure why you want a Blackout. Part of the cartridge's attraction is ability to handle lighter supersonics (I like the 125 grain Partition) or heavy bullet subsonics that are nice and quiet. In either case, 150 yards is a realistic max range when shooting at game, so I don't think a CDS dial is that great a tool. (I guess there may be some weird benchrest game I don't know about.)

My brother's Ruger Ranch is an easy MOA with both supersonics and subsonics that's taken both black bear and deer (with supersonics). I'm sitting here with a few hundred handloads and a case of the ass because Ruger doesn't seem to want to make any more Blackout conversion kits for the SR-556!

I'm not understanding why you want to build a full on custom around the 300 BLK. BTW I have an AR in this caliber and think it's a great caliber for shorter ranges. I also know that my rifle will shoot a bit under 1 MOA at 100 yards using a cheap gun show scope on a Burris QD mount. BTW, my primary use is using it with iron sights at 100 yards or less because shooting with irons is a skill that requires regular practice.

I also know that the practical limit for the 300 BLK is 200-250 yards if you are shooting supersonic and probably around 100 yards if you are shooting subsonic. Yeah, I know, the 300 BLK will shoot a lot longer than these ranges. Keep in mind that with supersonic loads your stating velocity is in the 2200 fps range unless you are loading right at peak pressure where you might gain another 200 fps with a reduction in accuracy. Take a 125 grain bullet with only 2200 fps at the muzzle and beyond 200 yards you will start to see rainbow trajectories. With subsonic loads you'll start to see the rainbow effect at 100 yards. So, how skilled are you at estimating the aim point when you are using just 4 feet of holdover? Thus my Practical Limit statement. At these ranges I don't think you will see any gains at all spending north of 3000 dollars for a custom build. I'll also note that as someone who actually builds loads for the 300 BLK I can state from actual experience that my 2200 fps hand loads are at least 70% more accurate than Remington's 125 grain 2400 fps screamers.

Throw in a 3-9 scope from a quality maker for somewhere around 300 bucks and you will have a perfectly usable rifle for around 1000 bucks. Note you can currently purchase a Remington 700 SPS in 300 Blackout for under 700 bucks. There, I just saved you something between 2000 and 10,000 dollars.