My new McKillop/West .17 Remington

204 Ruger

Well-Known Member
Well I finally took delivery of my new .17 Remington. Action-Rebarrel by Neil Mckillop and Stock by Joe West. Neil has really made a fantastic job of the action and barrel work with Joe adding the finishing touches with the tactical laminate stock. I basically bought a Tikka M595 SS in .222, had it sent to Neil to have a PAC-NOR
barrel fitted. Fortunately Neil had the barrel in stock which is a heavy varmint 1:9 twist 3 groove PAC-NOR barrel, I decided on 24 inch. After completing the work Neil had the action and barrel vapour blasted so it now looks identical. He also added an invisible thread cover to finish and dressed the bolt up for me. Having not seen the original rifle or any of the component parts prior to receiving it I was in Neil's hands and I can honestly say he hasn't let me down in any way, its stunning.


Neil had the rifle shipped to Joe so that Joe could fit the new stock to the rifle perfectly. I have to say that the stock was perfect, perfect inlet, fully floated. Considering the stock is unfinished when you receive it, it still looked great and although Joe advises to give it a good close look over up against the light to find any marks etc, I found very few. The finishing process was simple even for me and the instructions and kit that Joe sent were very easy to follow. The final result is stunning, looks fantastic.


Now just waiting for my new scope to arrive so I can go and test it....Bullets are ready and waiting....Lets hope its shoots as well as it looks. Ill update with results once I get chance to get out.

 
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That looks a cracker hope it shoots as good as it looks you must be over the moon with it
the work looks excellent .
the stock is very similar thats going on my custom 20 tac
enjoy your new toy and keep us posted on how you get on
regards pete .
 
Neil's work is exceptional. You'll be delighted with that, I'm sure.
​What scope is going on it?
 
That looks a cracker hope it shoots as good as it looks you must be over the moon with it the work looks excellent . the stock is very similar thats going on my custom 20 tac enjoy your new toy and keep us posted on how you get on regards pete .
Thanks Pete, yes very happy with it. Are you having a stock from Joe?
 
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Bullets ready and waiting? A custom rifle deserves home loaded ammo. You know it makes sense. Great looking tool though :thumb:
 
Bullets ready and waiting? A custom rifle deserves home loaded ammo. You know it makes sense. Great looking tool though :thumb:

Absolutely :) I made some to standard OAL weeks ago( trying N133)....ill use them to bed it in and get scope set up. Made some more over weekend much closer to the lands
 
what bullets you using ?
im also using vit but 130
regards pete .


i have made some 20g Vmax and 25g Vmax but looking at the ballistics I think I'll stick with 25g if they shoot well. On e I get a load that works ill probably give the Bergers a try too.
 
Oh go on then, as it's you bring it over, i'll give you a few lessons on how to shoot it,i'll only charge you £75 an hour plus ammo, how's that sound?

Tikkat3
 
Neil's a top bloke and an excellent rifle smith.

I'm sure you'll be very happy with how it shoots.

 
​Well I ventured out in the heavy winds for a couple of hours, managed to miss the rain though so that as a bonus. Tested the loads on he Chrony first(with safety glasses on!!!!). Results as follows:

Remmy brass trimmed to 1.790", CCI BR4 primers, 25g Vmax bullets, OAL 2.249" (10 thou off lands),






21g N133: 3787ft/sec, 3794 ft/sec, 3780 ft/sec. Average: 3787 ft/sec
21.5g N133: 3941ft/sec, 3953ft/sec, 3959 ft/sec. Average: 3951 ft/sec
21.7g N133( stated as max load), 3958 ft/sec, 3987 ft/sec, 3974 ft/sec.Average: 3973 ft/sec
22g N133 3994 ft/sec, 3989 ft/sec, 3968 ft/sec. Average: 3983 ft/sec
22.2g N133: 4032 ft/sec, 4016 ft/sec, 4026 ft/sc. Average: 4024 ft/sec
22.5g N133: 4041 ft/sec, 4046 ft/sec, 4061 ft/sec. Average: 4049 ft/sec
22.8g N133: 4122 ft/sec, 4104 ft/sec, 4112 ft/sec. Average: 4113 ft/sec
23g N133: 4142 ft/sec, 4222 ft/sec, 4187 ft/sec. Average: 4184 ft/sec.......HOT HOT HOT


I realise I've pushed the limits here so please don't try this unless you have taken precautions like I did. I never had any pressure signs what so ever, I've even taken out all of the primers and checked inside for stress, again no issues. I'll check hem again IF the weather gets warmer but recon ill stop at 23g . The HOT HOT HOT loads grouped really well(5 shots inside 1cm with 3 of them in one elongated hole) considering the wind was blowing the hell out of me but I ran out of them to check at 200 yards. I did however have more of the 21.5 grain loads so shot them at 200 and got sub 1 inch which I was happy with considering the wind. I'll test it properly on a better day and recon it will be very tight at 200 yards.
 
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