Let's Build Your Custom

The stock is where you meet your firearm.  This interface is key to your experience with it.  Are you comfortable?  Does it feel like part of you?  Are there any pain or pinch points? 

With the AT-1 stock, dimensions can be changed, in the field, on the range, dynamically, on-the-fly, to ensure your comfort or the comfort of other shooting partners.  The AT-1 for shotguns is designed with a bit less drop at the heel.  This help keep the weapon in the shoulder pocket to smooth recoil, and reduces muzzle jump for quicker follow up shots.

Given the adjustability of the stock, one can count on either of these models growing with any shooter throughout their lifetime.  Truly a design for multiple generations.

We can see in the accompanying photo, our two build barreled actions, Remington 870 and Mossberg 500, back on the display runway wearing the Boyd's AT-1 stocks.

We base our custom shotguns on two of the most proven designs in the industry - the Remington 870 (on top in the accompanying photo) and the Mossberg 500 (on bottom in accompanying photo) in 12 guage.  Why two types? Customer preference.  The 870 action has safety in the trigger guard; the 500 action has the safety on the tang - under the thumb.  Both are equally effective.  Why 12 gauge? With a well fitted stock, the recoil is manageable.  With an ill-fitting stock - well, that is where complaints of 12 gauge recoil originate.

The shogun barrel is pretty simplistic - the options are in the rib on the barrel - or not.  Both Remington and Mossberg provide replaceable choke tubes so that one can adjust the pattern to the target.  When we get to our discussion on Stocks, we will see our two models here back on the runway with new, designer hardwood.

Our first choice for building your custom rifle begins with the Savage receiver/action.  Savage actions are made in the USA and have built a well-deserved reputation for excellent out of the box accuracy.  This is, in our opinion, enabled by the unique floating bolt head design which provides consistent and predictable lock up of the bolt and barrel prior to firing.  The video at the bottom of the page shows graphically how this process works to our advantage.

The Remington 700 action was long known as the first choice of custom rifle builders - so much so that firms like Deviant Tactical, Archimedes, and Nucleus among other copied the bolt pattern for compatibility.  However, without the floating bolt capability, it is necessary for these and military type actions, like Mauser and Springfield, to be aligned precisely with the barrel every time - called truing.  We can build off any action you desire, but truing is an extra step (and expense) that can be avoided with selecting the Savage action.

Choosing the tube to send our projectile towards the target is one of the most important choices we will make.  Here at Armory Rex we defer barrel creation to one of the most respected firms in the country, ER Shaw.  Shaw has been delivering high quality goods and services to the industry for over 100 years.  Just like you, we don't settle for less than the best.

Our initial base builds are for customers who want to have a long range hunting rifle for the distances encountered in the Great Plains for deer or antelope or the Rocky Mountains engaging sheep, goats, deer or elk.  In addition, these folks want to be able to enter NRA F-Class matches to hone their long range skills.  F-Class has shot strings of 20 that must be completed in 20 minutes.  This puts tremendous heat stress on a standard factory sporter barrel.  We will have to analyze heat dissipation and barrel stiffness against portability on the Plains and Mountains.

The chart above shows the available barrel contours (shapes or profiles) available for your custom rifle.  We will look at each briefly for your consideration.

BULL

The is a heavy target barrel. As you can see from the weight, it is portable with difficulty.  The BULL barrel is large piece of steel that heats slowly with multiple shots, but also cools slowly.  There is in fact another big brother, called the Heavy BULL which weighs in at 9 pounds and has a 2 inch diameter throughout.  In benchrest shooting, weight is an advantage not just for shot-to-shot heat dissipation, but weight to encourage physical stability.  We will work with anyone to craft a benchrest rig but this is probably a choice not made for a weapon that will have to be transported and carried across plains and mountains.

VARMINT

This is the first considered attempt to bring the benefits of a BULL barrel to the field. As you can see VARMINT barrels have plenty of heft, but are roughly 25% lighter.  They are a very nice design for plains prairie dog shooting with lots of shots at long distance.  They are far more portable than BULL rigs, but they do tend to get to one spot and stay static from the firing position.  They are lighter, but still not carry-friendly for a plains or mountain hunt.

HEAVY MAGNUM

This is a standard factory sporter shape for the big calibers - .321 and up, usually followed by Magnum.  These cartridges fire large, heavy projectiles or have cavernous powder capacity.  If you study the profile chart, you will see that the baseline for barrel contour measurements is based on .30 caliber (.308)  for general factory profile.  By extrapolation, a .338 barrel will be wider than at .308 barrel to provide similar and proportional steel support to the projectile.

MAGNUM

There are number of new, Magnum, cartridges that work at higher operating pressures, than standard cartridges.  Some examples include, but are not limited to, 7mm Remington Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum. .264 Winchester Magnum, the entire family of Remington Short Action Ultra Magnums (SAUM) and others.  These designs have have high internal operating pressures and need additional steel support to contain them.

STANDARD

The factory standard for cartridges that have a working chamber pressure of 63,000psi or less.  While lighter to carry in the field, this sporter weight barrel is at its best accuracy for two to three shots before heat build up warps the barrel and takes its toll on accuracy.  While perfectly suited for hunting, it is not up to the demands of varminting or F-Class matches.

The stock is where you meet your firearm.  This interface is key to your experience with it.  Are you comfortable?  Does it feel like part of you?  Are there any pain or pinch points? 

With the AT-1 stock, dimensions can be changed, in the field, on the range, dynamically, on-the-fly, to ensure your comfort or the comfort of other shooting partners.  The AT-1 for shotguns is designed with a bit less drop at the heel.  This help keep the weapon in the shoulder pocket to smooth recoil, and reduces muzzle jump for quicker follow up shots.

We can see in the accompanying photo, our two build barreled actions, Remington 870 and Mossberg 500, back on the display runway wearing the Boyd's AT-1 stocks.