Overview and Objectives:
Backstory:
I go on an annual trip to the mountains with my best friends to do some hunting and bro time
away from work and family.  I haven't hunted the last few years I went primarily because
I didn't want to dump money into a rifle, tags, and rig for the trip.  I'll leave out the fact
that I do not have any affinity towards bolt guns.  Oops.

Requirements for build:
- Lightweight, compact, and humpable to cover the 7 mile average we pull a day (a lot of elevation changes)
- Make hits on mule deer out to 400-500m.  Based on 143gr ballistics on a 16 this should be ethical / feasible delivering 1000 fpe
- Left handed (this was the real limiting factor)
- Be my one bolt gun, but not a safe queen, and not a high dollar expense
- Give back to the community.  Open sourced data drives our industry forward

Materials and Cost:
Rifle Only:
Ruger American Predator 6.5CM (mfg_id = 16977): $462.21
FFL Transfer: $25
Hawke Vantage 2-7x Mildot: $89.99
Hawke Sunshade: $20
Vortex 11-13 inch scope cover: $18
SWFA SS 10x Mil SS10X42MQ: $254
Warne low 30mm rings: $29.99
Magpul RLS Sling: $20
Bubble Level: $20
Butler Creek Sling mounts: $12.99

Total Rifle Cost: $824

Project Materials:
Test Ammo: $120
- Hornady: 143grg ELD, 129gr SST, Black 140gr BTHP
- Winchester Deer Season 125gr
- Sellier & Bellot 140pg SP
6.5CM Snap Caps: $12
Bore Snake for .270: $11
Fine Fiberglass: $11
Zap Resin: $15
Paint and Clear Coat: $10

Total Support Cost: $179

Total Cost: $1003

Metrics:
Weights and stuff:
- Rifle Unloaded: 8.2 lbs
Group Size: *TODO fill this out when test of barrel is complete
- This will contain metrics about MOA by factory round
Chrony Data: *TODO After the best round is selected and barrel has around 100-150 rds through her to stabilize
- This will contain the real nerd stuff about metal speed

Equipment Selection (the why):
- Rifle: The RAP is a very affordable action, available in left hand, is a decent shooter, has aftermarket support, and is Made In the USA (10 points to Gryffindor).  The other choices were the Savage, Remington 700 things, Tika T3x lite, and the Bergara (hint Bergara; make a lefty action).  
Why I didn't X:
-- Savage; I like the safety better on the RAP.  Stock was weaker than the RAP.  
-- Remington 700's; Expensive to do right.  I estimated the rifle with no optics to be about $1100 for a lefty action
-- Tika; This almost happened.  Cost was high for just the base rifle.  Great rifle and if I were to do this again with a bigger budget it would be a Tika
-- Bergara; make a lefty action please

- Optic: Believe it or not the 'airgun' optic company Hawke makes some great affordable glass.  I have Vortex optics as well and put the Hawke a slight step above.  The Burris Fullfield II was in the running but the lack of mildots (even at 7x and not true 10x) turned me off of it.  If 2-7x isn't enough magnification the SWFA SS fixed 10x will takes its place at the cost of 2oz's and $300 plus rings.

- Fiberglass: The cost of replacing the stock for the RAP is a minimum $130 for a heavy laminate Boyds and pillars or a $230 heavy +needing modification for lefty magpul hunter.  Glassing it seemed like the most economical and lightweight way to go.

Work Schedule:

*DONE* Send barrel off to get cut and crowned to 16 inches
*DONE* Glass the stock
*DONE* Stock is painted with 4 coats, 3 coats of clear coat *waiting for it to harden and get my action back
Figure out rear stock storage.  I'm considering abandoning this stock storage idea.  It adds storage but increases complexity.
Figure out cheek riser; waiting for in-stock: https://www.tacticalworks.com/Tactical-Operations-Ammo-Cheek-Pad-Coyote-Brown-Left-Hand-TOPS5LH.html
Finish stock with fitment and touch up paint
AAR / Lessons Learned

The start:
Tape towards the muzzle indicates 16 inches


Mounted Optic, backdrop so I don't take this budget rifle..for granited.

Glass and Paint:
Why glass?  It's lightweight, very strong, and cheap.  Great video here about how to use the glass I used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujk-wBQDUSk

Steps:
Prep, prep, prep, and prep.  I cannot emphasize this enough.  Success == Prep.
Sand everything and layout your glass:

Lay foundation of epoxy and apply glass:




Clean up and sand before glassing again:


Hit the high flex areas again (stock and forearm):




Prep for paint:


Paint!


Clear coat:


Weight:


On the pack I'm putting together:


Got the action back.  Looks well machined minus the raw finish.  Already hit with permablue


Level:


And level though the camera angle doesn't look like it:


Weight without ammo and mag (not bad!):


Ready for break in:

First Shots:
Finally got to make it out to the range today.  Great day at 82 degrees and 60% humidity, and 2-5 mph 1-2 o'clock wind from the rear at the range.  Got bore sighted with 2 rounds at 50y and confirmed 0 at 100y with the Sellier & Bellot (cheap and 140gr).   So with a grand total of 3 rounds down range I wanted to get the initial swag of how this rifle shoots with different ammo.  Testing procedure was only 4 rounds at each target so I don't count this at the final truth table for what is going to be the best round for the rifle.  I figured a lot of people buy a rifle and don't wait to let the barrel break in; they just want to find a decent round and start hunting etc.  So this is for those guys that are reading too.

Ammo Used and target impact position / aiming point:
- Hornady: 143grg ELDX (CENTER), 129gr SST (BOTTOM RIGHT), Black 140gr BTHP (TOP RIGHT)
- Winchester:  Deer Season 125gr XP (BOTTOM LEFT)
- Sellier & Bellot 140pg SP (TOP LEFT)

100 Yard 4 shot groups


300 Yard 5 shot groups because why not:
- Hornady 140gr Black (UPPER LEFT), Hornady 143gr ELDX (CENTER)


Current configuration (with SS 10x):

place holder for cheek riser

Final Fitment:
- Action to stock screws coated with Vibra-TITE VC-3
- Optics rail and mounting screws degreased and coated with locktite blue
- Dollar Bill test passed with weight on front of stock.

place holder for something I forgot about that needs another reply

How could I forget the AAR and lessons learned for the project?  I knew future me would thank me.

Seems like a pretty neat project

I am curious about how much stiffer the exterior fiberglass makes the standard stock. Like this idea better than the internal rods in the forearm, because this would seem to stiffen up the wrist-mag area transition to the forearm area of the stock.

The glass and resin have had enough time to 'set' and there is a very noticeable increase in how rigid the stock feels twisting from the butt to the forearm.  The amount of force that I have to input to induce flex goes beyond what I was trying to fix; shooting from a pack / off a rock / branch etc without changing the resting contact position of the action in conjunction with the stock.  I like measurable / metrics based results and it's frustrating I don't have the equipment to test torsion accurately.  But uh, it's stiffer for sure

Further thought about this is that I may fiberglass a plastic stock I have and possibly extra layer from the wrist across the action to in front of the action, half way up forearm or to sling stud. Goal is to stiffen up the stock flex on bipod at bench.

This is a great thought for an additional layer on the middle wrist / 'pivot' point.  I have more improvements already for the project, but will save them for the AAR.  Ref; loose weave base layer

Got the barrel / action back from the smith.  Updates to images.

Update to finally getting around to shooting this thing for the first time.  Post #3 contains target data and group images.

The TLDR is the 140gr Hornady blacks and the 143gr Hornady ELD-X's shot the best so far at .78 and .98 inch groups for 100 yards and 3.1 and 2.8 inch at 300 yards respectively.

It really hurt not having a solid cheek rest and the factory trigger at 4 lbs is challenging to shoot well.  I may do a trigger polish and reduced spring to knock it down to 2.5lbs.

Waiting for this to come back in stock:
https://www.tacticalworks.com/Tactical-Operations-Ammo-Cheek-Pad-Coyote-Brown-Left-Hand-TOPS5LH.html

ETA:
Ruger American .450 bushmaster magazines are a great alternative to factory rotary mags.  You may lose one round capacity, but feeding off an *almost* single stack with 6.5 cm is where it's at.
Credit here: https://rugerforum.net/ruger-bolt-action/296618-magazine-alternative-magazine-found-ruger-american-short-action.html

Will you be putting the pictures back up? This sounds like an interesting project.

I do need to update the thread.  The lefty risers came back in stock and it should be here Monday.  After I get that mounted I will go out and shoot again for groups with more test ammo.  I know this rifle can shoot better than the posted groups; not having solid placement for my face played a role in that.

Cheek pad came in last night so I had to wait until I got back home to start messing with fitment.  The one that Tactical Works sells is a well made and well thought out product; though I would only give it 4/5 stars based on my swingline test.  I have it on good authority that they will consider a design change for a 2.0 release to support shooters with my needs.

I had a few options for indexing the riser to an appropriate height:
- My wife's spare Camp Gladiator Mat (not worth her ire)
- One of the pool noodles my kids like to use (bad dad)
- Spare Ammo left over from cul-de-sac cola wars - perfect

Nerf Mega darts make really nice stable spacers.  Unfortunately they will not fit in the ammo loops unlike the elite size darts:


Use Foam safe glue if you are going to be stacking layers.  This is some I had left over from attempting to fly model airplanes.


Gorilla tape is better than sliced bread:


Enough room for a data book, pencil, and accessories:


Okay...here's where they slipped up.  I'm willing to let this slide for now based on the budget of the build and the fact they have one of the only quality made left hand cheek risers.


Tried a couple different ways.  If anyone figures it out, please PM me.


Really precise, repeatable, and study point of contact.  One of the many pieces to shooting well: consistency.  Same goes for archery.


An actually really important data point here.  Empty mag, 2 sim rounds, and all other accessories in the weapon...just 6 lbs, 10 ounces.  Feels good man


Future:
I'm trying to find a good time to get out to the range to shoot again for groups.  Have house projects this weekend so maybe sometime during the week next week.  I picked up some different ammo to test and will be posting the updates here when I'm done.

Sorry this went over my head.  Yall missing images from the posts?

When I first looked over this thread the pictures were not visible for an unknown reason. I thought you may have taken them down. Good thread and ugly rifle. I've often considered this rifle since I have read good reviews and am left eye dominant.

As time permits I would appreciate pictures and further description of the magazine situation. Thanks.

@TennesseeRat

Some thoughts on using the .450 mag for the 6.5

Update to the thread.  I just got approved for a form 1 can so I will be threading the barrel and sending off for a recore.  I should have done threading when I got it cut but that was before I knew about the options I had.

Been a while boys.  Tagged one on Sunday

Neat thread.

For right hand shooters Ruger has a 16" threaded 6.5 Go Wild Camo Model that can be found for $480.

Is that a KRG bolt knob?

Coming in way late on this but yes.  Used some epoxy to fill in the gap where it didn't fit perfectly.  Still need to sand / paint but then again it's called the ugly stick for a reason.

I love that thing! What can did you decide on? Direct thread?

Form 1'd an 8 inch Ti tube with direct thread.  Sent it off to ECCO machine for a welded stack stainless steel recore (weights about 18 oz).  I think all said / done it was $800 with stamp.  About a three week wait for the stamp.  Very happy with the results on the 6.5 and 5.56.  Sounds like a pneumatic nail gun shooting full power loads.

Working on a new .308 build and I'm getting into hand loading.  Those initial groups are embarrassing compared to what I can do now.  Will start another thread.  

Topic:
Found another project.  Heavy .308 1/10 18 inch  -- let's see what see can do.  
* might be selling the 6.5 * ... maybe for all yall lefties out there

ETA:
Inflation hit like a MFer as I look back at these prices

Link  the next project