Hello all
long time subscriber and backfire tv follower. New member to the group though. So I have been contemplating and going back and fourth for over a year now on my next hunting rifle (I’ve bought to many in between this time) . I have been wanting a mdt or tactical style chassis in 7mm PRC. And when I found out that Backfire is coming out with their own, I fell in love with the design and ergonomics. So my question to all and mainly Jim is, with out going crazy deep in the 4 figures but also trying to keep good accuracy/ballistics/ velocity what action/barrel/rifle do you recommend to drop in your new chassis so I am ready in April when it drops? Thank you for any feed back
Great question. Here are a few builds that I think would be especially well suited to the chassis.
BUDGET BUT GREAT
Tikka T3x barrel, action, and trigger. $699 if you look for sales. 6.5 PRC or 6.5 Creedmoor with Sako Powerhead ammo. You can expect 3/4 MOA groups and your ALL IN price is $1498 since you’ll get a discount on the chassis for being a plus member. I don’t know that any other $1500 rifle could come close to competing with that.
MID PRICE
Donor action (either Tikka or anything rem 700 like a Bergara—whatever you got). Upgrade the trigger to Triggertech for $150. Get a medium varmint contour STEEL barrel from Bartlein or CRB. A prefit will work great that you could get from Preece Precision, Stuteville, etc. since it’s a custom you can pick any cartridge under the sun but I think 7 prc would be the max recoil you’d want in the Backlight chassis. A 6.8 western or 7 SAUM or 6 dasher would be cool if you reload, or a 280ai or 25 creed or 6 creed or 22 creed or 270 or 6.5 prc if you want factory would all be phenomenal.
With that set up, you spend $900 on a barrel to get absolutely PEAK accuracy, $150 on the trigger, and $799 on the chassis if you have a donor action.
With that setup you’re spending $1850 if you have a donor action and you’ll literally laugh at the performance of guys that spent $6,000 on a full custom.
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Jim, at one point you told me that you would take a Bartlein barrel from Stuteville over just about anything. They are you of stock in the Bartleins. But, they do have CRBs in stock.
How do you feel about a 20” CRB by Stuteville in 6.5PRC? Over say, a Proof barrel? I was thinking 22” in Proof for a build.
I think Bartlein and CRB are on equal footing. A 6.5 prc chambered by Stuteville is the absolute best the industry has to offer. That’s the ticket to top notch accuracy.
Also check out Preece Precision. He has pretty short lead times I’m told and does exceptional work.
I truly appreciate the quick and detailed response. Following that, would you not recommend going with a 7 PRC in the chassis and just build it as a 6.5 PRC instead? i have always wanted to reload just haven’t had the time to sit down and learn/do it. I would also use a suppressor on either caliber. I am in Florida so it would mainly be used for deer but i do go north and hunt as well that’s why i was leaning towards a 7prc. But with the weight and recoil i don’t want to over do the chassis. Thank you
In 6.5prc, is 20” too short?
Depends upon what you’re trying to do with it. If you’re looking for true 6.5 Magnum type performance, then yes you need to go with a longer barrel. However there are a ton of people who love the short barrel 6.5 PRC as it acts like a 6.5 Creedmoor, but it’s much shorter
What about this Tikka T3x
? Bonus i think the barrel color would go perfect with the green and black chassis. its 24” barrel and threaded.
I like a 22” 6.5 PRC if it’s going to be suppressed.
Unfortunately, I can’t go with a suppressor.
I think I’ll stick with 22”.
Only problem with this one is the threading isn’t your typical 1/2-28 or 5/8-24. I believe it does come with an adapter though. For some people this may not make a difference, but for me It would so I figured I’d mention it
How is production coming? Have you found any bugs your still working on?
Good idea to post an update. I’ll post it separately.