From: megatek!hollen@uunet.UU.NET (Dion Hollenbeck)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: Stoli Panda action
Date: 24 Jul 92 16:50:21 GMT
Organization: Megatek Corporation, San Diego, California

#>>>> On 23 Jul 92 18:36:36 GMT, cbl@uihepa.hep.uiuc.edu (Chris Luchini) said:

Chris> A friend and I have been kicking around the idea of making an
Chris> action for the 'minimal White Tail' cartridge, probably based
Chris> on the 7.62 x 39 case or a very chopped 308 case, caliber 6.5mm
Chris> through .308 ie a 90-125 grain bullet at 2700-3000 fps.  In
Chris> order for this action to be interesting enough to actually
Chris> spend the excessive amount of time to make, it is going to be
Chris> one of the lightest actions around. Since a bolt action doesn't
Chris> need any strength except at the locking lugs, the action will
Chris> be made out of AL, with a steel bolt head, and steel locking
Chris> lugs. (also possibly the threaded portion where the barrel goes
Chris> will need to be steel, that's yet to be determined)

Chris> My gunsmith mentioned the Stoli Panda as an action that already
Chris> has all of the above. It's a common benchrest action. I have
Chris> some dim memory about a magazine article about these actions,
Chris> one of the things I seem to remember is that the weight was
Chris> well under a pound. This raises an interesting possibility:

That is Stolle Panda.  You will find advertisements in Precision
Shooting for these.  They run about $650 and you will be put on a
waiting list that is from 3 to 6 months long.  Sorry I cannot remember
the name of the manufacturer.  I probably will just as soon as I send
this article off.  B-}  I have it at home if you are interested.

Also available is the PAS ALV action, about the same thing.  Available
from Time Precison.  Also about $650, but usually available in 2 to 3
weeks.   Also, the Witchita at about $450, with 3 month wait.
However, the Witchita is all steel.



Chris> Action		.75 pound		(my SWAG)
Chris> Stock		.75 pound		(Brown precision already has a 1# stock)
Chris> Scope		.8 pound		(another SWAG)
Chris> Barrel		.75 pound	(I may be off here, I calculated this from
Chris> 				assuming density of steel at ~6 g/cm^3
Chris> 				and a barrel with ~45 cm^3 of steel)
Chris> ----------------------------
Chris> 		3.05# + .2# for ammo
Chris> 		3.25#

Your barrel calcs are probably going to be way off if you want a
barrel with any accuracy at all.  A 28" .22 cal barrel blank (straight
cylinder of 1.25" diameter) weighs 8 lbs.  When it is cut down to 22"
and tapered from 1.1" at the action down to .8" at the muzzle, it will
only have dropped down to 6 lbs.  Of course, this contour is a
benchrest straight taper, but if you were to get a regular hunting
rifle taper, it would probably only go down to about 3 or 4 lbs.

Your stock is probably going to weigh in at 1 1/2 or 2 lbs.  An
unfinished stock will be less, but remember you will be bedding the
action and if you use a real good bedding compound like Steel Bed, it
will add some weight.

You are about in the ballpark on the weight of the action, but it is
more like 1 lb.  None of the "aluminum" benchrest actions are all
aluminum.  They are a steel cylinder surrounded by a square aluminum
outside. 


-- 
Dion Hollenbeck       UUCP: {uunet, ucsd, sun}!megatek!hollen
                      INTERNET:            hollen@megatek.com
Megatek Corporation  9645 Scranton Rd.  San Diego, Ca.  92121