Bill Warner Testiomonial re: Nor-Cal Precision: Jerry Rice Riflesmith

Happy Customers:
Bill Warner

The following testimonial for Nor-Cal Precision's Tactical Rifle was written by Bill Warner and has not been edited from the original version. Nor-Cal Precision wishes to thank Mr Warner for allowing us to place this note on the Nor-Cal Precision website.

Nor-Cal Precision

My Tactical Rifle.

If you listen long enough you will hear gun owners brag about little tiny groups fired from their "stock" rifles. I had been lucky a couple times with factory hunting rifles in regards to accuracy, so a few years ago I ordered a new Remington 700 Varmint Synthetic (Left Hand) in 308 to use as an informal Tactical rifle. Well my 700VS/LH were not one of those lucky rifles. On a good day it would give me one group under ¾", but the average group (5-shots at 100 yards) was over 1" and this with select ammo. There was nothing WRONG with the rifle, and if I were hunting big game this level of performance would be perfectly acceptable. I had a trigger job performed and while this felt better, it did not improve my groups. I upgraded my scope base and rings but saw no improvement what so ever.

I was at a crossroads. Do I sell it off cheap and buy another similar rifle and hope it is better? Do I take it to a local gunsmith and start out by recrowning it, then glass-bedding it, then premium barrel, then a more comfortable stock? I could stop when I was satisfied, but the local gunsmith would not promise any level of accuracy, and it would be in his possession for a week or longer each time I took it in.

Meanwhile I bought a Savage 10 FLP, their "Police" model with medium/heavy barrel and (super flimsy) synthetic stock, this one in 223 Rem. A trigger job was mandatory. Damn, this one would not shoot either! I even put it in the strong (but ugly) Choat Ultimate Sniper stock. Still it shot like a shotgun. A friend of mine has the 10FP (same but right-handed), and shoots superb (sub- half inch all day long) groups with his.

Now before you say that I just don't know how to shoot, let me tell you about my Remington 40XB in 220 Swift. With hand loads I get consistent 3/8" groups with this on a calm day, year after year with my favorite handload. I have had satisfying groups with a scoped flattop AR15 as well, so to have two bolt-action rifles that were mediocre was most disappointing.

I decided I would invest in a really good tactical rifle, all parts of it made to my specification. To do this I sold the Savage and the Choat stock separately, and would use my existing left-hand Rem 700 action as the basis for the new rifle to defer some expense. Mean while I had learned of a couple first-rate gunsmiths and I called Jerry Rice at Nor-Cal Precision. He was pleasant to speak with and helped me make sound decisions on the exact configuration that would suit my needs. Since I live in the Phoenix, AZ area I visited McMillan Fiberglass Stocks and the good people there allowed me to look at and hold examples of all the Tactical and other stocks. This was important to me since I had never really had my cheek against any of the purpose built tactical stocks.

Jerry was patient with me, it took me about 6 weeks to come up with the final configuration and send in my action and deposit. My rifle is as follows: Remington 700 left-hand Short Action, tuned to perfection, trigger set to a crisp 3.5 pounds, McMillan Desert Camo A4 Tactical Stock of custom fill weight and 13.25" LOP. A stiff hand-lapped Kreiger stainless steel fluted barrel of 24" length in 308 Win caliber, and Badger Ordinance Left Hand one piece tapered base fit with 1" rings. (How Jerry got this ring set is a mystery, as they are not cataloged).

The rifle took about 12 weeks for Jerry to complete, just as he stated. I was as excited as a kid waiting for Christmas, it seemed like 12 months, but it was worth the expense and the wait. The rifle looks great! When shooting it is super stable, and this really helps in getting accuracy. Recoil is surprisingly mild, no doubt due to a combination of the well fitting stock, recoil pad I specified, and weight of the rifle. I have had it out about 6 times now and as a handloader I have been casually working on a load it prefers. This rifle seems to prefer 175 grain Sierra MatchKing bullets and Varget powder. I have a mild load at 2450 FPS that is amazingly accurate at 100 and 200 yards, and another at full speed that is promising as well. The neat thing is that nearly any load shoots well.

This rifle looks good, shoots superb, and even cleans up easily. I'm totally satisfied.

Bill Warner,
Glendale, AZ

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