Looking over the years, I realized that I've had a project gun that I've talked about but never talked about in detail. In 2019, I pre-ordered a Black Collar Arms Pork Sword chassis after learning about it. Eventually, the chassis and what they call the FAR End came in. By itself, the chassis looks pretty cool.
After having seen what Black Collar had done with their various builds, I figured that I needed to have a bolt action .300 Blackout. Something that was short that I could use as a suppressor host and could hunt with. Black Collar had made theirs look so cool. I found an unused Remington 700 receiver in the blue from somewhere online. I also ordered KAK 10 inch barrel. At the time, the ATF had said braces on pistols were okay, so I also ordered a SB Tactical FS-1913 plastic brace. I would be building this as a pistol in compliance with ATF rules at that time.
After everything came in, I attempted to install the barrel but I had trouble timing the Rem-age style barrel nut into the receiver and getting good headspace so I took the receiver over to a local shop in the Atlanta area. They correctly installed the 10 inch barrel. I used a polymer MDT magazine that I had to modify to make it fit in the chassis. It's still a tight fit.
I mated the barreled receiver to the chassis along with the brace later toping it with a Vortex pistol red dot using the front of 2-piece rail section. This set up was so fun to shoot.
I loved the way it had come out and the way it handled. It was a bit front heavy but the brace against the cheek helps counter balance. That model brace is very flimsy and the idea that someone would use it like a proper stock is hilarious at best. There is no way one could have executed proper marksmanship so I don't really see how the ATF could have called this a rifle at all.
I found a nice ukulele case that perfectly fit the whole thing folded with enough room for a silencer.
This lead me down a different path on how I wanted the optics setup. Eventually I received the stamp for my Dead Air Wolf 9SD (which later was re-cored to the Wolfman specifications). I added a cheap scope with two piece rings. That should have mad it easier for making precise shots on a deer.
It's pretty ugly but it was great to shoot. Sadly, the ATF has been empowered to make Rules and they decided that braces, no matter how flimsy they are, MIGHT be considered a stock. The last thing I need is some bent agent screwing me over, so I chose to make changes before the rule was made official. This was around the 2020 time frame and the first attempt the ATF made was shut down by the Trump administration. I figured the writing was on the wall for braces, so lets just get it done.
At the end of 2020, I found a replacement barrel. I wanted to get the KAK 16 inch but I couldn't find one. My goal was simple, let's keep the same idea I had before of a short firearm but we'll convert it to a Title 1 rifle instead of just a pistol. By permanently attaching a muzzle device, you can extend the length of a barrel. As long as destructive effort is required to remove the extra length, we can have a 16 inch barrel. My goal was to find a 16 inch barrel then have it cut down to around 13.9 inches and permanently attach a muzzle device to the barrel. That barrel would go onto the receiver and I would attach a real stock. This keeps my idea while complying with rules.
At the time, I was on a budget and didn't want to spend $300 on a barrel plus the cost of the install and anything else. I did, however, find a 16 inch Remington brand barrel for a Model 7 from CDNN for $99. I wasn't sure it would do what I wanted but it was cheap. After taking it to the local gun shop, they confirmed the lightweight profile was too narrow at the proposed 13.9 inch mark. Thankfully, the muzzle was already threaded 5/8x24 so it's not a total loss. I had the shop install the new barrel.
I also ordered a JMAC Customs 9 inch riser stock to replace the brace. To spice it up a bit, I added some small parts to cover picatinny sections with FDE rail covers and a Magpul grip. The Primary Arms 3-9x scope was replaced by a Simmons 3-9x and the rings got a picatinny rail.
With all the replacement parts, I discovered that fully assembled, this new configuration is pretty light and handles better with the different profile barrel. The KAK 10 inch barrel has a heavy profile but the new lightweight sporter profile balances better even with the suppressor on it.
After having spent time with my Winchester 94 in the field, I realized that having a fairly lightweight rifle is pretty nice. Adding all the features like a silencer would weigh down the 94 even more. It turns out that the Pork Sword Remington 700 weighs about the same with the silencer as my Winchester 94 as I used to carry. It makes a ton of sense to run this as a dedicated hunting rifle at this point.
As it were, I did have an opportunity in 2022 to hunt with this. The hunt club I was apart of lost the lease on a 200 acre tract. I had been using my Winchester 94 on it. The problem became that when we lost the lease, I took the scope off of the Winchester to put it to a more traditional aesthetic. While I could hunt with iron sights, I wasn't confident at the moment to make that work. I don't have much 30-30 in inventory so I didn't want to put the scope back on and confirm zero. Given that we had just bought the 19 acres, I figured using the Winchester wasn't great anyway since I can't put the silencer on it and I like my neighbors. I want to have a good relationship with them and keeping guns quiet is a great way to keep the peace.
Instead, I pulled out this ugly beast and zeroed it for 50 yards using Hornady's SUB-X 190 grain factory load. I didn't chronograph the loads but they were somewhat quiet through the Wolfman in the short configuration. I figured that as long as kept the distances below 75 yards I should be okay. They are loaded to stay under supersonic so it's reasonable to assume 1100 fps or lower even from the 16 inch barrel.
It turns out to have worked well enough as I was able to bag a doe that November. The shot seems to have been around 35 to 45 yards based on what measurements I took. That doe was good eating.
After having spent time with the current configuration, I've come to really like the lighter-weight barrel. I also really like the chassis but I don't like them together. I still want that shorter setup, however. The .300 Blackout cartridge doesn't need a 16 inch barrel to perform well so it doesn't make sense to to keep going. That said, I plan on making changes. My goal is to build a second Remington 700.
Recently, I ordered a used BDL wood stock from eBay. My current plan is to build out that stock and use the current sporter barrel and receiver. This new setup will give me the classic wood stock "hunting" rifle that I want. The second rifle will use the Pork Sword chassis.
It will be a full custom job. I'm thinking a Pacific Tool and Gauge short action receiver and a McGowen barrel. I will have a muzzle device pin-and-welded to the 13.9 inch barrel. All of that will be bedded into the Pork Sword chassis and Cerakoted whatever camo pattern I'm feeling at the time. I'm open to a different caliber such as .308 Winchester now that I have a silencer that can handle the full range of rifle cartridges. If you're going to do something different, make it interesting.
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