Welcome to The Precision Report
Dive into real-world custom rifle builds, expert gunsmithing techniques, precision reloading tips, and deep-dive guides from a working shop in Chandler, MN. Whether you're a hunter, competitive shooter, or builder, this blog is built for you.

A factory .243 that used to shoot half-MOA opened up to 3 inches. The barrel was fine. The scope rings had crushed the tube and snapped their keepers. Here is the fix, start to finish.

A complete load development walkthrough on a real customer rifle. Ten sessions, what we looked for at every step, the pressure signs we measure, and the quarter inch group we threw away.

A .280 Ackley Improved Weatherby arrived shooting about three inches. Here is every line of what our accuracy diagnostic found, what we fixed, what we quoted, and why the rifle went home without a new barrel.

How to zero a rifle for hunting: let the animal pick your zero. A working gunsmith on maximum point blank range, the 100 yard method, and the tall target test.

Cerakote is a ceramic polymer coating applied in 9 phases: disassembly, degreasing, masking, sandblasting, racking, gas-out, coating preparation, spraying, and curing. The finish lasts because of what happens before the coating is ever sprayed. Skipped prep steps are the reason most Cerakote jobs fail. A properly applied Cerakote finish on a firearm will outlast bluing, parkerizing, and any spray-on finish applied without correct surface preparation and cure. Who This Is For

Parkerizing is a zinc or manganese phosphate conversion coating applied to steel firearms at 185-195°F. The coating bonds directly into the metal surface, not on top of it. Surface preparation with aluminum oxide blast media is mandatory. Skip that step or polish the metal first and the coating will be thin, uneven, or fail to form entirely. Who This Is For This is for gun owners who want to understand the parkerizing process, restore a worn military or working firearm finish

Most rifles that come in with accuracy problems do not need a new barrel. They need the firing pin to strike the primer the same way every time. That is not what most customers ask for. It is not what most shops offer. It is the work that produces the largest accuracy gains on rifles that have already been accurized. Action blueprinting is what customers think they need. Ignition system work is what actually drops their groups. This post explains what action blueprinting actu

Most hunters who call Redleg about a custom build open with the same sentence: "I was thinking maybe $2,000?" That number comes from somewhere. Maybe they priced a factory rifle at a big box store. Maybe they talked to someone who bought a used hunting rifle and called it a build. Maybe they just guessed. Here is what $2,000 actually buys in 2026: a solid factory hunting rifle with no optic, no suppressor, no scope mounted and lapped, no ammo tested, no dope card, no zero con

If you have been waiting to buy a suppressor, 2026 is the year. The $0 NFA tax stamp changed everything. On January 1, 2026, the federal NFA transfer tax on suppressors dropped to zero. That single change sent 150,000 e-Forms into the ATF system on day one alone. If you are a Minnesota hunter trying to figure out how to buy a suppressor in Minnesota in 2026, this guide covers the full process from choosing the right can to getting it installed and zeroed. Normal daily volume

Minnesota opened rifle deer hunting statewide and the platform question came with it. AR-15, AR-10 or bolt action: what each one actually does well, which calibers work, and how to pick for the hunt you actually go on rather than the one you imagine.

Rifle accuracy is three systems working together: the mechanical rifle, the ammunition, and the harmonics that tie them. Most shooters chase one and ignore the other two. What each contributes, how they interact, and where to start when a rifle will not group.

Introduction: Threading Is Not a Simple Job Every week, rifles come into the Redleg shop that used to shoot well. The suppressor gets blamed. The ammo gets swapped. The optic gets checked. And the problem doesn't go away because none of those things caused it. In almost every case, the issue starts at the muzzle, and it started the day the barrel was threaded. Most shooters think barrel threading is simple. Cut threads. Screw on a suppressor. Done. Two customer rifles threade

“½ MOA Guaranteed.” You’ve seen it everywhere. It’s printed on rifle websites. Quoted at gun counters. Repeated online until it sounds like a universal truth. But ask ten shooters what an “accuracy guarantee” actually means and you’ll get ten different answers. That’s not an accident. In the firearms industry, accuracy guarantees are one of the most misunderstood and most abused marketing tools. Not because accuracy isn’t real, but because the way it’s presented often leaves

A rifle that shot well last season and does not now has almost never worn out its barrel. The order to check it in: shooter, ammunition, optic and mounts, conditions, then the rifle. Work it backwards and you buy a barrel to fix a loose ring screw.

The True Measure of a Rifle Isn’t How It Shoots Dirty It’s How It Shoots Clean. Every precision shooter eventually learns the same painful truth: Barrels don’t lose accuracy overnight. They lose it one careless cleaning at a time. At Redleg Precision Guns in Chandler, Minnesota, we build and maintain rifles that live at the intersection of craftsmanship and science. We chamber, bed, and tune rifles for PRS, F-Class, ELR, and precision hunting and we’ve scoped, measured, and d

Command the Dark Picture this: It's 2 AM on a sub-zero night in southwest Minnesota. The wind bites through your gloves, and the only sound is the crunch of frost under your boots. Suddenly, a coyote's heat signature blooms on your scope like a ghost rising from the snow. That's the power of thermal optics turning the hunter into the unseen predator. At Redleg, we've seen how these tools revolutionize night hunting, but only when matched with precision craftsmanship. The Ther

Comparing Precision in Factory and Custom Rifle Actions: Pros, Cons, and Redleg Refinements Borden Accuracy: The Pursuit of Perfect Symmetry Overview: Jim Borden’s actions are synonymous with true precision. Benchrest shooters rely on them because every line, lug, and bore is cut to near-molecular consistency. The Ridgeline and Alpine are among the most concentric custom actions ever made. Pros: EDM-cut raceways and lug seats ensure perfect bolt travel. Ultra-tight tolerances

I. The Rifle Action as a Dynamic Structure Every rifle action is a pressure vessel, a torque tube, and a resonance system all in one. The moment the firing pin strikes, the rifle transitions from static geometry to a dynamic elastic system steel flexes, vibrations travel, and forces balance across microscopic imperfections. Let’s break down what actually happens inside that split second: The firing pin accelerates at 10 to 15 feet per second, striking the primer with roughly

Some jobs start with a story. Others start with numbers that just don’t add up. A client brought in a new lever-action rifle that looked flawless but wasn’t shooting like one. The primers on his fired brass were backing out, and he wanted the rifle tightened, the chamber shortened, a trigger job, and a full Cerakote refinish. On the surface, it sounded simple. But when you measure everything, the truth shows up in thousandths of an inch. A Word of Caution For Lever Action Hea

A .308 we tracked went 2,938 fps new, 2,920 at 700 rounds, 2,882 after a deep clean. Velocity decline is often measurable by 500 rounds. How to read the signs, how to stretch the barrel, and when it is genuinely finished.