The Acurizing Process
Our experience as machinists, coupled with our gunsmith background, allows Aquila to produce some of the most accurate and rugged rifles available. Every rifle sold is thoroughly tested before it leaves the door. As the owner of Aquila, I will never sell a firearm that I personally would not be completely satisfied with. With the correct load shooter and optics, our rifles will shoot ½ MOA or better.
Receiver and Bolt Truing
Receivers and bolts are completely blue printed on a lathe and checked for precise concentricity before the barreling process. The receiver bolt face and threads are machined so that they are perfectly aligned with the bolt channel. The bolt lugs and face are machined to be in alignment with the bolt body. This process not only trues the receiver and bolt, but reduces the stress on the bolt and the lug face caused by the miss alignment inherent from the factory. We go to great lengths to check the dimensions and concentricity to ensure the job is done correctly. To ensure the barrel matches with the receiver and is in precise alignment with the bore, we surface grind the barrel lug.
We perform a number of operations on the factory bolt to improve lock time and consistent functionality. These performance proven operations coupled with a quality aftermarket trigger will make a huge difference in the accuracy of a rifle.
Bolt Bushings
We offer further accurizing options for the shooter that will require the optimum performance required for precision shooting. The factory bolt is slightly smaller than the bore in the receiver, which causes a misalignment in the bolt and barrel.. We have an option that solves this issue. The bolt can be "Bushed". This is a process where a bushing is machined and epoxied to the existing bolt and machined to the final dimension, reducing the play between the bolt body and the receiver bore. The bushings are machined to a perfect fit on the bolt and receiver. They fit is tight enough that its hard to even tell the bushings are present.
Barrel and the Installation Process
We start with only the very finest barrels from Krieger, Bartlein and Brux to name a few.
Even though we use the finest barrels available, we still check all barrels for proper bore dimensions and defects before we start. We take a great deal of care to ensure the chamber, threads and shoulders are cut in perfect alignment with the bore. No expense is spared on the reamer. Only the best rotating piloted reamers are used. Aquila utilizes the flush method to chamber barrels. This is a process where cutting fluid is pumped through the muzzle end of the barrel while chambering, which makes for a much more precise chamber. The chamber is polished to a mirror finish to allow for easy extraction and cleaning. After the barrel is chambered and fitted, we have other processes we perform to ensure the barrel performs to its expectations.
Triggers
Regardless of how accurate a rifle is, without a good trigger it is impossible to achieve great group sizes. Aquila uses Timney triggers as it's standard trigger in all of our rifles. We also use Jewel when requested.
Stocks
There are limitless number of stocks and colors available and will discuss the shooters needs to determine the proper stock. The most common stocks we use are B&C Medalist, HS Precision and McMillian. There a number of features that have to be considered. Stocks without aluminum bedding blocks are pillar bedded to ensure that the receivers is not distorted when tightened in the stock. A minor distortion caused by a bad bedding job can open up group sizes drastically.
-Correct stock for the receiver
-Length of pull (LOP)
-Adjustable cheek piece and LOP
-Number of sling studs
-Color
-Style
-Composite, Chassis or wood
To name a few.
Magazine Systems
There are a number of companies making quality hinged and magazine systems on the market today. We will be happy to review them with you to determine which one will work the best for your needs.
Coating
Aquila uses Cerkote as its standard finish on all of our rifles. The color combinations and patterns are unlimited. We can do almost anything pattern and combination. See our coatings page
When you buy a rifle from Aquila, you can be sure that every process was completed with precise accuracy and that a great deal of care has gone into it to ensure that they are the very finest.
There’s nothing like having your own custom rifle that you know has been machined to exact tolerances and every part is top quality, you know it will shoot consistent ½ MOA groups every time you use it.
