Another $1500 budget rifle with optics.($1334.52 spent, first range trip done)

Mystic Precision said:
Look forward to helping you put this rig together... If you don't mind, I can list out options and ball park pricing here.

Jerry
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Hey, I see you got to me before I could you.

No problem with you posting ball park on here, I like to be as open to the pricing of these budget builds so people are in the know. We can email more specific as we go not to tie up the post count on here.

I am going to try and stay away from making this an apples and orange to comparison, though a carbon wrapped barrel would be fantastic but probably push the budget pretty high. At least I will try and make this a Granny Smith to Red Delicious type comparison.

So my main plan on this are as follows;
- EGW 20MOA base
- 308 Sendero contour barrel 24-26inch, if possible 5r but not if its much more or not available(keeping barrel dimensions near the same as the 700 rig, and well I enjoy 5r barrels)
- 1inch rings
- Bushnell 10x (same scope, same tests)
- Bipod

My like to additions in order of like to haves;
- Boyds stock (Pro Varm or new At-One)
- Your Savage Mag conversion

It should be interesting how this will compare actually. So again I will keep this build under $1500 (Rifle, Parts, Taxes, Labour and Shipping) anything I sell off from it will be documented as total cost.

I really am interested in this route to see how getting an aftermarket barrel puts it really up there in niceties when it comes to a long range rig.
 
I will just post items with some ball park pricing.

Prefits range from $475 to 1150. The CarbonSix ones are over $1k... McGowen CM blued start at $475... threading the muzzle will add $100 so let's say $575 as an entry point. With handloads, I am in the 1/3 min range at 250 and 280yds... effectively reached out to 1450yds so far.

EGW bases are $54

End users will need to figure out their own costs for the stocks, and PT&G bottom metal ($75 to 144US). Then there is the cost to inlett the stock for the DBM (ball park $150 to 250). If they use the factory mag, costs will be a quite a bit less. Factory mags are functional and with a little tweaking can work ok.

Boyds lists A-ones starting at $189US
Pro varmints at $129US... there are lots of options and there is of course postage, any taxes, and currency exchange.

MDT LSS chassis another option...

Wolff Rem SA firing pin springs will vary depending on how much shipping you have to pay. Maybe share with others. The springs themselves are cheap $11 US.

The trigger work is a manual change so maybe professional help is needed. Factory trigger is not bad... some have more creep then others. No aftermarket at this time.

Bedding is definitely a good idea but that cost would be for pretty much every aftermarket stock.

I would strong suggest a change of the bolt knob but that is not necessary to function.

So there is a very large range of possible costs depending what accessories one gets. The factory stock is completely functional so if all that was done was the barrel and a bit of TLC, you could easily be $1k for a very functional and accurate rig... more hunting orientated of course. If you wanted to inlett the stock, you could likely run AICS mags in the factory stock. Not ideal but it is possible.

Jerry
 
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Alright, I'll play... started with a Benelli MR1 that I didnt have fun with despite it's awesome ergos.... traded it and some cash for a:

Savage 10 Predator in 223 with a Weaver Rail.
Remington 700SPS AAC-SD in 308.

The idea was to use the 223 for plinking out to 400 and the 308 for stuff beyond 300. My longest spot is 600 yards... some more digging should find some space to shoot the 308 to 1000. Both will share an Atlas bipod and the Predator got a Bushnell 10x that I dont like (seriously, AR-223 is better glass IMHO) and the Remington has been sitting in my safe waiting for an optic... Well I went and bought a Millet 4-16x50 mil/mil on Amazon today. Now what's best bang for the buck rings/bases?
 
Glad to see this is still going. I got mine out a couple weeks ago, but it was a last minute opportunity so I had to grab whatever ammo I had already loaded, 30 rounds that were loaded for my old Savage... twice fired brass, 44gr IMR-4064, 168gr A-max.

I was afraid the brass might stick on extraction, but no problems at all.

took a couple rounds to zero in the scope, and then back to 100 as that was the max range of the spot I was at. I was shooting at a couple frying pans but forgot to take my phone with me. It was 5:30 AM and I had no coffee in me yet.

I got a couple nice 5 shot groups, and two 3-shot cloverleafs, with a couple flyers here and there. Most likely need to get proper load development, and proper formed brass. Not bad for using the roof of my SUV as a bench with me popping out of the sunroof (ground was wet and I was being a b1tch).

I will buy a box of Federal's and play by the rules next time I go out... but my spot is already getting snow so honestly not sure if it's gonna happen this year as my early call time to shoot does not change, but the natural light and weather do :(

Only thing left to do is an aftermarket trigger, but I have no complaints with this particular X-mark Pro so I will leave it for now.

Here she is though.

ljZRrM2.jpg
 
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