Custom or Pre-built all in one

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RogyBear

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Hey all, Ive been craving for the last while to get myself a nice(ish) bolt gun, I know my nice might not equal your nice. As much as Id like to have multiple option in the safe for bolt guns Ive decided I just want one that can do everything well. My debate Im having now is if i should go the route of having one built with the parts I want, or find one from a manufacturer that suits my needs. The budget im looking at is between 3-4 thousand, and from the reviews Im liking the CA modern precision to be fairly nice. It being light, decently accurate, and coming in the calibers Im looking into. I know building or having a rifle built with a nice action, barrel, stock/chassis, and bottom metal will most likely run me more than the 3400$ tag of the MPR. It would be also nice and convenient to have a whole rifle under one warranty and not each component having its own warranty in case anything ever did happen. The parts Id look at putting into a rifle would be a Defiance or surgeon action, a Bartlien barrel, a manners or possibly a cadex or MDT chassis, then a decent DBM.

That all being said, would the possible price difference be worth the slight increase in performance? Would just like some thoughts on my whole inner debate Im having as I can only talk to myself so much before I end up in a padded room. Any and all insight is appreciated.

thanks everyone
 
What do you want to do with the rifle? Shooting long range at a bench? Compete in PRS/NRL? F-class? Take it out into the woods hunting?

What you want to do with it will drive the component discussion. For ~$3-4K (I'm assuming that doesn't include scope), there's a lot of options open for you.

Also, I've been hearing some questionable things about Christenson Arms, I think there's better value elsewhere in the precision rifle world.
 
I'm mostly wanting something I can hunt with, do some long range paper punching along with possibly getting into competition shooting once I get more familiar with everything. I've just looked into the CA rifles due to them having the accuracy out of the box along with being lightweight for hunting and not too hard on the eyes but that's subjective. The only thing really keeping me away from a custom build is the individual warranties on the components, and the possible price difference that might come with the increased performance.
 
Personally, I wouldn’t get too hung up on the warranty thing. If you decide to build, find a smith with a good reputation. Barrel makers usually warranty their barrels.
 
Unfortunately you have conflicting goals which will make you choose some compromises, either way you go if you want it to perform dual functions like you want. A PRS/NRL gun (if that's the type of competitions you plan on getting into) and hunting rifles are diametrically opposed in form and function. Hunting guns are lightweight with larger cartridges, PRS/NRL (and similar) are really heavy (~18-22 lbs on average) with small cartridges such as 6mm's the norm. You can build a rifle that excels at one or the other, but not for both purposes.

If you don't mind hunting with a heavier rifle (~12+ lbs) you can attempt to make a multi-purpose rifle, though it won't be as fun to lug around on hunts as say a Barrett Fieldcraft. You can get a custom rifle built using an action such as a Bighorn Origin, Kelbly Atlas or Defiance Tenacity which are excellent value propositions. A fluted barrel will save a lot of weight, or you can go carbon if you are okay with paying the premium to do so. Lot's of lightweight composite stocks available to keep weight down, or even a chassis such as a KRG Bravo which isn't too heavy (and also an excellent value).

I would personally lean towards getting something built, but it may be worthwhile checking out factory options such as a Tikka T3, and dress it up a bit. A Tikka T3 in a KRG Bravo with a fluted or carbon fiber barrel would be a rifle that could potentially fill both roles. Lot's of aftermarket support for Tikka's to dress them up any way you want. Hell, for your price point you can buy one Tikka for hunting, and dress up another one for more precision rifle type shooting.

With custom rifles, it's important to go with a good gunsmith that you trust. Putting together a rifle with parts made my multiple different manufacturers means that there's always a chance that parts don't play nicely together. Tolerance stacking can definitely come into play and cause a lot of frustration. A good gunsmith will address any issues before the rifle makes it into your hands, and is always available to help out if issues develop later on through the life of the rifle. My go-to gunsmith in Canada is Insite Arms, they do excellent work that rivals any of the top gunsmiths in the US. Reach out to them and tell them what your goals are, or if you already have a gunsmith that you have established a good relationship with, tell them your goals and they should be able to put something together that meets your budget.

As far as if going to higher priced, better quality components is worth it, only you the consumer can answer that. No one here can answer that for you. Like anything else in life, you get what you pay for in the precision rifle world, but the law of diminishing returns is definitely a real thing.

I would talk to a gunsmith first, as there's no obvious choice for what you want to do. You have to decide what compromises you are willing to make, and what factors are most important to you (cost, weight, performance, etc) before you can start making decisions on rifles and components.
 
The cost of rifle performance is plummeting. There are new products coming out this season that are 1/3 to 1/2 the costs of set ups last year.

There is absolutely no issue to get a 'custom' rifle below your budget that will shoot itty bitty groups. If there are parts or brands that you must use, then that will fix the cost. If you just want a certain level of function and/or performance, there will be money left over for some very nice optics.

Send me a pm or email to chat.

Thanks

Jerry
 
KT makes some very good comments and points, what you want to do would be very difficult with one rifle, somewhere you will have to compromise. I agree with him on his point that for the money you are willing to spend, you could have two very fine factory Tikka rifles that would do what you want to do. Grab a T3X stainless lite for ~$1100 in your hunting caliber of choice, and then grab a T3X CTR in 6.5 CM and drop it into a KRG Bravo or the new MDT XRS, ~ $1800 total. My Tikka hunting rifles weight 7-8lbs all dressed, while my custom Tikka match rifles weight 18ish lbs all dressed-not something I want to hike around all day with!
 
Get a Remington 40x repeater in 308 or 223. Comes ready to do your bidding.
I have a few of them in McMillan Stocks.
 
I would do a custom build, there are lots of great ways to go and stay with your budget. Buying an off-shelf the rifle means you are buying someone else's idea for that application which means you will be compromising in a way you may not have intended to. Building it allows you to get what you need.
 
If you're in London go see Ken at Bullseye London. He'll help get you everything you need and nothing that you don't.
 
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