Rifle build with optics on a $1200-1500 budget ($2120spent/rounds at 1500m)
So I lurk a lot on this and many other forums that involve long range shooting, and one main question that I see pop up is “I have a budget of $1200-$1500 what should I build/buy”. Well looking for another rig, and recovering from surgery so tons of time on my hands to research. I thought I would try and answer this question. I normally don't have a budget for a long range rifle so this is going to be a challenge! So let me lay out the guidelines I will be following;
Mission- I will build a a bolt action rifle capable of hitting a 24inchx24inch target at 800-1200m
Intent- My intent is to stay within a budget of $1200-$1500 with optics
End State- I will consider this task a success when I have hit a 24inchx24inch target at 1200meters a minimum of twice in one shooting session (prefer more then twice of course) and have not gone over budget
Details for task;
I based this build on the idea that most persons that put forth the budget question were already shooters, that either hunted or plinked, that wanted to get into long range shooting for a different challenge. So they had the basic foundations of the sport. The target size I feel is perfect that can keep people interested and leave good room for improvements in the shooter. As for rounds on target, I needed a base line and if you can do it more then once, it is not a fluke!
Budget;
I have set a bracket budget of $1200-1500 for this build for two reasons, first being that after lots of reading on forums this seems to be the price point for many people. Second I find it easier to stay on a budget if you have a bracket to stay between rather then fixed number because we all know its hard to turn down spending that extra $50 for a little better quality.
Build over Buy;
There are many, many good to go rigs on the market from every manufacturer out there, my issue was for some of these rigs that people recommend, Remington, Savage, Tikka (to name some) seem to push that $1200-1500 budget to the breaking point leaving minimal if anything left for decent optics capable of allowing a shooter to clearly work with little strain at these ranges. As for used it seems most people price there used at market value, though some deals do come about as you can see when I break down my prices, you have to be watching with cash on hand 24/7 to be able to get them. A good example of this is when I was looking for a Remington 5r, new price shipped/taxed to my door with a rail was $1400-1500, used 1300-1450 to my door with a rail. My mind says buy new at that time because you can do what you believe for break-in/rounds you want to put through it, also you will know the exact round count and care taken for it! So this leaves us with a build idea, so I kept my eyes open for a action, or rifle to start off. I wasn't so much on the hunt for a specific brand but was looking for a good deal. Late one night I found a deal I thought worth jumping on, and what in the end made me want to document this build and come out of the dark on this site. I picked up a Remington 700 SPS 300winmag with 2pcs base, 30mm rings and once fired brass shipped to my door for $390, owner claimed a round count of 91.
Caliber;
Well there has been way to many things on caliber on this and other forums, and after watching Sniper101 doing 1500meter shots with a .243 (check youtube) anything can do what you want with skill and knowledge. So posing a question like what caliber should be used is like asking what sodypop should I buy for a long weekend, everyone is just going to say what they like, or quote what contests or reviews it has won/received even though all of them can do the job. There are some calibers that do make long range easier of course with their “wind bucking””flat trajectories” and other abilities, but for my choice here and to make it easier on budget I am keeping with the rifles chambering of 300winmag. This was even more solidified when I placed a WTB ad and found a Remington 700 Sendero II fluted stainless heavy barrel in 300winmag for $160 shipped to my door. It had a claimed round count of 100. This should also let me use the Nosler LR 210gr projectiles that I have had good luck with.
Stock;
We all know the SPS stocks are not the best. For a hunting rifle in the standard pencil barrel it works just fine. So to the WTB ads I went, and what I came out with was a claimed “brand new/unfired” HS Precession take off stock for $280 shipped. This should work well and of course I will bed the rifle.
Optics;
I am still unsure on this, and will have to wait for the complete assembly with the gunsmith to find out where my budget sits. I am all over having the best optics you can afford, leaving money for ammo of course, but this budget is limiting me on my normal go to choices for optics. My thoughts so far are the following;
-Bushnell Tactical fixed 10x $260 new(mil/moa, 40moa of adj[aprox depends on review] need canted base/1inch rings)
-Falcon Menace fixed 10x $360 new (mil/mil claimed 30mrad of adj)
-SWFA SIII fixed 10x $690 new (mil/moa claimed 100moa of adj, possible over my budget)
I do have some points that I would like to hit with my optics;
-try and use the base and rings the rifle came with to save money
-clear glass (you will notice my choices so far are all fixed power, I have found from my personal experience that with lower priced adjustable magnification scopes all it seems you actually magnify is the imperfection of the lower priced glass. With a fixed power this is not an issue, also has less moving parts to succumb to the recoil of the rifle)
-enough adjustment(and maybe holdover) to reach 1200meters well still using my 2pcs base(this may have to change after doing some ballistic calculations)
-accurate tracking
Again at this time this choice is still up in the air and I welcome any reasonable suggestions to help me stick within my budget idea of this project!
Assembly;
As much as I wanted to assemble this rifle myself, most of the people who I based this build off do not have the tools/knowledge to complete this. This means I will use a local smith. Now once all the parts arrive in the mail I will take them to the smith and get two quotes one being the barrel swap only and the other is the blue-printing along with the swap. I most likely will choose the blue-printing route as then I feel that will take this rifle past a factory SenderoII or other factory long range rifle that most people end up blue printing eventually. As for the bedding of the rifle, this project is so well documented and doesn't really take any extra tools that I will do this myself. Most people thinking of doing accurate/long range shooting do tend to show good attention to detail and this is also why I feel bedding would be a DIY job. Also helps the budget of course.
Trigger;
I plan on keeping the factory trigger, as I have not had a problem with Remington Triggers (so far) when you adjust them to what feels good and comfortable for the shooter
Adding it all up;
(all prices total with taxes and too my door)
Complete Rifle, Rings, 2pcs Base, 40 once fired brass- $390
Sendero II fluted stainless heavy barrel-$160
HS Precession Stock-$280
Optics-$215
Assembly-$100
Weaver 1inch rings-$32
Total as of 12/Oct/2014- $1080!!!!
I will keep this up to date of course with pictures, prices and range reports as I continue.
Feel free to ask questions, and lend any of your ideas to help me maintain my plan!
Thanks and hope you enjoy reading!
--DISCLAIMER---
Anything I said here is not to belittle, degrade, play favorites, or brand loyalties to anyone or anything. Also any opinions I express are of my own and not meant to offend others, if you feel offended feel free to Private Message me and we can have an adult discussion off forum were it belongs so my intent of this being a build report thread can be maintained!
So I lurk a lot on this and many other forums that involve long range shooting, and one main question that I see pop up is “I have a budget of $1200-$1500 what should I build/buy”. Well looking for another rig, and recovering from surgery so tons of time on my hands to research. I thought I would try and answer this question. I normally don't have a budget for a long range rifle so this is going to be a challenge! So let me lay out the guidelines I will be following;
Mission- I will build a a bolt action rifle capable of hitting a 24inchx24inch target at 800-1200m
Intent- My intent is to stay within a budget of $1200-$1500 with optics
End State- I will consider this task a success when I have hit a 24inchx24inch target at 1200meters a minimum of twice in one shooting session (prefer more then twice of course) and have not gone over budget
Details for task;
I based this build on the idea that most persons that put forth the budget question were already shooters, that either hunted or plinked, that wanted to get into long range shooting for a different challenge. So they had the basic foundations of the sport. The target size I feel is perfect that can keep people interested and leave good room for improvements in the shooter. As for rounds on target, I needed a base line and if you can do it more then once, it is not a fluke!
Budget;
I have set a bracket budget of $1200-1500 for this build for two reasons, first being that after lots of reading on forums this seems to be the price point for many people. Second I find it easier to stay on a budget if you have a bracket to stay between rather then fixed number because we all know its hard to turn down spending that extra $50 for a little better quality.
Build over Buy;
There are many, many good to go rigs on the market from every manufacturer out there, my issue was for some of these rigs that people recommend, Remington, Savage, Tikka (to name some) seem to push that $1200-1500 budget to the breaking point leaving minimal if anything left for decent optics capable of allowing a shooter to clearly work with little strain at these ranges. As for used it seems most people price there used at market value, though some deals do come about as you can see when I break down my prices, you have to be watching with cash on hand 24/7 to be able to get them. A good example of this is when I was looking for a Remington 5r, new price shipped/taxed to my door with a rail was $1400-1500, used 1300-1450 to my door with a rail. My mind says buy new at that time because you can do what you believe for break-in/rounds you want to put through it, also you will know the exact round count and care taken for it! So this leaves us with a build idea, so I kept my eyes open for a action, or rifle to start off. I wasn't so much on the hunt for a specific brand but was looking for a good deal. Late one night I found a deal I thought worth jumping on, and what in the end made me want to document this build and come out of the dark on this site. I picked up a Remington 700 SPS 300winmag with 2pcs base, 30mm rings and once fired brass shipped to my door for $390, owner claimed a round count of 91.
Caliber;
Well there has been way to many things on caliber on this and other forums, and after watching Sniper101 doing 1500meter shots with a .243 (check youtube) anything can do what you want with skill and knowledge. So posing a question like what caliber should be used is like asking what sodypop should I buy for a long weekend, everyone is just going to say what they like, or quote what contests or reviews it has won/received even though all of them can do the job. There are some calibers that do make long range easier of course with their “wind bucking””flat trajectories” and other abilities, but for my choice here and to make it easier on budget I am keeping with the rifles chambering of 300winmag. This was even more solidified when I placed a WTB ad and found a Remington 700 Sendero II fluted stainless heavy barrel in 300winmag for $160 shipped to my door. It had a claimed round count of 100. This should also let me use the Nosler LR 210gr projectiles that I have had good luck with.
Stock;
We all know the SPS stocks are not the best. For a hunting rifle in the standard pencil barrel it works just fine. So to the WTB ads I went, and what I came out with was a claimed “brand new/unfired” HS Precession take off stock for $280 shipped. This should work well and of course I will bed the rifle.
Optics;
I am still unsure on this, and will have to wait for the complete assembly with the gunsmith to find out where my budget sits. I am all over having the best optics you can afford, leaving money for ammo of course, but this budget is limiting me on my normal go to choices for optics. My thoughts so far are the following;
-Bushnell Tactical fixed 10x $260 new(mil/moa, 40moa of adj[aprox depends on review] need canted base/1inch rings)
-Falcon Menace fixed 10x $360 new (mil/mil claimed 30mrad of adj)
-SWFA SIII fixed 10x $690 new (mil/moa claimed 100moa of adj, possible over my budget)
I do have some points that I would like to hit with my optics;
-try and use the base and rings the rifle came with to save money
-clear glass (you will notice my choices so far are all fixed power, I have found from my personal experience that with lower priced adjustable magnification scopes all it seems you actually magnify is the imperfection of the lower priced glass. With a fixed power this is not an issue, also has less moving parts to succumb to the recoil of the rifle)
-enough adjustment(and maybe holdover) to reach 1200meters well still using my 2pcs base(this may have to change after doing some ballistic calculations)
-accurate tracking
Again at this time this choice is still up in the air and I welcome any reasonable suggestions to help me stick within my budget idea of this project!
Assembly;
As much as I wanted to assemble this rifle myself, most of the people who I based this build off do not have the tools/knowledge to complete this. This means I will use a local smith. Now once all the parts arrive in the mail I will take them to the smith and get two quotes one being the barrel swap only and the other is the blue-printing along with the swap. I most likely will choose the blue-printing route as then I feel that will take this rifle past a factory SenderoII or other factory long range rifle that most people end up blue printing eventually. As for the bedding of the rifle, this project is so well documented and doesn't really take any extra tools that I will do this myself. Most people thinking of doing accurate/long range shooting do tend to show good attention to detail and this is also why I feel bedding would be a DIY job. Also helps the budget of course.
Trigger;
I plan on keeping the factory trigger, as I have not had a problem with Remington Triggers (so far) when you adjust them to what feels good and comfortable for the shooter
Adding it all up;
(all prices total with taxes and too my door)
Complete Rifle, Rings, 2pcs Base, 40 once fired brass- $390
Sendero II fluted stainless heavy barrel-$160
HS Precession Stock-$280
Optics-$215
Assembly-$100
Weaver 1inch rings-$32
Total as of 12/Oct/2014- $1080!!!!
I will keep this up to date of course with pictures, prices and range reports as I continue.
Feel free to ask questions, and lend any of your ideas to help me maintain my plan!
Thanks and hope you enjoy reading!
--DISCLAIMER---
Anything I said here is not to belittle, degrade, play favorites, or brand loyalties to anyone or anything. Also any opinions I express are of my own and not meant to offend others, if you feel offended feel free to Private Message me and we can have an adult discussion off forum were it belongs so my intent of this being a build report thread can be maintained!
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