Shopping for a Precision Rifle - Custom or Factory?

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kirill

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Soon I will be buying a precision rifle, and I don't know what would be a better choice, a custom rifle or a high-quality factory rifle (both within my budget)?
I would like it to be in .223 with a 1 in 8 twist, so that kind of narrows it down to Tikka T3 (Varmint or Tactical) or a Custom Rifle. What would be a better choice considering

a. It is $2000 or under for the rifle alone
b. It has an adjustable cheekpad and buttpad
c. Accurate (Tikka should be 1 MOA or less. What can I expect out of a custom rifle?)

Thanks
 
a custom barreled rifle properly put together should shoot under half inch with the right loads, I'd opt for custom!
 
If you plan on keeping the Tikka stock for the life of the rifle then go for it. If your like most of us you will eventually want to see how much accuracy you can get out of the setup. As Alberta tactical has said (a couple post below this one) the aftermarket for the Tikka line is very limited. What I would suggest is to get a Remington 700 either the VSSF or the PSS for around $1200 and get $800 worth of optics. Shoot it until you are better then the rifle or you shoot out the barrel. Then take it to a custom smith and have it re-barreled and the action blue printed plus anything else you like. The Remington platform has a lot of after market parts and you should be more then happy with the results.
 
Trevor60 said:
If you plan on keeping the Tikka stock for the life of the rifle then go for it. If your like most of us you will eventually want to see how much accuracy you can get out of the setup. As Alberta tactical has said (a couple post below this one) the aftermarket for the Tikka line is very limited. What I would suggest is to get a Remington 700 either the VSSF or the PSS for around $1200 and get $800 worth of optics. Shoot it until you are better then the rifle or you shoot out the barrel. Then take it to a custom smith and have it re-barreled and the action blue printed plus anything else you like. The Remington platform has a lot of after market parts and you should be more then happy with the results.
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That's exactly what i did

Bought a PSS in .308, bought a Burris XTR312 mil-dot, farrel base, im about to buy TPS rings. It'll will probably be between 2150-2250$ when all is said and done, taxes included(15%, damn Québec)
 
A different approach. With the current readily available LR match bullets a 9 twist and a 223 is plenty. This will allow you to launch the 75gr to 80gr bullets. The new Sierra 90gr bullet needs a faster then 8 twist so no benefit there.

I would recommend a Savage 12FV w/ accutrigger, burris sig rings with inserts on standard weaver bases. Base scope would be an Elite 3200 10X. After bedding the action, you have a rig for under well $1000 that will shoot sub MOA with proper handloads. There are no shortage of users on this board getting custom rifle accuracy with these Savage/Stevens rifles. I have two using the factory pipes shooting 1/2 MOA or better.

When you get better, there is a wealth of aftermarket stuff for that action so you can build it up just like a Rem 700. The initial investment is 1/2 your budget allowing for lots of shooting and/or upgrading to better optics right away.

For any type of precision shooting, the optics are much more important then the rifle. Most any commercial rifle can be made to shoot sub MOA but scopes combining optical quality with mechanical reliability cost some bucks.

As to stocks with adjustable everything, I just say that the designers should have done a better job in the first place :lol: If you NEED adjustable, that can easily be added to any stock for a minor investment.

Jerry
 
windborne11 said:
What type of shooting are you going to do with the rifle? ORA longe range? or groundhogs? What distances do you plan on shooting?
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That's the thing... I'm a recent newb to the "gun thing", so I'd like something that will do everything :twisted: :twisted:
I probably won't be competing for a while, maybe next autumn. For now, it will be mostly 300 yard paper punching at my club and some groundhogs.
 
That's the thing... I'm a recent newb to the "gun thing", so I'd like something that will do everything :twisted: :twisted:
I probably won't be competing for a while, maybe next autumn. For now, it will be mostly 300 yard paper punching at my club and some groundhogs.
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I would go for .308 caliber and a "press" to do your own handloads.
If you don't make your own ammo you will not be competitive.
A .308 is good out to 600 yards.

A great rifle is the savage 10fp

http://www.savagearms.com/10fple2a.htm
 
I probably won't be competing for a while, maybe next autumn.
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At the very least join the ORA by next spring to take advantage the competitions and free practices offered in the late spring/early summer. There is a wealth of information waiting to be tapped.

Terry Perkins
 
Well, if you have the funds, you will be glad you went custom. Keep in mind, the rifle and scope are a system and for consistency you need a quality gun and scope. Custom rifles minimize the variables which give inconsistent results.
 
A .308 is good out to 600 yards.
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Mine will shoot 1/2 MOA elevation out to 1000 if I do my part. Catching all the wind calls is another thing.
Like Terry said, join the ORA in the spring. There should be some Introductory Days offered in May to get you started.
 
kirill said:
That's the thing... I'm a recent newb to the "gun thing", so I'd like something that will do everything :twisted: :twisted:
I probably won't be competing for a while, maybe next autumn. For now, it will be mostly 300 yard paper punching at my club and some groundhogs.
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Kirill,
People have mentioned "get a .308"
You can't punch groundhogs with a .308 in Srn On. at least not legally.

Basically, you can't do everything with one rifle well, its all compromises related to what direction you want it to excell at. You must decide, then design/pick/buy a system that does it.

Its difficult and likely your first rifle won't do it... there will be more. I've lost count of the people who come out to their first events (ORA or other) with something they have purchased.. and maybe spent considerable money on, and it was just wrong in most areas.

If you want to be competitive and you can wait, take in a few different events as an interested spectator. Check out carefully what people are shooting, especially the winners, before you commit to a rifle.

Let that guide your direction on equipment.

NormB
 
Tolarences in a custom rifle can be kept smaller than is possible in a mass produced factory rifle, therefore the well built custom rifle has a potential for greater accuracy. The strength of the custom rifle however, is it's custom aspects from your own input, which makes it truly your rifle.
 
Get a custom. Buy rem 700 or a Win model 70 and get a barrel put on it by a qualified smith. You will not be sorry. 1/2MOA will be the norm with a quality barrel.
 
Kirill, from your 2 posts you can "Do IT ALL" with a .223. check out a Savage 12bvss for $850. You can "do it all" better with a .243 win. You can "do it all"even better yet with a custom. If you buy a Savage you wont have to buy a "better barrel"and you can spend some cash on a Weaver T24 scope which is a great target scope available for under $600. Then if you get real serious you can sell or keep the savage and spend $2500.00 for a quality custom rifle and use your Weaver on the new rifle.
 
I would give Rick a call at ATR and see if he has anything in stock, if not he can build you a rifle to what you want that would be second to none, and the service and price would not dissapoint you. If you want factory, I bought my dad a 700LTR from Rick, outstanding for the $$ and it comes in .223 aswell as .308.
 
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