Building a Rifle on a Tight Budget

WI-2021

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Since I can't sleep anyway, might as well start a discussion here that may be interesting and perhaps beneficial for myself and others....

As a very picky left-handed shooter, I've spent far too much time horse trading to find the ideal hunting rifle. A few years ago, I bit the bullet and had my first "custom" rifle built. Custom means different things to different people, but for the my purposes, it means that I chose all of the components and had them assembled into what I decided was the ideal rifle for my local deer hunting. Custom fabrication work was minimal, just spinning up a barrel from a blank and some inletting modifications to the chosen synthetic stock. Maybe not a true custom in the sense of engraving, a fitted walnut stock, etc., but custom enough for my purposes. I've found that if something is either too pretty and/or too irreplaceable, I won't use it much. If it's not pretty and easily replaced, I'll use it without concern for cost and just fix it if/when needed. Ironically, this means that the discontinued lefty Browning X-Bolt White Gold Medallion I used to own just sat in the safe for fear of beating up the gorgeous walnut stock, while the custom Defiance at four times the cost goes everywhere. Just one of my quirks, no logic involved.

That first Defiance .308 build was done without a budget and completely spoiled me for more typical factory rifles. Over the next several years, more customs have followed. I'm waiting on my fourth one to be assembled now. These subsequent builds have been built at a much lower price point than the first. Thus far, they've also been built with light weight in mind, so carbon fiber stocks and pre-fit cf barrels, lighter weight Remington 700 pattern actions, etc. I've typically been a little over $3k into parts for each of these rifles.

All this blathering brings us up to Black Friday, and one of far too many advertisements that landed in my inbox. "A long-action, LH, magnum bolt face Pure Precision Summit action for $650? What could I do with that?" I've long desired a left-handed .458 for no earthly reason, but a push-feed .458 seemed like sacrilege. A .416 might be slightly less useless to me, but only slightly, and which one? In the end, I chose to be at least a little practical and limit myself to another .375. Truthfully, I have no need for a .375 either, especially not a third one, but I can envision a need for one and that's good enough for me. I can, and probably will, sell one of the Rugers to partially fund this experiment. My two .375 Rugers (an African and an Alaskan) are my sole remaining factory bolt actions, so it seems that one can be replaced with this build.

While hand-wringing about whether to buy this action, and what the hell to do with it if I did, another idea started to form. "How cheaply can I build a high-quality custom-ish rifle?" Now obviously, there will be some limitations here in the interests of cost containment: No walnut, no carbon fiber, no engraving, no CRF, etc. It will be a fairly basic rifle; the kind I could buy off the shelf were I right-handed, but this one will be backward, chambered in .375 Ruger, threaded 5/8-24, mine, and it will cost about $1900. I expect that I'll get near $2500 with NECG express sights and a barrel band swivel. Those will be added later after I know everything is working. I'm prepared to accept a push feed .375, but one without sights is a bridge too far.

Any frustrated lefties who have read this far might be wondering "what parts do I buy to build the rifle I want for under $2k?" The answer of course is "the ones that are on sale."

In this case, my choices were:

1. The aforementioned Pure Precision Summit action. $650 on sale, $1000 regular price. I haven't received this order yet, but have two other actions from them and find them to be an excellent value.
2. Bell & Carlson Remington 700 stock. $290 on sale, $340 regular price. I'll have to open up the barrel channel a bit, and modify the ejection port.
3. Triggertech Primary. $149 on sale, $195 regular. I have one Triggertech or another in all my customs and saw no reason to change.
4. Wyatt's .300 PRC box, spring, and follower. About $50. The .300 PRC is based on the .375 Ruger case, so this should work, if not I'll try a standard Magnum box.
5. Redhawk Rifles BDL floorplate. About $150. No prior experience with this part, but it appears to be quite nice. The Hawkins Oberndorf is nicer, but significantly more costly.
6. The barrel hasn't been ordered yet, between $500-$550 for either a McGowan or Preferred Barrel Blanks pre-fit. I didn't see any sales on pre-fits, so I decided to wait a bit on this.

There are many other options in the world of Remington 700 compatible parts, these just happen to be the ones I chose. I estimate that I probably saved about $500 by shopping Black Friday sales. I estimate that the finished rifle will weight between 7.75 and 8 lbs bare.

As far as the barrel, I'm planning to suppress this rifle, so I'm looking for a muzzle diameter of .75." The barrel will be 20" long, which basically means one of the various #5 contours. Oddly, this is a #3 in the world of Preferred Barrel Blanks for some reason. Does anyone have experience with either McGowan or Preferred? My Carbon Six barrels are made from McGowan blanks and I have no complaints other than lead-time, but I've never used a barrel from PBB.

Any thoughts, commentary, or feedback on my plan is more than welcome. I'll try to update as things progress, but it may be a while, both because I'll be rather occupied until Christmas and because I can't really build this thing without a barrel.

Has anyone else built a rifle on a very tight budget? What would you recommend?
 
I have done similar with good results.
 
Have you considered a Savage receiver for one of your build's? They are available in LH.

I know that barrel nut is ugly, but it makes screwing on a barrel easy. No lathe work needed, just a barrel vise, barrel wrench, nut wrench and headspace gauges. Also there are tons of parts available.

I know they don't look like much, but for a left handed shooter they can be a Bonanza.
 
Not an inexpensive option, but the Blaser R8 Professional/Professional Success are completely ambidextrous and available in 375H&H. The R8 is a push-feed rifle, but I've cycled them upside-down several times and they don't drop cartridges. They are priced more in line with your Defiance rifles, and like those...you will get what you pay for.
 
Not an inexpensive option, but the Blaser R8 Professional/Professional Success are completely ambidextrous and available in 375H&H. The R8 is a push-feed rifle, but I've cycled them upside-down several times and they don't drop cartridges. They are priced more in line with your Defiance rifles, and like those...you will get what you pay for.
The ambi feature and speed of the bolt figured heavily in my decision to get an R8, as did the muscle memory aspect of always shooting the same rifle. I have mine barreled in 308, 300 Win, and 375 H&H. It is a more expensive than your build budget, and I find that it is worth every penny even when compared to some of the top-notch components that you listed.
 
Has anyone else built a rifle on a very tight budget? What would you recommend?

For folks close to Dallas, the Shilen Swap Meet that they do every spring is a great way to get into a custom build on the cheap.

Shilen typically puts out a hundred or more match grade barrels in various profiles and action types at greatly discounted rates… I picked up a match .270 barrel for a 98 Mauser build a few years back for about $200 I believe..

And the parking lot will be filled with vendors and individuals all selling various rifle components at way below retail…

Well worth attending if you’ve never been before…

edited to add.... another cool thing about the Swap Meet is... they give you access to the Shilen factory... its pretty cool to spend an hour or two just walking around the factory floor watching them make and test actions, barrels, etc.. and to see the tooling, the processes, etc..
 
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The ambi feature and speed of the bolt figured heavily in my decision to get an R8, as did the muscle memory aspect of always shooting the same rifle. I have mine barreled in 308, 300 Win, and 375 H&H. It is a more expensive than your build budget, and I find that it is worth every penny even when compared to some of the top-notch components that you listed.
Not to highjack the thread but I want to ask... When travelling to Africa or other countries how do you list the R8 on the SAPS or other countries importation forms when you have the rifle in one caliber say 375 and two additional bbls in other calibers in 308 and 300WM? For example, South Africa will allow me to bring two rifles plus up to 200 rds (or 100 rds) per rifle but I can only bring ammo for the rifle calibers I am transporting. Weight limits state no more than 5 kilos of ammo by weight which means that for centerfire hunting calibers the total per rifle is more like 40 or 50 rds each. Still if I bring a 375 and a 308 into the country, I am not allowed to bring 300WM ammo. I know they do not check the ammo that closely if at all but it is a concern. When you travel, can you bring all three bbls and ammo for all three? And if so, do you declare all three? or only one rifle and two bbls?

Or do you still have to limit your African package to two calibers and ammo for those two only?

Back to the regularly scheduled programming. As for self specified custom build, you can send your action to Douglas in WV and they will install a XX air gauged match grade bbl onto your action, set the headspace and return the completed project to you for finishing. If you have a local gunsmith that you like, he can do the same. I have a couple of rifles with Douglas bbls and they are pretty impressive. Certainly not the only option out there. Bartlein is one, Muller and Shilen is another.
 
Have you considered a Savage receiver for one of your build's? They are available in LH.

I know that barrel nut is ugly, but it makes screwing on a barrel easy. No lathe work needed, just a barrel vise, barrel wrench, nut wrench and headspace gauges. Also there are tons of parts available.

I know they don't look like much, but for a left handed shooter they can be a Bonanza.
I have considered them. By all accounts they make a good, accurate rifle, but I'm not in love with the barrel nut. All of my builds so far, with the exception of the Defiance, have used receivers that will take a shouldered pre-fit. Those can, in theory, be assembled at home with the same tools and headspace gauges. My .300 WM did have an issue with excess headspace initially though. Easily resolved by setting the barrel back. Fortunately my gunsmith is just down the road, which is a huge advantage. The barrel nut makes a lot more sense if you absolutely must do all the work yourself for any reason.

The one feature that keeps me coming back to the Pure Precision actions, besides their Black Friday sale, is the 75 degree bolt lift. It opens up options for low mounted scopes. It seems that this feature is becoming more popular, as Defiance and Impact both offer two lug 75 degree options now as well.
 
Not an inexpensive option, but the Blaser R8 Professional/Professional Success are completely ambidextrous and available in 375H&H. The R8 is a push-feed rifle, but I've cycled them upside-down several times and they don't drop cartridges. They are priced more in line with your Defiance rifles, and like those...you will get what you pay for.
I somehow knew that this would become an R8 thread within a few hours! :ROFLMAO: You're right, I probably was right around the cost of an R8 by the time I completed my Defiance .308, but I did have some very specific goals for that rifle which would have involved some customizing of the R8 as well.

The Defiance is a Rebel with the 3-position safety, a 16.5" Proof Light Sendero, Triggertech Special, Hawkins Oberndorf, and a Triggertech Special. The stock is a Peak 44 Blacktooth. It weighs about 5.5 lbs bare and 8 lbs with a Dead Air Nomad LT, a GPO Spectra 6 1.5-9 in Talley mounts, and a sling.

In the long run, an R8 and multiple barrels probably would have been cheaper. I've never put my hands on one though, which also factored into my decision.
 
For folks close to Dallas, the Shilen Swap Meet that they do every spring is a great way to get into a custom build on the cheap.

Shilen typically puts out a hundred or more match grade barrels in various profiles and action types at greatly discounted rates… I picked up a match .270 barrel for a 98 Mauser build a few years back for about $200 I believe..

And the parking lot will be filled with vendors and individuals all selling various rifle components at way below retail…

Well worth attending if you’ve never been before…

edited to add.... another cool thing about the Swap Meet is... they give you access to the Shilen factory... its pretty cool to spend an hour or two just walking around the factory floor watching them make and test actions, barrels, etc.. and to see the tooling, the processes, etc..
That's an excellent recommendation! I used to get to the DFW area for work frequently, but no longer.
 
The R8 seemed like a possible fit for you, especially considering how much you like minimal bolt lift and LH action.

You have specific tastes and that's cool. However, after having all the nice bells and whistles of your other rifles, I have reservations about you being truly happy with what most consider a "tight budget build".

I wish you all the best in your quest. And if I can be of assistance, don't hesitate to ask.

EDIT - When having some work done on my house, I was told you can have two of the following but will sacrifice the one you did not pick. Can't have all three and that applies to rifles as well.

Done quickly
High quality
Low price
 
The R8 seemed like a possible fit for you, especially considering how much you like minimal bolt lift and LH action.

You have specific tastes and that's cool. However, after having all the nice bells and whistles of your other rifles, I have reservations about you being truly happy with what most consider a "tight budget build".

I wish you all the best in your quest. And if I can be of assistance, don't hesitate to ask.
Thank you! We shall see how this goes. Fortunately, this is more of a "because I can" situation than a true budget limitation, so I can always change course if it seems to be going off the rails. I should clarify, the Defiance is the only build that I went all-out on. The others were built with some small glimmer of fiscal responsibility in mind, just not to the extreme that I'm trying for this time.

The only place that I feel like I'm really cheaping out here is the stock. I've never owned a B&C before, but I have one sitting in the basement waiting now. It's no Manners, but for the price, I'm impressed. If I don't like it, it will find its way onto the pile of bad decisions, next to the Grayboe Outlander and Remington bottom metal that used to be on the Defiance.

The Pure Precision actions are nice, based on my sample size of two so far. It's no Defiance in terms of finish or smoothness, but it's also about 1/3 the price. As you said, you get what you pay for. Mine have broken in nicely, so I don't think I'll be disappointed with this one either. Time will tell.

One area where I am currently torn is the barrel. The McGowan or PBB pre-fits are the easy button, but I'm not averse to having my gunsmith spin one up from a blank either. I doubt cost would be much different, depending on the blank. Lots of options out there and analysis paralysis is so easy.
 
As a left-handed shooter, finding affordable .4** caliber rifles can be a challenge. I really wanted to test the waters by shooting a larger bore rifle but I didn't want to break the bank on my very first purchase. I wanted to acquire something basic, try it out and figure out what I liked, didn't like, wanted to add, wanted to do without, etc.

In order to do this I decided a 458 Win Mag would be a good choice. Left-handed rifles using a 375 H&H parent case (e.g. 7mm Rem Mag, 300 Win Mag, 338 Win Mag) were readily available & I could find them in CRF. So I started out with a 1999 LH Ruger M77 MkII chambered in 7mm Rem Mag I got off of GunBroker.

AH_Ophelia1.jpg


I then got McGowen to make a #5 profile 23" barrel with a 1:14 twist to go on it.

ah_mcgowen-jpg.642907


I purchased some inexpensive Talley crossbolts, a set of pillars to mount the action on & installed a stainless steel rod in the grip to strengthen it. It was actually a lot of fun increasing the size of the inletting to accommodate the larger barrel & installing all of the reinforcements. I did this with basic hand tools.

AH-458-Cost.jpg


I added a Leupold 3x20mm Big Bore scope from their custom shop that I had laying around & seemed a good fit for this particular rifle. I've managed to cobble together a nice rifle that I've really enjoyed shooting 404gr Shock Hammers out of. Its nothing fancy but I've been really pleased with this particular project since I had never done anything like this before.

ah_ophelia-jpg.642903


To answer one of the OP's original questions, I liked working with McGowen. Their shop manager was responsive to all of my newbie questions. I was really pleased with the final product and the gunsmith work since I went ahead & let them swap the barrels on the action for me since I was doing all of the rest of the work myself.
 

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  • AH_Ophelia1.jpg
    AH_Ophelia1.jpg
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As a left-handed shooter, finding affordable .4** caliber rifles can be a challenge. I really wanted to test the waters by shooting a larger bore rifle but I didn't want to break the bank on my very first purchase. I wanted to acquire something basic, try it out and figure out what I liked, didn't like, wanted to add, wanted to do without, etc.

In order to do this I decided a 458 Win Mag would be a good choice. Left-handed rifles using a 375 H&H parent case (e.g. 7mm Rem Mag, 300 Win Mag, 338 Win Mag) were readily available & I could find them in CRF. So I started out with a 1999 LH Ruger M77 MkII chambered in 7mm Rem Mag I got off of GunBroker.

View attachment 652619

I then got McGowen to make a #5 profile 23" barrel with a 1:14 twist to go on it.

ah_mcgowen-jpg.642907


I purchased some inexpensive Talley crossbolts, a set of pillars to mount the action on & installed a stainless steel rod in the grip to strengthen it. It was actually a lot of fun increasing the size of the inletting to accommodate the larger barrel & installing all of the reinforcements. I did this with basic hand tools.

View attachment 652620

I added a Leupold 3x20mm Big Bore scope from their custom shop that I had laying around & seemed a good fit for this particular rifle. I've managed to cobble together a nice rifle that I've really enjoyed shooting 404gr Shock Hammers out of. Its nothing fancy but I've been really pleased with this particular project since I had never done anything like this before.

ah_ophelia-jpg.642903


To answer one of the OP's original questions, I liked working with McGowen. Their shop manager was responsive to all of my newbie questions. I was really pleased with the final product and the gunsmith work since I went ahead & let them swap the barrels on the action for me since I was doing all of the rest of the work myself.
Thank you for the input. That's a nice looking rifle! Your project is actually one of my alternate plans for my Hawkeye African. Since i already have the rifle and it's glass bedded and fitted with a 1" Decelerator pad, I may also keep it and rebarrel it to .458 WM. I'm up in the air on whether to do that or sell it. I'm not sure how well the walnut stock would hold up on a .458; I'd probably need to add pillars as well. It already has two crossbolts.

The main reason I ended up with two .375 Rugers in the first place was the thought of rebarreling one to .458. I bought both of them on closeout from CDNN when the newer versions with the muzzle brakes came out, so I basically got two rifles for the current price of one, if not less. I just never followed through with the project.

The African got bedded and the new recoil pad. The Alaskan, being the 20" barreled version, got the same treatment with the addition of being threaded 5/8-24 for a suppressor. Both shoot well, but the African doesn't get shot much at all anymore since I have a distinct preference for quiet rifles. I'll make the decision on what to do with the Rugers once this build is complete. I'll most likely keep the Alaskan as-is, but the African may get some work done if it doesn't get sold.

FWIW, I talked to my gunsmith today, and he also has had good luck working with McGowan.
 
The R8 seemed like a possible fit for you, especially considering how much you like minimal bolt lift and LH action.

You have specific tastes and that's cool. However, after having all the nice bells and whistles of your other rifles, I have reservations about you being truly happy with what most consider a "tight budget build".

I wish you all the best in your quest. And if I can be of assistance, don't hesitate to ask.

EDIT - When having some work done on my house, I was told you can have two of the following but will sacrifice the one you did not pick. Can't have all three and that applies to rifles as well.

Done quickly
High quality
Low price
Looks like I replied before your edit. As an engineer, I've always heard it as "good, fast, cheap. Pick two." I've definitely found that to be true, especially when it comes to construction. They can be balanced somewhat, but you'll never get all three at a high level. I'm at a low price on this build, so I guess I have to take my time with it.
 
Have you considered a Savage receiver for one of your build's? They are available in LH.

I know that barrel nut is ugly, but it makes screwing on a barrel easy. No lathe work needed, just a barrel vise, barrel wrench, nut wrench and headspace gauges. Also there are tons of parts available.

I know they don't look like much, but for a left handed shooter they can be a Bonanza.
I built my .338-06 using a used Savage 111, a Shaw barrel, a new barrel nut from Shilen, and a replacement stock. My all in cost was about $500.
 
For folks close to Dallas, the Shilen Swap Meet that they do every spring is a great way to get into a custom build on the cheap.

Shilen typically puts out a hundred or more match grade barrels in various profiles and action types at greatly discounted rates… I picked up a match .270 barrel for a 98 Mauser build a few years back for about $200 I believe..

And the parking lot will be filled with vendors and individuals all selling various rifle components at way below retail…

Well worth attending if you’ve never been before…

edited to add.... another cool thing about the Swap Meet is... they give you access to the Shilen factory... its pretty cool to spend an hour or two just walking around the factory floor watching them make and test actions, barrels, etc.. and to see the tooling, the processes, etc..
I'll have to check this out.
 
The R8 seemed like a possible fit for you, especially considering how much you like minimal bolt lift and LH action.

You have specific tastes and that's cool. However, after having all the nice bells and whistles of your other rifles, I have reservations about you being truly happy with what most consider a "tight budget build".

I wish you all the best in your quest. And if I can be of assistance, don't hesitate to ask.

EDIT - When having some work done on my house, I was told you can have two of the following but will sacrifice the one you did not pick. Can't have all three and that applies to rifles as well.

Done quickly
High quality
Low price
@WI-2021
I will elaborate on my first response copying BeeMaa in as we have discussed our different perspectives

If have assembled a couple of Tikka using cheaper barrels and a good gunsmith.

I recently had a 6br built on a Kelbly Prometheus using lower priced parts excepting maybe the trigger. Still coming in at a reasonable price price of a full custom.

But I have a Rifle Basix on a Rem700 .223 bought when they were breaking into the market.its light and suits the purpose of a spotlighting rifle.

Buy a lefty Tikka and customise that.

In my currency I might get a Tikka for $1000 and buy a $20 trigger spring.

I can use an IBI barrel and a good gunsmith for a total of $1000 and have some fancy chambering done by a precision gunsmith.

So that’s $2000 and a new Tikka Lite is approaching that with factory barrel and a Tupperware stock. But they still shoot.

There are many stock options and chassis available if you like or you can simply stay stock standard.

The pure precision summit at $650 is going to run at $1000 or more here but haven’t seen it listed. Do normal retail of $1000 is heading over $1500 and still in the lower end of Clone actions that I know of here.

A Kelbly Nanook might be a nice option to build a custom hunting rifle on a Woox Walnut chassis $2700 + $1300 plus magazine and trigger could be $4500+ and a barrel is from $1000-$2000ish . I kinda tho this makes a nice custom bolt rifle going into a fusion of modern twist on a traditional bolt action hunting rifle but it’s getting nearly as much as a bloody Blaser.

Unfortunately I keep thinking my Tikkas cover the bases for me and from $1000 they still work.

Honestly the last one I bought was $900 and came with some cases , Redding dies and $100 worth of projectiles, and it is sub moa.

I put it in a Pink B&C stock that cost $350 on clearance some years ago and bought a custom
IMG_0525.jpeg
bolt handle to make the wife realise I went all the way for her rifle

To add to that the 7x64 seems rare in Australia so it is a unique package.

What would @Bob Nelson 35Whelen build?
 
@WI-2021
I will elaborate on my first response copying BeeMaa in as we have discussed our different perspectives

If have assembled a couple of Tikka using cheaper barrels and a good gunsmith.

I recently had a 6br built on a Kelbly Prometheus using lower priced parts excepting maybe the trigger. Still coming in at a reasonable price price of a full custom.

But I have a Rifle Basix on a Rem700 .223 bought when they were breaking into the market.its light and suits the purpose of a spotlighting rifle.

Buy a lefty Tikka and customise that.

In my currency I might get a Tikka for $1000 and buy a $20 trigger spring.

I can use an IBI barrel and a good gunsmith for a total of $1000 and have some fancy chambering done by a precision gunsmith.

So that’s $2000 and a new Tikka Lite is approaching that with factory barrel and a Tupperware stock. But they still shoot.

There are many stock options and chassis available if you like or you can simply stay stock standard.

The pure precision summit at $650 is going to run at $1000 or more here but haven’t seen it listed. Do normal retail of $1000 is heading over $1500 and still in the lower end of Clone actions that I know of here.

A Kelbly Nanook might be a nice option to build a custom hunting rifle on a Woox Walnut chassis $2700 + $1300 plus magazine and trigger could be $4500+ and a barrel is from $1000-$2000ish . I kinda tho this makes a nice custom bolt rifle going into a fusion of modern twist on a traditional bolt action hunting rifle but it’s getting nearly as much as a bloody Blaser.

Unfortunately I keep thinking my Tikkas cover the bases for me and from $1000 they still work.

Honestly the last one I bought was $900 and came with some cases , Redding dies and $100 worth of projectiles, and it is sub moa.

I put it in a Pink B&C stock that cost $350 on clearance some years ago and bought a custom View attachment 653668bolt handle to make the wife realise I went all the way for her rifle

To add to that the 7x64 seems rare in Australia so it is a unique package.

What would @Bob Nelson 35Whelen build?
@Bob Nelson 35Whelen - After seeing the rifle @CBH Australia has here, I’ll be issuing a cease and desist on you calling my R8 “Barbie”. :ROFLMAO:

Apologies to the OP for the detour.
 
@Bob Nelson 35Whelen - After seeing the rifle @CBH Australia has here, I’ll be issuing a cease and desist on you calling my R8 “Barbie”. :ROFLMAO:

Apologies to the OP for the detour.
I was going to say that I won the stock at the Broken Heel festival but I don’t attend and Bob might be the only one I know who has.

It’s my wife’s, honestly. Truth be known I would like to put that 7x64 in a nice timber stock for Me!
 

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