If I were to decide to build a couple custom rifles at an affordable price, which components would you recommend? I live near a VERY good gunsmith that will do the work at an affordable price. He said he would put together any components I choose, so I thought I would get the thoughts of you guys that have done many build before.
I was thinking maybe
Remington stainless action
Bartlein or Brux barrel
Bell and Carlson medalist stock???

what components would you choose, and where would you get them at the best price?
Thanks for your help

What do you want to do with said rifles?

The most affordable custom rifle is the one that is built exactly the way you want it without the concern of cost.

If you build several affordable rifles you'll end up with something you won't be quite happy with and then you'll sell them at a loss.

You want affordable, get a factory rifle, want a custom, get exactly what you want.

Lots of moves with a 700 build.

I'd grab a SS take off bbl from the classifieds and spend a bit more money on a McM Edge something or other. The .243, 7-08 and some .260's are twisted good if you want to shoot heavies although the throats can be way out there. You could always have him set it back and throat it properly.

If it's savings you're after buy other people's customs when they get the itch for something else. Much more money can be saved like that than labor or components.

Yup.

Most all "affordable" custom rifles are "parts" guns; not "custom rifles. The term is used loosely today.

Some smith screwing an after market tube onto a Rem 700 or M70, then bedding in a synthetic stock isn't "custom". The affordable part means you cut corners somewhere and thats where the custom goes out the window,within reason.

Yep I've gone this route and found it true. A rather expensive lesson I might add.

That having been said you should ask yourself what it is you want (what you're looking to accomplish that can't come from a factory) and then build with those questions in mind.

A Remington 700 build like you describe can't be bad but if you're looking to do a lightweight .280 Rem maybe a mountain rifle with a McMillan added can get you there for less money? Just an example but you see what I mean.

Higbean raises a good point too. If you want a really accurate rifle built to your specs that can be a good way to go.

Good luck! This is an expensive but rewarding addiction...

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You could save a few bucks by going with an ER Shaw barrel I'm using a couple of their #1 contour barrels right now and they are very nice. For example, if you were building a Mauser in Brownells sells them("Brownells" barrels are made by "Small Arms Manufacturing" aka ER Shaw) for around $85(selection is limited to 25/06, 6.5 Swede, .308 & 30/06).
Numrich has a few others for around $120(bought a couple .270 barrels from them and they look fantastic).

I had a custom done a year ago with a NOS Yugo milsurp barrel in 8x57($40!!!) and have been very well pleased with it. A LOT depends on what YOU want...if you hadn't guessed I prefer Mauser actions(Good donor Mauser's can be found for about the same price as 700's).

I guess for me the most important thing is to know what you want. If you can be a bit flexible you can find products to get you there for a bit less cash, but look for parts that fit your plans, don't change the plans to fit the parts.

Yep.

For me, I like finding a used donor rifle, generally a 700, buy the barrel blank I want, and sent to a smith for installation. I find the stock, trigger, and bottom metal I want and take care of the bedding upon receiving the barreled action. The parts you choose are dependent on your budget. A build with factory bottom metal, a Medalist stock, tuned factory trigger, and a bead-blasted SS tube is going to be a lot cheaper than the same rifle with aftermarket bottom metal, a bedded McMillan stock, aftermarket trigger, fluted barrel, and Cerakote. Just those differences listed there can easily exceed $850 in cost difference, even though the rifles may shoot just the same. It boils down to where you want to spend your money and how much of it you have to spend.

That being said, a very good-quality "parts gun" doesn't have to be crazy expensive. I saw ADL 700 package rifles at Wal-Mart the other day with rebates. They were hard to walk away from at $300 effective cost for the actions. A person could have a good custom stainless tube installed to their specs, with basic lug-lapping and action refacing, and bead-blasting at $550-$600. A used H-S or new Medalist can be found for $250-$275. A tuned 700 trigger is $50. That's about $1,150-$1,250 for a rifle that will likely shoot well, provided you had a good smith. And you get the chambering and barrel twist/contour/length you want.

As you can see from the previous posts a little more thought needs to go into this. Decide what you want the rifle to do. Look pretty? Shoot dime size groups off a bench? Weigh 5 lbs all up? All of the above?
Once you decide what you want the rifle to be, talk to your smith. If it was me I would talk to several smiths and get their ideas on which way to accomplish your goal.
And don't forget about getting the stock fit to you. The best components in the world won't make an ill fitting stock feel natural to you.

Do you have a budget for rifle build?

google Will Fairbanks @ Fairbanks and Fairbanks rifles, see what Will can do for you.

He built this 6.5 Creed for me and you wouldn't believe what I paid for it,

Deviant Action
Bartlien Barrel
Jewel Trigger
DBM
McMillan A-5

Dollar to a donut one of them will be a 280AI...

A lot of truth in that.

You build what you want to build.

Don't let anybody tell you what you should or shouldn't do.

If you want to build something affordable than do it.

Who cares if you build it then want something else down the road. Nothing wrong with upgrading as you go.

Have fun doing it!

The key to an affordable custom, is to not get in a big hurry, and find deals as you come across them. It also doesn't hurt to be a wheeler and dealer.

I've got a 280 AI build at the smith right now, and from wheeling and dealing, it's a very affordable rifle.

It consists of:

Rem 700 Action w/PTG 1 piece bolt
Brux fluted Barrel
Jewell Trigger
McMillan Stock
PTG Bottom Metal
Seekins Base and Rings
Leupold VX-6 3-18x44
and a few other parts

My total investment, including the scope is just over $650. Proof that a quality rifle like you want can be had with a bit of time and effort.

I have started down the ACR (affordable custom rifle) path a few times and always found I could buy someone else's ACR that had lost it's shine to them much cheaper. Have a 700 in 6.5-06 in a Brown Precision with Shilen barrel that somebody decided wasn't custom enough for them.

That said I still find my self buying parts for the my next ACR run. But as SlickyBB said, I just buy them slowly over time as deals present themselves.

I say go for it. You might want to look at starting with a stainless Howa. Whole rifles were going for less than $400, sell the Hogue and barrel and you'd only have about $250 in the action. Plenty of aftermarket choices for stock, trigger, etc.

Good luck.

Not a snowballs chance in hell you bought all of that for $650........i dont care how long you waited around for the deals!

Well, believe what you want, I have no reason to lie. However, I have tracked my costs on this gun, down to the penny, and if you want to know the actual figure, it adds everything posted above plus a Holland Competition Recoil Lug, Callahan Speedlock, Tac Bolt Knob, PTG Bottom Metal, and new SS action bolts. Down to the penny total investment in parts is $653.08.

The only part that isn't new or custom ordered, is the 60s model 700 action. It's all about finding deals, and wheeling and dealing.

Would you at least care to share some how's? That scope alone for $650 is an absolute steal when they msrp for around 1200.

You have your audience mixed up – $650 is what you told your wife.

Ok, for the naysayers, and the curious, I will explain how I acquired all my parts for the price I did.

For the action, I purchased a mid 60s model 700 on gunbroker for $325 shipped to my FFL. I sold the laminate stock, the rings and bases, the trigger, and the original bolt. I then purchased a PTG 1-Piece Bolt.

That put me $144.40 into my Action.


For the Scope and Trigger. I purchased a Rem 700 XCR II with a Swaro Z3 4-12x50mm and a Jewell Trigger for $700. I took the Swaro off, and the rifle had to go back to Remington for a finish issue. Remington sent me back a "NEW IN BOX" rifle, and the separate Jewell trigger group back. I sold the new rifle, and had $0 in the Swaro and Jewell trigger.

I sold the Swaro,and bought a Mark 4 LR/T 4.5-14, sold the LR/T and bought a Mark 4 ER/T 4.5-14 and ended up selling it. I cleared $1450 I bought my VX-6 and got a Rebate on the scope, so I have -$343.30 in my scope.

That puts me at Jewell Trigger - $0 and VX-6 - -$343.30


On to the McMillan Stock. Back about 3 yrs ago, I had back surgery, and the meds I was on would keep me awake for hours on end in the middle of the night, so I did a lot of eBay cruising. I sniped 2 B&C Alaskan Stocks for pennies on the dollar in the middle of the night on eBay, and sold them for a good profit, but a deal for someone looking to buy one. I then ordered my McMillan here.

That put me at McMillan Stock - $134.00


I picked up the Seekins Rail and Rings on Sale at MidwayUSA + free shipping for Rail - $69.99 and Rings $109.99

I ordered my barrel on special for $339.00 Shipped

Everything else I paid full price for, was just patient and bought when I could get free shipping, so the breakdown.

Rem 700 LA w/PTG 1-Piece Bolt - $144.40
Jewell Trigger - $0
Leupold VX-6 3-18x44mm - -$343.30
McMillan Hunter Stock - $134.00
Brux Barrel - $339.00
Seekins Rail - $69.99
Seekins Rings - 109.99
Tac Bolt Knob - $15.00
Callahan SpeedLock - $60.00
Holland Recoil Lug - $33.00
PTG Bottom Metal - $84.00
New SS Action Screws - $7.00

This brings me to a total investment in parts to $653.08

That's some interesting math.

$1,339.68 +/-

Someone needs a new calculator.

lmao

If I had to go through that, I'd never build a rifle.

Please explain why that is. The math is simple addition and subtraction.

It is, if your columns lined up and it was clear that you were deducting the "profit" of your scope. The way you have it listed would make a CPA cataplectic. Regardless, congrats on your build, but I'm with Bob on this one!

That's more or less what I am doing right now.

I have a cheapo Sportsman 78 action (M700 ADL). Just bought a SS take-off bbl in 270Win for $65/shipped and am going to wait till I get a good deal on a used fiberglass stock.

Won't cost much when done.

So, if I sold a chunk of land, then used the proceeds to buy a brand new truck, ergo;
I could announce in the 4x4 forum that folks can purchase a new truck for $1200 - if they're patient.

I made $20K flipping a house so all my guns were free.



Dave Ramsey

It's not that hard to follow, the numbers are there, you just add and subtract from one to the next, no columns needed.




No, not unless what you used to offset the price of your 4x4 was purely profit from your land sale, and not the initial investment.





If that $20k was profit above and beyond your initial investment, and you used that money to actually buy $20K worth of guns, than you are correct, your investment in those guns is $0.

However if you just made $20K, and claim all the guns you ever bought were free, no that's not how it works.

What about when grandma died and left me a pile of cash?

Does that mean my Zeiss spotter was free?




Dave

I don't care what you do with grandmas money.

But if you inherited money from grandma, and used it for your spotter, it just means that your investment in it is $0, it doesn't mean that it wasn't paid for.

Hey, I'm happy you've gotten into the rifle for such a paltry sum - more power to you.

But you should have just recommended to the OP he flip his way into getting what he desires.

I'm headed down to the local pawn shop to let them know they have zero investment in anything ever.

Then I'm going to exercise my Constitutional rights by getting pulled over, and exiting my vehicle with gun in hand while my wife yells "DONT U DOOS IT!

Thank God and Al Gore for the internet.




Dave

10-4. I kind of did point him that direction in my original post when I told him to not get in a hurry, look for deals, and it doesn't hurt to be able to wheel and deal.

Whatever makes you happy!

...built it one piece at a time, and it didn't cost me a dime...

Nice Cash reference!

...it's a 64, 65, 66, 67,...

You forgot where the IRS wants 40% of your new found $20K

Does that mean the IRS gets there guns for free??

This thread has gotten way off topic, and to the OP, I apologize. The take away here, is with a bit of time and thoughtful effort, you can build an extremely affordable custom rifle.

Truth of the matter on my end, is I acquired everything for my build with only $653.08 of out of pocket expense. I consider that one hell of a budget build!