Thanks...guess I'll pass.
Was thinking I could get it done for around a grand give or take plus the smith work. $250 for rifle, $300 for new stock, $150 for a trigger, $300 for a barrel and whatever for the smith work. Unless my numbers are way off. Which they very well could be.
Keep my eyes open for a cheap 700.
What's a good round off that 30-06? Just want something slightly different, maybe not for you all in this forum but for me and guys I shoot with. And not necessarily off a 30-06.
The idea of a custom rifle is to end up better than where you started, but the kind of money you're talking about will actually move you backwards for several reasons:
1. You're replacing purpose-built parts with aftermarket parts that will need fitting to be as good as the original ones.
2. You'd be the guinea pig. The RAR doesn't have the decades of knowledge that have accumulated around the 98 Mauser, Model 70 Winchester, or Remington 700.
3. A $300 stock will probably either be a POS, need a lot of work, or both. If you can do the work, then you can save money. If not, then add another $200 for adding a recoil pad, glass bedding, plain paint job, and a free-floated barrel. That leaves you with a $300 POS stock that might not work right. I'd go ahead and cough up the bucks for a McMillan or something of that ilk.
4. $150 for a trigger is probably about right for a Mauser, Winchester, or Remington, but I understand that the RAR has a pretty good trigger already, so I'm not sure you need to replace it.
5. The RAR has a good reputation for accuracy because the barrels are pretty good, and a $300 barrel probably won't shoot as well as the factory one. Even if you go with a pre-chambered barrel, still count on about $100 to get it set up and headspaced properly. Again, you can save if you can do the work, but I still feel like you're still taking a chance with a $300 barrel. Like someone else said, a barrel that's worth owning and properly installed starts around $6-700.
Finally, Ruger adds new cartridges to the RAR line every couple of weeks, I'd hold off on getting something just to be different--they'll probably offer what you had built just after you take delivery of your custom. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but having built several bargain-basement customs, I think that their main value is teaching shooters why spending another $1,000 to $1,500 is a
really good idea.
Okie John
