Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats How much does a good gunsmith charge?

Iv'e paid anywhere between $500.00 and $1000.00, depends on the smith!

I paid more than Ackleyfan did for a couple of them, but the smith already had the majority of parts. I am not sure what it would cost if you provided all of the parts and pieces for the build and were just paying for the labor. A call to Kevin Weaver, Gene Simillion or whoever you have in mind isn't a waste of time. Alot of info to be gained and I'd definitely write down exactly what you want and what you expect from the sum of all your components bolted together.

I’m having one done now and supplied all of the parts. Labor is 1125 with cerakote of the metal bedding the stock with pillars muzzle brake and thread protector tuning the trigger and opening up the stock for proof research sendero lite barrel. Borden timberline action.

I’ll have my rifle done in a about 4 weeks at I’ll get a weight for you. It will be similar as using manners carbon fiber stock in 280ai. The action will be a few ounces heavier on mine.

I also have a proof research summit being delivered tomorrow so I’ll try to get a weight on it. It uses the defiance rebel action but is 6.5 creedmoor so not sure the weight difference to the ti long action.

What would be a typical cost estimate for a good gunsmith to properly assemble,chamber,crown, bed a custom? I'm not sure what all is necessary,never having built a custom before but I would just like a good estimate of cost of everything a good gunsmith would need to do if he had all the parts.

The thing is that I have to save quite a while to get any of my toys. It might take 6-10 months for me to save enough to buy a custom TI action. I was thinking about buying the parts and then finding a gunsmith. Half the fun of any new rifle or high end piece of equipment for me is the anticipation while I save to get it anyway,so this would provide about 3 years worth of joy.LOL

It all depends on what parts you want. Just like building a hot rod car. The sky is the limit. You can use an old donor action from a used $200 savage, or get a custom made action that set's you back $3k. Same with barrels, triggers etc. A chrome molly or stainless ? Fluted ? Carbon fiber wrapped ? I've purchased ER Shaw close out over runs for $30 that shoot very well. Or you could spend a grand $1k on carbon wrapped barrel. Same with the stock. You can buy a Boyds stock for $100, a McMillian Stock for $600 or a high end hand made custom hardwood stock with beautiful checkering and inlays for $10,000.00.

I'm in the middle of doing the same thing that you are looking at. Bought a Defiant Rebel action with a custom 20 MOA rail built into the action. Included a custom serial number. Increased tenon length on the action. I can't remember the price of the action as I purchased it about 3-4 years ago. Thinking it was around $1100-$1200 ??? Then had to wait almost a year for it to be completed. I purchased a McMillan stock through Rick Bin here on the campfire. IIRC It was around $600. The barrel for this build was a Shilen, and once again, I cannot remember the cost. Got it on sale. Thinking it was around $200. Then you need a trigger, rings, scope and the list goes on. I am fortunate to have a close friend here on the campfire that has a lathe. He can cut, crown, and chamber the barrel for me for free. That saves a lot of money.

Good luck on your build. Let us know what you're plans are other than a TI action. Chambering ? Stock ? etc.


Owl

I believe the OP was asking about the gunsmith's labor charges to machine and put together parts already in hand.

I can't remember a full custom coming in under $1,100 since before the turn of the century. The last one that I had done, year before last, was $1,410 and I supplied the action.