Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Factory rifles don't mean schidt!

I guess I'm a "jazz snob" of sorts, but I haven't cared what any of the big name rifle mfg'ers are building for quite a while now.

Fieldcraft was cool, but that's about it.

I can't be the only one.

Who's with me?

Well, uh, the last factory new gun I bought was a 9422m somewhere around 15 years ago. Before that was a 77/44 back in ‘99. They are both terribly boring guns. Large majority of my stuff is older than me and maybe even older than Ingwe.

I agree! Factory rifles are mostly kit rifles that someone else put together (not well) and they need taken apart and reassembled, sometimes with better parts.

Yeah, they suck balls...



Even the really cheap/inexpensive ones are chidt now days:




Even the really old factory rifles suck big time:



Been having a lot of fun with one factory rifle in particular though:

I don't own a factory rifle. I rather get exactly what I want or at least think I want!

Not me, I used to always be building stuff, but I’m down to only one custom and I would get rid of it if I could get somewhere near what it owes me

I've been really impressed with several factory rifles the past couple of years:

1. Barrett Fieldcraft - light done right, great parts put together very well. The #2 contoured cerakoted special run is exactly how I would have built one as a custom.

2. Seekins Havak PH2 - sporter weight long range rifle - same deal as above, great parts put together very well

Those two are more expensive than most factory rifles but for an off the shelf rifle they are both top notch.....actually they are top notch when compared to a custom rifle.

Looking at others, the Havak Element and Sig Cross should be really neat off the shelf rifles. I'll likely give the Cross a try mainly because of it's adjust-ability to see how it works with kids..


None of this was a cut on custom guns, I've just been impressed with the design/parts/build quality/performance of the two I mentioned.

I’d rather talk about the Corona Virus than Remingtons latest offering.

Meanwhile BSA is excited Stevens is chambering 30-06 again

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This is the last factory rifle I snagged. Not sure if it’ll get the 1-8 Krieger I’ve got and another Legend yet. May just shoot it and see what the heck is up with it.

Decided very late last December that 2020 was gonna hunt with a factory rifle and factory ammo. First time in at least 20+ years.

Went thru a bunch of 'em at the gun counter and settled on a CA Mesa in 6.5 Creed. Scooped up a bunch of boxes of ammo in different weights and headed out the door.

Settled on the 95 gr. V-MAX that Hornady offers for the little critters, the 143 gr. ELD-X in both Hornady and Black Hills dress for everything up through Elk, and if I draw Moose I'll switch to the 140 gr. AFrame that Swift loads.

2021? I'll handload for the Mesa, then a year on probably move it on down the road....

Haha😂😂

I agree Jeff, pretty much build what I want.

My feelings exactly. There's a light weight and long range factory option in these two rifles. For the average Joe that wants a "custom" rifle in these classes, there is no reason to look any further. If we could get a mid weight sporter factory option (or the #2 Fieldcraft as you mentioned) all bases would be covered.

Tikka's are accurate and reliable, but for some reason I just can't warm up to them.

😂

Tikka’s will shoot.... I wouldn’t feel at a disadvantage hunting with one. Seekins, and the rest of the $1600 price tag offerings from other mfg’s are still a hit/miss in the accuracy.

Factory works for me, but I’d spend time lookin for an oldie but goodie rig before I’d buy a box from most of the big makers. 😎

On the flip side, most don't want to pony up for a shooter.....

I've listed a hot shooting 6x47 a couple times, an refuse to let it go for garage sale prices.

Sorry boys, I can't add anything here.

All our guns are factory, shoot factory & are unanimously unmolested.

I know we must be doing something wrong, but our freezers are full !

True dat...For some that don’t understand the term “Proven” when seeing a used custom build for sale at an already discounted price from a known member, who is a true shooter.

“Proven” means the build is solid, accurate, and ready to make small groups. That kind of accuracy costs real money and someone’s skills to part list it and spin it together...😎

Nutt’n to be sorry about Paul...I’ve kilt more fur with box rifles than customs...I had a good run with a SFII Remington Sendero in 300 Ultra, a Weatherby FiberMark in 30-378 that hosed some good bulls at decent distance and a fine shooting Winchester Mod 70 CRF in 300 Roy that is the only rifle I truly regret sending down the road.

I did have to tweak every box rig by swapping out triggers and doing some light relief work on the stocks, but eventually they all did me proud.

😎

I have one of those and a Winchester M 70 .270 Wby in my gunsafe. They will not be sold or traded away while I'm alive.

But, .................... I'm talking about a bunch of Savage Rifles !

Higbean: Not me!
I quit buying and building "custom Rifles" many years ago!
Main reason EXPENSE!
Expense that is very difficult (impossible?) to recover when one goes to sell said custom Rifles.
Factory Rifles are a much better (more efficient, more intelligent) expenditure of ones monies in my opinion and in my experience.
And mind you I began buying/putting together custom Rifles more than 50 years ago!
Been there - done that!
As of today I buy more Rifles than 99.9% of all gun owners in America and for the last 15 years or so NONE of them have been "customs".
Again, they are simply to expensive, to time consuming and they "realize" to little of ones initial investments when it comes time to sell them.
Factory Rifles come in an amazing plethora of models, calibers, styles, brands and price ranges nowadays - I have simply learned that my money is better "invested" in factory offerings anymore.
In fact I am in the process of buying an all factory Rifle this week (for $750.00 delivered - no sales tax), that to duplicate, via the "custom route" would cost near 3 (three times that much) and who knows when it would be "completed"!
I once waited just over a year for a relatively "simple" custom Varmint Rifle to be "completed" (NO stockwork!)!
Those days are done for me - but I hold NO grudge or animosity towards anyone who chooses to spend their money in that direction.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Yep....Smart man!

I was young and thinking I could find something better. It took several rifles bought and sold before I was able to buy back the accuracy I had with that one sweet shooting rifle. 😎

Yeah, but you’re also a self described tight ass that won’t spend an extra $25 bucks on a scope if you think waiting 6 months you’ll find another one on a table at a gun show for less....Laffin. 😎

I have to agree with VG, I have a number of custom rifles, that I will never come close to recovering the $ I have sunk into them... My factory jobs, I might loose some or even make some... How ever the custom ones are built the way I like and that is something...

Yep, there are some great factory options, a guy sure as hell don't have to build this day and age. When I build, I've got a specific use for it, depending on where\what I'm huntin.

Haha 😂😂😂

Depends on the factory and WHAT you want to do with said factory arm.

Amen, resale doesn’t mean nothin to me. I buy em to hunt.

As the old saying goes - 99% of statistics are made up on the spot.

I am curious exactly how you arrived at the "fact" that you buy more rifles that 99.9% of all gun owners in America.

drover

Not sure he's exactly at 99.9 but no doubt VG buys lots of guns, way more than many at least. I say whatever floats your boat and fits your budget. I do think a lot of the factory rifles these days are dang accurate. Some seem to fall short when it comes to QC but if you can fix problems like stock bedding or a rough trigger that can usually be addressed.

What just exactly does " don't mean schidt" mean when it comes to rifles?

Most important thing to me is how well it shoots. They almost always wind up being re-stocked, or at least getting a new barrel, or both anyway. But still I've had only a couple factory guns that shot just so-so, And never a bad Remington. Sold an early Rem. 700V-.223 to my shooting partner. It was in mint, like new condition, and I wasn't gonna be the one to violate it. He'll put it on paper and get groups in the .2's, He's a real happy camper and the thing is a varmint's nightmare. Last time messing with factory barrels I screwed a new takeoff .223 stainless fluted Rem. varmint barrel onto an old 722 action, put it in an old Rem. classic stock (unbedded). Its favorite 50BT load shoots very low .2's at very respectable velocity. A junkyard dog but all factory. Nothing wrong with that.

I've got several factory rifles.

I dig my Montanas, but they all got diff tubes on em.

Tikka CTR would might make the short list of factory guns I'd buy along with a 7/08 FC.

Lego rifles and AICS mags are more in my wheelhouse these days I suppose.

Love them AICS mags and find a rifle not equipped with one rather unfortunate.

Dude, I beg to differ. I owe a lot of factory rifles that are right there with custom rifles. Sure, my BACO Winchester Model 70 JOC Tribute came off of a production line, but I like it better than most of the Rem700 or Big Horn Action composite rifles made up of a speciality barrel, a speciality trigger, and a speciality stock. I have a couple of Mannlichers that came off of a production line and they are really made to function probably better and are more accurate than a bubbaized 98 or 03. I have a model 52 Cooper in 30/06 that is pretty nifty. I also think that many of the semi-custom makers like Nosler or Fierce aren't quite custom rifles but they are very good nonetheless. These are just my views. I have a couple of custom rifles as well. I just find that the differences between factory rifles and custom rifles are less unless you go to bespoke or maybe Etchols.

If I wasn’t so invested in Tikkas at this point, I’d be doing the LEGO rifle thing with a bighorn action and some prefit barrels as well.

I think factory rifle quality and value really went downhill a couple decades ago. Two of the last three factory rifles I have bought were defective and I had to return them. One was a higher end bolt action and the other a gorgeous lever action. Oddly, the one that wasn’t defective and pleasantly surprised me was an AR. I once waited two years with only one update for a custom rifle. I honestly thought I would never hear back from the builder. More than a year after I gave up on it, it just showed up on my doorstep. But then again, several years ago I had a custom SML built and it was fairly quick and turned out to be an amazing rifle I still use often.
For what it’s worth, I don’t seem to have much trouble finding some great values in handguns. Not surprising then that’s where I’ve been spending more of my money lately.

Quite honestly, I’m just glad to be talking about something other than Corona.

Thanks for the responses guys.

I don’t think 2-to-4,000 dollar custom rifles are worth going down that road when you can buy factory rifles with great barrels and reliable actions for just a fraction of that expense.

Then, if it turns out needing an accuracy-tweak, it generally is only the bedding and/or some trigger work.

Then, I take the money-saved and pour it down the gaping hole in the water I have...... My Boat!

I guess I've been fortunate with the ones I've owned. Two Seekins and six Fieldcrafts have been under MOA with the first thing I fed them. Just mount a scope, sight-in, and you're done. Only 3 of those had a decent number of rounds through them, the rest were just sight-in and check drops so perhaps they had other issues.

I was impressed with the accuracy of a Ruger Precision Rifle a while back. It shot a 20 shot group from 300 yards that amazed me. Not really a hunting rifle and not my flavor of rifle but it could stack the rounds.

Build a custom to get EXACTLY what you want. Enjoy them, I do....but there's some off the shelf options out there that are essentially custom actions, barrels, stocks, put together right...just in a generic format.

Per always, you're completely full-of-szchit.

I guess I still prefer things exactly the way I like but if Tikka decides to chamber the 22 Creedmoor, I'll likely get on board.

No way in the world would I pay the money for a custom rifle. First off I lack the income to get one, shoot I lack the income to get the expensive factory rifle's. You have a factory rifle that shoot's 1" groups, you have far more accuracy than required for hunting pretty much anything! American hunter's seem to see themselves more as shooter's anymore and less as hunter's. rather than get closer the want to shoot farther! Answer seem's to be spend the money on a custom rifle or expensive factory rifle. Yet I don't recall many people bragging about how accurate their Weatherby MK 5 is. But they will tell you what it cost. For myself I'll stick to my factory rifles, more inexpensive one's. Haven't had much trouble getting them to shoot very well and I'm not into long range for big game. I think at this point if I were a long range hunter, one of my factory rifles would fill the bill very nicely!

I've had that opinion that firearms are either heirloom (ones that may be passed down from one generation to the next) and disposable, used for a specific "tool" purpose and eventually disposed of (modern duck shotguns remind me of this category). When manufacturers began putting barreled actions in Tupperware stocks is when I thought they transitioned to disposable. Fine walnut and blued steel never goes out of style, pre-64 Winchesters and customs remind me of this. Modern precision rifles throw a wrench in this opinion as they represent the state of the art in fabrication and accuracy, pushing the limits of cartridge and rifle. High quality stocks, precision machined receivers and carbon barrels represent the cutting edge of the sport but it's becoming hard to keep up with the changes. I really started paying attention to rifles in the 80s and not much really happened for a decade or so then it seems like everything changed overnight. Although most rifles produced today shoot better than they did a decade or so, so have shooters become more demanding. I visit gun shops every opportunity I can but nothing inspires me to go for my wallet these days with the exception of Christensen Arms. I have a safe full of Model 70s (been selling them off one by one) but my experience with the CA Ridgelines has been quite favorable and they shoot right out of the box, no rebarrel, bedding, stocking, trigger work, just mount a scope and shoot. I know Tikka has a growing reputation and are quite popular but the leave me cold just like the others. All said, I appreciate heirloom firearms but rifles are about precision and only accurate rifles are interesting so I continue to appreciate modern precision rifles..

I like both for different reasons. However, custom rifles (those of modern materials are in this group) seem to need as much attention after delivery as a factory rifle. I've had customs from different big name 'smiths that needed attention for chamber issues, failure to feed and bedding issues and some of them still shot no better than factory. With this in mind, I stay more in the factory arena now or consider remage setups on custom actions.

I have a few customs that I've bought secondhand and let the original owner take the hit on them once they've gotten bored. I tend to gravitate to older guns that are blued and wood stocked. For the most part I despise all the new rifles that are beadblasted and thrown into cheaply made stocks. They may shoot, but they're hideous. To each their own.

While I have a handful of custom rifles, I have another handful of factory rifles that are just as awesome in their own way and application. I would put their fit and finish and performance against many custom builds. I’m not talking run of the mill Brownings, Rems, Winny’s and the likes......also, I’m quite the opposite, I will likely (not saying never) not build another custom rifle. I would look for the right factory rifles and/or buy someone else’s custom they’ve grown tired or bored with. It’s a losing proposition to build and sell, build and sell.....

Montucky 7 Whizzum

Winny 70 CRPF Laminate 'Yote 7 Whizzum

All thangs S/A Fieldcraft

Montucky 223

Every 700 in 280 and 7mm RemMag

700 243Win's

Ruger 77's in 22LR,17HMR,WSM and Hornet

Vudoo

Annie 54's

Teeker 8" 22-250

700's in Twat-Six

700's in 300 Winny Belted

Any/all 6/6.5 Kreedmires wearing AICS DBM bottom

Boolits tend to matter and RPM/Throat/COAL alignment...is how Splendors are arranged. Hint.

Pardon my shooting it all and then some.

Hint...………..

10/4


All except the Merkel K3 were purchased pre-enjoyed, at a value!

Other than rings/base and scopes, as stock as the day they left the factory!




Sako AV, Deluxe, 280 Remington






Dakota 76 Alpine, 280 Remington






Luxus Model 11 LT, 280 Remington





Blaser K95's Top: 30-06 Springfield, Bottom: 270 Winchester





Ruger #1's, 375 H&H, 300 H&H





Merkel K3 Extrem, 270 Winchester





A coupla' Steyrs, Carbine: 7mm-08, FS, 6.5 x 55 SE




Sauer 200, 30-06 Springfield




a few Cooper single shots!

ya!

GWB

Don't agree.

I have purchased a few factory rifles in the last 5 years. I'm very happy with them. All very well made. All accurate.

Win m70 Extreme Weather 30-06 ("BACO" made/assembled in USA).
Win m70 Sporter 30-06 ( "BACO" made/assembled in USA).

Tikka T3 Varmint 308 Win

Weatherby Vanguard S2 , 270 Win (nice 2-stage HAct trigger, 3-position safety, nice injected molded stock, 0.75 moa or better.

For the most part, manufacturers have become much better at putting out very accurate rifles. I speculate most of us don't have the ability to tap into the full potential of a lot of factory rifles, even the cheaper ones. To many, getting a bedding job done, putting on an aftermarket stock and/or putting in a high quality trigger is akin to having a custom made AND can be a significantly better and more cost effective option. To each their own.

I'm lucky. In buying a Kimber Montana/Ascent, etc., Fieldcraft, Seekins and others, I am able to get what fits me and works for me and is capable beyond my own abilities at a cost less than a custom. Heck, my first custom I put together about 30 years ago amounted to what is now a Kimber Montana at a significantly higher cost. Heck, in 1990 I think I paid just over $1800 to have that rifle put together. What is that in today's dollars? However, generally speaking, in time-adjusted dollars, I do think it is now "cheaper" (relative term, I know) to have a nice custom put together today than it was even 10 or 15 years ago. Competition, the free market and technological advances have put us into the golden age of center fire rifles, whether that be assembly line or custom.