custom rifle accuracy

[GKPrice]

Last week I had to travel a bit for TG so I splurged and bought a "RECOIL" magazine at the local Fred Meyer to read on- They did an abbreviated review on hunting rifles and included was a MatchGradeArms custom lightweight in 300 Win Mag - From what I'm reading the accuracy on that gun with premium factory ammo was abysmal, at least by most of "our" standards - I have questions/statements that I thought I'd voice here for comment or antedoctal information feedback
1) I'm wondering by nobody ever seems to put a NULA rifle in the test stable ?
2) Would anyone be as pissed as I would be if I shelled out $4000 +/- for a rifle only to end up with entry level accuracy ?

 

[5MilesBack]

2) Would anyone be as pissed as I would be if I shelled out $4000 +/- for a rifle only to end up with entry level accuracy ?

Absolutely! That's why I'd have trouble forking over that kind of dough for a custom. With cheap factory rifles guaranteeing MOA accuracy or better, it's hard for me to justify custom prices.

My factory Browning 7mag has shot 3-shot sub-1" groups at 400 yards before with reloads. In fact, I haven't owned a rifle that I couldn't eventually get sub-MOA groups out of, once I figured out what it liked.

 

[GKPrice]

Absolutely! That's why I'd have trouble forking over that kind of dough for a custom. With cheap factory rifles guaranteeing MOA accuracy or better, it's hard for me to justify custom prices.

My factory Browning 7mag has shot 3-shot sub-1" groups at 400 yards before with reloads. In fact, I haven't owned a rifle that I couldn't eventually get sub-MOA groups out of, once I figured out what it liked.

AGREED - I mean, for the money these "custom rifle builders" are asking/getting it is RIDICULOUS that every one of them does not work up a load that "shoots" with a given premium bullet (even if that is not the preferred bullet of the purchaser) for fall back reference - It really reminds me of the sudden bounty of "custom home builders" here in the PNW (snake oil)
If I were to decide to spend my money on one it would be with the caveat of my requirements for bullet/ velocity expectation or go to the next offering - Maybe I'm just being a jack-ass but Melvin Forbes is the ONLY man I'd ever buy a retail custom lightweight from

 

[FURMAN]

I think purchasing a lightweight custom with no accuracy guarantee would be dumb. Kimber makes some nice lightweight rifles for a fair price with a moa guarantee. Tikka makes a nice rifle almost as light with a guarantee. Both of these rifles are a fraction of the cost of the rifle mentioned which has no accuracy guarantee that I can find. I have had several customs with no accuracy guarantee but they had heavier contoured barrels which I would just expect to shoot well. In the event that they did not I would say it would be a fluke. With lighter rifles you are taking a bigger chance.

 

[16Bore]

Tikka does it for $650. A Walmart Remmie will do it with bedding and decent ammo. But watch a Holland and Holland shop video and you can easily justify the $30K

 

[Jeff Martin]

I do not know a lot about them, but buying a Fierce custom rifle that has a .5" MOA guarantee for $1,800 makes your point quite nicely. They are also built on a custom Sako "like" action.

Or slapping a Bartlein, Mike Rock or Kreiger on a Tikka and getting .5' for $1,000.

 

[Mtslackcountry]

I just bought a custom Rbros rifle recently and would be pissed if it didn't shoot well. Luckily for me and my sanity it shoots consitantly well under .5 moa out to 600 yards which is the furthest I have shot it. It shoots .25 at a hundred prone off bipod or on the bench off bags. The gun is a ****ing lazer. This is all with factory HSM 180 hunting vld in a 7mm rem mag.

Rbros provided load data and dummy round for my gun which was a huge bonus for me since Im just learning how to reload. The rbros load will be shooting about 100 fps faster and the vld is seated way further out of the case which Ive heard is how to make the vld shoot.

I cant really see how this gun can shoot any better but will find out soon with handloads. For sure the added velocity is gona be huge.

If your actually looking for a custom look hard at the Rbros.


I own a tikka and generally its a .75 moa gun and the magazine size is too small for what I want to do.

 

[mtnwrunner]

I do not know a lot about them, but buying a Fierce custom rifle that has a .5" MOA guarantee for $1,800 makes your point quite nicely. They are also built on a custom Sako "like" action.

Or slapping a Bartlein, Mike Rock or Kreiger on a Tikka and getting .5' for $1,000.

Or get .5" MOA on a factory tikka t3 for around 650 bucks............
So, like, for 4000 bucks, you can get a factory tikka t3 in a caliber of your choice and then you can get 5.15 more tikkas in more calibers of your choice.........

Randy
"I drank the tikka Kool-Aid"

 

[16Bore]

Wind will kick your ass quicker than 1/2 MOA vs MOA worries.

 

[Mtslackcountry]

Wind will kick your ass quicker than 1/2 MOA vs MOA worries.

True that. Which is why Im shooting a 7mm 180 vld with a bc of .673 and not a some 30 cal bullet with a BC of .48.

 

[Cahunter805]

I really can't see spending 4K on a custom rifle but to some people I guess it's worth it.
Something not mentioned is lightweight rifles take a certain technique and practice to shoot consistently accurate. This is why many builders won't guarantee accuracy on them or it's usually 1MOA.

 

[Beastmode]

True that. Which is why Im shooting a 7mm 180 vld with a bc of .673 and not a some 30 cal bullet with a BC of .48.

BC on my 30 cal 215 hybrid is .691

Anyway getting a custom gun is more than just an accuracy guarantee. It is a very fun process. Unless you get a cookie cutter gun from one of these overly advertised places. You get to pick everything you want in your gun. Barrel contour, length, caliber, bullet you want to shoot. Not to mention you have a person to talk to working on YOUR gun. While I agree 4k is a lot of money, if it's what you want and you can afford it why not? Most custom guns these days are for the long range rigs. You don't hear of too many guys taking an out of box $500-$1000 rifle and shooting half MOA groups out to 600+ yards. The action tolerances and chamber specs are pretty sloppy on most out of box guns. Will they work for most hunting situations? You bet they will. For some that want a little better that's where a custom rifle comes in to play.

Most factory guns try and fill as many voids as they can but it's still the same gun as everyone else has. Tikka is a great lightweight gun that has definitely proved itself. It just feels extremely cheaply built to me. Custom guns in the same weight ballpark don't have the cheap plastic feel to me like the Tikka does.

I will confirm what Mtslackcountry says about Rbros. Great guy and builder. Travis will build a gun specific for your needs and walk you through everything whether you are an advanced shooter or just starting out. Can't say enough good things about Travis.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[Mtslackcountry]

Yea the 215 berger is a beast for sure.

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

 

[16Bore]

I've heard of a guy that does....

Dick's special ADL 7-08, 6x42 Leupold M1, McSwirly.



Tikka '06, 155 Scenars, same scope.



1969 M70, 270 150 ABLR's, can't remember the stock (it's had 9), 2 guesses on the scope.




Running to 500 is not as hard as some think and a damn good place to stop....

 

[robtattoo]

If I had 4 grand to spend on a custom rifle, it'd be 3 Tikka T3s in stainless: 6.5x55, .30-06 & .338 win mag plus a Savage lightweight hunter in .308 with suitable scopes & a couple of pounds of powder & 100 bullets for each.

Sent from a mountain somewhere, using telepathy.

 

[16Bore]

Shit, it'd be tags and plane tickets for me. I'll borrow a rifle.....

 

[Fire_9]

Hell yeah I would be pissed but poor accuracy from a custom isn't the norm. There are a lot of factory rifles that shoot well but you run a lot higher risk of getting one that doesn't shoot or takes a lot of tinkering to shoot well. The three custom rifles I have loaded for have produced sub .75 moa with EVERY load that I've tried. To me that is one of the biggest differences between a custom and factory rifle. I'd much rather spend time ringing steel at the 500-1000 yard line than trying to find the one powder/bullet/brass/primer combo that my rifle likes.

It's all personal preference though. I know a lot of guys that drive over $100k down the road between their pickup, boat, and camper but won't spend $2-3k on a rifle. We all like to spend our money different things...

 

[hodgeman]

Most guys buying customs aren't exclusively buying them for accuracy. Some shoot, some don't shoot as well. I bought my custom for the features it offered. It doesn't shoot any better than a Tikka I own and actually shoots a little worse (if .75 MOA is "worse") than my X-Bolt. But it leaves the house nearly every time I go out. I've got confidence in it and i shoot it well. It's "my" rifle and I like it.

That said- if the rifle didn't shoot well...I'd be unhappy. But, I doubt the guys who buy exquisitely engraved custom double guns give two squirts how accurate their rifle is- they bought it for a different set of criteria than I have.

 

[ssssnake529]

The guy who built my custom 300 WM (RBros Rifles out of Washington State) included test targets, and custom load data for two different cartridges as part of the package. Included inert custom reloads too, so I could confirm cartridge measurements with my own tools.

Rather than just make me take it on faith that he was sending me a 1/4 MOA rifle, he sent me the proof, along with the information that would allow me to replicate these results for myself (which I've done.)

If you're buying a custom rifle, you really should demand this sort of service.

 

[GKPrice]

The guy who built my custom 300 WM (RBros Rifles out of Washington State) included test targets, and custom load data for two different cartridges as part of the package. Included inert custom reloads too, so I could confirm cartridge measurements with my own tools.

Rather than just make me take it on faith that he was sending me a 1/4 MOA rifle, he sent me the proof, along with the information that would allow me to replicate these results for myself (which I've done.)

If you're buying a custom rifle, you really should demand this sort of service.

That's what I was saying but I guess I'm in the minority