Prefit setups

Joined
Jan 30, 2020
I’m finally catching onto how readily available the profit market is and guaranteed headspace actions.

My question if i was gonna order a custom, but why not just buy a proof prefit and say lone peak or defiance action and build my own.

Any major drawbacks I’m unaware of? I get a lot of great military discounts so I could build two top tier prefix setups for the price if one gun works even with glass.

I think some “custom” shops are just doing what I am that’s why they limit to proof barrels and defiance actions.
 
No downside unless you want a chamber they don't offer, custom throating/reamer spec, or different contour.
 
I don’t see a downside. If you want a specific caliber, a good gun smith can chamber and shoulder a blank for you.

I say go for it. Wish I would have sooner.
 
That's the route I've gone with the past few rifles and it's worked out great! As for chambering, I couldn't find a 16.5" 6mm Proof, so I bought a Bartlein carbon and sent to Deep South Tactical. They spun up a prefit for $300. Great accuracy out of all 3 of them so far. Plenty of great gunsmiths that will do work for you if you can't find what you need. Deep South Tactical, Blue Mountain Precision, Altus Shooting, etc. Minimal tooling is needed as well - typically a barrel vise, action wrench, torque wrench, and go/no-go gauges.


22-250 AI built on a Bighorn TL3:
35EB5DA5-1CF5-4247-91F7-F0EC52AC029C.jpeg


6mm Creed built on a Terminus Zeus w/ quick change tenon:
D0AF68EA-5F38-4DFF-9A3C-E5A68C6D880B.jpegC8239EC9-9943-46DE-834E-89CC4DA72320.jpeg

22 Creed built on a Bighorn TL3:
DCE92E06-9708-4420-9D3C-49A57CFCB695.jpeg56B854B2-1523-48A5-90A7-773379E3B365.jpeg
 
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those are so nice rigs. yes i did a bit more research and it seems easy to find someone to make you custom length or chamber prefit barrel as well.
 
I like being able to assemble at home and not having to ship things back and forth to a gunsmith. I’ve build a few and they’ve all shot very well.

I also like that I can play musical barrels and swap around on the same action. It’s especially nice for calibers you don’t shoot much; swap the barrel to something you do shoot more and then the rifle doesn’t sit there in the safe.
 

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So many places are offering prefits and many of them are willing to do custom throats, calibers etc. It is pretty simple to put your own together. If you aren't familiar there pleny of videos showing the process. I do think a really good smith will still build a more precise rifle, but I really doubt most people can shoot well enough to tell a difference. I know I can't. I also enjoy putting them together myself.
 
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i agree will all of your guys feedback. i have been on the fence with buying a gunwerks because they are so sexy. i could just build 2 in gunwerks stocks.
 
I would say the only benefit to going with a little smaller smith would be them going out and test firing the barrel to make sure it shoots to their standard. A proof prefit is pretty hard to beat though because they are cheaper and typically shoot great! If you have a caliber that you are going to be shooting a lot go ahead and buy a go gauge for it too. That way you can test it real quick and have the reassurance that your barrel is headspaced properly! Other than that a good torque wrench and barrel vise and away you go!
 
Don’t overlook carbon six. You can completely customize their barrels to whatever you want. Same for McGowen. And they both offer military discounts.

I’ve built a few customs with tikka and defiance actions and have thrown them into XLR chassis. Paid a gunsmith $100 to remove and replace each tikka barrel and did the rest myself. Way cheaper than a smith. Especially when building off a tikka action.
 
If I had known about prefits before a few years ago, I would only have one "rifle" because of this.

An ARC action and prefits from Preferred Barrel Blanks would satisfy me. Keeping an eye out for when guys change their mind and dump quality barrel blanks and a trusted smith would work too.
 
I have started looking at this....I don't like how a lot of the actions don't have any coating or finish on them.

Any thoughts on the Terminus Kratos Lite for a 7mm mag? Proof barrel, triggertech diamond, and Manners MCS - LRH.

Who makes the best bottom metal?
 
That's the route I've gone with the past few rifles and it's worked out great! As for chambering, I couldn't find a 16.5" 6mm Proof, so I bought a Bartlein carbon and sent to Deep South Tactical. They spun up a prefit for $300. Great accuracy out of all 3 of them so far. Plenty of great gunsmiths that will do work for you if you can't find what you need. Deep South Tactical, Blue Mountain Precision, Altus Shooting, etc. Minimal tooling is needed as well - typically a barrel vise, action wrench, torque wrench, and go/no-go gauges.


22-250 AI built on a Bighorn TL3:
View attachment 453018


6mm Creed built on a Terminus Zeus w/ quick change tenon:
View attachment 453017View attachment 453016

22 Creed built on a Bighorn TL3:
View attachment 453014View attachment 453015
Those are great looking rifles. What stocks are those?
 
Those are great looking rifles. What stocks are those?
Thanks!

22-250 AI and 22 Creed are both sitting in Manners PRS2 stocks.

The 6 Creed is a Manners CS2 stock. Adjustable LOP made it an easy choice for a rifle for my kids to learn to shoot with.
 
That's the route I've gone with the past few rifles and it's worked out great! As for chambering, I couldn't find a 16.5" 6mm Proof, so I bought a Bartlein carbon and sent to Deep South Tactical. They spun up a prefit for $300. Great accuracy out of all 3 of them so far. Plenty of great gunsmiths that will do work for you if you can't find what you need. Deep South Tactical, Blue Mountain Precision, Altus Shooting, etc. Minimal tooling is needed as well - typically a barrel vise, action wrench, torque wrench, and go/no-go gauges.


22-250 AI built on a Bighorn TL3:
View attachment 453018


6mm Creed built on a Terminus Zeus w/ quick change tenon:
View attachment 453017View attachment 453016

22 Creed built on a Bighorn TL3:
View attachment 453014View attachment 453015
How do you like the 22 creedmore? Shot one once and fell in love and want it to be my next build for a varmit gun
 
You might have a little money tied up in a barrel vice, action wrench etc. There are places you can rent go/no-go gauges. Only drawback I see is if you're going to have a smith bed your action or something like that. It just adds to the timeline is all. Same with having a cerakote job done. Those types of little things. Functionally doing it yourself is a great option.
 
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