Terrible custom build experience

[Wrench]

There are several custom smiths who do OEM work.....they just have to keep it under NDA.

 

[JohnJohnson]

This is semi-relevant to custom hunting rifles but the list for this season's PRS came out for the gunsmiths used by the top 200 ranked PRS shooters. A lot of them make hunting customs too. Interestingly enough, Walls rifles come with a 0.3 MOA guarantee which is pretty confident. He actually seems to make a lot of hunting rifles if his website's photo gallery is any indication.

Top Rifle Gunsmiths: What the Pros Use

Choosing the gunsmith that you’ll trust to chamber your rifle is critical. This article will share ...

precisionrifleblog.com

 

[Jimbee]

This is semi-relevant to custom hunting rifles but the list for this season's PRS came out for the gunsmiths used by the top 200 ranked PRS shooters. A lot of them make hunting customs too. Interestingly enough, Walls rifles come with a 0.3 MOA guarantee which is pretty confident. He actually seems to make a lot of hunting rifles if his website's photo gallery is any indication.

Top Rifle Gunsmiths: What the Pros Use

Choosing the gunsmith that you’ll trust to chamber your rifle is critical. This article will share ...

precisionrifleblog.com

Are those the same folks that love scopes that don't work?

 

[JohnJohnson]

Are those the same folks that love scopes that don't work?

The last scope survey was in 2018 (new one coming out sometime in the next month or two I assume) but the company that was most represented was Nightforce back then. The second most was Kahles. I think Nightforce scopes work just fine.

What bearing does that have on gunsmith/action choice? Given the sheer volume of shooting they do, as well as rainy/muddy/dusty conditions, they're tougher on the function of their rifles than most hunters.

 

[Formidilosus]

What bearing does that have on action choice? Given the sheer volume of shooting they do, as well as rainy/muddy/dusty conditions, they're tougher on their actions than most hunters.

What rain and muddy conditions? The last PRS match I went to, 40% packed up and left when the first droplet hit the ground. Then it really rained and lots of others left even though everyone was under cover. When the rain stopped about 60% had quit and went home because they wouldn't get their precious rifles wet.

 

[JohnJohnson]

What rain and muddy conditions? The last PRS match I went to, 40% packed up and left when the first droplet hit the ground. Then it really rained and lots of others left even though everyone was under cover. When the rain stopped about 60% had quit and went home because they wouldn't get their precious rifles wet.

Going to take a guess and say the top-200 ranked PRS shooters are less likely to leave a match due to rain compared to other PRS shooters. Not to mention certain areas being famous for moondust that people are always shooting in. To pretend that top PRS shooters who are going for points don't sometimes have to shoot in adverse conditions is just weird.

 

[Formidilosus]

Going to take a guess and say the top-200 ranked PRS shooters are less likely to leave a match due to rain compared to other PRS shooters. Not to mention certain areas being famous for moondust that people are always shooting in. To pretend that top PRS shooters who are going for points don't sometimes have to shoot in adverse conditions is just weird.

The very top may/will stick it out; but action, trigger, and scope problems aren’t rare. Nearly every match has a range to zero, check zero, or rezero- that gets used a lot.
I’m not poo-pooing PRS- by the standard of the average hunter they do use their stuff more than most. However, it isn’t the panacea of information in reliable and durable field equipment that people try to make it out to be either. All it takes is a perusal around different forums to find lots of threads about issues.

 

[Jimbee]

The last scope survey was in 2018 (new one coming out sometime in the next month or two I assume) but the company that was most represented was Nightforce back then. The second most was Kahles. I think Nightforce scopes work just fine.

What bearing does that have on gunsmith/action choice? Given the sheer volume of shooting they do, as well as rainy/muddy/dusty conditions, they're tougher on the function of their rifles than most hunters.

I've just become quite skeptical of what professionals recommend.

 

[Pharmseller]

My brother and I took his nephew (by marriage, so no relation to me) deer hunting with us a couple of years ago. The kid had never killed a deer but competed in some sort of benchrest competition. Great big heavy single shot bolt guns, 6mm something. Kid was supposed to be really good.

Opening day we knew where the deer were gonna be, so we set up as close as possible, which turned out to be about 375 yards. Superkid missed his first two shots and not by a little. Hit him with #3, killed him with #4. 7mm-08, suppressed.

He’s a good kid, learned a valuable lesson that day.





P

 

[JohnJohnson]

The very top may/will stick it out; but action, trigger, and scope problems aren’t rare. Nearly every match has a range to zero, check zero, or rezero- that gets used a lot.

I definitely see a lot of online talk of trigger/scope problems that's for sure. I don't see as many people talking about action problems anymore now that Impact (and to a smaller extent Lone Peak) dominate the scene. I think the early PRS years of R700 actions and especially Defiance Deviant actions caused people to look for more reliable options. Impact/LP are the two biggies now and people also like ARC actions for reliability too. Not really sure how well Terminus does on that though. The triggers are still a big limiting factor no matter how good the R700 clone action is.

I’m not poo-pooing PRS- by the standard of the average hunter they do use their stuff more than most. However, it isn’t the panacea of information in reliable and durable field equipment that people try to make it out to be either.

I think it's interesting information for only a couple of things really. Action/barrel manufacturers I think crossover pretty well, same with gunsmiths. Scopes, stocks/chassis, triggers, and most other stuff don't translate well to hunting at all though.

 

[Formidilosus]

I definitely see a lot of online talk of trigger/scope problems that's for sure. I don't see as many people talking about action problems anymore now that Impact (and to a smaller extent Lone Peak) dominate the scene. I think the early PRS years of R700 actions and especially Defiance Deviant actions caused people to look for more reliable options. Impact/LP are the two biggies now and people also like ARC actions for reliability too. Not really sure how well Terminus does on that though.

The actions are better, and ARC certainly has some things for it. However, most of y he actions still bind at the back pretty heavily.

The triggers are still a big limiting factor no matter how good the R700 clone action is.

Unfortunately yes.

I think it's interesting information for only a couple of things really.

The issue is that what is popular is largely determined by who’s using it. It’s a popularity graph.

Action/barrel manufacturers I think crossover pretty well,

Barrels don’t. Shilen makes a very good barrel along with a bunch of others, and if someone started using them- others would too.
I wouldn’t say actions do either- lots that are used heavily are very susceptible to ice and sand.

same with gunsmiths.

I’m not sure about that- these rifles are near plug and play now. There isn’t “custom” going on- chamber and barrel, screw it on to an action that takes prefits, and screw that into a chassis.


PRS is only a bit better than F-Class as an indication of suitability of equipment for hunting.