Bang for Buck Hunting set up

[Sgtvandy]

Good evening marksmen! Stepped away from the rifle game for a few years and fell into bow hunting. Lost track of calibers and custom builds, manufacturers and PRICES!!
Think I narrowed down caliber to 6.5PRC.
Looking for a lightweight hunting rig Hunting only.

Sorry to bug y’all but I consider you guys the best informed audience.

I’m not talented enough nor do I have time to build my own, or plug and play a tikka or Remington.

Hoping a few of you have spent some time behind a quality accurate hunting rifle and had good results down range. Looking to spend approx. 3000
Fierce, Seekins, Proof etc…

Any suggestions

Thanks y’all

 

[davsco]

$3k includes glass etc?

 

[Sgtvandy]

Negative, weapon only

 

[Tex68w]

Seekins, Proof, Christensen, Fierce, Weatherby all come to mind, you possibly could scratch the surface of some customs around $3K.

 

[sodakhunter]

Seekins PH2 or Element. Ive been behind a few and all jave shot great. Element is pretty light and shot well. Element has its own footprint so either have to bed it or use the factory stock which comes bedded.

 

[BJames]

Stay away from fierce. No personal experience but if even 1/4 of the internet is half true, it won’t end well. They’re pretty much a copy of Sako anyways

 

[samson7x]

Personal experience with a seekins element in 6.5PRC and it’s a great gun. Very light and accurate. Smooth action and trigger adjusted down to around 2lbs. Factory eld-x shot .5-.75 and that’s all I need it to do.

 

[AXEFORCE6]

Stay away from fierce. No personal experience but if even 1/4 of the internet is half true, it won’t end well. They’re pretty much a copy of Sako anyways

I own two fierce rifles and they are shooters. They are Carbon rivals. Which is a 70 degree throw on a R700 footprint.

I’d check out the new ridgeline FFT.

 

[Wyfox]

Proof Elevation would be my go to with your budget. Premium componets of a custon rifle. Check out @Front Range Precision inventory

 

[Landon4]

Plus 1 on front range precision awesome guys to deal with, check out there barreled action kits. For the budget your in you could go with an origin action with a proof carbon barrel and a manners lrh stock.

 

[powdahound76]

Factory Tikka, swap stock.

I would look at an Origin (they make an action in Ti if you want to save ounces) and a nice barrel.

Im not a CF barrel guy, and you can get a near custom barrel in 3b for prefit price from PVA for an Origin.

A nice light stock.
Manners or otherwise.
Hawkins Hunter DBM.

A shooting and hunting friend just had a new fancy hunting rifle built and used a Mesa Precision CF stock.
Sucker is only shooting in the low .2s though, so maybe go elsewhere…..

You could put that together for less than $2500.
Literally put it together in 20 min.
Have a smith bed it if you dont have time.

 

[Secant]

$3k (give or take) will get you a full custom and be better than a fierce, Christiansen, etc imo.

Manners LRH with M5 mini chassis $1,130
Bottom metal $200
TriggerTech Primary $150
Bighorn Origin $900
Proof CF Prefit $880

Buy the action & prefit barrel from the same place, and most will torque the action onto the barrel for you. You’ll have a transfer fee and some shipping costs. But Black Friday is coming up, and you can shave a little off those prices. For around $3,000 the above is a full custom carbon fiber build. You could drop down to a KRG Bravo or Xray and save about $500 - $700, but you'll add about a pound to the build.

 

[davsco]

what secant said above. i bought 6.5 prc proof carbon prefit barrel, krg bravo stock, tl3 action, triggertech trigger etc from Altus and they fitted it all together for no add'l cost, about $2.6k two years ago and it's easily sub moa. Josh there did a great job!

 

[XTREM HTR16]

I'd look at a Ridgeline 6.5 PRC, throw it in a LRH or a bedded EH1, and have at it.
If you want lighter weight to allow more weight for scope, look at the Ridgeline FFT for a pure hunting sporter style stock. The FFT stock is much better than the original Ridgeline stock.

 

[NewsShooter]

Stay away from fierce. No personal experience but if even 1/4 of the internet is half true, it won’t end well. They’re pretty much a copy of Sako anyways

After their 1000+ yard shot on an elk to demonstrate the new 7 PRC I wouldn't buy anything from them. Got out of a truck, walked a few steps, laid down prone and took the shot, needed a second followup and they didn't show where they hit the elk, I thought it was too far back, just congratulated themselves on it.

 

[blackblue]

Above price range but GAP listed 6 light weight 6.5 PRC rifles yesterday.

 

[Tex68w]

Above price range but GAP listed 6 light weight 6.5 PRC rifles yesterday.

I saw those but at $5-6K they aren't a very good buy when you arguably get just as good if not better with a APR build for $4K-4500.

 

[XTREM HTR16]

Above price range but GAP listed 6 light weight 6.5 PRC rifles yesterday.

Trying to find them, please post a link? Here's what I see on their ready to ship page:

Rifles Ready To Ship

G.A. Precision has been in business since 1999. We strive to create top professional quality rifles that are not only precise, but are also affordable. In doing this, it is our mandate that we do not sacrifice quality. At G.A. Precision, we use only top notch, field-tested, durable parts and...

www.gaprecision.net

 

[Secant]

Trying to find them, please post a link? Here's what I see on their ready to ship page:

Rifles Ready To Ship

G.A. Precision has been in business since 1999. We strive to create top professional quality rifles that are not only precise, but are also affordable. In doing this, it is our mandate that we do not sacrifice quality. At G.A. Precision, we use only top notch, field-tested, durable parts and...

www.gaprecision.net

At the very bottom of the link you posted.

Curtis Axiom
Bartlein CF wrapped barrel
Manners EH-1
TriggerTech Special
Hawkins bottom metal

$5,197

States there are six in various color schemes.

 

[XTREM HTR16]

At the very bottom of the link you posted.

Curtis Axiom
Bartlein CF wrapped barrel
Manners EH-1
TriggerTech Special
Hawkins bottom metal

$5,197

States there are six in various color schemes.
View attachment 8000789

Gotcha, I didn't catch the bottom of the page.

 

[4O6shootist]

Its hard to beat the value of the ph2 from seekins. I purchased a ph1 in 65prc for my dad a few years back, shoots excellent from 147 match ammo. The element is a very handy hunting rifle at is sub 6# weight. Shooting a flyweight rifle accurately at distance takes a LOT of strong fundamentals. The extra pound on the ph2 is worth it to me, plus gives that much more budget for glass.

 

[BJames]

After their 1000+ yard shot on an elk to demonstrate the new 7 PRC I wouldn't buy anything from them. Got out of a truck, walked a few steps, laid down prone and took the shot, needed a second followup and they didn't show where they hit the elk, I thought it was too far back, just congratulated themselves on it.

I don’t care for them entirely. Custom rifle prices, production rifle quality.

 

[DandyBuck]

I have a custom built 6.5PTC for sale here for $2750. It's in the 10lb range so not super light. Lete know if you have any questions

 

[david walter]

T3x tikka in 6.5 creed, Athlon 2-12 Helos in Sportsmatch rings.

Buy ammo with the other $1850 to practice.