Budget Build

[Highbrass]

I'm very new here and I enjoy the site immensely.
I own several rifles that shoot well and I am very interested in building a nice shooting bolt gun from scratch.
One of my favorite things is finding old and or abused rifles and giving them a new life. I am currently working on a Savage favorite takedown rifle in 32 rimfire and converting it to 32 S&W. Some might find that to be a bit heretical, but I wont own a gun I can't shoot. I am by no means a gunsmith but I do the majority of my own work until it requires the use of machine tools. This is much more to stay within the constraints of my budget. My gunsmith is a friend and I do on occasion trade off things such as Cerakote work to offset some of my expenses. I also reload much of my own ammunition and have made and shot some very nice shooting fodder. While it may not be true benchrest quality I have produced groups for my own loads that I found somewhat impressive.
Many of you have rifles that I am covetous of. I enjoy fine firearms as much as anyone here. Yet my budget in many cases falls short of what some here would spend on a stock or chassis. I am learning so much here every day and I thought it might be interesting to see what kind of rifle could be assembled on a beer budget?
Or is this a pipe dream of owning a McLaren on a Ford Fiesta budget?

 

[Shootin Stuff]

Not a gucci setup by any means, but a cheap savage and basic scope seems to get the job done for those fellas.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

I'm very new here and I enjoy the site immensely.
I own several rifles that shoot well and I am very interested in building a nice shooting bolt gun from scratch.
One of my favorite things is finding old and or abused rifles and giving them a new life. I am currently working on a Savage favorite takedown rifle in 32 rimfire and converting it to 32 S&W. Some might find that to be a bit heretical, but I wont own a gun I can't shoot. I am by no means a gunsmith but I do the majority of my own work until it requires the use of machine tools. This is much more to stay within the constraints of my budget. My gunsmith is a friend and I do on occasion trade off things such as Cerakote work to offset some of my expenses. I also reload much of my own ammunition and have made and shot some very nice shooting fodder. While it may not be true benchrest quality I have produced groups for my own loads that I found somewhat impressive.
Many of you have rifles that I am covetous of. I enjoy fine firearms as much as anyone here. Yet my budget in many cases falls short of what some here would spend on a stock or chassis. I am learning so much here every day and I thought it might be interesting to see what kind of rifle could be assembled on a beer budget?
Or is this a pipe dream of owning a McLaren on a Ford Fiesta budget?

What do you have in mind for your build?It'd be helpful for us to have an idea of what you're looking for before making recommendations.

 

[Steel head]

I started with a savage and fairly cheap scope
Wasn’t overly difficult to break my 1000 cherry with it.

 

[Highbrass]

I do have a new Rem 700 in .308
Academy had this one pretty cheap and after a bit of trading my out of pocket was $17 and I still get a $50 mail in rebate.
.308 is not my first choice but none were available in 7mm-08. I'm not 6.5 Creed fan even though it may be a better starting point for a budget build.
I think .308 will be adequate and inexpensive as I already have plenty of components for reloading and 700 parts are available everywhere.
Or .... I also have the rifle to the right that is a new 700 Long Range in 300RUM. It might go to 1000 with just a scope & mount

 

[King_beardsly]

This was my budget build from last year, without glass it was like 2k most of which came from the barreled action. Now if you’ve already got a 700 in a 308, just drop it into a KRG bravo, maybe swap the trigger out for whatever tickles your fancy and wizz bang boom a solid starting point to build off of you need to in the future.

 

[FisherT&C]

I would put some money towards a good optic, typically something over 1k, you tend to get what you pay for. A good bipod and rear bag. That .308 is a good starting point, it has a tough learning curve but it will pay off.

 

[Highbrass]

I think this may turn into a 2 Fer
Both are unfired at this point. The Long range is a 300RUM and the lil guy is a .308
I have a Athalon Ares BTR gen2 4.5-27x50 With the APR5 Reticle on the way, along with a Burris Veracity 3-15x50
Might be interesting to see how the two compare ?

 

[King_beardsly]

I’ve heard the long Range are hit or miss, some people have hammers out of the box while other have a bit of tweaking to achieve that.

 

[Highbrass]

I know that Remingtons financial issues have had an impact on their quality. The great part is that you can get anything for a 700 action. Im not too terribly worried.

 

[King_beardsly]

Very true, they might be the Honda Civic of the gun world but you can literally find anything under the sun for them.

 

[LJT88]

It looks like you already have a good starting point with those 2 R700’s. If your patient and keep an eye on the PX you can find great deals. This is my first precision bolt gun I’ve put together and all said and done im into this setup for around $1650 with glass and everything. Muzzle break, timney trigger, rings, KRG, etc.

 

[steve123]

That 300RUM is going to kick your ass without a muzzle brake, lol, and barrel life with normal loads on this cartridge are dismal, like 800 rounds if that. I'd load it down and use 185 gr.

Next thing is I'd buy Trigger Tech triggers.

 

[Highbrass]

That 300RUM is going to kick your ass without a muzzle brake, lol, and barrel life with normal loads on this cartridge are dismal, like 800 rounds if that. I'd load it down and use 185 gr.

Next thing is I'd buy Trigger Tech triggers.

I had an idea that the recoil might be a bit extreme. The reason I even picked it up in the first place is because Cabelas couldn't sell them. I got it for close to $350 less than their regular price. Worst case is I shoot it a while and then re-barrel.
I see trigger tech come up quite a bit I'm not familiar with them, are they that much better than the competition?

 

[MaximusDecimusMeidius]

what type of accuracy are you getting from your 308?

I'd be tempted just to slap a trigger tech special in there, throw on a grayboe stock, and get the muzzle threaded and call it good if you can consistently be at or below .75MOA.

 

[steve123]

I had an idea that the recoil might be a bit extreme. The reason I even picked it up in the first place is because Cabelas couldn't sell them. I got it for close to $350 less than their regular price. Worst case is I shoot it a while and then re-barrel.
I see trigger tech come up quite a bit I'm not familiar with them, are they that much better than the competition?

IMO yes!

I've had Jewel, and Timney, I like the feel of the TT so much better!

You can use "a muzzle brake" on the next barrel too.

 

[Highbrass]

what type of accuracy are you getting from your 308?

I'd be tempted just to slap a trigger tech special in there, throw on a grayboe stock, and get the muzzle threaded and call it good if you can consistently be at or below .75MOA.

Neither has yet to be fired … They are both virgins!

 

[MaximusDecimusMeidius]

Personally, I view 300 RUM as a hunting caliber and the R700 Long Range is getting a little heavy to be a mountain type hunting gun. If it were me, I'd sell the 300 RUM and get your 308 set up with a good trigger, good stock, good optic and go take classes and do some competitions. At that point, you'll know exactly what you want and won't need to ask the internet anymore and you'll have a way more capable bolt rifle than two that don't have optics and don't get shot.

 

[Highbrass]

Personally, I view 300 RUM as a hunting caliber and the R700 Long Range is getting a little heavy to be a mountain type hunting gun. If it were me, I'd sell the 300 RUM and get your 308 set up with a good trigger, good stock, good optic and go take classes and do some competitions. At that point, you'll know exactly what you want and won't need to ask the internet anymore and you'll have a way more capable bolt rifle than two that don't have optics and don't get shot.

This entire exercise is really just to have fun and test out some rifles & scopes & loads just to see what comes of it. Possibly some other new person could use the info if they are deciding to build their own

 

[chevy_man]

There is a simple budget recipe.

R700 action. Can be had brand new with trigger for $400.
Pre-fit remage barrel- $400+ depending on brand and sales
Bravo or oryx chassis- $350-400. Add-ons will drive the cost up.


I personally don't like the trigger tech. I prefer the Timney CE or Bix & Andy. It's all personal preference though.

You can get cheaper, but that simple recipe gets you all the options on aftermarket parts with minimal up-front costs.

Add another $4-800 for a better action. Add another $200-1000 for different chassis, etc.

Since you have the Remington just shoot it. When the barrel is toast get the bolt lugs trued and spin on a remage barrel. Add trigger of your liking as you see fit, change the stock as you see fit, etc.

Do what works for you. It'll always take a little time to see what you like.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

I'll second the Timney Calvin Elite, I like it much better than the Trigger Tech it replaced.
Put a brake on that RUM and shoot some heavies, I'll bet you'll like it

 

[Army First]

This was my budget build from last year, without glass it was like 2k most of which came from the barreled action. Now if you’ve already got a 700 in a 308, just drop it into a KRG bravo, maybe swap the trigger out for whatever tickles your fancy and wizz bang boom a solid starting point to build off of you need to in the future.

This story is pretty much mine also. If you can wait until the winter Holidays you can save a lot of money, also shopping the PX here will help.
During the black friday sales I hit some great deals that included shipping on a Trigger Tech Special, CAL BT 65 and saved on the scope.
The barrel and action is where the money is spent.

Straight Jacket Armory and Patriot Valley Arms are running sales on barrels and barreled actions right now

 

[fpgt72]

Very true, they might be the Honda Civic of the gun world but you can literally find anything under the sun for them.

I am pretty old and a car guy, but I would call them the fox body mustang of the gun world.

 

[King_beardsly]

I am pretty old and a car guy, but I would call them the fox body mustang of the gun world.

I like that analogy better

 

[Romeo458]

I built this Mauser for less than a grand as it sits. It would have probably cost me more to have someone else do it but this was the first one I did by myself. (Expect the muzzle threads) To be perfectly honest if you have an older "Grandpa's deer rifle" laying around it's going to be a very capable weapon with good glass. I've got a few high dollar rifles for slinging lead at distance but rebuilding or building one that has been left behind or bubba's is rewarding.

 

[199 398 500 A]

Have you considered a semi-custom Tikka? you can buy a T3x CTR or varmint and drop it in to a KRG Bravo. Alternatively, buy the cheapest T3x and replace the stock and barrel.

 

[199 398 500 A]

I am pretty old and a car guy, but I would call them the fox body mustang of the gun world.

haha I would have to agree as a young guy. A Civic reliability and quality is too good to be compared. Fox body is a perfect comparison

 

[PAYDIRT]

Find a beater 700 or grab a new one from Northland, then hit the PX every 30 minutes.