Seeking advice on Long Range Rifle Construction

[UABLCW]

Hello all,
To begin, I am fairly new into the realm of Long Range Rifles and am seeking the wisdom of others to help mold the right gun for the job.
I am wanting to build a long range rifle to hunt deer at around 1000 yds. I have looked into a couple directions:
Scope: Nikon Monarch Gold- not sure what magnification and size is needed, or is there a better brand?
Barrel: Looking for a handmade, Krieger? but what specs should i look for in a barrel?
Action and trigger: Savage Accu-trigger or a Shilen trigger
Stock: no clue- was wanting to keep it cheap, but if it effects accuracy, what would work?
Caliber: maybe a .308 not sure what is needed? not to sure about this field..

I have read about converting a Remington 700 long action to a 300 win mag. Is this something worth pursuing?

As you can probably see, I do not know much about this subject, but am wanting to learn more. I do not want to spend over 1500 to 2000 dollars. What should I do and what direction should I take with this gun? I want to enjoy the process of building it as well, and learning the art as I go.
I hope I didn't sound too stupid in writing this, but this is currently where I am at,
Please Help!

Lee W.

 

[kcebcj]

Your lack of knowledge is quite evident in your post but that's not a bad thing so what I would suggest if you're really set on building a custom rifle is to find a competent rifle smith locally if possible. Have a conversation with him as what you want and want to do. He can guide you as to components and how things go together. A custom rifle from scratch will probably exceed your budget.

There are a number of excellent rifle smiths that are sponsors on this site that I'm sure would be glad to give you a hand.

Good luck with your project and welcome to this site. Lots of info to be found here.

 

[HARPERC]

There's a thread "don't be intimidated by dollars" on this site you should read.
I once had a Ruger #3 .375 Winchester I taught kids with, safe, accurate, and reinforced the point when you're a 200 yard shot I'll get you a 200 yard rifle. You leave out a bit so I'm guessing as to what you have, and what you're level of experience is. The point isn't to demean, rather to encourage you not to skip over levels of development. This takes trigger time, and it's tough to beat a good 308 Winchester for cost effective. There are a ton of used target/heavy sporter/varmint/ tactical style 308's out there, wear one out, or get to where it's holding you back (which is actually a hell of a ways). Slowly acquire some of the accessories, upgrade a scope here and there, learn to reload. Again guessing as to experience etc.
I'm shopping 308's for all of the above reasons, and just missed buying one that sold while I was driving too hard a bargain, but like I said there's a bunch out there.

 

[trebark]

Rather than start with a custom rifle, start with a quality factory rifle and work with it as your skills and knowledge increase.

As an example, Remington 700 SPS is available multiple calibers (if you want to take deer at 1k yards, consider 300winmag) and does not cost a lot of money. Dick's Sporting goods as SPS's on sale right now for $449 plus $50 rebate from Remington. Remington 700 is a great platform to start with as everyone makes aftermarket parts for them and every gunsmith works on them.

If you go this route, start with the stock rifle and take it out and shoot and start getting to know your rifle. Then things to consider in upgrades...

Upgrade stock - there are lots of good options out there. Spend some time in the gun photo section here and you will see lots of different styles and in varying prices ranges.

Adjust/Replace Trigger - rough and/or heavy triggers seriously affect accuracy. By tuning the factory trigger or replacing it with a quality aftermarket trigger you will certainly notice the difference.

If/when you upgrade the stock, have it bedded.

consider lapping your bolt lugs.

Consider recrowning the barrel.

As an example, here's my nephew's rifle. It started life as a basic rifle...

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/nephews-transformed-rifle-53634/

 

[ridge rider]

In all honesty,......Stop right there and give up right now if that is all your budget allows for.
After the rifle build and unless you can come up with some more green backs you are really out of the picture with your budget right now.
This is really an expensive sport, call it what you like.
After the rifle build come the precision scope (big bucks), reloading dies, cases, projectiles, primers, electronic scales, reloading press, trim dies and the list goes on
if you are serious and so you should be with his sport.
My rifles with scope and all reloading accessories cost me around $13,000 before I pull the trigger.
Anything cheaper just will not deliver the goods.
Think it over, just trying to be nice with all this.

OMO here

 

[trebark]

In all honesty,......Stop right there and give up right now if that is all your budget allows for.
After the rifle build and unless you can come up with some more green backs you are really out of the picture with your budget right now.
This is really an expensive sport, call it what you like.
After the rifle build come the precision scope (big bucks), reloading dies, cases, projectiles, primers, electronic scales, reloading press, trim dies and the list goes on
if you are serious and so you should be with his sport.
My rifles with scope and all reloading accessories cost me around $13,000 before I pull the trigger.
Anything cheaper just will not deliver the goods.
Think it over, just trying to be nice with all this.

OMO here

So my two longrange rigs that cost $5k and $4800 respectively aren't good enough to shoot longrange?

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-260-mcr-59628/

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-300rum-mcr-70809/

 

[HARPERC]

Respectfully disagree ridge rider, I don't know what the Australian dollar is worth, or the difficulty of importation, or shooting situation is down there so maybe your advice is sound locally. Here without leaving the desk Cabelas gun library has a nice nearly new FN PBR in 308 for $895, CS Tactical shows several Vortex scopes in the $500 range, $300 bucks will get you 500 rounds of loaded ammo. local rifle club has loaner spotting scopes. Another range has steel to a 1000 yards, $1700 and you have an entry level setup you can enjoy for quite a bit. At this point a new shooter is playing and learning, and deciding how far he wishes to pursue this hobby.
For $13000 I coud put together a pretty nice set up, and take it to Africa for plains game.
More good shots are made than born, and that making process usually includes entry level equipment. We acquire better along the way. Is there high dollar stuff out there I ooh and ahh over absolutely, but $13000 or go home ? It's not that bad yet!

 

[trebark]

Respectfully disagree ridge rider, I don't know what the Australian dollar is worth, or the difficulty of importation, or shooting situation is down there so maybe your advice is sound locally. Here without leaving the desk Cabelas gun library has a nice nearly new FN PBR in 308 for $895, CS Tactical shows several Vortex scopes in the $500 range, $300 bucks will get you 500 rounds of loaded ammo. local rifle club has loaner spotting scopes. Another range has steel to a 1000 yards, $1700 and you have an entry level setup you can enjoy for quite a bit. At this point a new shooter is playing and learning, and deciding how far he wishes to pursue this hobby.
For $13000 I coud put together a pretty nice set up, and take it to Africa for plains game.
More good shots are made than born, and that making process usually includes entry level equipment. We acquire better along the way. Is there high dollar stuff out there I ooh and ahh over absolutely, but $13000 or go home ? It's not that bad yet!

+1

In my earlier response I went with being snarky. Your response is much better and what I was really thinking.

 

[HARPERC]

I'm just sitting here thinking about a kid that showed up at our hunting camp maybe 15 years ago with a surplus 303 British and desire. He's turned into a fine young man, and a pretty decent shot. He's moved on to other teachers as he's passed us by, but it's been fun to watch.

 

[dogdinger]

read and learn:

Long Range Hunting Rifle On A Budget


I have built 2 fine shooting rifles following this recipe , well within your budget, and you do not have to be a whiz bang riflesmith to do it. AJ

 

[yobuck]

shooting at 1000yds and hunting at 1000 yds are completly different subjects.

for shooting at that distance, an appropriate rifle, ammunition and other misc. equiptment along with ability are the only requirments.

hunting on the other hand requires all of the above along with the proper equiptmant for finding game, ranging it etc. etc.
its also important to know if youve hit the animal youve been shooting at.
they dont always just fall over after youve hit them at distance even with an expensive custom rifle.
that means having a buddy who can spot for you.

so just owning the rifle would be akin to owning the steering wheel to a race car.
if youve already been practicing shooting at distance, i would suggest finding somone who hunts long range.
work on getting invited to go along even if only for varmit hunts.
at the very least start with varmits even if doing it on your own.

 

[CBS]

WOW! i know it's been addressed already but $13k or go play with dolls? i'd have never gotten into shooting if that were the reality of it. i'm guessing there are very few guys on here that have that much in one rig: i sure don't. learning to shoot long range is absolutely not about $. (although it can be)

i'm not sure what your shooting background is nor do i consider myself the "guru" with all the answers. but if you're just starting out i would highly recommend something along the lines of a 22-250 or even the .223. either of these calibers are easy to shoot and are capable of reaching to 5-600yds. being easy to shoot may be the most important thing for someone to learn to shoot longer distance. developing a flinch and not shooting comfortably will hamper your progress of reaching out farther. personally i would get a less expensive gun in the short run and figure out what you REALLY want in a custom.

maybe i'm not giving you enough credit but i guarantee that learning to shoot those smaller calibers to start with will do more for you than ANY custom rifle. starting out you will be amazed at how much pleasure you can take from being able to see your hits because of the low recoil which will build confidence which results in skill.

if i were holding your hand i'd suggest a heavy barrel savage 22-250. learn to load. get a decent scope; the nikon you mentioned would be great to learn with. and when you're ready to get more advanced the gun and scope can be sold for almost as much as you paid for them. honestly custom guns for new shooters are like F1 racing cars for someone with a learners permit.

i hope this post moves forward in a productive way. good luck.

 

[fasthorse]

im new on here and i did a post yesterday about a project..BUt i am not new to shooting...i worked for a custom rifle shop loading and shooting the new "toys".. i picked up a .270 yesterday with a fn mauser action made in belgium for 300 bucks..new barrel for it will run about 325..chamber and thread another 200 so for 825 i now have A custom rifle..it already has an aftermarker trigger in it so that saved 125...i can pick up a nice zeiss scope for 900. so now my total is 1725..thankfully i have reloading equipment so im not out that also..my advice is find a nice new or used rifle for under 500 and build as you can afford it