My way to give back to the forum.

[shuag]

I can't even begin to tell you how many hours I have spent in this forum getting information to help guide me in a build. What I quickly noticed is that there are a lot of first timers (like me) that are looking for costs of an entire build. Which brings me to my point. I am going to provide all of my build costs for better or for worse. I made some mistakes (which I will mention) but overall I think it turned out ok for my needs. In this small way hopefully others can avoid the mistakes that I made and make an educated decision as to whether or not they should go this route. Here goes.. . .

All Costs include Tax and Shipping

Approximate Purchase date first

May 15th Remington 7mm Rem Mag Sendero/ Buds Gun Shop...........$1,157.00
May 25th FFL Gun Transfer Fee/ Gun showed Up..............................$15.00
May 25th Racked the bolt a dozen times to hear the sound................$0.00
May 30th Glass the bed the stock - Local Gun Smith.........................$90.82
May 25th Racked the bolt a dozen times to hear the sound................$0.00
June 28th 1st Elk tag ................................................................$50.00
July 12th Nightforce Base 20MOA - Sportsmans...............................$107.92-$15.00 coupon at sportsmans

SWFA ORDER
July 16th

$699.95...SWFA SS 3-15x42 Tactical Rifle Scope..............$791.49
$15.95.....Bulter Creek Caps
$19.95.....Sunshade
$29.95.....Mil Dot Master

July 17th Ok now I am FREEKIN' PUMPED x 10.........................$0.00
July 20th 2nd Elk Tag................................................................$50.00
July 20th Hunting License..........................................................$30.00
July 24th Wheeler Farms Torque Wrench - Online...........................$47.09
July 25th Burris 30mm Zee Rings (Medium) - Online........................$55.90
July25th 40 rounds of 168 Bergers - Sportsmans.............................$90.80-$15.00 coupon at sportmans
July 25th Test Chambered a round - WOO HOo...........................$0.00
July 25th Used Credit Card Points Towards Purchase...................-$21.99
Seriously is this all of my purchase points?
July 27th Home Depot Line Levels (level the action to scope).......$2.08

This brings it to a grand total of $2,466.11

But there are 3 things that are still missing.

1. I have not yet added a bipod. I think I will use a Harris. ~$110
2. I have not yet purchased a gun case. This will probably add another ~$150
3. I have not yet purchased a shoulder strap to carry the gun. ~40

So the final total will be about ~$2,766.11

I have run out of money (due to a house purchase) therefore this is going to have to do for now. As far as shooting it shoots a 6 inch 3 shot group at 200 yards.
I know this is bad - yeah it sucks. Each 3 shot group has one bullet that went 'wild'. without the 'wild' bullet the 2 shot groups are around ~3 inches.

I attribute this to 3 things.
1. I am shooting the wrong bullet for this gun. The 168's are not designed for this twist rate. This was mistake purchase 1. I should be shooting the 180 grain Berger VLDs.

2. I was changing shooting positions while shooting.

3. There was an unpredictable wind while I was shooting. 10-15 mph.

Nonetheless I was hitting 8 inch plates, silhouettes, gongs, and bowling pins after I dialed it to 340 yards even with the wrong bullets. Figured out my shooting position and let it rip. Spent all the rounds I bought last week in one morning of shooting. It was fun.

Would I do it again? Yep. I plan on using this gun for recreational long range shooting, coyote hunting and elk hunting. (Notice the 2 tags purchased above). The build feels like a tank and is just as heavy but I like it. I am in my early 30's and plan on using this gun for years to come. My wife let me build this and all thanks goes to her for letting me spend the money, time and effort to do this. Feel free to provide input. I will provide pictures if I get enough requests. But I am sure you can imagine what it looks like. I realize that it is a pretty 'vanilla' build.

With that I would like to provide a request to this forum. That is, I would like to see the costs of other builds. Can anyone else provide there costs?

I would love to see them.

One more thing. I would like to thank all of you for your posts on this forum. They helped greatly in deciding what I should do to fit MY needs.

 

[PPR]

Very nice write up. Thanks for taking the time. I am sure this will help out alot of guys just starting out.

Regards,
Paul

 

[MMERSS]

You only described the tip of the iceberg. What about the rest?

 

[MudRunner2005]

I would post the costs of some of mine, but yall would swear I was lying through my teeth. My smith takes good care of me on prices. And I do seem to come across some incredible deals on occasion, so I buy when I see them, and hold onto it for later.

My cheapest build was my old Model 7 .308 custom, that was stolen from me in 2008. I traded an old used set of mud tires I paid $150 for a different rifle. Traded that rifle to a guy I worked with for the Model 7 the same day. That Model 7 had an H&S aluminum bed block stock already on it. Took it to my smith. He had a new M24 take-off barrel laying around. He cut the barrel to 20", put an 11* match crown on it, trued the action, bedded everything, and floated the barrel, and I walked out spending about $250. Used a scope I had bought for $100 years before. And hsed the Leupold rings and bases that came on the gun in the trade.

So basically I had $500 in a 1,000 yard monster that was one smooth and wicked shooter.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Good thread Shaug

Here's a couple of projects I've got going and their costs.

First

300 RUM

Rem 700 SPS Donor from pawn shop......$450
Sell bolt.................................................- $100
Sell stock.................................................- $20
Sub Total.................................................$330

PTG One peice bolt..................................$200
Sako extractor kit......................................$20
Jewel Trigger...........................................$240
HD Recoil Lug............................................$30
Used HS Sendero Stock...........................$300
Broughton 5C Barrel................................$400
SSG Muzzle Brake....................................$110
Total Components............................... $1630

Total Smithing including........................ $1300
Inlet and bedding
Assembly of bolt
Thread, Crown, Brake Install
Action Blue Print
Extended Weatherby Mag Box Install

Total Rifle Cost......................................$2930

Optics
NF 40 MOA Rail........................................$120
NF Rings, Used........................................$110
NF 5.5 - 22 X 50 ....................................$1800
Total......................................................$2030

Additional Costs
Nitriding Action and Barrel......................$85
Disassemble and Reassemble................$40

Note: Smith bought the reamer I order from PTG.

I actually paid less for the scope about 5 years ago, using today approx cost.

If I had to do it again, I would go full custom vs upgrading the 700 Action.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

6mm - 284

S&W m1500 Donor from Gun Show........ $350
Jewel Trigger........................................... $240
B&C Medalist Stock..................................$275
Broughton 5C Barrel................................$400
SSG Muzzle Brake......................................$90
Total Components................................. $1355

Total Smithing including........................ $1070
Inlet and bedding
Tactical Bolt Knob
Thread, Crown, Brake Install
Action Blue Print


Total Rifle Cost......................................$2415

Optics
EGW HD 240 MOA Rail..............................$50

Not sure what scope I will put on this right now, but eventually it will probably wear a NF.

Additional Costs
Nitriding Action and Barrel......................$85
Disassemble and Reassemble................$40

Reamer ................................................$220
This was a custom reamer that my smith was not sure he would use for any other projects.

Stayed with the factory trigger which I tuned to break crisply @ 1.5 lbs.

I may replace it with a 3 position Timney in the future.

Note in the pics that the action and barrel do not have a final finish, that will come with nitriding. It will be Matte Black as will the 300 Ultra

Alsonote there is no Brake. While breaking it in, I decided I would need a brake to stay on target and as this Rifle will be used a lot for gophers and PD's that's important. It was actually installed yesterday. Now for the nitriding.

Last note... You will notice this rifle is almost $500 less than the 700 300 Ultra. The action needed a lot less work, i.e., It came with a one piece bolt, integral recoil lug and M-16 style extractor, which reduced component and smithing costs. That said, the Howa actions are too short to build the longer chamberings on. The Howas are about 1/4" shorter than the 700 LA. The largest/longest chambering I would do in a Howa would the 300 Dakota. For chamberings of that size and smaller it is an excellent platform for a budget build.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I would post the costs of some of mine, but yall would swear I was lying through my teeth. My smith takes good care of me on prices. And I do seem to come across some incredible deals on occasion, so I buy when I see them, and hold onto it for later.

My cheapest build was my old Model 7 .308 custom, that was stolen from me in 2008. I traded an old used set of mud tires I paid $150 for a different rifle. Traded that rifle to a guy I worked with for the Model 7 the same day. That Model 7 had an H&S aluminum bed block stock already on it. Took it to my smith. He had a new M24 take-off barrel laying around. He cut the barrel to 20", put an 11* match crown on it, trued the action, bedded everything, and floated the barrel, and I walked out spending about $250. Used a scope I had bought for $100 years before. And hsed the Leupold rings and bases that came on the gun in the trade.

So basically I had $500 in a 1,000 yard monster that was one smooth and wicked shooter.

Found some old pictures of the rifle I mentioned before....Man is that a blast from the past. I miss that gun!

Yes, I paid $100 for that Bausch & Lomb 3-9x50 30mm FireFly German #4 reticle scope a few years before when I worked at the outdoors store. Guy traded in a rifle and it was on it, I asked the owner how much, and he said I could have it for $100. I said, "SOLD!" and slapped the money down. LOL

For the record, I am an Alabama fan, but I did go to Auburn, and my folks got me that blanket, so I had to be nice and put it out somewhere, and these pics were taken in my house I lived in back in college...

 

[jkupper]

I have gone as cheap as I possibly can on my build. It is working out exceedingly well for me because I am able to hand load and I have found two loads that my "stock" gun will shoot as perfectly as is possible. Anyway, here i go...

7mm Rem Mag

*Remington 700 SPS chambered in 7 RM - $599.99-$100 rebate-$499.99 in Cabela's card points........................................................$0

*Leupold 30mm matte rings.............................$39.99
*leupold 1 piece base.......................................$24.99
subtotal............................................$64.98-$64.98 in Cabela's points=$0

Huskemaw 5x20 Blue Diamond Scope..............$1400.00

Total cost of build.............................................$1400.00

I want to add a scope level and an angle cosine indicator in the future, but this is where I am right now. Of course I've got a few hundred invested into dies, new powder, brass, magnum primers, and Berger VLD's, but I didn't add this to the cost of the build. The gun shoots a 5 shot group that is less than 1/2" at 100 yards and shoots less than 1" at 200 yards. I'm excited to be going out this weekend to collect the data for the Huskemaw turret. Sadly, both of my accurate loads are slower than I would like. The one that I am going to use only shoots 2731 fps on average, but there is only 18 fps of difference in a 5 shot string which is good, it will just limit the distance I can dial. Hopefully Huskemaw can hook me up with a second MOA turret and a ballistics chart because I have already calculated that one turn on the distance turret will only give me 775-800 yards at my current velocity. I tried MANY loads at max and slightly beyond until I showed signs of pressure with several different powders and could not come close to the size of groups that I already had. That is the only frustrating part of the build, but the gun is a shooter, and I can't wait to take it out on Saturday to stretch it out a bit gun)

 

[Shooter00]

Here's my experience with my 'not custom yet' FN project.

FNH TSR XP 300WSM .... $1022.78
FFL Transfer .... $10.00

SWFA 10x42SF + kit .... $465.85

Accessories via MidwayUSA, Bass Pro and Cabela's .... $689.73
Burris 30mm Xtreme Tactical rings
Super Sling
Butler Creek Scope Caps
Harris Bipod
Redding 300WSM dies
Redding 30cal Comp Seating Mic
Redding 30cal VLD Comp Seating Mic
Barnes Bullets
Plano rolling rifle case
Shooter Chrony Alpha Master
Extra misc reloading gear

Local Gun Shops - when I can find stuff .... $250 +/-
Win and Fed new brass
CCI and Win Primers
IMR 4831
RL 19
Barnes Bullets
Berger Bullets
Sno Cones

Gunsmith Services .... $40.00
FNH Parts ....$11.50
* Thanks to a poor bedding job at the factory and a weak Allen wrench, I broke the end of my Allen wrench off in the front action screw and the rear screw was starting to wallow out. The bedding material had locked the threads in place, and we had to drill the original screw out to remove it. Nobody in town carries a 1/4-32 x 1 1/4" hex screw either, so FN is gladly sending me new ones, at my expense.

Total(ish) .... $$2500

This rifle doesn't shoot the factory ammo worth a flip from what I can tell. 3" groups @ 100 yards were common with the Barnes Vor TX and HSM Berger VLD.

I'm very happy with the way my handloads have turned out, .47" @ 100 yards off the bipod and if I hadn't pulled the 3rd shot, we'd have seen right around 1" group out past 400. I called it low, and my group @ 437 yards (had a good flat spot in the pasture that made it an oddball distance) was still under 1 MOA. I didn't make my wind adjustment, just to see how good my dope calc was in the 7mph breeze. The elk won't know the difference! As soon as the new screws come in, I'll get some good targets shot up and posted.

Happy Happy Happy. Cheers!

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