300 win mag build or buy

[Backr]

Hey Gents,

The wife finally okay'd buying or building a new 300 win mag. It will primarily be used for shooting out to 1500 yards, and elk hunting. So I don't want a feather barrel, nor something to heavy for hunting. Budget is a max of 1500. the scope will be a Steiner t5xi 3x15.

A few things I have looked into are the Christensen arms mesa long range, and the Bergara b14-hmr. I have no experience with Bergara rifles though. My wife will be shooting and hunting with it as well as myself (yes, she handles a 300 wm just fine), so regardless of choice, I am wanting an adjustable cheek well. I am open to other suggestions as well.

What do ya'll suggest/recommend?

 

[Buck Buster]

Hey Gents,

The wife finally okay'd buying or building a new 300 win mag. It will primarily be used for shooting out to 1500 yards, and elk hunting. So I don't want a feather barrel, nor something to heavy for hunting. Budget is a max of 1500. the scope will be a Steiner t5xi 3x15.

A few things I have looked into are the Christensen arms mesa long range, and the Bergara b14-hmr. I have no experience with Bergara rifles though. My wife will be shooting and hunting with it as well as myself (yes, she handles a 300 wm just fine), so regardless of choice, I am wanting an adjustable cheek well. I am open to other suggestions as well.

The other option is to get a standard 700 and build it up.

What do ya'll suggest/recommend?

I would think the custom built gun would be more accurate if built by a reputable gunsmith. Now as far as cost, not sure if you have an action to build on, that would save you money, otherwise you may not depending on what the gunsmith charges ,be able to stay within your budget ! I have had two 300 magnums with Douglas premium barrels that I feel have shot exceptional, they were just blued barrels with about a 1 & 1/8 " diameter barrel ! The first one was a 300 Winchester Magnum, I bought a barreled action from Flags in Millville PA, they are now out of business, it cost me about $125 back in the early 70's it had a Mark X action. The one I have now, I bought used for $600 and it shoots great also, it has a Ruger Magnum action and with a Vari - X III scope I am out of clicks at 1550 yards, but it is really dropping fast at that range, using the Hornady 178 AMAX bullets ! I have hit a leaf laying on top of the snow on the second shot at 1300 yards when I was sighting it in and checking the drop clicks, the first shot was about 1 foot from the leaf !

 

[Buck Buster]

P.S. I forgot to mention that the second gun that I bought used for $600 was a 308 Norma Magnum, not a 300 Winchester Mag. They are practically the same thing, very close !

 

[freddogs]

From my experience I think it would be hard to build a custom rifle with your budget. Barrels, actions, triggers, and stocks add up quick. Then you have to find someone good to put it together and the good ones don't work cheap. Look first at different rifles on the market. I'm sure there are guys here who can tell you what works for them. Good luck.

 

[WildRose]

Hey Gents,

The wife finally okay'd buying or building a new 300 win mag. It will primarily be used for shooting out to 1500 yards, and elk hunting. So I don't want a feather barrel, nor something to heavy for hunting. Budget is a max of 1500. the scope will be a Steiner t5xi 3x15.

A few things I have looked into are the Christensen arms mesa long range, and the Bergara b14-hmr. I have no experience with Bergara rifles though. My wife will be shooting and hunting with it as well as myself (yes, she handles a 300 wm just fine), so regardless of choice, I am wanting an adjustable cheek well. I am open to other suggestions as well.

The other option is to get a standard 700 and build it up.

What do ya'll suggest/recommend?

Check the classifieds. Someone had a Gen2 milspec Rem 700 .300wm listed on there at a real bargain a week or two back. Save the rest for mounts and glass and you'll have all you ever need.

All of them I know of have been half MOA shooters in .260, 6.5CM, or 300wm.

Probably the best buy on a factory rifle I've seen in a couple of decades.

 

[sable tireur]

the scope will be a Steiner t5xi 3x15.

I suggest that you seriously reconsider this choice for glass. We bought 20 of these a couple of years ago for resale to clients. We sold 5 almost immediately and they all came back within a month due to one failure or another. We returned all of them for a refund. One I can understand but all five failed. Please find the real reviews and read them all.

In some degree of fairness, Steiner has made some corrections in the design but I would rather find another scope...

As to your budget, good luck with your search.

 

[Backr]

I suggest that you seriously reconsider this choice for glass. We bought 20 of these a couple of years ago for resale to clients. We sold 5 almost immediately and they all came back within a month due to one failure or another. We returned all of them for a refund. One I can understand but all five failed. Please find the real reviews and read them all.

As to your budget, good luck with your search.

Hey thanks for the info! ill do some more research on them! the ones I have shot through, I really enjoyed. But I don't much like playing the warranty game.

 

[Backr]

I would think the custom built gun would be more accurate if built by a reputable gunsmith. Now as far as cost, not sure if you have an action to build on, that would save you money, otherwise you may not depending on what the gunsmith charges ,be able to stay within your budget ! I have had two 300 magnums with Douglas premium barrels that I feel have shot exceptional, they were just blued barrels with about a 1 & 1/8 " diameter barrel ! The first one was a 300 Winchester Magnum, I bought a barreled action from Flags in Millville PA, they are now out of business, it cost me about $125 back in the early 70's it had a Mark X action. The one I have now, I bought used for $600 and it shoots great also, it has a Ruger Magnum action and with a Vari - X III scope I am out of clicks at 1550 yards, but it is really dropping fast at that range, using the Hornady 178 AMAX bullets ! I have hit a leaf laying on top of the snow on the second shot at 1300 yards when I was sighting it in and checking the drop clicks, the first shot was about 1 foot from the leaf !

Hey Sir,
Thank you for the recommendations, I am worried about staying within the budget with a custom build as well. And 1500 is the max I can spend on the rifle.
the rifle won't be used for any kind of match shooting, but I sure do prefer sub Moa rifles.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Consider getting a Remington 5R. People seem to have good experiences with them.

 

[gjk5]

you mentioned the Bergara B14 HMR and the CA Mesa LR, you could be in a Bergara HMR Pro for far closer in price (at least around here) and that is more apples to apples.

I am seeing them respectively @ about $850, $1400ish, $1400ish, so I would not compare the regular HMR to the Mesa LR. And if you are weight sensitive you may want to look at the regular Mesa.

I just ordered a regular Mesa but cannot attest to quality or accuracy. A large part of my decision was not hucking around a 9lb rifle + scope and bipod package so you may want to take weight into consideration for this buy....

I am coming out of a .30-378 wby that shot great but carried like a pig so I might be biased.

 

[Backr]

you mentioned the Bergara B14 HMR and the CA Mesa LR, you could be in a Bergara HMR Pro for far closer in price (at least around here) and that is more apples to apples.

I am seeing them respectively @ about $850, $1400ish, $1400ish, so I would not compare the regular HMR to the Mesa LR. And if you are weight sensitive you may want to look at the regular Mesa.

I just ordered a regular Mesa but cannot attest to quality or accuracy. A large part of my decision was not hucking around a 9lb rifle + scope and bipod package so you may want to take weight into consideration for this buy....

I am coming out of a .30-378 wby that shot great but carried like a pig so I might be biased.

Hey thanks for your reply, ill look into the Pro version as well!
I have shot the regular mesa, my only complaint about it, is that I couldn't get a good cheek position on, thats why I want an adjustable, especially since my wife will be using it to, and we obviously position differently. I think you'll really like the mesa though. the 7 rm version I've shot, recoil wise feels about like a .308. its really nice for a 7 lbs package.

 

[WildRose]

you mentioned the Bergara B14 HMR and the CA Mesa LR, you could be in a Bergara HMR Pro for far closer in price (at least around here) and that is more apples to apples.

I am seeing them respectively @ about $850, $1400ish, $1400ish, so I would not compare the regular HMR to the Mesa LR. And if you are weight sensitive you may want to look at the regular Mesa.

I just ordered a regular Mesa but cannot attest to quality or accuracy. A large part of my decision was not hucking around a 9lb rifle + scope and bipod package so you may want to take weight into consideration for this buy....

I am coming out of a .30-378 wby that shot great but carried like a pig so I might be biased.

Just curious was that an Accumark or ???

 

[gjk5]

the Mesa LR is a shim/spacer system and the Bergara is a true quick adjust cheek riser FWIW.

Lucky you on the wife, mine is a CCW holder only interested in just over bad breath distance shooting! (but won't go to IDPA/USPSA matches LOL) My daughters love rifle shooting though so I got the 6.5 CM Mesa.

 

[gjk5]

Just curious was that an Accumark or ???

Yes, Accumark with 6.5-20 Conquest and big Harris. Great rifle but not fun to carry. 80% of the time I was hauling it around in a Ranger Crew but the weight, recoil and cost to own just wore on me.