My frustration with the word "custom".

[ButterBean]

Being an old drag racer IMO there is a big difference in "Custom" vs " Highly Modified"

 

[Deleted member 115360]

I have a friend who owns a Harley dealership, and he said that he deals with this on a daily basis. Nobody wants to hear that the $15k in "custom" parts that they were talked into is worth almost nothing. Or, they buy a "custom" bike from some unknown 3 man operation that nobody knows about, and it isn't worth the $60k they paid for it, or even a quarter of that.

 

[MagnumManiac]

If I build a rifle to a customers wants, I'm building a custom rifle in general terms, but what I am actually doing is a 'Bespoke rifle', which is the term used to describe 'made to order'.
I don't like how a non-factory action is called a 'custom' by so many, really, it's an aftermarket piece, just like a car part manufacturer like Edelbrock makes aftermarket non-OEM parts.
Anyway, that's just me.

Cheers.

 

[Jon Bischof]

Yep, Custom often means expensive. But no better then a well made factory rifle.
Of course it depends upon which factory.

 

[Deleted member 115360]

If I build a rifle to a customers wants, I'm building a custom rifle in general terms, but what I am actually doing is a 'Bespoke rifle', which is the term used to describe 'made to order'.
I don't like how a non-factory action is called a 'custom' by so many, really, it's an aftermarket piece, just like a car part manufacturer like Edelbrock makes aftermarket non-OEM parts.
Anyway, that's just me.

Cheers.

That's another good point. About every expensive action you see for sale has the word "custom" in the title, but the day they made (their CNC machine made) yours they made 20 more exactly like it. Nothing custom about something that is mass produced in a machine.

 

[SteelBanger]

I appreciate your point of view, but I'm going to challenge your assertion:

aero precision sells a complete rifle, now picture that rifle.

Now, they also sell every single component, so you can build that exact rifle at home. Absolutely identical in every way. Is that a custom rifle now?

What if I use a ln Aero lower and a steelbanger upper, but every other part is the aero rifle we built above, so now it's a custom rifle? So then if you replace that steelbanger upper with an aero next week, it loses it's custom status?

My post that you quoted literally answers this question. No, if you buy all the parts to a specific factory rifle and assemble it yourself I would never call it a custom rifle. I'll simply restate my original comment from the first page ... if the rifle you have is not available in a factory offering then that by default makes it "custom" to some degree. Could be a minor degree like the guy who rattle cans a stock, or it could be a bigger degree like a guy that puts his R700 in a chassis, beds it, puts a TT diamond in it and a hellfire brake on the end. He customized his rifle so who cares if he calls it custom or not?
It's also important to note that custom doesn't = more expensive / valuable or better.
In the truest sense of the word, I agree with you that a "custom" build is done by a proper gunsmith with their name stamped on it. But if a guy wants to say he built a custom rifle because he sourced all his parts himself and figured out how to build it so it shoots tight groups then I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.
But again, the guy who slaps a complete upper on a complete lower and says he built a custom rifle can go pound sand! lol

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Very few custom actions out there can truly be ordered to custom specs. Bat offers the most customization options in my experience. The one that rubs me more than "custom" is "Benchrest accuracy" used as advertising when that business has never produced a winning Benchrest rifle.

 

[Deleted member 115360]

My post that you quoted literally answers this question. No, if you buy all the parts to a specific factory rifle and assemble it yourself I would never call it a custom rifle. I'll simply restate my original comment from the first page ... if the rifle you have is not available in a factory offering then that by default makes it "custom" to some degree. Could be a minor degree like the guy who rattle cans a stock, or it could be a bigger degree like a guy that puts his R700 in a chassis, beds it, puts a TT diamond in it and a hellfire brake on the end. He customized his rifle so who cares if he calls it custom or not?
It's also important to note that custom doesn't = more expensive / valuable or better.
In the truest sense of the word, I agree with you that a "custom" build is done by a proper gunsmith with their name stamped on it. But if a guy wants to say he built a custom rifle because he sourced all his parts himself and figured out how to build it so it shoots tight groups then I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.
But again, the guy who slaps a complete upper on a complete lower and says he built a custom rifle can go pound sand! lol

Oh, don't misunderstand me, I'm not arguing with you, because God knows that I don't think I have all of this figured out. My definitions have shifted in this very conversation..

 

[Quintus]

Very few custom actions out there can truly be ordered to custom specs. Bat offers the most customization options in my experience. The one that rubs me more than "custom" is "Benchrest accuracy" used as advertising when that business has never produced a winning Benchrest rifle.

All you need for "bench-rest accuracy" is to shoot off a bench. Some rifles have very poor bench-rest accuracy.
Custom for sale is what it is. You can tell a true custom by the description. It will have a words detailing machining that was done, maker and twist rate of barrel, what action was used, and builder. If those things are not provided either the seller doesn't know or is omitting so as not to depreciate the listing. Either way, usually pretty easy to spot and avoid.

 

[mercerbear]

Yep, Custom often means expensive. But no better then a well made factory rifle.
Of course it depends upon which factory.

I don't know about that.

List a Lane or Piercision or similar custom on the classifieds for $4500 and watch it go in 12 hours.

Custom rifles assembled by known Smiths are definitely considered better than high end factory.

 

[Jon Bischof]

I don't know about that.

List a Lane or Piercision or similar custom on the classifieds for $4500 and watch it go in 12 hours.

Custom rifles assembled by known Smiths are definitely considered better than high end factory.

Depends upon the Custom and depends upon the factory.

 

[RedDirtRifleman]

The 1911 world really has this covered with the "semi-custom" class of guns like Nighthawk and Wilson Combat. Maybe the rifle world needs to adopt similar terminology.

 

[Ol' Red]

That was a lot of hoop-la about semantics. I read it all, but now I have to get into my old pickup truck with custom wheels. It sure makes a guy feel good knowing that only 10,000 other trucks have the same custom wheels. I think custom is a good word for marketing agents.

 

[Quintus]

My first truck was a 1982 Chevy Custom Deluxe. The deluxe meant auto transmission. The custom meant if you wanted a radio, AC, seats other than vinyl straight bench etc. you had to add it yourself. Fancy name for a turd in that case.