Want to build a quality LR rifle for under $1500?

[ksgunguy]

Hi All,
New to the site and was wondering what your recommendations for me to build a quality LR rifle from various vendors?

I like how the Mcmillan A3 stock looks but note sure which on to get? all I know is I like black.
Looked at the Hart Rifle barrles and they look pretty amazing.

I want to shoot the Lapua 338 round
Comfortable range for me would be like 500 yards.

trigger note sure?
Reciever? dont know

Any and all help would be be greatly appreciated

thanks in advance

 

[jkrueger]

The savage 110 FCP in the HS Precision stock is going to be about as close as you are going to be able to get on $1500
it has a good stock, muzzle brake, and detachable box magazine and it should be a shooter right out of the box
I really dont think you will be able to build one for what is in your budget.
Also for 500 yard work a 308 will do just fine.

 

[D.ID]

+1, agree on all points.

 

[kcebcj]

If you truly want to build a nice rifle and have nothing to start with you should bump your budget to around $2500 and have a good rifle smith that you can deal with then cross your fingers. You would be looking at probably a year out depending on who supplies what.

 

[shortpants]

Is this for target practice or hunting? If for hunting what will you be hunting? Do you have a quality scope already or are you going to buy one? If so is that also included in your $1500 budget?
Let's assume you need a scope as well included in the $1500 and you want to hunt with it. You will get a million answers on which caliber is the most appropriate and I'm not saying my opinion is worth more than the next guys but here it is. Taking into account you said this is going to be used out to 500 yds. I think I would choose a Savage with accutrigger or a Remington 700 chambered in .308. This assumes you might hunt elk or bear with it. With the appropriate ammo it is plenty capable out to 500 yds.+. I would caution against using it on these bigger animals much beyond 500yds. I'm assuming this is going to be a rifle used to practice a lot with and used only on occasion for elk/bear? There are better calibers for these animals but a .338 Lapua is hardly a great choice to start with. It is 3 times more expensive to operate than something like a .308. If elk/bear is not in the equation then there are several options. I would say a 260 Remington or a 243 would be on the top of my list for a 500yd. deer rifle. If hunting is not in the equation at all I would drop down to something in the .22 caliber range like a 220 swift maybe because they are cheap to shoot and no recoil. The less recoil the better when it comes to practice.
With that in mind I would rather spend $500 on the rifle and $1000 on the scope then $1000 on the rifle and $500 on the scope. Buy the best scope you can.

Welcome to the site! I highly recommend you read all you can on this website. It has taught me a lot more in a few years then I learned in 15 years of trying to learn this stuff on my own. Good luck!
Jason

 

[angus-5024]

shortpants hit the nail on the head.
IF you are learning long range, DO NOT SHOOT A LAPUA! You can shoot a .308 to learn and then go buy your .338 when your ready and you will still be way ahead of the game financially. I shoot a .338 RUM and built a .243 specifically for deer to 400 yards and practice to 1k. It is less than 1/3 the cost to shoot.

The Lapua is great, but its a round for 800 yards +++ or grizz. It is just too big for most aplications (dont get me wrong, I still use mine for gophers).
If your stuck on the lapua, you'll be looking at the Savage line of rifles for that much coin. a cheaper option would be a .340 Weatherby or a .338 RUM.

A McMillan and Hart barrel chambered already puts you around your budget.

 

[shortpants]

The OP started a new thread regarding this rifle. You can read about it here...
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f26/rifle-scope-1k-possible-110990/

 

[AH3682]

Hey,

Howa sells barreled actions. You could probably find a 700 action too.

 

[PowellSixO]

I'm new to LRHing, but I thought I would throw my two cents into the pot. I just built a rifle that fit the OP's price, and is a pretty capable rifle. I know it's been a good place for me to start. I started with a Savage 111 Trophy Hunter XP 7mm Rem Mag. I picked it up for 500 bucks. The rifle comes with a jewelled bolt, an Acutrigger, and a some what decent stock with some work (the stock will be my next upgrade however). I then purchased a BlackHawk 0 Moa picatinny rail, and a set of BlackHawk 30mm rings. This set me back 110 bucks. I then purchased a Vortex Viper PST 2.5-10x44 EBR-1 MOA scope for 600 bucks. I threw a BlackHawk Bipod on to finish the rifle off for another 65 bucks. All in all I have 1275 in the rifle. This rilfe will shoot MOA all the way out to 600 yards with factory ammo. I haven't been able to shoot any further yet, but hope to do so soon. I have just got into reloading, and hope to work up a round that will get me sub moa hopefuly. But anyways, I love the rifle and have been very pleased with it so far. It's the perfect starting rifle for me and should teach me a lot. Here are a few pictures of the rifle and parts. It's no where near what a lot of you guys are shooting, but it should be a good tool for me to progress into the world of LRHing!

 

[longrangefreek]

you can easily build a rifle for under that and it will shoot as good or better than any other gun out there. I have built 4 off of savage actions and Shilen and Mcgowen barrels. if .250 and .375 group sizes for a hunting rifle is not a good enough group then you can go a different direction. I am waiting on parts for another rifle build. 300 WSM to be exact. All of the rifles have been 1300 bucks and cheaper. in my opinion you can build one hell of a shooter this way and save the extra money you would spend to have a smith build one. no offense to the smiths out there. you all build fantastic rifles but some of us just cannot afford to buy those. If you are only looking to shoot at around 500 yards then maybe just buying a high quality Savage or Remington factory rifle might just be right up your alley.

The pictures from the above post are a prime example of what you can build. that is a nice looking rifle.

Just my opinion of coarse.

 

[ksgunguy]

you can easily build a rifle for under that and it will shoot as good or better than any other gun out there. I have built 4 off of savage actions and Shilen and Mcgowen barrels. if .250 and .375 group sizes for a hunting rifle is not a good enough group then you can go a different direction. I am waiting on parts for another rifle build. 300 WSM to be exact. All of the rifles have been 1300 bucks and cheaper. in my opinion you can build one hell of a shooter this way and save the extra money you would spend to have a smith build one. no offense to the smiths out there. you all build fantastic rifles but some of us just cannot afford to buy those. If you are only looking to shoot at around 500 yards then maybe just buying a high quality Savage or Remington factory rifle might just be right up your alley.

The pictures from the above post are a prime example of what you can build. that is a nice looking rifle.

What do you think makes the best aftermarket barrel for the savage?
I noted you have the Shilen and Mcgowen.
Just my opinion of coarse.

 

[longrangefreek]

there are so many barrels out there but the prefits from Mcgowen and Shilen are very good. If I had to choose between the two I would go with Mcgowen just cause of the turn around time was a lot faster from them than Shilen. I waited 29 weeks for my shilen and the most I have waited was 10 weeks from Mcgowen. Boy do they shoot too. My 22 250 shoots bug holes with the Mcgowen and my buddies 300 RUM shoots darn near bug holes with his Mcgowen barrel. My 250 was set up to shoot 90 grain vlds out of it. Again I have had great success with both but would lean towards Mcgowen. I have not tried Pac Nor prefits yet but have heard good things about them also.