Build or Buy

[Submoa_hunter]

pros & cons of building vs buying a long range/mountain hunting rifle

[Stinky Coyote]

Always better to see if it’s already being made before you build. So out your list together and then see what’s out there that matches it. If nothing then build I guess. There’s a vast difference between the heart and the wallet. You build and it’ll cost plus the resale won’t be there either.

[silver lab]

Keep an eye out for some else’s build... custom quality at production cost.

[Stinky Coyote]

You can build a long range mountain hunter out of a Tikka t3 lite with Talley rings and a Leupold. Be 7-7.5 lbs all up and shoot factory ammo sub moa and go 700 yards no prob. .270 or 6.5 creedmoor.

Or you can spend triple to five times and reload etc etc guess it depends on what your definition of long range is. Built a Sako a7 270 short mag that shot well to 930 yards, set up to go 800 on one rotation of turret, pulled cheat sheet out to dial further. All factory again.

So pick you range, that’ll narrow down cartridges you should look at. Then weight range and features. If you want 1200 yards then 6.5 prc might be the hot ticket? Bet you could build one under 8 all up with factory everything.

[brewster29]

I pondered this recently when I was looking into building a hunting rifle that was sub 6.5 lbs scoped. By being a bit patient I was able to buy pretty much exactly what I wanted for about a third of building it...even though being a lefty limits my choices a bit.

I had already gone the Tikka T3 Lite route, but it was closing in on 8 lbs scoped.

Fluting the Tikka and a wildcat stock would have got me under 7 lbs, but cost was nearly as much as the lightly used rifle I found.

[58thecat]

Build....one of a kind...no one else ever nor will have that rifle or anything close to it.....build.....it's yours.

[Dean2]

Stinky C is absolutely right, spending $5,000 building one, sell it for $1,500 if you are lucky. Custom builds only make sense if you plan to keep it the rest of your life. If you can buy what you want already made I suggest you do that. The production rifles like Barret, NULA, Gunworks and the like resell for much closer to their original price.


You also need to decide if you want light or Long Range. I love my NULA, it is 6 lbs with a 3.5x18x44 Swaro scope, full mag and sling and costs about $4,000 Canadian today. I have no problem shooting it to 800 yards but a lot of guys have a great deal of trouble shooting really light rifles well enough to go over 300 yards. Most true long range rigs are not light guns. Whether buying or building try to know exactly what you want. I can tell you from experience that buying and selling high priced guns can be pretty hard on the pocket book unless you can find what you want used.

[elkhunter11]

If you can find a factory rifle that you like, buy, it will hold it's value much better than a custom. My Cristensen Traverse shoots as well as my custom, and is very close to what I would build anyways, for about $1500 , less.

[bubba300]

To each there own,I like building mine.The only down fall of buying factory in say a 270 win is that you will get a 1- 10 twist,I would like a 1-8 twist to shoot heavier bullets(160 to 175 grain),or a 7 mm with 1-8 to shoot 190 or 195 grain.Most of the new 6mm or 6.5 's come 1-8 twist.Still love the 270 win but next one will be a 1-8 twist in a 280 rem or 280 AI,still debating on that one.

[bucksnbears]

Building one can take a year for a good Smith to do.
Keep that in mind.

[Trochu]

I kind of think of it as building or buying a car.

Building Pros:
-Going to get exactly what you want, have more of a sense of ownership/be more sentimental, get to experience the building process (some guys like the building more than the using).

Building Cons:
-It's going to take significantly longer, won't be worth what you put into it.

Buying Pros:
-You can have it today, will retain more resale value.

Buying Cons:
-May not get exactly what you want.

I personally enjoy shooting more than building and don't have tons of money to dump into an item that I'm not going to recoup on the other side, so for me, it's a buy and tinker.

[bobwayzie]

There have been a few KS Arms rifles for less than $2500 come up on varius EEs, lots of value there!

Shop used is good if you can find what you want for sure. Or maybe save costs and use a run of the mill trued up action instead of a custom action and spend the money on the barrel.

[buschy03]

Originally Posted by brewster29

I pondered this recently when I was looking into building a hunting rifle that was sub 6.5 lbs scoped. By being a bit patient I was able to buy pretty much exactly what I wanted for about a third of building it...even though being a lefty limits my choices a bit.

I had already gone the Tikka T3 Lite route, but it was closing in on 8 lbs scoped.

Fluting the Tikka and a wildcat stock would have got me under 7 lbs, but cost was nearly as much as the lightly used rifle I found.

Tikka T3X Superlite .270 is around 6.2lbs for around $1200-1300.00
Gunworks/Custom for the same unit may be a pound different, 3-4X the cost of a tikka or Kimber, or..........

Why not save $3000.00 and lose 2lbs of weight, or lighten your pack,,,, just saying,, unless you have a pile of money to throw around, then fill your boots,,,

[Stinky Coyote]

further to Trochu, there's risk you don't get exactly what you want with building as well, some due diligence required on your builders just in case they don't meet your fit/finish standards etc. so you could end up disappointed and broke

there's a reasonable consistent expectation for factory fit and finish, custom could be quite varied

i researched this awhile ago and this buy vs build was the lean then as well

[catnthehat]

If I am going to build a custom rifle I start used and change things as I want to, same as my match rifles.
Cat