For $1500 you can have a pretty nice rifle put together. Score a used 700, 98, 70, etc action, send it to pac-nor for a barrel, order up a McMillan stock, put a $300 scope on it and you'll still owe less than $1500, and you'll have a premium rifle.
I had a 21" #3 Douglas put on a 700 action a few years back, added some open sights, some Leupold QR rings/bases, and a 1.5-4.5x Nikon. Shoots quite well, even with factory ammo. Using WW 170s, I fired 6, 3-shot groups at 100 yds; they averaged about exactly 1 in.
Is $300.00 affordable? Not 8x57, this is 8x60 so if running some cases into a die isn't a hassle then you could get something like this. True, it isn't new made but it is quite affordable.