the last rifle I had built was on a whim it was a rem tuned action, mc milliam stock, teflon etc etc.. total cost was around 3k. I never bonded with the gun and it has since gone to a new home.

Now before I spend I write, rewrite, think, ponder and ask 100000 questions before I send or spend 1 cent.

I would think long and hard about what exactly it is you want, the get it, build it or save for it in the long run you will happier.

Born to hunt,

The initial purpose behind the custom rifle concept was to give the owner "Exactly" what he wants, whatever that may be. As far as Im concerned it still is.

You want a semi custom. Since you want a short/fat mag I highly reccomend going with Vapodogs advice, start looking at savages. Get the barreled action you want and add the laminated stock you want. It CAN be that simple. If you still want more accuracy then spend your money having the rifle professionally accurized. This consists mainly of having the action trued and proper bedding done to the stock, with the Savage accutrigger you should be ok in that aspect.

Considering your obsession with tiny groups you might consider a bull barrel. Weight can easily become an issue if that is something you care about, but Ive seen some short barreled heavy barrel sporters that are no more of a burden than some larger caliber sporters.

Barrel length is something I suggest you research, as that decision should also be yours! Get EXACTLY what you want. Sounds like youve got a good idea of what that is, hopefully this will help you along the way.

You can read in many places in this forum that a barrel is the heart and soul of the rifle and possibly the most important factor in accuracy. It is also the single best reason why I suggest a Savage. They are standouts in that dept.

If you decide to go with a full custom then you should start with an action made for the WSM you desire. DONT go out and by the components yourself.. Gunsmiths can get discounts on these items which can ease the overall cost for you and not allowing them that "perk" if you will, is going to cost you one way or another.

For what you describe though, a full custom would be redundant. A semi-custom should be able to give you everything you have mentioned with no problem.

wstrnhntr

quote:

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I highly reccomend going with Vapodogs advice, start looking at savages. Get the barreled action you want and add the laminated stock you want. It CAN be that simple

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FWIW the last gun I saw so put together actually shot with marvelous consistency groups (three shot) in the range of 3/8" at 100 yards.

I very seriously doubt that any custom smith will warranty his product for better results than that.

257, If it helps you to understand the situation better, consider this: when you hire a quality gunsmith you are paying not only his hourly rate for his labor but you are paying a fee for the tools and machinery, which can be several tens of thousand in investments on upward. A fee for the electricity, water and property taxes or rent he has on his facility, all of his income taxes and all of his FICA (around 18%; more than his income taxes probably), sometimes the 11% Federal excise tax, maybe state sales tax and state income tax, health insurance (if he's lucky to be that prosperous), general libility and maybe product liability insurance if he's cautious. You would be damned shocked at how little of the price of a custom gun goes into the average 'smith's wallet as disposable income. On top of the hours he works on client's "revenue producing" work, he will have a large number of hours spent running the business, ordering supplies and parts, talking to the 75% of callers who will never spend a dime with him and all that stuff that has to be done but doesn't earn a dime. Add his third party bookeeper or his wife (way more expensive than a bookeeper) to keep it all legal, it goes on and on. Not a bitch, just trying to inform you about where the money goes.

The sole purpose of a rifle is to please its owner...and having a 1/2 moa hunting gun built is not any more expensive than a 1 MOA hunting gun built. If the gun is built right it will shoot.

I would contact Fred Zeglin at Z-hat custom in Casper Wyoming...reasonably priced an dhe builds very accuaret hunting rifles...

Hes accurazed to stock remington 700s for me and they are consistent 1/2 MOA guns with the factory bbl

Mike,

Does Z-Hat have a web site? I checked out a web site a while back that had a "Get a Quote" section. I selected the barrel, stock, trigger and what work to be done. He emailed me a quote: $2685.

It has been a while, but Z-Hat sounds familiar.

Mike,

I just found the email! It was the same place! Has anyone had experience with this smith?

PLEASE SEND ME A PM IF YOU HAVE NEGATIVE COMMENTS TO REPORT. i DO NOT WANT TO START A PUBLIC BASHING. IT IS BAD TASTE AND I WANT NO PART OF IT. I WOULD TELL YOU HONESTLY IF I HAD BAD EXPERIENCES WITH A COMPANY OR FIRM, BUT I WOULD ALSO TELL YOU PRIVATELY.

Thanks

this is who i use, good hunting rifles in your price range:
http://www.cprifles.com/About.html

257, you were curious about the time it takes too.

All right, first off I re-recommend to you getting the publication from www.acgg.org on building a custom rifle.

Now, why does it take so long. Remember, you are partially paying for the shop time, wear and tear on the machines and the tooling costs. Part of the time spent on a gun is setting up the machine for what is going to be done, say it is surface grinding your action. The gunsmiths don't drop all other projects to work on one at a time, so they have a lot in the works. So although he might be able to do all the metal work and throw it in a synthetic in a month he can't because he has more than one thing happening. So often to save time just changing the setups they will do a few different rifles at one time. Like the surface grinding. He has your action and 5 others that need it, so he does them all at the same time. Now your action will wait with the others for him to do what he decides next, say setting it up for the bases and rings that you chose.

If your project requires fixtures that have to be built because you want something special that will take time. then there is the time at the end just polishing it all out and getting ready for the bluing or finish of your choice. It's kind of hard to understand until you have heard enough of the details of what is going into it.

time on the phone, time doing paperwork, that was all mentioned, but there is also time spent thinking about your gun. although this is probably seldom if ever charged for it is valuable time that they might spend on your project. I know that my gunsmith spent probably a few days just in the deciding of the best way to do the scope setup for the current rifle. check twice cut once you know.

None of these gunsmiths makes great money, so they aren't overcharging. in fact the ones that sound so reasonable are probably under charging.

I know it is really hard to understand, and hard to except the high price tag, but it really is a significant value when you consider what went into it. When the rifle I am having built now is done (not any time soon, I am doing the stock so it'll take a while) I plan on posting a whole series of writeups on what went into it, I think this will give you a big insight into the process and the why's of the cost. I will say honestly I don't know how much it has cost, and would have to guess on a lot of the parts cost too since some I already had. But for what has been done whatever the tag was/is it is a steal.

Red

Can't seem to figure out PMs but born to hunt...

email me at med358@att.net

I highly recommend fred

also fredj338 on here has used him