Everyone that hunts and shoots on a regular basis should own a custom rifle. These rifles are hand built by one person or a few people, to the needs of the individual.
And the one thing we all desire is ACCURACY from a rifle. Col Townsend Whelen stated that, “only accurate rifles are interesting”. There is no such thing as, too much accuracy. Whether you have a factory rifle, or are thinking of purchasing a custom rifle there should be a certain standard to which a rifle lives up to, and can perform on any given day. And what is that standard?
Today’s factory rifles (Bolt Action) should be capable of delivering out of the box, 1 to 1.5 inch groups at 100 yards. And with an “accurized action job” from a reputable gunsmith, should be able to easily cut groups in ½. Just under “MOA” is not asking too much, for an accurization job on a stock rifle. Your own stock rifle, Accurized by a Gunsmith, must be BETTER than a rifle “out of the box”. And a fully custom rifle must be BETTER than a stock rifle that has been accurized. That is the standard. Good gunsmiths can accurize just about any factory receiver, but the very BEST factory receiver to do work on is the Remington 700 Action.
And this Standard of Accuracy should result in a rifle capable of producing a 3 shot or a 5 shot, “one ragged hole” group or ½ inch groups or less for non-magnum calibers, and ½ inch to 3/4 inch from magnum calibers (with premium reloading). There are a few custom shops that won’t allow a rifle to reach their customers hands until they are proven performers. They either shoot the rifle to confirm the rifle’s capability and/or they are willing to work with you until you are satisfied with the end results, within reason. Meaning, if they deliver to you a rifle that you can shoot ½ groups with on a regular basis, don’t send it back because it doesn’t print 1/4 inch groups. And if you do get a 1/4 inch rifle, Consider Yourself BLESSED. Always shop around and ask questions of the custom gunsmiths you plan on doing business with.
And what goes into a custom rifle? All new components, and/or newly machined components from your existing rifle. Custom Rifle Barrels: Shilen, Krieger, Broughton, Rock, Hart, Lilja. Custom Actions: Kelby, BAT, Borden, Lawton, Farley, Stiller, (also, your own rifle’s action can be machined). Custom Stocks: McMillan, Manners, Russo, H-S Precision, Robertson, Accurate Innovations. Custom Triggers: Jewell, Shilen, Timney. You must buy a quality Rifle Scope to complete the custom rig: Leupold, NightForce, Swarovski, Zeiss, U.S. Optics, Schmidt & Bender, Burris, Weaver.
These are all top of the line components that, along with the quality work of the custom gunsmith, go into the making of a top flight custom rifle.
How can I afford a custom rifle? Easy, more information here: