I was talking about custom rifle makers, not Dakota.
I was asking why would a barrel for a Dakota caliber be more expensive, which isn't manufactured by Dakota itself. Is there something special about the cartridge design? Does the bullet havean odd diameter? What is it?

The ammo could cost more if it's only made by an elite company, but an amateur gunsmith wouldn't need to charge extra for a barrel in a certain caliber, right? That's like saying a .300 Win. Mag. barrel is going to cost more than a .30-06. The price of the bullet is irrelavent to the barrel price,right?

A gunsmith would probably charge more to make an oddball chambered rifle because he has to have a reamer for the chamber. And a reamer for a Dakota caliber is probably hard to come by, not to mention expensive. And if he makes a rifle chambered in that caliber for you, how many more will he make. Probably not many.

And if he orders the bbl pre-reamed, it will cost more for the same reason. Not too many people buy rifles in that particular caliber. If they did, it wouldn't be a wildcat and a major ammo company would load it.

JMHO of course.

For a double under 700$ check out Huglu. Made in turkey, quality gun for price. Mine even has all screws timed. CZ also imports them but I think the price is a little higher when bought through CZ.

Never heard of Huglu, can't recall ever seeing any at a gun store either.

T/C Pro Hunter in 405 Winchester looks like the hot deal to me!

I know a number of people use that .338 you mentioned for Elk, too.

I'd recommend taking a close look at Tikka T3 .300 WM. I've shot several Elk with mine. The most recent wasa big cow at 300 yards 2 weeks ago in WY that took 1 180 gr Accubond slug through the shoulder/lungs to bring down after she moved just 50 yards.

I was very please with this rifle and the accuracy with a good scope on solid rings that come with the rifle. Using steady sticks and a careful shot put the slug right in where it needed to go. And at just under 7 lbs the rifle won't making your arms and shoulder worn out from carrying it around all day either.

Ruger doesn't chamber a .338 Lupua, they do, however, chamber the .338 Winchester Magnum.

Shato excellent hint in the TC encore. You simply can't go wrong with a TC or another ml for that matter. I am feeling a little light on the department myself since I have trimmed down from 7 frontstuffers to just 4.[] Nothing beats blasting smoke and the encore does itfine!

Hey plus if you ever go to africa you could get one of them big bore barrels for it...nothing like taking on a buff with a single shot...j/king.

Marlin Stainless 45-70

They did recently, look at the 2006 Rugercatalog, the M77 MKII Magnum rifle used to be chambered in that caliber, but it's not listed on the website anymore, I think it's so that they can chamber the .375 Ruger instead.

I thinkthe new "Hawkeye" rifles look pretty cool, though.