ejpaul1

I was wondering what folks would think about a custom rifle with a synthetic stock for 1800? I bought a business for my wife to primarily run called the country register of wyoming, we sell ads to antique shops, gift shops quilt shops and then distribute them all over the state. Well, we went into one of our customers shops to design an ad and she runs 4 businesses out of it. A book store, a quilt shop, a scrapbooking shop and a custom rifle shop. The guy doing it kinda does it in his spare time and only builds them as people want them. He says his actions are from montana rifleman and barrels from lilja and a few other makers. He also says that the bare bones custom is 1800. This sounded pretty good to me, and his most popular chambering is the 375 H&H. I just had to write an article on it and promo him for free. Is this rifle as good of a deal as it seems? any thoughts?

oldelkhunter

EJpaul1. I find there are gun mechanics,gunbutchers, rem700 gunsmiths and all around gunsmiths and recently gunsmiths that build guns to 5/millionths of an inch and last but not least Kenny Jarret. Without looking at the work in question I could not tell you what category he falls under. Lots of details to look at and a good smith works the details and only does one kind of job a good one. That is certainly worth paying for. If your talking components alone for a gun like that figure an average of 400 for the action 400 for the stock and 300 for the barrel before he works his "Magic" on it. Prices for stock and action is average ..if you want best quality it might be thousands.

James B

It would not be for me as I have never had a problem picking up a good dependable rifle for about a third of that. This is just my opinion. Many would think it a bargin.

ejpaul1

I am not soo much thinking of one for myself, no money for that now. But, I just kinda wondered if that seemed liie a descent deal. The guy went to the colorado school of trades. His stuff is beautiful and I would think that if he did good work, it would be a bargain. I was looking at a lazzeroni (dreaming actually) online) and noticing a price tag of something like 5 grand. They are excellent rifles but 5 grand Is like way out of my ballpark. So 1800 didnt seem that bad for custome work. Just wanted some opinion before I write the article. EJ

SWAMPMAN

ejpaul1,
I am now in the process of having a custom built. The smith seems to have a good reputation and his price for a completed Remington 700 action, HS Precision stock, And Lilja 30 inch barrel with the "smith" magic is 1850.00. I think 1800 would be an excellent price for a custom if the workmanship is quality.

ejpaul1

WOW! That is a pretty smokin deal then! Ya know, My best pal (he got me into huntin) bought me a benelli M2 for a wedding gift which is around 1200 I think. I would love to repay that gesture of friendship one day, this might be just the thing. He says the biggest he would ever want is a 300 win mag. He already has a 7 mag and a 280. I will have to look into it a bit more. EJ

oldelkhunter

Yes and Mr Lazzeroni uses his own actions which is an additional expense

ejpaul1

oldelkhunter, I did not know that. That does make a huge difference. Speaking of which, I did notice that the bolt has the coolest crosshach design on it. Do you know any one who uses those chamberings? Lazzeroni that it. They seem unreal! I think it is the warbird that I read that Craig boddington was using. Way too neet for my budget. EJ

gorse

Well, not to put down custom rifles....which many people love...but, that's not for me. $1800 may be a rather reasonable price, for a custom rifle, I don't know. I have never had any difficulty in getting the results I wanted (or needed) from a good, over-the-counter rifle (albeit with a little tuning), though. For my money, the custom rifles only offer a slight (very slight) advantage in accuracy....virtually no advantage in reliability....and of course, the option of individual stock fitting (and stock design to suit an individual's tastes). This is not worth even $1800, to me.

However, "to each his own".

ejpaul1

I agree gorse, For my cash, a weatherby or a nice remington will do nicely. Heck, for that cash I could get a killer rifle and an awesome scope for less than 1800. EJ