True cost of ownership...

Just thought I would share my experience so far on my precision rifle build now that everything is pretty much how I want it. As well as some real numbers as to what this setup has cost me.

I had started out about 14 years ago with a Ruger M77 MkII in .30-06. The first left handed firearm I had ever owned or fired. Turns out I didn't like shooting a left handed bolt even though I am left handed, and aftermarket stuff is like hens teeth. I sold it and bought a well loved 1981 vintage Remington 700 .30-06. It was already sitting in a Choate Ultimate Sniper stock, which I found comfortable to shoot. I went this route because several folks (including a gunsmith) told me not to spend the money on a new action from Remington as I had planned. The quality just wasn't there any more. I paid $550 for it since it already had a stock I liked and a nice Burris flea-counting varmint scope I could hock on eBay to recoup some of the expense (it brought about $300). I also sold a stupid-height Harris bipod that came with it for $80. Total cost of action and stock: $170. So far...

Next up I ordered a "Remage" style 22" 8.5 twist bull barrel from Black Hole Weaponry in .30-06 for shooting long, heavy, high B.C. bullets. It cost $360. I stuck with the '06 because in a SHTF scenario I will be able to find ammo ANYWHERE long after the usual suspects (5.56, 6.5, .308, .300) have been snatched up. Plus, well, dammit I just like the .30-06. It's a nice compromise between .308 and .300WM, particularly when handloaded to it's full potential. It was good enough for Carlos Hathcock. But I digress...

I took the barreled action to a local smith well known for building benchrest rifles. He went through the action and worked his magic, and mounted the new barrel. This cost about $300. He said it was one of the truest factory original actions he'd ever seen. I also had him tap the receiver for the 8-40 screws that were going to hold the 20MOA Badger Ordnance mount on top. The mount was $130-ish and the machine work was another $100 (he uses a mill and locates the holes himself vice chasing the originals). I figured this was not a place to skimp on cost.

Now I had to figure out glass. I had been eyeballing I.O.R. Valdada's 35mm tube scopes since my financial ceiling was about $2k (I sold a Ford Boss 351 engine to finance it). I also was looking at the S.W.F.A. HD models, Primary Arms platinum, and Bushnell's 3.5-21 ERS. I ended up going with the Bushnell because where I live, there is either wide open bean/peanut fields, or dense woods. Midway offering it on sale for $1199 also helped the decision. To mount it, I used a American Defense Manufacturing QD 20MOA mount. This gives me 40MOA of tilt total. Enough that I have enough adjustment in the scope to get a 225 grain ELD-Match @ 2580fps out to a mile.

After getting this whole thing put together and on the range, I was pretty happy with it. Until I went to watch and learn at a PRS match at Frontline Defense in Warrenton, NC. Lots of nice folks there more than willing to help out a guy trying to break into the sport. My biggest takeaway was the Ultimate Sniper stock had to go. The magazine hole was blind, and there is NO WAY to reliably convert it to detachable mags. Which are a MUST. I had been looking at chassis anyway, so I started looking harder. One model I had looked at seriously was the XLR Element. When they offered $150 off on Black Friday I pulled the trigger on it. Total cost on that was $505 shipped. Plus 4 Magpul AICS mags on sale from DSG Arms for $100.

If this long winded post sounds like a word problem in math class, well, it is. I'll give you the answer though. $2930 is what I have in the whole rifle so far. Still need to get that Huber Concepts trigger too...