I have never had a .308. I have always shot mags based on the Winchester belted platform. I have read so many threads about great shooting rifles from Savage, Stevens, the Walmart Weatherbys etc, that I have decided to piece together my long range Terrell county .308 El Cheapo desert rifle. I am looking for the best .308 cheap platform to start with, best cheap scope, best trigger job and bring it all in for $400 or less. Any help is appreciated. The $4oo includes everything necessary to sit on the canyon and take a 300 yard shot with confidence. I don't want to buy a $400 .308 your dad had in 96, I want to screw it together. Can it be done? Let me know if you see a flyer or a bargain basement scope, I am going to try and make this sub MOA thing happen (well, within reason) And I only hunt there for one 10 day stretch so reliability is not the biggest concern

keep us updated with this one,i'd like to see how it all works out. are you planning on hunting with it this season??

Nah, next year maybe. I think it can be done. I ain't sure

$400 wont do it...Maybe $1,100 for a very low end "drop-in" true "long range" rifle. 300yds isnt considered long range.
If you want "best"...your just so far off to even start. $400 would only buy an action or a low-end entry sporterweight rifle. Thats not counting scope, mounts, rings, "trigger job", proper bedding job, etc...At the end of this you still wont have a "long range" rifle.

Another little hint. The word "best" and "cheap" dont belong together. Not going to happen.

I made no bones. I want cheap. All the big manufacturers have made the move to "WalMart" theirselves. I am going to see if I can do it. It maybe can/can't be done. Look at the threads, they are 50/50 on on cheap guns vs high dollar ones. If you don't want to help so be it, I ain't asking for no special privedleges, only a heads up on good deals.

I gave you "help". You just choose to ignore it. Your not going to build a rifle for $400, and its not going to be "best". Your better off buying someones dads rifle he hasnt used since 96'.

Whats your definition of building a rifle?

savage edge, 259 @ cabelas you can find decent cheapo scope there too. i am going to do the same thing but may go with 243 instead. only problem with edge is trigger.

let me know how it goes.

coonsaw

very interesting! go for it! theres alot of good scopes out there way low in price.

Building a rifle on the "cheap"...100% of the work done by me.

$250-$400+ for an action
$200-$500+ for barrel


$150-$500+ for action trueing, cutting major & minor thread dimensions, threading, cutting bolt nose recess, cutting chamber to headspace & polish, cutting barrel to length, and crowning. Big variance there...You get what you pay for.




We havent even gotten to the stock, stock work(bedding), metal finishing, trigger work, scope, rings, mounts, etc...
Gunsmiths dont work for free.

Maybe your definition of "build" just involves buying a Walmart rifle and screwing a scope on?

Craigr, a couple of years ago I had the same idea you have now. I started with an old Savage 110E that I got for $100.00. The rifle was originally chambered in .30-06 and I intended to have it rebarreled to another 06 length cartridge. I then happened upon a great deal on Numrich gun parts, a ER Shaw prethreaded and chambered, 24" .308 Winchester barrel for $125.00. I brought the rifle to a gunsmith and had him fit and headspace the barrel. I also had him cut the barrel from 24" to 20" The .308 makes the bulk of it's velocity in a 20" barrel and the shorter barrel is stiffer, thus aiding accuracy. I then had the gunsmith weld a single shot follower in the bottom of the action again aiding accuracy by stiffening the action. The first load I tried was with Varget powder, Winchester brass, CCI benchrest primers, and Sierra 168 grain Matchkings. The load grouped into .5" at 100 yards and I hadn't even glass bedded the rifle, floated the barrel, or tuned the trigger! I was happy indeed and I only had about $400.00 into the rifle.

Sorry bud.....but there is no such thing as a "good, cheap scope". In my opinion, no scope under $300 is worth screwing on even the cheapest rifle....

I get all the comments on glass, platforms etc. I am just trying to have some cheap fun. I have plenty of great guns, I just wanted a fun project. I really appreciate the support as well as the naysayers. I will let ya'll know how it works out. Don't get so worked up, it's all for fun

Good Luck

I fixed my original post for ya' to say "screw it together" thanks for the machinist lessons though. Being a CNC salesman all these years I had no idea how it was all done

Its never too late to learn. How were you able to sell machinery all these years without knowing how to use them?

I was just trying to be honest with you, its my opinion. Wasnt any intent to be "smart", but I can play that game too, especially on this forum... Its a public internet forum, I dont know if you have never owned a gun, or JMB himself. Just figured the pics would help show a few things...

I would say the Vortex Viper breaks that idea. I have a 4-12x Viper that was $240 that I would put up against much higher priced scopes.

If you really want to go cheap, you can pick up an old Ishapore Enfield for a little over a hundred bucks at a gun show or out of the Shotgun News. They shoot a 7.62 Nato instead of the .303 British. Ugly as homemade sin! I've seen on the internet some folks who have modified them into cool looking scout rifles.

I doubt it can be done for 400, but would love for you to prove me wrong. 300 yards is actually short range so that shouldn't be an issue. A 308 will shoot 300 yards without hardly any holdover needed, if any. Good luck on your quest.

A new marlin XS7 is nearly as cheap as the Savage Edge and comes with a much better stock trigger.

I went this route with a Mauser. After it was all said and done, I had just over $400 in the finished gun, no scope. But, there was stuff like having it tapped for scope bases and having the bolt handle turned down that upped the cost.

If I was going to do it now, I'd find a pawn shop Savage, call Kevin Rayhill at Stockade Gunstocks and see if he had a 308 takeoff from a tactical model or just a heavy barrel. Plan B on a barrel would be to call Shilen down in Ennis and see what they had. Some of the older wooden stocks are pretty good so I'd stick with that and top it with one of the Nitrex scopes on closeout at Natchez and see what she would do.

Savage Edge + Simmons 44mag scope = under 400.00 and will shoot 300 yds no problem. Please keep us posted on your "cheapo" rifle, I think its a great idea and want to see how it turns out.

I have tried vortex and a number of other cheaper scopes. They all work fine when you have plenty of light but not so good in low light. Don’t think I can say they can compare to my Leopold or Nightforce scopes. Just my opinion.

Ok, all this injustice in this thread please don't listen to the haters. Yes a swaro is better than a nikon. We know that. Yes "building" to some means breaking the rifle down to the firing pin and working their way up. However you don't have to nearly go that far.

I did this exact thing except I can only repeat it in either 7mm-08 or .270


My build

Academy Savage Steven's 200. $239.99 on the thanksgiving special, but then they ran it extra special for 199.99 so I went back and got a $40 refund.
Next went with some junky steel leupold dove tail mounts. I think I gave $60 out the door for them.

With TAX I am into the rifle for just under $300.

Next went with two free modifications. The stock is awful on this rifle so I proceeded to float the barrel. Yes they have tools and other things to do it but my pocket knife worked pretty well.

Next was the trigger. It broke somewhere in the 8-10 pound range when I got it. Very unacceptable. So I read up online and with an allen wrench and pair of pliars got it to break in the 4lb range. Not perfect but will certainly get the job done especially with a hunting rifle.

Now the scope technically I broke the bank but I only went $150 for a used 4-12x40mm VX-1 not a bad "long range" scope at all. I ended up dumping it for a $100 burris as the VX-1 cased me my biggest buck to date due to low light transmission.

At the range, using remington Core Lokt ammo, I shot my best 3 shot group at 100 yards at just under .5 inches. Certainly this doesn't prove it would be a tack driver at 300 but it shot pretty dang good.

I regrettably sold it to fund a DPMS .308 but it doesn't quite shoot as well.

So sorry TDK, I did it how custom it really was that I don't know its in the eye of the beholder, but your blue printed action, bull match barrel hand loads etc really aren't going to get a whole lot better and I am the type if it ain't broke for that cheap don't waste money on something to impress the guys at camp.

I wish i could call shooting a deer at 300 yards "Short range"


Maybe one day i'll be in that league

I got a savage 110 in 30-06 as a gift, put 50 something dollar burris tactical rings, and a $100 redhead 18x50 AO scope on it and it's done everything I've ever asked of it. shot does in the head @250 yrds, havn't shot it much further than that. good rings and good ammo