Custom Build Wait Times

[phillip61]

A buddy of mine has a 300WM that shoots fantastic groups @ 600yds. He also has a Lazzoroni. I thought for the longest these pics he kept texting me were from the Lazzoroni. One day while talking to him face to face he said those shot groups were from a custom rifle he had built. I ask where and who built it for him and he told me about this guy from right here in town. I went over to meet this guy (Jim Johnson) , had him do a little work on my rifle a few weeks later. About the third time I was over there I was talking to him about wait times and he said he could build me a 300WM in a couple of days and would guarantee .375"MOA. I said how long, he said gimme three days and I'll be done. Then he showed me the barrel and stock he would use, (He already had them there) and he already had a drawer full of Remington 700 actions of which to get one ready.

I just thought it was cool he could build one that fast. And I have seen his work up close. My buddies gun is a hammer. So now I'm really thinking of letting him build me a 260 for my 1000yd + rifle.

 

[masonjp]

All my builds have all taken at least 6 months each.. wish they only took a couple days.

 

[Papagallos]

A buddy of mine has a 300WM that shoots fantastic groups @ 600yds. He also has a Lazzoroni. I thought for the longest these pics he kept texting me were from the Lazzoroni. One day while talking to him face to face he said those shot groups were from a custom rifle he had built. I ask where and who built it for him and he told me about this guy from right here in town. I went over to meet this guy (Jim Johnson) , had him do a little work on my rifle a few weeks later. About the third time I was over there I was talking to him about wait times and he said he could build me a 300WM in a couple of days and would guarantee .375"MOA. I said how long, he said gimme three days and I'll be done. Then he showed me the barrel and stock he would use, (He already had them there) and he already had a drawer full of Remington 700 actions of which to get one ready.

I just thought it was cool he could build one that fast. And I have seen his work up close. My buddies gun is a hammer. So now I'm really thinking of letting him build me a 260 for my 1000yd + rifle.

Jump on it. The only drawback to it is that if you decide to sell it later, not having a "well known" builder's stamp on the barrel can set you back a fairly large amount of money. But you have to consider that all of the current top builders started somewhere.

Good luck with your build!

 

[Asperly Aimless]

Jump on it. My gunsmith is not "Name Brand", but he can turn around a very fine shooting rifle in 2 months.

 

[phillip61]

Jump on it. My gunsmith is not "Name Brand", but he can turn around a very fine shooting rifle in 2 months.

He was only going to charge me $2000.00 for the 300WM. Si I'm thinking I should get a pretty good price on the 260 as well.

 

[Asperly Aimless]

Sounds good. I don't buy guns for resale value, so the 6 month or longer wait isn't worth a name to me. There are MANY fantastic Gunsmiths in the country who can build a great shooting rifle without the wait.

Just to be clear, I am not saying that the big name gunsmith rifles are junk. Not at all. They have earned their back log with their skills and product. If I had to have a name brand rifle, I'd buy a used one out of the for sale section here. Most of them I have seen for sale are safe queens with low round counts.

 

[phillip61]

True, I would love to have a Tac-Ops. But I don't won't to wait a year or so and I can get this rifle for 1/3 the price and around 1/4 the wait time? I'm not the smartest guy in the world but damn, that's really not that hard to figure out.

 

[Papagallos]

Build it, damn it!!!!!!

And show us pictures of it by Wednesday.

 

[Asperly Aimless]

^^Yep.

 

[desert dog]

A lot of the wait time right now is part availability, especially good receivers. Most companies that used to manufacture receivers as the bulk of their business have become rifle builders themselves, so their own rifle builds become more important than selling parts to other builders.

Call builders and see what they have in inventory, you might be surprised. Accurate Ordnance put a barreled action together for me (Stiller / Rock Creek / Cerakote), and I had it shipped to my FFL in 2 weeks! This was because they had everything I wanted in stock at the time. BTW, Accurate Ordnance has FANTASTIC customer service.

 

[Kubitza123]

Get Robert at RWS ,he builds great rifles , short lead times and has 1/2 Moa guarantee like all the others.