Need some help picking a chassis/rifle for a Lefty buddy

[91Eunozs]

OK, need some help/advice. Have a friend who is a lot like me, pretty experienced shooter, but a long range novice. He’s left handed, and while he usually shoots righty, wants to acquire or build a left-handed bolt action.

His budget including glass is about $3K.

—

He’s currently looking at Bergaras, and I told him to look at Sako and Tikka as well. What else am I missing for some of the more affordable starting points?

I’m trying to get him to up the budget a bit and look for a gently used Rem 700 clone, preferably as a barreled action, as a starting point, but he’s pretty fixed on $3K max. Are there any lower cost options in this area?

Re: Glass, I gave him a link to the PX here and also told him to keep an eye out for sales on demo models at various SH vendors. I told him half his budget needs to go to glass…am I wrong with that recommendation?

Finally, he’s very interested in 6.5 manbun for the caliber (ironically, he actually has a man bun), but his primary rifle is a SCAR 17 in 7.62x51 so I’m trying to convince him to go with a .308 for his first bolt gun so he can share ammunition between the platforms. I’m a huge .308/30 caliber projectile fanboy though, so I admittedly am biased towards that round. Any thoughts from the hive mind in this regard?

 

[drifter308]

OK, need some help/advice. Have a friend who is a lot like me, pretty experienced shooter, but a long range novice. He’s left handed, and while he usually shoots righty, wants to acquire or build a left-handed bolt action.

His budget including glass is about $3K.

—

He’s currently looking at Bergaras, and I told him to look at Sako and Tikka as well. What else am I missing for some of the more affordable starting points?

I’m trying to get him to up the budget a bit and look for a gently used Rem 700 clone, preferably as a barreled action, as a starting point, but he’s pretty fixed on $3K max. Are there any lower cost options in this area?

Re: Glass, I gave him a link to the PX here and also told him to keep an eye out for sales on demo models at various SH vendors. I told him half his budget needs to go to glass…am I wrong with that recommendation?

Finally, he’s very interested in 6.5 manbun for the caliber (ironically, he actually has a man bun), but his primary rifle is a SCAR 17 in 7.62x51 so I’m trying to convince him to go with a .308 for his first bolt gun so he can share ammunition between the platforms. I’m a huge .308/30 caliber projectile fanboy though, so I admittedly am biased towards that round. Any thoughts from the hive mind in this regard?

I know you want 308 or 6.5, however GA Precision has some left handed PPR's for $2,499 last time I checked. I would go that route for a lefty, it's almost a full custom at half price.

 

[LuvDog]

I agree that half of his budget should be for glass. He can pick up a used Razor or Cronus for about that money including rings/mount

Even in the PX, a complete custom/semi custom for $1500 would come and go very quickly if one would even get posted.

I'd probably look for a cheap Tikka and a used chassis.

 

[91Eunozs]

I agree that half of his budget should be for glass. He can pick up a used Razor or Cronus for about that money including rings/mount

Even in the PX, a complete custom/semi custom for $1500 would come and go very quickly if one would even get posted.

I'd probably look for a cheap Tikka and a used chassis.

That’s exactly what I told him when he approached me