Building a 500m fly gun on the cheap.....

Since coming into this sport in some years ago i have tried to have  initiate methods to grow the sport, the website, loan gun, training weekends, forum's etc. There is one thing that has been missing till now and really this idea came from watching what is happening around the country with precision shooting sports.

Shooting disciplines are declining but not in a way that most think it is not people just one day waking up and saying i want shoot that discipline any more it is in reality the raising cost of components and gear that often makes the decision for you.

To get into the fly now unless you can afford the retail the average price to get in is over 10 k with rifle scope and rests and gear reloading etc.

So what i propose is this i will lay out how i came to get into the sport with a LG rifle and the total costs.

I brought a 6BR stolle panda off used guns for about 2K i sold the trigger the mounts and the stock off which reduced the cost of the rifle to about $800 from memory.

I had the barrel re chambered to 6x47L and to start with i had a T36 Weaver i had on another rifle but i was waiting at the time for a Night force 12-42 NPR2. My first mounts were second hand hand me downs as was the jewel trigger and the stock was given to me by a shooting mate Dave Purcell which wasn't inleted or finished in any way.

The recoil pad was a Thong that graciously donated it's presence from my feet to the back of my rifle.

My first rest was a Caldwell and first bag was a loner from one of my other shooting friends.

So really the set up was still less than 3k all up.

Now i suspect every one is thinking yeh but what did you up grade too.

Nothing this rifle is the same rifle that has won 17 matches SOTY back to back first person to do so and set the latest LG Australian record. I have upgraded the scope but other than that it is how it was when i built it including the barrel which Matt Paroz had just taken out and i don't think there was any lands for about 5 inches it was nearly a smooth bore pretty much.

So here is the challenge i was everyone who is interested in getting new shooters into the sport and when you are looking at used guns or other site for your daily gunporn in take if you see something that could be turned into something special let people know on this site. There are bargains out there and you can get yourself moving forward for a reasonable amount of money but if you take steps and work towards the end result a competitive rifle that can do the job, the journey is worth while.

Les

Challenge accepted:

On used guns today  a LG and HG built for less than 5.5K less gunsmith costs.

LG 6.5 cal

Action complete .308 bolt face $675
Barrel stainless 6.5 $510
mounts $180
Stock Shehane Trakker $1100

HG 30 cal
Action Barnard PL $1700

Barrel dies and cases $475

$180 for mounts

$625 blank Tasmanian Walnut.

happy hunting

nice Les

see i went the other way and used what i had
i got into sport with my 243 weatherby vanguard and used this and a few sand bags as i was just a hunter shooting foxes and rabbits on the farm
but over time the bug bit hard and i didnt have the money to buy a new gun (and  didnt know about used gun web sites back then)
so i started to upgrade my 243, 1st was a new cheap 1;8 twist TSE barrel so i could use 105gr, i then upgraded stock to one that i could still use for hunting and bench rest (the XLR industries chassis did that)
upgraded scope (cry once) and trigger to rifle basix one
then i went looking for a rest but everything was really cheap crap or bloody expensive and then i found Bald eagle rests in the US and got one shipped over (before BRT supplied them) and got it landed for $350 as dollar was good.
brought a rear bag off a bloke at club and used this compo for a year
i then wore out the TSE barrel and it was crap so then i decided to go the 6BR (should of done that 1st but never heard of it back then)
new keirger barrel and i used that set up for years and it served me well but after the nationals last year i could see my downfalls with it so have moved up in gear, and the fact the fly and its shooters over here have really improved big time

now when i started i didnt have the help and the fly was smaller back then here in WA.
 custom guns were just not used here and i never seen or played with benchrest shooting  
if i started today yes i would of gone straight to used gun and brought a 2nd hand one set us for the sport from the start but i cant complain with building up my rifle i had over the years and i kept the cost down as i did what i could only do at the time

but yeah now im looking for a .22 as i'm not going to play around with my savage mk2 when i can just buy something that is good to go for around the same price than if i upgraded stuff on it and shoots way better
 

I got excited thinking how cheap my fly rifle was to put together .

Omark m44 $300
Bartlien barrel and bolt face bushed $1185
Sightron s3 10-60 $800


Not bad going and then i factored the additional time it
or cost .

I trued , new bolt handle and rebulled action $0
Remington 700 2oz 3 lever trigger $0
20moa rail $0
Warne qd rings borrowed $0
Coming soon laminate  stock $0

Then reloading :
Redding Comps $200 (bargain )
Brass $150

Shade tree rest $450
Protector rear bag $150

If I had to pay for gunsmithing ,stock making and parts new I think the price  would be closer to 5000-$6000

Plus a lot of my gear was purchased in 2010-2011 when you got
Your money's worth unlike today .

I believe I have done alright price wise although for a new shooter even 3k is a big dent in the wallet to have what I consider a entery level package compared to what's on the line.