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Factory rifles are better than ever, I bought (and sold) several CA Ridgelines and they were great rifles for roughly $2k and the new Tikkas are very good I hear. I'm not here to say that factory rifles are bad, it's just at this point in my life, I want the best I'm comfortable spending and the DIY process makes is much easier and affordable than it's ever been.
I can see that many people have more of a taste for Champaigne than I do.
The smith who built my Win 70s is a member of the American Customer Gunmakers Guild, her knows his stuff, a true artist in metal and wood and they performed as expected. I still think a properly tuned Win 70 trigger is the finest "hunting" trigger available! I purchased five CA rifles in the last three years, 6mm CM, 6.5CM, 308, 270 and 7mm RM and all performed as expected, no problems. I did eventually sell them all off, except the 270, as I was using the funds for other builds. CA components are close to what you might get with a custom, Rem 700 clone, carbon barrel, trigger tech, etc.. The problem is that they are mass produced and QC and tolerances are what you get in todays market. If you watch many Ultimate Reloader videos, I can't imaging how the factories even get the results they do with assembly line production but they do ok. Bolt action rifles are incredibly simple, it's all about quality components and attention to detail in the chambering process.
I really like what Weatherby is doing in Sheridan these days! I'm going to see if I can get a tour when I'm passing through this May. I drive a Chevy BTW.
To my way of thinking, if you're spending $4k on a scope, you better be bringing home some prize money!
To my way of thinking, I spend well over $4k/year on ammo for my bolt guns, and I don't even want to know how much time shooting and dry firing. A $4k scope isn't expensive in the long haul if you're actually getting out there and using it. To each their own of course.
