Factory rifle vs custom build

[bullet man]

I believe there is no advantage to controlled round feed rifles.

If you plan on shooting over 400 yards a custom might do you better than a factory rifle. But in most hunting situations, I believe, it is money wasted on custom, unless you just want something different. You do not need sub-minute of angle rifle/load combination for almost anything but long range.

I have some controlled round feed rifles. I don't hate them, but I would like to actually hear from someone who actually has had an issue with push feed rifles. In my opinion the issue is wives' tale.

I also have custom rifles. The one I like the most maybe be odd due to the above statements. It is a 375 Whelen AI on a Mauser action. (Good luck in finding ammo for that.)

If I were in your situation I'd look at Ruger's 375 Ruger (I know a controlled round feeding rifle). Or maybe a Remington 338 Win Mag - in bear country, I'd be feeding it heavy bullets and probably high grade bullets such as premium Nosler Partitions. A 35 Whelen or a 350 Rem Mag would work well too.

If you plan on shooting long range and want a "bear" rifle, I'd recommend a 300 WBY. You can get them reasonably priced in SS and a weather proof synthetic stock. I would further recommend something like 200 grain Nosler partitions. My factory 300 WBY rifles both shoot approximately .75 MOA with 200 grain partitions and they are both standard factory rifles.

I had a Steyr scout in 376 Steyr, it may the same as the 375 ruger. They designed the round for Steyr, shot great. Nice and light you could see the precision built in the rifle. Not one to shoot all day, but pack all day no problem.

 

[TX Badger]

Since you are talking about a possible Alaska bear encounter. A controlled round feed action is something to seriously consider. A controlled round feed action keeps the bold head in control of the cartridge from the time the cartridge comes out of the magazine through firing and ejection. This makes the action a better choice in a high stress or possibly dangerous encounter. In a high stress situation, with a standard push/feed action, it is possible to do a thing called a "short stroke" with the bolt when pulling the bolt back to push another round into the chamber. This can cause a jam! A controlled round feed action makes this much less likely. There is a custom action company called Big Horn Arms that makes a very nice custom action that incorporates a controlled round feed.
You can also install a prefit barrel on this action yourself! Gets you into a custom action and match grade barrel a cost effective price. You can also just have a smith build the rifle for you with the action. Here's a youtube vid on the action from a Shot Show.

Go this route, buy the action, a trigger tech trigger, a premium prefit barrel, Barrel nut, headspace gauges, and wrenches from Northland Shooters Supply. Pick a good quality stock and bolt it all together yourself. Once you do it you will think you are missing something bc there is no way it could be so easy. This is what I do and my rifles shoot better than I can. Use the money saved on gunsmithing to buy a second barrel in a training round like a creedmoor and practice...... Swapping back and forth takes me about 15 minutes.

 

[BiggameBesser]

Hello, I am looking at purchasing a 300 prc. I live in AK so want a larger caliber in case I run into a bear. I am wanting to get advice. Should get a custom gun from a place like R bros or get a stock gun from Fierce or Christensen Arms. Full disclosure I do not reload. Someday I may but at this point in my life with working full time, kids and fishing I just don't have time. If I am shooting factory ammo does custom vs higher end factory rifle make a difference?

If I do go custom other than R bros any recommendations.
Thanks for your help
Ryan

in January I purchased the Begara H-14 wilderness I put 3-9 inches bipod on it to get it sighted in for up to 1,000 yards I also upgraded the muzzle break to a 60% release.

My sole intention is not for hunting with it other than long range shooting from a tree stand on the edge of some of the fields we have where you can shoot.5 miles either way. But my sole intention of purchasing it was to challenge myself to shoot out to 1,800 yards.

Where I live just north of Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada we have lot's of land to do this just simply by asking for permission.

What a amazing shell and rifle just a pleasure to shoot

I pit a Athlon Ares Etr 4.5-30 X 56 scope on it , and with a friend and a Kestrel Elite you will be amazed Good luck and Good shooting

If budget allows, go with a full custom build because you have a say on what components go with a build. There are reputable gun builders, and RBros is one of them.

 

[Grumpy193]

I had my custom rifle build by the guys at Gunwerks and it's awesome, and is sub MOA at every distance I've shot. Killed my elk 2 years ago at 409 yards and. Huge Muley at 396. Their guaranty is sub MOA out to 1000 yards and I know first hand how true their claims are.......awesome gun, scope, and range finder all calibrated to the round they built up for my gun, and then they provided the exact recipe for me to make the rounds.....I can't say enough good things about Gunweks!

 

[BPollard]

Hello, I am looking at purchasing a 300 prc. I live in AK so want a larger caliber in case I run into a bear. I am wanting to get advice. Should get a custom gun from a place like R bros or get a stock gun from Fierce or Christensen Arms. Full disclosure I do not reload. Someday I may but at this point in my life with working full time, kids and fishing I just don't have time. If I am shooting factory ammo does custom vs higher end factory rifle make a difference?

If I do go custom other than R bros any recommendations.
Thanks for your help
Ryan

If you're concerned about an encounter just grab a 338 WinMag Maybe just a simple ruger m 77. It will definitely do the job for $400 you can't go wrong, 24 inch barrel. you're talking about a 300 PRC is like a sniper round that'll kill a bear from 800 yards out. that's not necessarily an encounter.

 

[BPollard]

in January I purchased the Begara H-14 wilderness I put 3-9 inches bipod on it to get it sighted in for up to 1,000 yards I also upgraded the muzzle break to a 60% release.

My sole intention is not for hunting with it other than long range shooting from a tree stand on the edge of some of the fields we have where you can shoot.5 miles either way. But my sole intention of purchasing it was to challenge myself to shoot out to 1,800 yards.

Where I live just north of Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada we have lot's of land to do this just simply by asking for permission.

What a amazing shell and rifle just a pleasure to shoot

I pit a Athlon Ares Etr 4.5-30 X 56 scope on it , and with a friend and a Kestrel Elite you will be amazed Good luck and Good shooting

What caliber I was looking at that same rifle in the 6.5 PRC

 

[LRNut]

My experience with push feed has been terible. If I'm going after dangerous game push feed all the way for me.

.416 Remington is a push feed. Weatherbys are push feed.

Did you mean to say "If I'm going after dangerous game controlled feed all the way for me."?

I have shot just about every species of dangerous game on the planet that you can hunt, the notable exception being rhino. I have done it with push feed and controlled feed rifles; never had an issue with any of them. Saeed al-Maktoum has shot well over 200 Cape buffalo as well as a pile of other dangerous game in Africa, and done it with a Rem 700.

Weather in AK is very hard on gear; I would focus more on the trigger than the action. Get a trigger that is reliable. If you use a 700 type trigger, don't adjust it too light or you may find your rifle won't fire due to sand/rust. Happened to me on a brown bear hunt SW of Port Alsworth (rifle was rained on for two solid days) and a caribou on the Kobuk River (fine grit was blowing all over, but could have been rust as well). I was able to fix each one because I brought tools that allowed me to do so.

 

[loghome]

I bought a 300 PRC Christian arms and at 200 yd I can cover the five shot group with a quarter. No I'm loading for it I'm using the 210 grain Burger bullet. You can pick up that bear gun for about 1800 bucks.

 

[jlphillips1]

I have a Bergera HMR Pro (factory build) in 300 PRC and it shoots .25-.5 moa if I do my part. Factory 300 PRC ammo was hard to find prior to the pandemic and I don't think it will get any easier for a long time. If your max range is less than 500 yards, and you want a reliable bear gun, then I would suggest a 338 win mag. Ammo is easier to find. The 300 PRC is better in every aspect than the 338 win mag, but the 300 PRC ammo availability may be a deal breaker for you since you don't reload.

 

[30dirty]

go with a Chirstensens U Will love it . Custom builds are for custom people. unless u cotom load u wont know the difference !!!

 

[Chrsm]

If you have other rifles and are buying a 300 PRC just because you're worried about bear, I'd skip straight to a .375, H&H or Ruger. Ammo available all day long even at sportsman's here in Anchorage. Save the PRC project for a custom build once there's better ammo and component availability.

If you don't have other rifles for AK and are set on the PRC as your one gun, (which it would be great for) I'd agree with Feenix and say just get a Bergera or Christensen. I love my Ridgeline, it's a lot of gun for the money.

Yup 12 gage pump with slugs! Than be patient and think things through!

 

[sp6x6]

There are great customs in classifieds HERE.Some Rbros listed also,thats where Id start.

 

[Rosebud]

Hello, I am looking at purchasing a 300 prc. I live in AK so want a larger caliber in case I run into a bear. I am wanting to get advice. Should get a custom gun from a place like R bros or get a stock gun from Fierce or Christensen Arms. Full disclosure I do not reload. Someday I may but at this point in my life with working full time, kids and fishing I just don't have time. If I am shooting factory ammo does custom vs higher end factory rifle make a difference?

If I do go custom other than R bros any recommendations.
Thanks for your help
Ryan

I recently bought a Christensen mesa in 6.5 CM after a 60 , 70 round breakin its become a real shooter. Couldn't be happier.

 

[Lycanit]

Since you are talking about a possible Alaska bear encounter. A controlled round feed action is something to seriously consider. A controlled round feed action keeps the bold head in control of the cartridge from the time the cartridge comes out of the magazine through firing and ejection. This makes the action a better choice in a high stress or possibly dangerous encounter. In a high stress situation, with a standard push/feed action, it is possible to do a thing called a "short stroke" with the bolt when pulling the bolt back to push another round into the chamber. This can cause a jam! A controlled round feed action makes this much less likely. There is a custom action company called Big Horn Arms that makes a very nice custom action that incorporates a controlled round feed.
You can also install a prefit barrel on this action yourself! Gets you into a custom action and match grade barrel a cost effective price. You can also just have a smith build the rifle for you with the action. Here's a youtube vid on the action from a Shot Show.

I'm not a jack...... seriously? Controlled feed? I have been around over 5 decades.. I've never seen or heard a real example of the need.
If you feel better about it fantastic.
Go with grace. Push feed... especially if you are jacking off rounds has never been a issue!
If you are not worried the sure! It might...in a infinitesimal small minutiae make a difference. But then again this is like comparing a 1200 horsepower small block Ford to a 1200 horsepower small block Chevy. It's still going to do the job... It's just a thing. It's just the idea of bringing your boat back and ejecting the spent round and shoving your boat forward and needing a control, versus a push which means by the time the cartridge is out of the magazine it's already bullet into the chamber? Other than the improved angle on extraction claw which is cool, if you need that, isn't going to make a hill of beans on a mountain.

Not trying to be a jackass, just saying that I cannot see he's going to go from one to the other other than a personal preference or cost consideration. To the op. Pick the one you like! That'll be a bigger difference than anything else, other than reloading because the control feed is going to eat the crap out of the brass.
Then again I'm an old fart and what do I know that's just a tainted sourd opinion