This all began because I was literally 24hrs from a casket 3 weeks ago. The GF forced me to go to the ER, I had lost 2 units of blood somewhere, an EKG confirmed that my heart was on the verge of going into afib, in fact, the Dr said had I waited until morning, I more than likely would have been dead. I was also dehydrated, and because of the availability of red blood cells, I couldn't catch my breath. The little ER tested me for Covid and I was negative, I had fluid in both lungs, pneumonia in the left and they didn't have the capability to give me blood, 3 IV bags later, I was being rushed to the hospital downtown. Very first thing, tested for Covid and I was positive, straight to a private room, over the next few days of being complete sequestered, I thought about a few scenarios and how I was living my life and what I wanted from the future. I won't bore you with all the revelations, just the custom rifle portion.
I spent the next week scouring the internet, looking at builds, builders, accuracy reports and reviews of all these various builds. I scribbled down the names of shops that routinely get recommended and some I never knew existed.
Then began the process of whittling down those who didn't offer what I was wanting, using the builder pages of those who did and then reaching out to those who fit the mold.
Then the waiting game began, some responded with, we are not interested in investing in that caliber, we are not taking on any work right now, you would be happier with this caliber and for the remaining 17 or 18 shops, for all but 3, there was absolute silence. One shop reached out via email and we exchanged several dozen emails, was given a ballpark price, last email was "Let me finalize the price and I will email you with contact information so we can discuss it over the phone and you can put down your deposit/payment(I had full intention of full payment and was satisfied with the turnaround because of their reputation), then radio silence, multiple unanswered emails and then it was scratch them off the list time. The remaining 2 shops, one was out of my price range, I could have sent 3/4th of the total as a deposit and had the rest well before completion date, but like I said in my original post. I am a hunter, punching paper and ringing steel, while mildly entertaining to me, it loses its appeal rather quickly, so I am not that type of shooter who would ever see the potential from a $7500 rifle, I can barely see the potential from a $750 factory rifle, so I politely declined and that left me with one, a couple of communications and then I was ghosted.
25+ years ago I had David Miller build me a Miller Marksman 300 Weatherby, there weren't options or upgrades other than fit, you got what everyone else got who ordered one, including the wait time and it sat in the safe long after my Arizona Cous hunt until a few years ago I was able to sale to a local dealer/South African outfitter for what I paid. I still had half the box of provided loaded ammunition from David. The guy still had the rifle until he gave to his granddaughter upon graduation from college. Everything about the transaction with David was timely and the communication was prompt.
I am disappointed, but I am also disappointed when I go to pick up supper on the way home and the line snakes around the building, out the door and cost more to feed 5 now than it did to feed 20 just a few years ago. I understand the climate we are in, people are lazy, the government makes it easy to stay home and watch TV and still survive. I also realize that there are people and businesses that want your patronage and are willing to show prove it, but even Google can't rat them out because they don't advertise, because they don't have to, word of mouth is all they need.
So, where are we?
So after the thread was posted, I read every post and then I gave the whole situation a clear and level headed analysis, the caliber was the major hangup, so I decided to take into consideration what I currently had in the safe, what I could reasonably find ammo for and decided while I still am going to get the 6.5-280 Ackley full on carbon/titanium build, but just at a slower pace and with every option I want.
So, after a couple phone calls to trusted friends, a couple of nudges from members here and a phone call. I spoke with Alamo Precision Rifles and then I went in to talk to them in person. I spoke with Hunter and after a short discussion about calibers, a trip to the back revealed that they had a rifle already in work. they are going to be finished in about a month. The rifle has been in production since April, so a few changes and upgrades were made. I picked my color choices, deleted a few standard options, decided to upgrade the trigger, added the rings and everything else was what I was wanting as standard options for a hunting rifle. I paid them, got an estimated delivery date and them gave them the Swarovski Z6 3-18x50 to mount, left my new Pelican V800 case to be cut to fit the rifle, ranging binos and still had room for a couple of ammo boxes.
There are people who posted in this thread, pm'd me and texted me about this situation and I truly want to thank each and every one of them.
This isn't the rifle I was really wanting, but realistically this is the rifle I needed. I bought the GF a 7mm-08 a couple years ago, youth model since she's 5' 2", had a single shot 7mm-08 that I was planning on cutting down for the kids and I recently purchased a nib Remington 700 7mm-08 CDL with Leupold scope with an unclaimed CDS dial. I have literally five 200rd cases of Hornady American Whitetail 139gr ammo, a case of Nosler Trophy Grade 140gr AccuBond and a half dozen various boxes of other ammo purchased from friends or other forum members. Her rifle and the single shot seem to like the Hornady AW, so I am hoping this APR like the Nosler since I am going to use it for barrel break in and to get the once fired brass for load development and reloading.
I have had conversations with a lot of gunsmiths since this thread was posted. There are a few that will definitely be getting work in the near future.
I know that kinda rambled, but hopefully gives you perspective of where I was when I thru it up.
Thanks again!
www.longrangehunting.com
