Custom Hunting Rifles and Why You Should Consider Buying One

Not long ago spending more than $600 or $700 on a new hunting rifle was considered extravagant, if not downright irresponsible. In recent years, dropping the equivalent of two or three mortgage payments on a rifle is relatively normal. What’s changed? And are you missing out if you don’t buy a semi-custom or even a full custom rifle?

Here at HUNTING we traditionally try to represent the thrifty American hunter, and generally lean toward blue-collar products and prices. I confess I was surprised when Editor-in-Chief David Draper assigned me to write about why every hunter should consider a premium custom-level hunting rifle.

Surprised, and delighted. I’m a disciple of precision hunting rifles and of fine riflemanship skills. In the field, our rifle directs the single connecting element (the bullet) between us and our quarry. Shouldn’t we want the finest launching device available?

Let’s get right to it. Here’s why hunters should splurge on a really fine precision hunting rifle, along with some tips on how to pick the right one for you.

Your Rifle, Your Configuration

Buying a semi-custom or commissioning a full custom rifle allows you to configure your hunting rifle exactly the way you want it.

Select an action with the features you prefer. Find a stock you like. Order it with exactly the right length-of-pull for your physical build. Pick a barrel length optimized for your cartridge—perfect for pairing with a suppressor if you choose. Have that barrel made of your favorite material—be it richly blued chrome moly, corrosion-resistant stainless, or accuracy-enhancing carbon fiber-wrapped steel—and have it chambered for whatever cartridge you please. Throughout, choose cutting-edge materials that make your shootin’ iron just as light as you want.

A custom rifle is the only way to get exactly what you want. Why settle?

Precision Accuracy

Custom and semi-custom rifles generally shoot better than production-grade rifles. Makes sense; they’re built more carefully, of better components.

What’s important in this category is the fact that you’ll get a better barrel, a straighter, truer action, a more rigid stock, and a crisper, lighter trigger. They’ll all be married by skilled craftsmen who maximize their potential.

The result is a rifle that shoots more accurately with a much broader range of ammunition than any production-grade rifle.

What sort of accuracy are we talking? You should expect half-MOA groups with select semi-custom and all true custom rifles—when fired by a shooter capable of that level of precision. Here’s a shopping tip: Prioritize barrel quality. Never settle for less than the best.

Accuracy-Aiding Ergonomics

Here’s where benefits become tangible—both in use and on the target downrange. A fine rifle properly configured to fit your build, with a well-engineered stock, will feel better while shooting and will minimize human errors.

How? A well-designed grip positions the shooting hand and wrist torque-free, eliminating muscle tension that can disrupt accuracy. A tension-free grip makes it easy to address a trigger consistently, shot to shot. A stock of correct length positions and aligns the shoulder, head, hand and elbows for optimal consistency. A cheekrest of correct height positions the head and shooting eye fatigue-free and in exactly the same place for each shot.

Although we humans are the pilots for these launching platforms, the less human inconsistencies we impart to the rifle, the better.

Another shopping tip: Pay attention to masters of the art of gunstock ergonomics. Gunwerks, Proof Research, AG Composites, Manners, McMillan are all excellent choices.

Consistent Accuracy

I’ve got a good friend with a 6.5 PRC that he both loves and hates. He loves it because often it shoots one-hole groups. He hates it, because it’s never dependable: Sometimes it won’t group well at all. This issue is caused by the rifle’s flimsy injection-molded plastic stock. The barrel is free-floated in the forend, but the gentlest pressure or twist while resting the rifle on a bipod can cause the forend to flex and press against the barrel. This throws barrel harmonics off, resulting in an inconsistent shot.

For an ultra-consistent rifle, avoid injection-molded plastic stocks. In hot weather, injection-molded stocks become ultra-flexible. In extreme cold, they become brittle and can shatter if bumped hard.

Wood stocks are actually better as long as the action is glass- and pillar-bedded and the forend is free-floated. Otherwise, they are also problematic, warping slightly whenever the weather changes and humidity increases or decreases. These shifts exert pressure on the barrel and change point of impact.

Fiber-based stocks are the answer. Well-made stocks of carbon fiber or fiberglass are extremely rigid and are impervious to temperature and moisture. A well-made barreled action, properly bedded into a fiber-based stock, will provide dependable, predictable accuracy on demand.

Other elements of a fine custom-grade rifle also contribute to consistency, but the stock is an extremely important factor. Action bedding is another. An action properly mated to a good stock is stress- and torque-free, and will be held in exactly the same position for every shot. Barrel quality is another must; with an ultra-smooth bore of minimum tolerances, your barrel won’t get dirty fast, and it won’t lose accuracy as it gets dirty. Shopping tip: Carbon fiber is the rifleman’s friend. It’s extremely light, superbly rigid and seemingly endowed with accuracy-enhancing ability from the gods.

Reliability and Smooth Operation

Classic cars are cool, but there’s a huge difference when getting out of, say, a 1950s pickup and getting into a 2020s pickup. The newer truck will handle and drive far more smoothly. Custom rifles are like new pickups.

However, there the similarity ends, because a custom rifle built on a well-tuned vintage action can be ultra-smooth. What makes the difference? Action polishing, honing and tuning. Properly built custom rifles have a measure of added love applied by their maker, who goes through and cleans up and tunes the action until it runs smooth as grease on glass.

There’s a caveat; semi-custom rifles aren’t polished and tuned individually. They’re still usually darned smooth, and a little time and use will burnish their operation up nicely. Buyer’s tips: For a super-accurate custom rifle built on a budget, have a skilled gunsmith pair a Remington 700 action with a premium barrel and carbon-fiber stock. For a DIY project, get a pre-fit premium barrel for a Tikka T3x action, and bed it into a carbon-fiber stock.

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