First Benchrest Build...input welcomed

[jaychris]

Are you looking to actually *shoot* benchrest or prone matches (F-Class) or just building a custom rifle capable of shooting at long ranges?  Because if you are looking at shooting benchrest or prone matches, you might want to re-think some of your options.

So I saw a post on here about a "budget build rifle" and decided to give it a shot myself.

Due to limited options at the gun shop to choose from right now, I am going to pick up a Mauser 98 in .30-06
Switch the factory barrel out for a Shilen 26" bull barrel in .300 win mag (or .25-06 haven't decided yet)
Throw on a Millet TRS1 4x16 scope
Stock trigger out for a Timney featherweight adjustable trigger

Haven't found a replacement stock for it yet, but wont need it quite yet

If you more experienced builders have any suggestions please let me know, this will be the first go round for me so input is very welcomed.

[jaymark6655]

Well the gun shop has a ton of 70's and 700's on the shelves, but they are all at or around 500 bucks which blows like half of my build budget and the other half goes to the glass I'm putting on it.

Yes they can be found, yes there are parts readily available, and yes they are the easiest to build off of. However they aren't the cheapest to get started off of, and this is a "budget build" so I am looking to go for possibly lower quality for my first one to keep cost down.

Don't get me wrong I am still looking over all my options and possibilities right now and I appreciate all of the advice so far, but as far as keeping cost down I don't know how plausible that is going to be at this point in time.

Don't get a whole rifle.  Try and find just the action.  It needs to be a 700.

[coachcw]

a 700 action plus $2500-3000 and you will be ready to buy some glass !

[krism83]

Stopped by the WAC show today and was snooping around some of the tables, thanks again for the brass Jim, and got many varying opinions.
Had a few dollars with me to spend on something but nothing I found in my range really looked like it would hold up and the ones that would were out of my range.

A couple guys said build off of a Remington 70/700 action, a couple more said build off of a Howa or Tikka action, but more importantly EVERYONE said the Mauser 98 action was a terrible idea. So I have decided to scrap the "budget" portion of this build and just "big" with it.


No jaychris I wont be doing any matches with this rifle as of right now. This will be my long range intro piece. One I can get comfortable shooting at longer distances then 400 yards and see where it takes me. I want to get a lot of trigger time in on this gun before I even think of doing competitions.

[high country]

Not every smith will take on a metric action....keep that in mind. Every smith can grab a 700 in their fixture, the flat bottom actions require a bigger jig.

I would gather your parts and now, as barrels can take several months to get your mitts on.