Share your $400.00 budget rifles: Here's mine

[Medic!]

"at least $400" huh. Don't you think you are ripping people off? Dont you have a conscience? Oh, good grief . How about you just sell it to me for $305.00.

It was the biggest POS when I bought it.


Wood all damaged to heck. Covered in surface rust. And someone had even spray painted the receiver gold. I guess to make it look like a Yellow Boy?



I don't really know if my efforts added any value to this old Winchester or not?
It was pretty far gone when I got it.

But I did gave it back it's dignity.

 

[Boboclown]

It was the biggest POS when I bought it.


Wood all damaged to heck. Covered in surface rust. And someone had even spray painted the receiver gold. I guess to make it look like a Yellow Boy?


More pictures and backstory in this thread by tac.
Refinishing BSA Martini Intl MkII stock....


I don't really know if my efforts added any value to this old Winchester or not?
It was pretty far gone when I got it.

But I did gave it back it's dignity. Even if it only brings $305 when I decide to sell.

Damn, why not wait till I can buy it?

 

[bsa1917hunter]

It was the biggest POS when I bought it.


Wood all damaged to heck. Covered in surface rust. And someone had even spray painted the receiver gold. I guess to make it look like a Yellow Boy?


More pictures and backstory in this thread by tac.
Refinishing BSA Martini Intl MkII stock....


I don't really know if my efforts added any value to this old Winchester or not?
It was pretty far gone when I got it.

But I did gave it back it's dignity. Even if it only brings $305 when I decide to sell.

That's awesome man. I have to say that I'm sure many of us drool on our keyboards when we look at your old rifle. Not to "covet" someone elses rifle, but it's a great piece of history. I love old rifles like that.. Reminds me of my long tang 71 deluxe I bought for $900.00 a few years ago.. Dang, I need to be out in the reloading room and working up a few different loads for my new rifle. I was hoping to get by with some mild loads I worked up for 2 different .223 rem rifles. I'll bet they go sub moa in this savage as well, but just to be safe, maybe I'll work up something to go with them. This is where I'll be for the next hour:


You guys keep posting pics of your budget rifles. Old or new, wood and blue or plastic and stainless.

 

[Medic!]

I picked up a really nice "Project" 1903 Sporter last fall and have been s-l-o-w-l-y fixing it up! It's not finished, but it shoots well enough to be scary accurate with hand loads! Has a highly modified A-3 rear sight and an AR trit post custom front! The bolt was welded up and lapped in by hand and a custom muzzle brake milled and welded on that incorporates the new front sight ramp and AR wings and sight post, and also has a new bayonet lug and false muzzle! Still fitting the custom Boyds stock and steel butt, and searching for some additional parts and hardware, but she can shoot with the best of them!

How is she coming?

Id like to see that one.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

While not a rifle... the pistol is one I built of spare parts I had laying around the shop.

A older .54 caliber rifle barrel that had previously been shortened was used for the pistol's barrel...
The stock was hand carved from a chunk of maple , that came from a tree which was cut for firewood...
The lock was converted from flint and originally was won as a prize...
I did have to buy a new trigger guard...that was $35

The total outlay for this pistol was around $200...not too bad if I say so myself.
Andy

 

[bsa1917hunter]

I love it when they dont shoot perfectly right out of the box. Just means i get to tinker with the rifle and load. Had a good rainstorm at the range today. Ill post some pics of todays outing in a couple hours.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Well, it's not perfect. They could have all been in one hole!!!!

The rifle at the range:



The load from my other .223 rem. Checked oal and good to go, spot on, but do need to do some load development for this rifle. Funny, check out the dust on the lid of the box in the back. I sold my Ruger m77 last year when I started getting into AR's. Figured I didnt' need a .223 rem bolt action rifle. I guess I was wrong :

Sold my Ruger, so this ammo needed to be burned up. When I work up some new loads, I'm thinking about trying some new powder like CFE223 or benchmark.

Targets:

First target was with the bore sight (old method). Was pretty close for just looking down the bore and finding the target downrange at 100 yards, adjust windage and elevation until the crosshairs are on the bulls eye. After the first shot, I then adjusted 2 moa up and 1/2 moa to the right and shot the 3 shot group. New used scope didn't track perfectly. I think I'm getting spoiled by my SWFA SS 16x scope that tracks like a bloodhound.


Had to shoot some 10 shot groups to verify that the rifle is good to go:


This one is going to get some bedding work and stock work. Groups will likely shrink, just as the ones with my stevens 200 did.. It seems this budget rifle has some potential..

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Update on my new $300.00 savage and $200.00 used scope. Went to the range today. It was windy, but I didn't let that stop me from shooting some groups. By the way, I saw a post earlier today suggesting you don't use anything heavier than 55gr. in a 1 in 9 twist barrel. Pst. don't tell my new Savage 10 that!!!!! Was shooting some loads I had loaded up for my Northtech Defense and that Savage loves them. I might just stick to using that 73gr ELDM for all of my .223 Rem rifles...




Oh, I was also working on some other loads as well:



After I burn up these 68gr. hornady bullets, I probably won't buy anymore because I believe they are discontinued. I found a partial box of them (85 count) for $10.00 at a local small town fun store. Figured they would be cheap and fun for punching paper..

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Now, where is that guy that was warning me my groups would open up if I shot my skinny barreled budget rifle more than 5 shots in a row?



PST..... hey, don't tell my Steven's that:


This is what a good $400 rifle can do...

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Why do I think of the budget rifle threads when I pick up a Savage bolt action rifle? Well, because you can find them for under $400 and even under $300, a lot of times. I have a buddy that I told a while back that if he ever wanted to sell his Savage trophy hunter XP 22-250, to give me first dibs. Well, today was the day... Actually I traded a rifle to him that he wanted more than his trophy hunter... I had $289.00 into that rifle, so it was worth it to me. I look forward to shooting my buddies rifle a bit and posting some good groups with it. Here's how it shot during a little load development a few years ago....:







Like most Savage rifles, it's not finicky at all....but we did decide to stick with the 35gr charge wt.... Pretty much the same exact load I run in my Stevens 200 22-250. As a matter of fact, I use the same die and seat the bullets to the same exact OAL. Kind of a win win right there... Oh by the way, he got one of my Savage predator rifles (22-250)... I don't know who got the better deal?? He's been a good friend since I was 10 years old, so sometimes it s a give and take sort of thing