We have been getting one of these a week lately - What's going on out there?
You want a
custom rifle build done, by a quality 'smith, you want to only spend $1500
AND you want that to include optics?! Not asking for much, are you?!
Assuming that you just want a light, paper punching rifle. I am going to safely assume you don't have an interest punishing yourself with a Magnum style cartridge, but one that you can shoot comfortably.
Off the top of my head.....
I would seriously consider starting with a
Weatherby Vanguard Varmint in .223 / .22-250 / .308. The weapon is now guaranteed to shoot 1 1/2" groups, from a cold bore, from the factory when using quality ammo. They used to guarantee 3/4" grouping from the factory, but something must have happened because it's now 1.5 MOA - still a pretty good guarantee on a factory stick. The action is from HOWA, which is made in Japan from CNC steel, so factor that in for your purchase if you would prefer to have all US Components... The weapon MSRP is listed at about $587.00. Let's call it $650 with tax...leaves you about $850 left...
Optics will be your next biggest expenditure, and I would recommend getting good quality optics, because without them, your rifle is almost naked.
In the shop we routinely put
Leupold on most all of the rifles we build, unless the customer has something special they want. Leupold is a company based in Oregon and they have an excellent product, along with a lifetime warranty. The problem is, they aren't cheap. You can expect to be spending probably more on your scope from Leupold than you spent on your rifle.
Then again, most of the rifles that we build from scratch are probably $1.5K to $2K
BEFORE the optics are factored in, so it's kind of apples and oranges.
You will need to decide what type of scope you want and work backwards, cash wise, from there, because the scope is going to set you back some of your reserve.
Outside of that, you are going to need a scope base and rings for the scope. I recommend getting a scope mounting rail with travel pre-built into it, that saves on cranking your elevation knobs all the way open from the start.
Badger Ord makes a 20 MOA 1913 Picatinny rail that is milled from 4142 prehardened steel. It's a great product and I have one on all my boltguns. This one is for a Remington Action, but they make them for the HOWA/Weatherby as well. They run anywhere from $125 to $175 depending on where you find them in stock.
Rings - You'll need them for the scope. Some scopes come with them, some don't. If you need some,
these Max-50 Rings are pretty good. They lock down tight and they are an inch wide, which gives you more bite on the scope than standard thin rings. They run from about $150 to $180, but you can get a package deal if you buy the rail and the rings together.
A trigger job, if you don't like the factory trigger, should cost about $35 to $70 depending on who does the job for you.
Depending on the scope, that is just about going to break your bank.
There are other options that you might want to look at down the line - but this package would probably be some good bang for the money listed.
JD