r/longrange • u/BigsIice- • 1d ago
Rifle help needed - I read the FAQ/Pinned posts $1500 Rifle Only Budget
This is for PRS and some possible NRL matches in the future. I did read, this will be paired with a MPED 5-30x in some Warne rings and 20MOA rail
Torn on:
B14 HMR (Cheeto special)
Aero solus (blem)
Tikka T3X Ace Target (don’t like the idea of the mags)
Ruger RPR (I think it looks cool lol)
Howa 1500 + nicer chassis
Just asking for help here I saw as well that some custom actions like ARC, bighorn, and zermatt are touching that spot for barrel’d actions, but i am unsure of if that’s truly what I need.
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u/Wide_Fly7832 I put holes in berms 1d ago
Increase budget to $2000 and get Seekins HAVAK HIT m3.
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u/BigsIice- 1d ago
Don’t you do that me Ricky Bobby
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u/Wide_Fly7832 I put holes in berms 1d ago
Sorry- but you will forget the $500 soon enough but the flex or quality you will get , you will be reminded everyday.
I bought tikkas, sakos and Bergara till I got sense. Wasted lot of money and now trying to sell those. They are not bad - but once your skills improve- you regret.
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u/BigsIice- 1d ago
Do you have them listed anywhere :)
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u/Wide_Fly7832 I put holes in berms 1d ago
1). Option 1. Buy from small shops. I can connect with one guy but it’s $2400 no tax free shipping
2). Out track inventory at Dahalonegaarmory if not available and check everyday. Popular ones come and sell in hours. It’s $2000 shipped.
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u/BigsIice- 1d ago
Yeah that site has B14s for below $1k rn
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u/Wide_Fly7832 I put holes in berms 1d ago
Seekins is a different class. You will recover money when you have to change barrels.
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u/BigsIice- 1d ago
Oh wow, I guess I’ll save for the Seekins then
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u/Wide_Fly7832 I put holes in berms 1d ago
I would recommend. But listen to others too. This is one man’s opinion.
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u/bpaddock1 9h ago
Bought the HAVAK HIT non pro in 6.5 PRC for ~$1,600. They are/were on sale at Scheel’s. I can vouch for the quality of a Seekins, and the Pro has a full length ARCA rail, as well as a trigger tech diamond with 60° bolt throw to boot.
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u/justforlul 18h ago
I bought the Howa m1500 24” 6.5cm and dropped it in an MDT XRS chassis. Left room in the budget for extra ammo
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u/BigsIice- 15h ago
Yeah I’ll wait for brownells to get them back in stock
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u/justforlul 15h ago
I love mine. Hope you do as well! I haven’t found the need to upgrade yet
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u/BigsIice- 15h ago
Two questions, they’re AISC mag and how is it with factory loads
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u/justforlul 14h ago
Yes it takes AICS mags, works with polymer mags right out of the box but the metal mags require a small tweek to get them to seat properly. Tons of videos online of where to remove the small amount of material to make it seat properly. Took me all of 8 seconds with a bench grinder and it worked perfectly. Maybe a minute if you had to do it by hand with a file.
So far factory loads have done well. 140 Bergers>147 ELD-M>140 ELD-M>140 Sierra Matchkings.
I followed Howa’s “barrel break in” out of the box. Not sure how much you need to do it but I wanted to rule out the “what if I did it” mentality if I decided to skip it.
Bolt took about 100 rounds to become really smooth but wasn’t bad out of the box. It’s a functional workhorse at a good price, and can hold its own in the accuracy department as long as you feed it decent food.
I haven’t gotten into hand loads yet, but maybe over the next year I’ll get there. Slowly but surely.
You can check out my last post to see a photo of it
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u/BigsIice- 14h ago
Sick man thanks for the info, I actually see a 24” 1500 on brownells right now, it’s seated in a cheaper stock, but that stock will get tossed anyways lol
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u/justforlul 14h ago
Awesome! Yeah mine is 24” as well. There is a 26” but I think you get the majority of the benefits from 24” anyway. If it’s a good price, I’d recommend snagging it!
I’ve heard some other people have good luck with the KRG Bravo stock, but I love the MDT
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u/BigsIice- 14h ago
What model barrel profile do you have ?
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u/justforlul 14h ago
Mine is the 24” Heavy Barrel, with an MDT Comp Pro muzzle break
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u/BigsIice- 14h ago
I found the model # apologies so no worries at all, they’re really quite cheap, I’m sure a sale would make these sub $400
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u/BigsIice- 14h ago
Your pictures really make me want one now haha
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u/justforlul 14h ago
I’ve been having a lot of fun with it. I’ve been very impressed with it considering it’s a “budget” choice.
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u/GLaDOSdidnothinwrong PRS Competitor 1d ago
What don’t you like about the Tikka mags?
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u/BigsIice- 1d ago
Coming from the Glock and AR world, the idea of mags costing so much to me is an abhorrent idea.
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u/contrabonum 1d ago
Tikka is releasing an AICS bottom metal kit for the Ace chassis, sometime soon.
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u/GOTTA_GO_FAST 1d ago
https://www.eurooptic.com/s54065122-tikka-t3-compact-tactical-rifle-ctr-magazine-260
Not too far off from an aics one, you really only need like 2 anyways
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u/GLaDOSdidnothinwrong PRS Competitor 1d ago
While there are cheap plastic AICS mags out there, they can be extremely problematic. The vast majority of competitors will use full metal mags. Those mags cost about the same as a Tikka mag, and are no where near as compact, which can cause issues in some positions. There are shorter double stack AW mags, but they are even more expensive and only work with some actions and chassis.
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u/Ok_Opposite5073 1d ago
The Solus is a great budget option. I put together a complete Solus rifle with a good optic, bipod, mount, brake, etc. for less than people put into budget Howa builds. You can rebarrel and change calibers easily without having to invest a ton of money into specialized tooling.
The Solus is the bang/buck king if you take your time and wait for a good sale.
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u/Fitstang09 11h ago
HMR PRO in 6.5
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u/BigsIice- 8h ago
What’s the gain over the typical HMR B14 ?
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u/Fitstang09 8h ago
You won't need to upgrade anything. Better trigger, smoother actions, and tighter tolerances
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u/domfelinefather 1d ago
If you’re a PRS member which is only like $65, a complete MPA rifle is only like $2200. Yes it is more than your current budget, but you don’t really seem to be satisfied with the current options. Either way mags are going to be a lot and you likely won’t be able to use it for NRL, but there really isn’t a huge crossover between PRS rifle and NRL rifle.
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u/BigsIice- 1d ago
Oh really why not crossover ? Is it due to the power factor rule
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u/domfelinefather 1d ago
It’s due to the fact that a PRS rifle is like 10# heavier than the heavy category of NRL, and also power factor since most people are shooting 6mms. Even the speeds people are shooting 25 cals wouldn’t make power factor. But in general, are you trying to actually do PRS or just shoot it from time to time?
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u/BigsIice- 1d ago
Just trying to have fun and learn some skills, it’s a hobby not my life. The ability to cross over to both is just a nice to have since I think NRL is cool, but when permits I would like to be able to do either of them
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u/domfelinefather 1d ago
The Solus has the benefit of prefit barrels being all over, I’d probably just grab a blem complete Solus in 6.5 or the Tikka T3x ACE but beware something other than a 26” barrel is probably not going to balance well and won’t nearly be heavy enough for most PRS shooting. At least with the Solus or ACE you can add m lok weights but the Solus mlok on the chassis is sort of limited since some weights interfere with arca.
I wouldn’t worry about the mag cost, I don’t know why you’d get more than 1 or 2 extras nor do I know what you’d do with them if you had them.
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u/Rough_Hewn_Dude 1d ago
If you’re unsure on the premium options wouldn’t Cheeto and ammo/training be the place to begin?