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I appreciate well made customs regardless. Even the production grade 451 Gibbs are really cool. No doubt if i had the cash i would own a Shiloh Sharps. It no different than any other tool. I would rather buy good tools once over cheap tools many times.

Having a box full of SnapOn or Mac tools has nothing to do with ego even if they cost 2-4 times as much as Craftsman.
 
Customs are like anything else . Personal taste . Yes a Yugo will do the same thing as a Cadillac. Both will get you where you want to go .

When you get into customs its 99 percent barrel and breech plug. Most triggers can be worked on. After you spend somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 to 2500 dollars you start paying for personal taste fit and finish . A stock Remington action will do the same thing as a Bat action. A Boyds stock will do the same thing as a Shehane stock . On and on just depends on how much someone wants to spend and their personal taste .

I have the very best Hankins Custom rifles and probably the cheapest custom rifle one can build a Bestill Creations Omega custom. Both guns are more accurate than I can shoot. In fact a person can buy a Remington Ultimate ,Remington ML or even easier yet a Savage ML and screw on a Brux prefit barrel and they will shoot right with the very best high end customs.

Its what you can afford and how much money a person wants to spend . Some would rather have one really good rifle that will do it all rather than several cheaper rifles. Any custom will shoot Black powder,black powder subs or smokless powder equally well.

Here is a good example about personal priorities . I have so many guns its crazy . I will not even say how much money i have in my last Hankins .40 custom build . Its absolutley stupid ! But i can not bring myself to buy a new truck ? I keep driving my same old 2000 Ford 250 powerstroke because Im to tight to spend money on a newer truck ! Go figure ? ? ?
 
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You can bet if i had $3200+ to burn i would get a NULA in 6.5x55 and wait nearly a year to get it. I could get a Barret FieldCraft for as low as $1500 without any wait that would do virtually the same thing. They are both outstanding rifles and super similar but i wouldn't even consider a Savage Light Weight 11/16 for 1/3rd the money. I know the whole time i would be wishing i had saved for the Barret or NULA instead.
 
I see you are a traditional , and that anyone that would want one has a big ego!!!!!!!!!!!! Well i'll be your Huckleberry!!!!!!!!!!

I can't say anything about too much money on the firearm. I have spent a lot on some, but not $6000 on 1, but, if I had the interest and determination to win, and it took a $6000 forearm, I would spend it. :)
 
Money is not the answer . Reliable gun with good trigger and barrel, durable scope that is repeatable and will hold zero and a stock that fits the shooter is all that is needed. More money will not make a person shoot better.
 
My uncle used to buy 1500-2000 dollar shotguns to rabbit hunt with and he still couldn't ever hit one w/o emptying the gun:)
As Doug said you have to be able to shoot to begin with.
 
I see you are a traditional , and that anyone that would want one has a big ego!!!!!!!!!!!! Well i'll be your Huckleberry!!!!!!!!!!
Not traditional, I am a tinkerer and mostly play with CVA and Rossi break actions, for which I have been making different breech plugs to use primed cartridge cases. All of the above breech plugs use a 5/8'' - 18 tpi plug, and I found a source for Grade 8 cap bolts for a couple bucks each, which eliminates threading and heat treating the breech plugs. You can read about them in The High Road forum:

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...break-action-inlines-using-cartridges.846989/
 
Oh please elaborate on how hard they are to clean. I would wager the breach on my NULA stays cleaner than many centerfires and any mass production class muzzle loader. If modules or even 209s are fitted correctly virtually no fouling gets in the breach. Many of the customs are also rated for non corrosive powders so its not like its a huge deal from a cleaning standpoint.

What muzzle loader do you shoot?
 
I'm more a tinkerer than a shooter. Right now I am playing with CVA and Rossi break actions I look for in pawn shops and local gun shops and mostly pick up for under $100. Louisiana's "primitive weapons" deer season allows using single shot rifles with a bore greater than .35 (think .35 Whelan) now so muzzle loaders are a drug on the market. Break actions are a breeze to clean, even when abused. This weekend I bought a .50 CVA Optima (not QRBP) that hadn't been cleaned before it was pawned. A little WD 40 and a 12mm socket and the breech plug came right out. A rubber mallet and the ram rod took out the bullet and powder still in the breech, and a little work with a bore brush and patch I had a functioning rifle to play with.
 
I'm wondering how this got turned into a thread on money for firearm. HA , amazing. Like saying I won't buy a car they cost too much, I'll keep my horse and buggy. My purpose for a fine shooting rifle is to know when I miss it , isn't the rifle , and actually that is what a custom rifle is about. How far you go with that in a rifle is very debatable.
 
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I've only owned one custom and its a Omega based .32 inline Jeff Fisk built for me and I will say it was worth the money.. it is the most consistently accurate muzzleloader I've ever owned, key word being consistent, it puts that tiny round ball into tiny groups every time as long as I do my part.
All my other guns are very accurate also but not always as consistently as this gun is.
My problem is like I like all muzzleloaders so instead of buying 4-5 customs I buy 30-40 production guns and one custom:)
Its all about what you like and makes "you" happy in the end not what me or everyone else likes or thinks.
 
I'm wondering how this got turned into a thread on money for firearm. HA , amazing. Like saying I won't buy a car they cost too much, I'll keep my horse and buggy. My purpose for a fine shooting rifle is to know when I miss it , isn't the rifle , and actually that is what a custom rifle is about. How far you go with that in a rifle is very debatable.

It got turned into a discussion about money for firearms in post #3, when the MSRP was posted.

Likening the cost of a custom muzzleloader to the difference between a car and a horse and buggy misses the point. Anyone using a muzzleloader has rejected the car in preference for an earlier conveyance. If I want a weapon that will reach out and touch something I could go with a .50 BMG.

When the US Army was adopting the .45-70 it mandated a 4MOA rifle. If all you want is a hunting rifle, you do not need a MOA rifle. Most any modern inline will do 2 or 3 MOA once one gets the load right, even a junk pawn shop rifle with a less-than-perfect barrel. Besides, they are fun to play with, to get them right.
 
I think it was a great post you stsrted Bob . Like previously posted I think the Best Of The West Rifle is unique because it is a package rifle. You will NEVER hear me criticize ANYONE for spending their hard earned money on a gun. Never ever ! Absolutley nothing wrong with a good custom . (at least i hope not because i own some !lol ) I completly understand a person wanting one really good rifle that will do it all.

Nothing grinds me more when some tells me how i should spend my money !
 
When the US Army was adopting the .45-70 it mandated a 4MOA rifle. If all you want is a hunting rifle, you do not need a MOA rifle. Most any modern inline will do 2 or 3 MOA once one gets the load right, even a junk pawn shop rifle with a less-than-perfect barrel. Besides, they are fun to play with, to get them right.

Sorry but i think im better qualified to decide what i need and dont need in a tool. If my rifle wont shoot under 2MOA at 100 yards it goes down the road. My brush gun shoots better than that.

Nothing grinds me more when some tells me how i should spend my money !

That is pretty much the bottom line. Its your money and if 6 grand is what you are willing to spend then fine. I just hope it works the way its advertised so you got what you paid for.
 
Oh please elaborate on how hard they are to clean. I would wager the breach on my NULA stays cleaner than many centerfires and any mass production class muzzle loader. If modules or even 209s are fitted correctly virtually no fouling gets in the breach. Many of the customs are also rated for non corrosive powders so its not like its a huge deal from a cleaning standpoint.

What muzzle loader do you shoot?

I've got upwards of 200 shots through my muzzleloader. Only BH209 powder goes in it. Never once needed to clean the holes in the breech plug. Also never cleaned the barrel. We have moved into smokeless with the Patriot, now it's really clean.
 
Its funny you mentioned the plug. I shoot very little BH209 in my NULA but...... You will find most NULA owners report the same thing.....Hardly any carbon in the flash channel even after numerous range sessions. Plugs have also been known to last 1000s of shots and the flash hole is still within spec. Its very unusual considering im shooting loads with a fair amount more pressure than BH209 creates.
 
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