Budget Hunting Setup

Budget rifles are a controversial topic. On one side of the aisle you have the crowd who contends that a cheaper gun leads to more money leftover for ammo/training while the other side proposes that a more expensive rifle will be more inherently accurate and durable. There is no shortage of other opinions between the two.

While I enjoy a carbon barreled, lightweight or chassis rifle as much as the next shooter I tend to lean more towards the side of frugality. I think there exist a very legitimate category of hunting rifle that is a blend of both accuracy/durability and affordability. Several years ago I was dragged begrudgingly into a conversation about rifle cost vs performance, both other parties were debating (rather adamantly) whether a cheap rifle could be made to shoot 1000yds and if the cost to make it perform at that distance would move it out of the “affordable” territory. At the end of the conversation I decided to take up the challenge of taking a rifle/scope combo under $1000 and making it capable of shooting repeatable groups at 1000yds.

I will take a moment to pause here and clearly state that this test rifle and accessories was purchased pre-Covid 19 and the cost of said items have since increased. Additionally, the caliber chosen was based on a few factors, primarily availability. I would think the same results could be achieved with any number of calibers, ballistic performance and bullet selection are more important here.

For a base rifle in the budget category I decided to use the Mossberg Patriot Predator as opposed to the other budget rifles in this category. This decision was made in order to avoid duplicating other articles that used more common actions like the Savage Axis. I decided on the 6.5PRC for the caliber because of the new (at the time) Hornady ELD-X bullets being offered in a factory load, I have had tremendous success with this bullet in other calibers and know it performs. I also selected Vortex because their products are easily available for most US based shooters and very affordable. I also elected to use the Vortex 30mm Tactical rings as they are robust and affordable. For the sake of clarity, I primarily shoot with a suppressor, I do not include that cost in this test because the results are not dependent on that factor. The same results can be achieved without a sound suppressor, I chose a rifle with a threaded barrel to keep the playing field level… one could easily install a muzzle brake or simply leave the thread protector on.

I received all the components on the same day, the first thing I observed was the flexibility of the stock fore end. With very little effort the stock could be flexed and made to put pressure on the barrel… a killer of accuracy/repeatability. In order to keep the cost down, I chose to use an epoxy filler in the front of the stock and omit a proper bedding job. I know that not everyone has the skills required to bed an action but adding a simply 2 part epoxy to voids in a stock is simple enough. I pulled the barreled action and added approximately 3/8″ of epoxy to the voids in the stocks fore end, in this scenario it is wise to use a bit of course emery cloth and a file to add texture in the areas to be filled. Removing the slick finish of the polymer and giving the epoxy a “tooth” to bite to always works better. After the epoxy had 24 hours to harden I installed the barreled action and ensured that the action screws were torqued to the correct specification. Next I installed the rings to the rail included with the rifle making sure the rail was properly torqued as well. Here we will depart from the average DIY user, I took the time to check the ring alignment and lapped the rings to ensure they were perfectly aligned. I leveled the scope and torqued the top rings, worth noting, I use blue loctite (243) on all fasteners to ensure they do not loosen over time. I also took this time to install a muzzle device used with my suppressor, this step can be omitted for the non-suppressed user.

Another somewhat controversial topic, barrel break in, was omitted for this test. I simply started running factory ammo when zeroing the rifle. I started with Hornady’s ELD-M match ammo and had unacceptable groups of roughly 1.5″, I know that this may go without saying but firearms have a tendency to be somewhat picky about ammo. Not all firearms group well with match ammo and not all hunting rifles shoot hunting bullets well… there is a whole other story about why this phenomenon exist. I moved to a box of 143grn ELD-X and immediately saw a reduction in group size of more than half. The first outing and preliminary shooting yielded a best group of .375, not something to shrug at for a sub $1000 rifle shooting factory loaded ammo. I then went to the Hornady Ballistic App to build a set of data points for future range testing, it is worth mentioning that the ballistic data generated from an app is a fantastic starting point but any shooter worth their salt will tell you their is no replacement for data acquired behind the rifle.

I have close friend who uses the ballistic data on a box of ammo to hunt, the portion of the box that tells a shooter how much rise or drop a particular ammo will have. I can tell you from firsthand experience that this data is generated under ideal circumstances and is usually a bit of an embellishment of how the ammunition will actually perform, that coupled with an never ending set of rifle combinations and environmental considerations leads me to recommend a word of caution when strictly using this as law.

Now to the goods, what I used for the setup and how it actually shoots. I will add pricing for reference (all figures are current at the time of writing), all of the prices are an average available price from online retailers.

1. Rifle-Mossberg Patriot Predator 6.5 PRC Brown/Camo, $539.99
2. Scope-Vortex Diamondback Tactical 6-24x 50mm, EBR-2C MOA, $382.49
3. Rings-Vortex Optics 30mm Tactical Ring – Medium X2, $28.99

That gives us a total of $980.46, this excludes any taxes or transfer fees. Include $20 for epoxy and some time for setup and assembly.

With Hornady Precision Hunter 143grn at an advertised velocity of 2960fps and a G1 BC of .623 in this setup I have calculated the following drop data and tested out to 850yds, I am still trying to find time to take it out to 1000yds but have zero issue making the statement that it will perform at this range. My 15yr old was using this rifle not long ago to hit a 6″ plate @ 850yds, 8 out of 10 shots. All 3 of my children have used this rifle to harvest animals, both whitetail and axis deer have fallen to it. Feral hogs have likewise met their maker at its hand. I will also add that every animal this ammunition has been fired at has been recovered after a humane shot, I attribute this to excellent shot placement (subtle dad brag) and stellar terminal performance. We are quite fond of the cheap little Mossberg and it has done its part to fill the deep freeze several seasons in a row.

400yds- 5.5MOA

500yds- 8.2MOA

600yds- 10.8MOA

700yds- 14MOA

800yds- 17.4MOA

900yds- 20.8MOA

1000yds- 24.7MOA

It is past 1000yds that the scope runs out of internal adjustment and a 20MOA rail would be needed. I will also note that this scope, while capable, really left me wanting for more clarity at the longer ranges. Above 18x magnification the field of view gets a dark ring around the perimeter of the field of view where there is a noticeable loss of focus, essentially making this a 6-18x. I have since building this looked for a better option for the same price and have a few brands/models I am currently testing.

The proof is in the pudding as the saying goes, can you take $1000, some time and a bit of know how and turn it into a 1000yd capable rifle… in my experience the answer is yes… with some caveats. The rifle I assembled for this challenge has a few shortfalls that a higher end rifle doesn’t, it also has a few quirks. The Mossberg uses a detachable box magazine that is plastic, I wish they offered a model with a metal magazine that didn’t have as much distortion when fully loaded. This issue is only frustrating when loading a full magazine into the rifle, the sides of the magazine bulge and make it difficult to load. Additionally, the barrel on this rifle is quite thin, probably an effort to save a few ounces by the manufacturer. They even went as far as fluting the barrel and bolt body to shave weight, this however allows the barrel to heat up quite a bit when shooting longer strings. I experienced a good bit of impact shift when shooting more than a 3rnd string, allowing the barrel to cool can prevent this. This rifle is ultimately aimed at the hunting crowd and anything over 2 shots is probably out of the normal they will see in field use making this a moot point. We have discussed the flimsy stock and my solution for it, I think an aluminum spine would add a lot of rigidity but also add some ounces and inevitably cost to the end user.

In summary, a backhanded comment and challenge has led to a handy rifle with amazing accuracy potential and the ability to punch holes at 1000yds for just under $1000.

Happy Hunting!!