In an earlier post, you said
100-200 yds, mostly score. Hopefully it will meet the LV category.
For score shooting, the .30 BR would be a better chambering. Most everyone shoots VFS, which is a 13.5 pound class.
Everyone (who posts here, not who shoots) seems to get hung up on the recoil for a 10.5 pound .30BR. It is less than what the Hunter guys shoot in their 10 pound rifles.
What I'm suggesting, if you're trying to break in a bit on the cheap, and mainly for score shooting, is build one rifle in .30 BR. Be able to put some weight in the butt, and mount a heavier scope to add weight close to the 13.5 pounds allowed by score shooting. If you're going to shoot an occasional group match, take the weight out of the butt and put on a lighter scope. If you set it up for, say, an old Leupold (14 ounces), then add weight to the butt & use a new Leupold 40X or 45X, you'll be over 12 pounds.
For the front rest, either get a looong fore-end stop, or take the stop off. With the rifle farther back on the forearm, it will balance fine in the heavier mode. In fact, that's what you use to determine just how much weight you can add to the butt. You'll not get the full 13.5 pounds, but as I said, you'll be over 12. Or you could add a heavy tuner to add some more weight for 13.5 pounds.
Shooting on the cheap requires several compromises, but equipment capable of wining isn't one of them. For a number of years, I shot a .30 BR for my 13.5 HV,
for group, for the simple reason that that barrel shot better than any of my PPC barrels. It always comes down to barrels and bullets.
The one thing shooting on the cheap does require is that you get very good components for what you do buy. I'd agree that unless you can true up the action yourself -- fully, and that includes things a lot of people don't think of -- you're better off starting with a custom action.
