Quest for the perfect setup

i feel like that some times, i like many rifles but there is always one or two things i would change. i would like to build the perfect rifle but the cost would be high.

^^ that’s just it Troy the perfect rifle for you is tailor made to your specs and doing such comes at a price a very high one usually

Perfect for....?

When you start stacking answers to that question, the infinite nature reveals itself. What I consider to be “perfect for my desires as a Kansas whitetail rifle” is different than “perfect for my desires for my Arizona coyote rifle” and different than what my brother considers to be “perfect for HIS desires of a Kansas whitetail rifle.”

I’ve built literally hundreds of “perfect rifles” for various customers and their various pursuits. Not many - if any - were identical. And that’s just within the realm of AR’s.

Thats why Larry Potterfield always says “nearly” perfect in his videos.

Worse yet is when you get a rifle set up to your definition of perfect and then it doesn't want to shoot the load you wanted it to shoot womp womp

I found the perfect rifle several times by lowering my expectations!

yeah I shoot for pretty close most of the time.

None of my guns are perfect, tho if the stock was.nicer on my .375 it would be very, very, close to perfect for me.

mainecoon said:

Why is it when there is one tiny little thing not right about a rifle setup, it causes endless obsession, evaluation, etc? Drives me nuts. There is no perfect rifle - but I can’t accept that.

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Glad it's not just me!

I'm pretty happy with most of my setups for what I want them for. Really, at this point I'm trying to make my "collection" of rifles perfect in covering all my bases instead of focusing on individual rifles, which has lead to me selling a rifle to buy something completely different.

I'm not a perfectionist by any means, but I think that the firearm hobby/obsession/what have you tends to bring it out in everyone.

Wasn't cheap......but I did find the perfect rifle.

The perfect rifle is the one that got me home, but it’s not the perfect rifle for home.

Rembrandt said:

Wasn't cheap......but I did find the perfect rifle.

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Pretty sure that is the key issue... Anyone can have a custom rifle built specifically for them that would get a lot closer than off the shelf options.. but even those will not be perfection as they are man made.

pretty bloody close ........

This issue hasn't been one of my many problems. My father was a firm practitioner of the 'perfect is the enemy of good enough' philosophy. I'm more of a stickler for build quality than he was, but I'm still drawn more toward guns that I consider interesting and/or functional, despite their shortcomings or outright flaws.

However, by all means keep searching for perfection. The quest certainly helps to improve the breed over time, plus it leaves plenty of interesting also-rans for us in the 'good enough' crowd trolling the used market.

taliv said:

perfect setup would be one under $100, with great ergonomics that weighs under 3lbs and fits in your pocket, but shoots a 2000g projectile at 30000 fps sub 1/4 moa, with no recoil or sound, and a scope that let's you identify faces on the moon

everything is a tradeoff

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You'd also have to add:

It's bullet expands rapidly at long distance creating 1 shot DRTs, while not causing extensive damage/meat loss on animals hit close...

LoonWulf said:

pretty bloody close ........

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Yerp. The more I play with this one the more I realize it is as close as I have gotten. Light, corrosion resistant, stock fits my cheek which is hard for me to find and is a big reason I really like Marlins, and ammo is very available.

Have a new front sight on order as it shoots a bit high with the factory front and the Skinner rear.



I am still fond of the pointability of the Ithaca Featherweight Deerslayer 12 bore rifle.

taliv said:

perfect setup would be one under $100, with great ergonomics that weighs under 3lbs and fits in your pocket, but shoots a 2000g projectile at 30000 fps sub 1/4 moa, with no recoil or sound, and a scope that let's you identify faces on the moon

everything is a tradeoff

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Reminds me of what I heard about gunsmiths' "customers from hell"... seems they want it gold-plated, cheaper than Walmart, and delivered last week. One description is about as unrealistic in practice as the other.

But getting a rifle configured to suit isn't always as expensive or near to impossible as it sounds... sometimes it just takes time to get all the parts in one place.