Budgets are bigger and tastes are changing; Ollie Harvey explores the growing trend for customised rifles

Ollie Harvey

Why do so many purchases end up being a compromise in some way or another? This happens in most industries, including the rifle market, as products are divided into three main elements; off-the-shelf, customised and bespoke.

Off-the-shelf is basically what it says on the package or tin. It is the consequence of standardised mass production, a general item with a function and everyone who buys one gets the same (more or less). Quality is good or even excellent but there is no individuality to it so far as the customer is concerned.

At the other end of the scale, however, bespoke reflects a product made for the customer from start to finish. Design, materials, specification and manufacture are all focussed on the individual needs of that one person. Naturally, this attention to detail makes it far more expensive and so beyond the reach and means of many.

Custom, however, is the compromise between the two extremes. It utilises certain standards in design and build but facilitates the addition of optional elements which, in combination, can render the end product more unique at a cost which is lower than pure bespoke but higher than off-the-shelf.

However, a custom built rifle offers much more than just fancy bells and whistles, and a larger aesthetic appeal, perhaps most importantly for the shooter it provides the option to greatly improve the accuracy of their rifle. You can expect a modern off-the-shelf rifle to shoot fairly tight groups; but rifle engineers can tailor your firearm to achieve ½ MOA or less.

An important factor to accuracy is fit. With an over the counter rifle you are forced to “fit the gun”, rather than having a gun that fits you. The majority of ‘assembly line’ rifles will have a fairly straight comb, standard length of pull, and will all be around the same weight (within ½ lb). Customisation gives you more options to create a gun that fits you. Barrel contour and length, stock options for everything from length of pull to hand positioning, and a wide variety of trigger choices, all add up to a rifle that fits you and your needs.