I decided to get back into bolt guns a couple of years ago, bought this Howa 1500 in .308 (because I had a case or so of FGMM left over from my SWAT days
) from a local guy off Armslist.
Paid $475, then mounted a $350 Vortex 3-18 Strike Eagle. It was printing .75 MOA groups consistently...I was surprised, given the cheap flimsy Hogue stock.
I found McMillian stock on eBay for @ $225 and stuffed it into that, groups shrank to @ .5 MOA. (sold the original stock for $150).
Later, I found a used XLR chassis listed locally on Arfcom for $300 (sold the McMillan for $200).
I'm probably into this set up for @ $1250 total with base/rings...although I did splurge last year and put an Atlas bipod on it.
I don't shoot competition and haven't been able to shoot it out past @ 225 yds. yet. I know the glass is going to be the limitation for serious use, but it does what I need it to (recreation/range fun).