Now i'm not gonna start this out and pretend that a good quality precision rifle is going to be cheap.  On the contrary, compared to most guns you are out buying these are going to be expensive.  But lets put things in perspective shall we?  The precision rifle world has a great many excellent brands of great components.  Do you know what combo of components you want though to optimize your build without breaking the bank?  So when I say a production class rifle you should be thinking all the bolt rifles that are near the $3K cap.  This would include Masterpiece Arms PMR rifles, GA Precisions - Production rifle, Hawkins Precision Production rifle, A Tikka T3X ACE or similar, and a Bergara Production rifle (Built on MPA's Chassis).  Don't even bother looking at an Accuracy International, HK or Daniel Defense as none of these will come in under the 3k cap.  After saying that though there are a ton of guns in other classes that you will pay more than 3K for that won't bring you even half the value of a good production class rifle.  Lets start with Wilson Combats, Les Baer's, Staccatos, Basically any fancy over/under shotgun, Nighthawks, HK's (especially older rifles), AI's, Sako's, Steyr, MacMillan, and Barrett's.  Now you can have a reputable builder make you a production class rifle, but there are a few caveats for your builder.  Namely they need to produce at least 50 in a given year and their advertised price must be at or below $3000. 

Now optics is where things get great.  There are now a ton of super great optics out there that all fall below the the mandatory $2500 cap.  You have Zeiss LRP S3, Leupold Mk 4HD and Mark 5HD, Telson Range Master and Range Master Victory, Tract Optics PRS models, Bushnell Pro models, Nightforce Optics NX6 and NX8 ( I personally feel like the NX6 will become the top dog in the sub $2500 range), Eotech Vudu, Burris XTR PS, and Arken Optics (although to be fair, there are far better choices that can be had for under $2500).  The Arken does fall below 1k though so there is that.  You will notice there are no ATACR, any Kahles basically, no ZCO (although Zero compromise did say they working on a sub $2500 scope but it's been 2 years since that), No Swarovskis, Almost no Steiners, No March, No Tangents, and NO VORTEX RAZORS!  This last one is a terrible source of contention since you and I all know we can pick up a Vortex Razor for under $2500 all day long.  Vortex gives 30%-45% off to about half the US population.  Any veterans, Mil, LE, public safety and industry folks.  So thats awesome however, the production class is based on their advertised price which ranges from $4k - $5K for almost all of the Razors.  I like Vortex myself but the Razor is NOT a contender against ZCO's, Tangents and Nightforce ATACR, or Kahles.  And no I don't want to go down to a strike Eagle or Venom to stay in Production class when there are tons of optics now under the 2500 price cap.

So if you know exactly your specs or have a good idea then reach out to your reputable gunsmith and have them spin you up a match winner.  Don't forget to get a spare barrel or two because if you truly practice with your gear 3000 rounds in a given year is not uncommon between practice and matches.  If you want a crossover gun for NRL and PRS then stick with a 6.5 or .25 creed.  If you are planning to do mainly PRS then 6GT or 6 dasher is really THE WAY.  If you want to challenge yourself and keep your ammo costs low then get yourself a .223 bolt gun that shoots 77's well.  You will save on ammo but expect you will learn wind much more quickly, and your gun will be woefully out of it's depth beyond about 900.  If you are a true glutton then jump on out with your .308 with 175's and an MOA scope and have at it.  NO DON'T ACTUALLY DO THIS, at least with regards to the MOA scope.  You can challenge Tactical like Chad Heckler, but the greatest shooters know their limits and thats NO MOA.  The reason being is you are on an island all by yourself at matches out there with an MOA scope.  You will likely be the only one at the match with MOA while the rest of the world is shooting Mils and even the best shooters are gonna be behind the curve trying to help you by dividing or multiplying a normal read by 3.6 to try and factor you over to a mils conversion.  and then adding that number to your distance and trying to come up with some semblance of help all in the 4 seconds before you hear "Does the shooter understand the course of fire?" 

So stay safe out there, keep your powder dry and your muzzle in a safe direction, friends don't let friends shoot muzzle brakes, help when you can, pick up your brass after a stage, always help the new shooter so they come back again, push yourself only as fast as you can make well aimed shots, watch all the tips and tricks from MDT videos, and get out to the match.  Remember that experience is what you gain when you don't hear the phrase "impact" Stop just thinking about going to a match and just get out there.