A guy can spin together a pretty nice semi-custom for 1200 bucks, scope included..Or buy a nice factory rifle and scope it for the same amount, and a guy that knows his way around said rifle, and has put a little thought in setting it up, will probly be able to hang with much higher end rifles..
but be careful, if you put that much time behind a rifle, you will start to look at things on it as concessions, THATS when you find your wish list edging the 5k mark..most wont scratch that itch for practical reasons, but some do.
What are concessions? Well for me..
On a hunting rifle, I want it fairly light, barrel no more than a #3 on calibers below 7mm, no more than #5 on 30's and up (maker plays a large part here,contours vari).I want it twisted fast(factory rifles are a huge concession here), and throated perfectly to take advantage of the long VLD type bullets, AT MAGAZINE LENGTH,single shots dont interest me.. throat it like that, all other bullets will fall into place, and I have my preferences for the best cut rifled barrels, and they cost what the average run of the mill factory rifle does..
I want a high enough comb to give me a perfect cheek weld to combat parralax, I want that stock to be synthetic fiberglass and tough as nails, it has to be stiff..That'd be McMillan or Manners, which cost more than most guys whole rig..
I want a one piece bolt, with M16 style extraction, CRF is fine, but aint my preference.Flutes are cool too so throw those in there, as well as an oversized bolt handle, 11 degree sweep back too, while we're at it...again, such a bolt costs about as much as a factory rifle.
Action can be aftermarket or a blueprinted factory, you guessed it, that costs money.
Trigger must be perfect, more money.
Scope, I like what I like..If its above 10X, I want it to be FFP,($$) I want low profile turrets, with 10mil or 20moa per rev, with a zero stop and preferably capped windage, with a side focus parallax, and reticle that matches the adjustments, MOA or MIL, illumination is always nice too..It has to be dead nuts repeatable and RTZ cant fluctuate..THere are a few that make such a scope, but most start at 2k and go up..there are acceptations .
All this will sail right over most of your heads, butThe only way to get this, is to build it..That might give the OP a little insight as to why some guys want a 5k rifle..You might show up with your factory rifle and outshoot the high end gun, it happens, most guys build many before they get it right..and if we are talking about the "turn key" long range jobs out there for around the 5k mark, then all we are seeing there is someone trying to buy a free lunch, and they probly cant shoot it fer chit cuz they are in way over their heads.