Please critique my thoughts and correct them; I am new to this so trying to figure it out.  I am interested in Service Rifle competition.  We went to a CMP class and 4pt EIC shoot last weekend and really enjoyed it.  Now I am thinking about an economical way to build a gun for it.

I have a line on a RR varmint very affordably. It is stock as it came from RR: A2 grip, 2-stage trigger, SS varmint barrel 223 Wylde, A2 buttstock, FF guard.  The guard has no sling provision and it is an older round one and not the newer rail/mlok style.

I am *thinking* I could:

a) mount sling stud/loop, get leather sling
b) change hogue grip to A1 grip
c) Change A2 solid stock to A1 solid stock (personal preference)
d) Get best budget optic I could.

Does the varmint barrel meet the new rules? It seems to me it does from what I can find.

Does this sound reasonable? I don't have a big budget for this, However, I have an extra carbine I could sell to free up funds, and I do reload so I can keep ammo costs reasonable w/decent quality.

I would also need to figure out the best budget optic for this within the rule limits.

Details on carbine?

Just a S&W sport, nothing exciting.  I have an m4gery (WW), pistol, and another lw carbine build, so it's superfluous.

The rifle has to externally look like a USGI rifle in profile, i.e. 20" gov't pattern barrel (what is out of sight under the hand guard does not matter--hence the Hbar being legal), trigger 4.5# minimum, A2 fsb, etc., etc. Receiver can be A1, A2 or A4 with carry handle or optic (4.5x max). It's all spelled out in the NRA and CMP high power rule books.
Jon