Best 700 clone Action for a build ?

[MudRunner2005]

Same here. I'm planning my build as a whitetail workhorse, but also a serious 1K rifle. Which is why I chose .280AI....Plus I ready have tons of all the components for reloading, minus brass and dies. So.....Why not help to partially complete my 7mm collection with 1 more rifle.

 

[Chase Curtis]

Ya know... I think we all can get wrapped up in big heavy boomers... And dont get me wrong there is a time and place for them. But sometimes you just want a truck gun BUT you want one that is up to the task... Accurate and capable of long range energy... Light weight etc... I recently just did a 308 Baer on a pencil barrel and so far im happy with my desicion. Sometimes what looks good in the safe doesnt look so good after a long hike up the mountain... And just flat getting the job done. Good thread.

 

[DLFant]

Thanks. I have enjoyed all the comments from you guys. I'm with you on the smaller truck gun. I'm on the fence between 6.5x 47 and a 65 x284. So many cats and so few recipes. Or maybe it's so many wants and too many dollars.

 

[idaho elk hunter]

This topic has long been the discussion of many bar stool and barbershop advisors. You can always tell which are full of BS because they regurgitate the most popular names on the internet and magazines. The people that actually build the rifles are the ones that SOMETIMES know and will shoot you straight. Depending on if they are selling what they make the most profit on or of they are honest.Check out Lawton actions in Montana. This company builds some of the most accurate actions and do not charge for the name. I have built many Stiller, BAT, Defiance actions and I would say the Lawton is just as good and as smooth. I build rifles on the side and do not do it for a living or for profit for that matter. I do it due to retiring way to early and watching Oprah all day sucks. Remember the barrel is much more important than the action. I only build certain calibers and when people want a factory action trued I wont do it except for one. I don't feel I can justify my time to be wasted on anything factory except the Mark V. I know there are internet bandits that are going to argue this and smiths that don't understand them or want to work on 9 locking lugs but they do work excellent. Barrel selection should be made by the cartridge overbore or efficiency not by name it is stamped on. Earlier in this thread Shlien was mentioned. They were purchased a while ago and since then I would rater use a ER Shaw than a Shlien. They shoot great when new but are soft and wear out soon. Some in 450 rounds on overbore cartridges. But that's a different topic for another threadgun).

 

[Joel Russo]

Check out Lawton actions in Montana. This company builds some of the most accurate actions and do not charge for the name. I have built many Stiller, BAT, Defiance actions and I would say the Lawton is just as good and as smooth.

Sir~

I respectfully disagree. Lawton is no longer in business...because their quality control was non existent! Their actions had numerous issues, with primary extraction being one of the most common. Anyone that has experience with BAT or Defiance actions will not put Lawton in the same category. I speak from personal experience, not regurgitating something I read somewhere. But hey, we're all entitled to our own opinions...

 

[bigngreen]

Lawton hasn't turned an action out that functioned correctly since Barney passed which has been years. Lawton has not turned a wheel and been defunct for at least two years and I think it's pushing three now.

 

[cohunter14]

Yeah, I just built it (minus smith work, wich should cost me about $450), on Brownells website, and INCLUDING a NF NXS 5.5-22x56 MOAR, I am looking right at 3,500+ smithing. So right around $4K setup, and it should be one nasty rig.

Last night I pulled out the long-rangers out of the safe and was admiring my hard-earned money over the years, and I think I have decided that for a hunting rifle, I will go with a Weatherby AccuMark contour barrel polished stainless with the black flutes. I think that would look sick! But I'm still torn between the AccuMark contour and the Sendero contour. The Sendero contour will shoot great, but is heavier than the AccuMark contour...

I'm leaning towards calling Kreiger and getting an Accumark .284 blank that has been polished with the black flutes, but hasn't been chambered or threaded.....Wonder how much that will cost me? Bet she'd be one slick shooter that would still be light enough for me to tote in and out of the woods...

.284??? You mean .308 or .338 right?

 

[MudRunner2005]

.284??? You mean .308 or .338 right?

Someday soon, grasshoppa....Someday soon. But for now the .280 AI has my complete attention. Plus, I have been designing a few cartridges myself, and if I can get the money to get the reamers made.....I think they might could be a hit. But I can't give any details about them at the moment, until I make myself the proprieter of them, and make them my design.

 

[cohunter14]

Someday soon, grasshoppa....Someday soon. But for now the .280 AI has my complete attention. Plus, I have been designing a few cartridges myself, and if I can get the money to get the reamers made.....I think they might could be a hit. But I can't give any details about them at the moment, until I make myself the proprieter of them, and make them my design.

Nice! I'm anxious to hear what you have come up with.

 

[X-man]

One more action to throw in the pile is a stone stock Remington 700.
I have taken a stock Rem 700, screwed on a match barrel and had it shoot just as well as any custom action so many times I wonder why I even bother with the blueprint process.

I have NEVER seen an accuracy improvement from blueprinting an action....This is to include actions that were later determined to only bear on one locking lug!

This is Long Range Hunting...not bench rest central or 6mmbr.
What matters to those guys has little relevance in our world.
Function is more important than that last 1/10th of an inch in groups.
Speaking of function (or lack there of) I have seen many of the top actions fail miserably with the addition of a little dust or sand while the old Rem700 continues to go bang.

Extraction:
How many million Remington 700s are there?
Out of those how many extractors have failed?
I am coming up on 40 years behind the trigger of a Rem 700 and I have yet to have an extractor problem. I'm not saying they dont happen, but I am saying there are very rare and that many are the result of operator error.

 

[DLFant]

Excellent Thought Im tempted to try that.

 

[MudRunner2005]

One more action to throw in the pile is a stone stock Remington 700.
I have taken a stock Rem 700, screwed on a match barrel and had it shoot just as well as any custom action so many times I wonder why I even bother with the blueprint process.

I have NEVER seen an accuracy improvement from blueprinting an action....This is to include actions that were later determined to only bear on one locking lug!

This is Long Range Hunting...not bench rest central or 6mmbr.
What matters to those guys has little relevance in our world.
Function is more important than that last 1/10th of an inch in groups.
Speaking of function (or lack there of) I have seen many of the top actions fail miserably with the addition of a little dust or sand while the old Rem700 continues to go bang.

Extraction:
How many million Remington 700s are there?
Out of those how many extractors have failed?
I am coming up on 40 years behind the trigger of a Rem 700 and I have yet to have an extractor problem. I'm not saying they dont happen, but I am saying there are very rare and that many are the result of operator error.

I have also had the same pleasent experience with my 700's. Never a single extractor issue. And smooth, reliable, and consistant.

To me the 700 is the standard for all factory actions. The Mark-V and A-Bolt II are right up there in line with it, too. I also own each of those, as well.

 

[idaho elk hunter]

The Lawton actions that I built upon worked very well. Saying that Many known builders were buying them and tuning the action before assembling the rest of the firearm to it. I purchased a lot of 9 actions for a price of $425 and blueprinted them. This is exactly what Lawton wanted the rifle builders to do. Unfortunately many builders shortcut the process and did shotty work for the end consumer. I would much rather buy a $425 Lawton action and trust my own work than buy a $425 700 rem action and tune it. At the end of the day a rem 700 action is a rem 700 action. Even many 338 allen mags were built very successfully on Lawton Actions. I will bet you they were tuned by the builder before assembly. Not really Lawtons fault but the fault and education level of the rifle builder.

 

[Joel Russo]

The Lawton actions that I built upon worked very well. Saying that Many known builders were buying them and tuning the action before assembling the rest of the firearm to it. I purchased a lot of 9 actions for a price of $425 and blueprinted them. This is exactly what Lawton wanted the rifle builders to do. Unfortunately many builders shortcut the process and did shotty work for the end consumer. I would much rather buy a $425 Lawton action and trust my own work than buy a $425 700 rem action and tune it. At the end of the day a rem 700 action is a rem 700 action. Even many 338 allen mags were built very successfully on Lawton Actions. I will bet you they were tuned by the builder before assembly. Not really Lawtons fault but the fault and education level of the rifle builder.

Well, not exactly on many counts.... But hey, we certainly have a difference of opinion.