Custom actions, are they worth it?

[171farm]

I think there is more to the equation than accuracy. Along with a custom action comes custom everything else. I know you can say you can customize a stock rifle, but at that point why waste the effort and unnecessary money. Now if the gun is given to you then have at it. But if you have to start from scratch buying a new off the shelf rifle and then customize it, I say just jump in from the start. With that all said, there are some great rifles both from an accuracy standpoint and look and feel aspect that at times negates the reason to get a custom. But those are not $600 off the shelf rifles either.

 

[Bang4theBuck]

These sort of threads always bring out the extreme opposite opinions when it is left up to the person answering the questions.
The question wasn't 'are custom actions better' it was 'are they worth it (the extra money).

The first question, while not the one asked, can be very definitively answered without too much argument. The answer is YES, they are better. It's not even a debate.

The second question is are they worth it. As stated above worth is on the eye of the beholder. For me looking back on the numerous semi-customs I've had built and a couple that I've paid to have built on Stock remimgton actions, it wasn't 'worth the money' in labor and time.by the gunsmith. The work was excellent work, but resulted in me having an additional 6 to 10 week wait for the build and I still had $800 invested in the action before it ever got a barrel. At the end of the day, I still just have a Remington 700. Make no mistake, I would part with these rifles as they are really really good shooters. But I would not go.that route again, given the wait, the net cost, and the fact that if was ever to have to sell the rifles, the value will not increased on them based on having all the work done. Heck, it doesn't really even qualify as a 'customer. It's a semi-custom. For some there is lessor worth based solely on that fact.
Bottom line is 'worth' has got to be determined by the user, but I dont think I ever heard anyone say 'I've got a couple custom rigs, but I like my factory rigs more'.

 

[Barehandlineman11]

They will give you more accuracy, now thats if its chambered right, good barrel, bedded right. With all those you'll notice full custom will be less finicky and just shoot everything and with tuning itll get into 1/4 moa easily. Some factory actions can but not many and not consistently. But most people cant shoot 1/4 moa. And they just want cool stuff. Theres a reason though all benchrest is custom actions, and not these light weight hunting actions.

 

[1mechanic]

He was specifically asking about a savage rifle, no gun smithing necessary, no time waiting on gun smith, no cost on a gun smith.

I don't have a lot of money to throw at a custom action, so I'm happy to work with my savages and make them the best I can on a limited budget.

 

[Justice1327]

Op asked:...from an accuracy standpoint, are custom actions worth the cost?

One person responded see how many factory reactions are at the podium versus custom actions.

The next best response is above from lineman 11.

 

[akmtnhnt]

For hunting? Almost certainly not.

 

[bfarms]

Yes. Hands down yes lol. If you want to be as accurate as you can be every shot then a custom is needed. Even my hunting rifles have had custom actions the last few years.

 

[Bang4theBuck]

He was specifically asking about a savage rifle, no gun smithing necessary, no time waiting on gun smith, no cost on a gun smith.

I don't have a lot of money to throw at a custom action, so I'm happy to work with my savages and make them the best I can on a limited budget.

I've customized many savages myself on a budget as well, and all turned out to be shooters. So, from a purely accuracy standpoint, I could agree, but it isn't consistently 1/4 minute accuracy as you can consistently get with a custom. Also to clarify your point he made reference to Savage and Remington, I ran with the Rem. scenario as I believe the market has supported more customization and aftermarket upgrades on a Remington platform than any other.

 

[reeldawg]

If you are starting from scratch you can get custom actions from 800.00 on up. You will have close to that in a donor rifle/action. If you have a Savage or Tikka and you are happy with it use it.

 

[LuvDog]

I'll say No - even though that goes against the majority so far.

Most of the accuracy comes from the barrel/chamber. So as long as you have a great barrel and it's chambered well, and you're getting 1/2 MOA or better already from a "factory" action, then you wouldn't see much difference (if any) putting it on a custom action.

What the custom action gets you is features and possibly reliability.

That being said, I've ditched almost all my factory rifles in favor of "custom" because I want those features like integral lug, rail, bolt release, etc.

 

[Barehandlineman11]

He was specifically asking about a savage rifle, no gun smithing necessary, no time waiting on gun smith, no cost on a gun smith.

I don't have a lot of money to throw at a custom action, so I'm happy to work with my savages and make them the best I can on a limited budget.

I've never seen a barrel that didnt need gunsmithing at some point.

 

[CMP70306]

Doing some evening thinking...from an accuracy standpoint, are custom actions worth the cost?

Let's say you take a known top brand barrel chambered correctly, and spin it onto a Savage action. It then shoots 1/2 moa. Now take that same barrel and spin it onto a Bighorn Origin, will it shoot better or worse for twice the price? Then take it off the Bighorn and spin it onto an ARC Nucleus, will it then shoot better than the Bighorn?

I know there are other reasons for using a custom action, but strictly from an accuracy standpoint, do they actually make a difference? Can you take a 1 moa barrel on a Rem 700 and stick it on a Defiance and it'll become a 1/2 moa rifle? Most likely not...

I did exactly what you are describing and no it did not shoot as well. I had a 6.5 Creedmoor proof barrel on my ARC Nucleus and it shot a consistent 1/2 MOA. I was changing things up and a buddy was looking to improve his savage so I sold him the barrel as it only had a couple hundred rounds on it. That same barrel would barely hold MOA using the same ammo and headspaced on the same gauges on the savage action.

Between the accuracy and the feeding issues he ended up turning it into a muzzleloader selling the barrel to another buddy who put it on a different Nucleus and it went right back to being a 1/2 MOA shooter.

I've never seen a barrel that didnt need gunsmithing at some point.

You can get prefit barrels for savages that you can buy off the shelf and install yourself, that's what I do with all of my custom rifles.

 

[Barehandlineman11]

I did exactly what you are describing and no it did not shoot as well. I had a 6.5 Creedmoor proof barrel on my ARC Nucleus and it shot a consistent 1/2 MOA. I was changing things up and a buddy was looking to improve his savage so I sold him the barrel as it only had a couple hundred rounds on it. That same barrel would barely hold MOA using the same ammo and headspaced on the same gauges on the savage action.

Between the accuracy and the feeding issues he ended up turning it into a muzzleloader selling the barrel to another buddy who put it on a different Nucleus and it went right back to being a 1/2 MOA shooter.



You can get prefit barrels for savages that you can buy off the shelf and install yourself, that's what I do with all of my custom rifles.

I know you can. Still needed a gunsmith to do it

 

[Varmint Hunter]

My thoughts:

How many gun nuts build rifles off of custom actions and then revert back to factory production action rifles? Virtually none. There has to be a reason.

The feel, fit, finish and accuracy potential of a custom action seems well worth the money to me. The best part is that an action never wears out if used properly. I've rebuilt my custom rifles into different rigs over time and you can easily justify the expense of a custom action when it results in multiple fine rifles over time.