Trued actions vs fancy actions

[corsteve]

pgt has blueprinted actions or they have there own have both no problems ever

 

[Rum and not the liquid]

thanks d - mon, yeah I'll get trueflite to do the work. I've got a tac21 chassis so it's a heavy weight straight off the bat.

 

[Hugnot]

I have 1 Rem 700 and my impression is that they are essentially a precision design - like an assembly of round tube type forms, receiver, bolt, and barrel with bolt head and handle attached as separate pieces. It appears like these parts can be precision machined and assembled about a common axis. I would expect less work would be needed to "true" stuff up than other designs. The only complaint that I have with my Rem 700 is that it requires somewhat of an effort to open the bolt to start the extraction process and I put a dab of grease on the bolt handle root and bolt lugs. I inspect every thing including fingernail extractor, ejector, and brazed on joint between bolt body & handle, bolt head after each use/cleaning.

Inletting the tubular receiver into a stock was very easy using a barrel channel scraper with other tools for trigger, recoil lug, & safety. I had the receiver face squared up & recoil lugs lapped in. The original recoil lug was retained, I get predictable precision results with it - a 7.7 twist .22-.250. I shoot steel & rodents with it.

I rather spend the extra money on bullets & scopes. CNC methods combined with optimized plant location & design will always be able produce more higher grade precision products at competitive prices. I realize the Rem 700 action has been subjected to all sorts of demanding situations such as military service in Viet Nam but I prefer my controlled feed, non rotating extractor bolt actions for field shooting and regard my single Rem 700 as a fair weather rifle.

 

[DJ Fergus]

I have done both. There's some custom actions out there that are top notch and you can bank on it. There's also a few that I'm not going to name but its well known that they aren't always truer than some of the 700 actions. Some folks put a barrel on a custom action and never check the action. If you are going to resell it, a custom action would be the way to go. I would say that you could spend $150-$200 more at the end of the day and do just as well to go with a kelbly or defiance. I will say that I have saw trued and non trued 700 actions shoot with custom actions. I got a 700 action for dirt cheap and the rifle was going to be a gift to my Son. I knew resale wasn't in the future for it. So I had no problems going that route. Based off what I had in the initial cost of the action I saved a little more than normal. I had about $150 in the initial cost of the action. I probably wouldn't pay the going price for a 700 action and then pay to have it trued. But if you have a 700 action laying around, then it may be a different story.

 

[Gater]

Thanks guys my second problem is I'm not state side so it's tricky getting a action. I don't know if you've ever heard of true flite or barnard here in nz but judging by their comp record I'd be pretty confident.

I shoot a savage model 12 BVSS all that's been done is I glass bedded installed a timney trigger and a heavy Bartline barrel I did the work in my basement and by no means am a gunsmith at 200 it shoot less than a 1/2 min

Hi. I'm trying to get my 375 rum done but I'm a bit short dollar wise for an action. What are people's opinions of a re wrorked factory Remington action? will they produce the same accuracy as a custom action providing the gunsmith does it the correct way?

cheers
Lucas

i bought a savage model BVSS in .223 al. I did and I am not a gun smith. It's been glass bedded timney trigger and a 29" heavy Bartline 1-7.7 at two hundred (that's all I've got)yds it shoots less than 1/2 min

 

[DJ Fergus]

I'm not advocating for or against custom actions or trued 700s or anything in particular but I will comment on something I thought was interesting. Many years ago I had a 700 that would shoot loads into 1/2 moa every time & consistently with virgin brass. The chamber or action was so bad out of alignment that you could look at the case with the naked eye and see how bad the case head had been warped after firing. I sent it back & Remington sent me a new barreled action. So I have to ask if this would have been a consistent 1/4 moa or less rifle if everything had been trued up on it.....? Maybe or maybe not, but I doubt it. But it would have definitely shot resized brass better than it did.

 

[archangel485]

I've had unworked 700 actions shoot great and one of my best shooting rifles is a tried 700. But after getting into the custom game I'll never go back. The resale, the confidence, the feel, looks and just peace of mind all make it a good reason to go custom.

kelbly atlas tac, zermatt origin, tenacity, are all great and the new Mac bros steel action ischeaper then a 700

^^^ This. I'll add that customs also come with scope rails and recoil lugs. On a 700 you have to buy both, and putting it together requires some expertise as the recoil lug isn't pinned or integral like it will be on a custom. Best price I've seen on Rem 700 is from Northland shooter's supply who offers an already trued action for $495, then buy a $50 precision recoil lug and a $100 rail and you have $650 into it. IMO it's well worth the $200 adder to get a tactical bolt knob, proper sized firing pin hole (for sure), pinned recoil lug, pinned scope rail, fluted bolt, changeable bolt head that you get with an Origin. By the way, Northland is also a great source for Bighorn origin actions.

I will add, I would normally agree with you on the macbros as it's only $575 and macbros is an awesome company, they use wire EDM machines for their actions, but the OP is building a long action and I don't think the Mack brothers have that offering yet. But yeah if you need a short action it seems crazy to spend more for an R700 than a macbros evo.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

Hi. I'm trying to get my 375 rum done but I'm a bit short dollar wise for an action. What are people's opinions of a re wrorked factory Remington action? will they produce the same accuracy as a custom action providing the gunsmith does it the correct way?

cheers
Lucas

The answer to this depends on whether or not you already have an appropriate Rem700 donor action available?

If you do, then yes, it can probably be done for a little bit cheaper than buying a custom... if you dont then not really.

By the time a smith puts the machine working into a Remington to make it even remotely comparable to even a mid tier custom action you are going to be at basically the same cost. Some smiths just true the front ring, clean the threads up and lap the lugs and it costs a lot less than a full true/blueprint job, but its also nowhere near the quality you get in even the most basic custom.

If you are tight on money buy a Kelbly Atlas, Bighorn Origin, or Defiance Tenacity and never look back. Those can all be had for less money that buying a Remington donor and having it done properly.

 

[Almostbackcountry]

I had my 700 SA factory, blueprinted and trued... shoots great!! And I run good groups.

That being said, I wish I would've just waited and saved a little more for a new action like defiance, my action isn't stainless and requires a lot of care to keep cycling smoothly and rust free.

 

[David Emerson]

I don,t know what your plans or uses are for this rifle. You can blueprint a remington . Or buy a custom action. You can put cadillac stickers all over a chevy but it is still a chevy. I bought a defiance CRF rebel. Beautiful. 1300 plus a trigger and bottom metal and box and spring and trigger. Expensive? Yes. But if you ever sell it you will get it back. If you ever use this rifle for big and ugly and can kill you I like the CRF. Plus the resale value. Any money you dump into a remington it will be very hard to get it back. Another thing while I am at it. The customs are one piece bolts. I have seen big strong men rip the bolt handle off a remington when they are excited. Silver soldered on.

 

[adamjp]

I think that most of the repondents have failed to recognise that the OP is in New Zealand.

Custom actions are readily available in the US for a very fair price, but by the time the manufacturers go through the goat root of export controls, etc. they become very expensive outside the US.

A Rem700 donor rifle may only be $400 USD, and truing another $300 which puts the resulting rifle close to a lower end custom action at $1k USD. That $1k USD action is closer to $2k NZD by the time it is owned by a shooter in NZ. A $800 NZD Rem700 is going to be about $1200 NZD fully trued and ready to work, less if he already owns the action (as is the case here).

Resale value would still only be $800 NZD, but most don't build rifles with a view to resale. We all know that you always take a loss on the components, let alone the skilled labour. Combine that with the number of T3 owners who tell you that their factory rifle shoots groups that challenge dedicated match rifles and sometimes you wonder why you do a custom.

 

[blueprairiedog]

I work at a Cadillac dealership and have been for 30 years buy a Chevy duramax and a Remington 700 and you will have a reliable combination.

 

[antelopedundee]

It all depends on your ultimate design criteria. Customs will hold value better. Cost of "blueprinting" a 700 action is dependant on your definition of blueprinting or the level of action work done. Sleeving the bolt, bushing the firing pin, re-cutting all action contact surfaces, and retiming primary extraction gets expensive. These are far different than simply squaring an action face and lapping the lugs. Personally, if I didn't already have a donor action and wanted more than to true the face and lap lugs, it would be custom every time. It's cheaper and I believe you get a better action right out of the gate.

To me "blueprinting" means that you adjust it to the exact same dimensions given in the blueprint. A dimension of 1.385 +/- .005 inch is machined to be 1.385 inch exactly. Not sure how you could adjust a dimension under 1.385 since you couldn't put metal back on. Mostly truing should be done if the action needs it. Front of receiver square, recoil lug of uniform thickness, locking lugs lapped and threads recut and cleaned up.

I believe that Remington has a jig setup for welding on the bolt handle. Supposedly this was set up wrong way back when and never corrected. At least that's what someone elsewhere has said. With a good CNC setup and an operator watching for worn tooling, etc. no reason why mass produced actions can't be pretty dang good.

 

[antelopedundee]

If primary extraction is fine with say a .25-06 will it still be fine with a heavier hitter like a .300 Weatherby?