Truing an action over rated?

[J E Custom]

A rifle can only shoot as well as the weakest link. Truing the action on a 1" gun is not going to tell you anything when something else is causing it to be a 1" gun.

So True !!!

Most of the time it is the shooter and or the Ammo. Truing only eliminates one of the weak links and lets you concentrate on some of the other weak links.

If some think truing and action it is a waist of time, so be it. I know for a fact that It does make a difference and is one of the cheapest ways of getting accuracy. Question: Is a round bowling ball any more accurate than one that is out of round or has a built in wobble ?

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and can spend their money where they want to. Most of the time they spend more on components trying to find an accurate load than truing would cost.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Don A Parsons]

I agree,,, if I find a rifle that has even wear on the bolt lugs,,, has perfect bedding and a match grade trigger,,, along with a tight bolt shank... I'll put it to the test on the shooting range,,, only one problem,,, I've yet to ever find a factory rifle or custom with perfect zero stress bedding were it takes alot of effort to remove the action from the stock,,, and a match grade trigger that's made by Jewel... Fussy dude I am...

If the rifle shoots good to my satisfaction,,, it stays intact till it dosen't do what I want it to do...

More outer then inners doesn't work for me,,, not worth my time, funds and effort chasing endless unknown issues,,, most shooters and hunters I'm thinking feel the same way...

That's not saying that others get to pick and choose what works for them...

I like trued actions """if""" they need it on inspection when the tear down is underway,,, our guage and measuring tools will indicate if machining is needed. If it passes,,, no need to mill away any iron,,, in most cases the action face,,, bolt locking slot pads in the action need milling...

Might as well do the bolt lugs to make them match,,, pretty simple to ture a action and bolt,,, it cost next to nill when the rifle is getting a new barrel,,, its already taken apart you know... Ha...

The next two options is do a work over on the factory bolt,,, expand the rear shank so it stays tight in the receiver,,, I'll find the measurements of the expander collar we added to my bolt,,, spin the firing pin to make sure it's super straight...

The other option is a PT&G bolt,,, we order them to fit tight,,, then buff them down to fit snugg... Just like skates on ice,,, super smoooooth...

Might as well zero stress bed the action into the stock at the same time,,, drop in and quality trigger works...

Fit the optic base equal and tight,,, Yuppers,,, that's about 7 things sorted in my projects...

All the above ideas have been performed on all 3 of my rifles,,, all of them out shoot my skills,,, and I don't have to worry about that stuff when I have other things to think about...

A clean break of the trigger for shot placement,,, keeping the rifle planted and steady,,, and going to battle with the ever changing winds,,, this stuff is more important than the rifle that I know is fully dialed in to shoot...

I don't need to wounder this or that about my guns,,, the metrics are taken care of,,, same for hunting,,, all I have to do is find the critters,,, get the rifle planted,,, get a clean break from the trigger,,, and follow up with the impact of the boolit as it rattles the Wrapper... Ha...

Lifes just that simple for those of us that choose the path we're on,,, again,,, each to their own of what we're after...

What works for me might not be the case for others,,, its not my job to fit into other people's shoes when I have my own to wear...

PS: There is no should in my post,,, no saying that this is best,,, no telling others where they should invest their funds,,, all that stuff is up to others to decide...

 

[dennisinaz]

I still have this rifle today and hunt with it a lot. The first re-barrel was a Hart. What a piece of junk. Greg Tannel, who rebarreled it at the time he did the truing package, took it back, tried to get it to shoot and told me the barrel was no good- of course Hart said it wasn't their problem since he chambered it. We put the Krieger on the second time. Maybe his 260 reamer is just not a great design, I don't know but I set the barrel back a few thousandths and rechambered to 260AI. It is a solid 1/2" rifle now with the occasional 1/4" group. Almost all I ever shoot in it is 140 Sierra game kings. It is a 9 twist so I can't use VLD bullets anyway. Remington Mountain rifle so fairly lightweight.

I still think money is better spent on a good custom action than truing a 700. When you have a "trued" 700 it is still a 700. It will never be worth what you put into it.

All the gunsmiths that make money "truing " actions are going to sell you this service, claim it's vitally important etc. Unless you have a really messed up action I think you can get the best out of it switching some parts. Good trigger, good bedding, good barrel etc.

You can lap the threads and the barrel fit-up if you are really particular. I just haven't seen that it amounts to anything in a HUNTING rifle.

When it comes to accuracy, a 1/2" rifle is going to hit your deer vital sized target every time at 1000 yards if you have your wind right. m(assuming you have good ES and SD) A 1/4" rifle isn't going to help enough to overcome your inadequacies in reading the wind. If I find a solid 1/2" load in a hunting rifle, I quit wasting time looking for more and I go practice. If I'm trying to shoot targets or groups at 1000 yards, I will continue load development until i get the best I can.

 

[FEENIX]

I still think money is better spent on a good custom action than truing a 700. When you have a "trued" 700 it is still a 700. It will never be worth what you put into it.

Agreed! Below is an extract from a gunsmith's website that a few LRH members here use ...

 

[Don A Parsons]

80% shooter to 20% rifle package all in with bells and whistles... Ha.

Buy factory rifle and don't worry about it.
Buy high tech custom action and matching bolt.
Buy a used Remmy 700 cheap and do a work over on it """if""" it's needed...

Endless options for each to pick and choose...

Life is just that simple

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I do not even mess with Remingtons anymore, they just have too many issues. But do not go thinking the smiths that true them right are trying to make money off of you. They can make more selling you a new one without even turning the lathe on.

 

[J E Custom]

Just an added comment.
How many of you have made a Perfect shot (Not close, but exactly where you were aiming) at any distance, and felt the pride in it.

The confidence in your equipment and ammo is a big part in the decision to make the shot or not. I personally get great satisfaction from hitting exactly where I was aiming (Not close).

As a smith, I understand the meaning and benefits of precision Machining so truing an action means something to me. And if I can improve the accuracy by twenty thousandths, I will because each improvement adds up the sum of accuracy.

Some may not see the improvement and others don't care or need ultimate accuracy. But as a smith and a craftsman I not only want to see the improvement I need to understand the improvements and how to repeatedly achieve them.

It is realy not that much cost to have a proper truing done and if it is much over 2 or 300 dollars you are being over charged. I personally will not build a rifle without truing, period !!!

Truing an action is just one of many areas of improvement that add up to a very accurate rifle so doing one without the others is fruitless.

Just My Opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[FEENIX]

I do not even mess with Remingtons anymore, they just have too many issues. But do not go thinking the smiths that true them right are trying to make money off of you. They can make more selling you a new one without even turning the lathe on.

BAM!

 

[bdlesh]

Has anyone ever built a rifle on a as is factory action, then after shooting to break in and get a group pattern, went and trued the action to see if there was an improvement? That would be one way to settle this......any thoughts? I know there are many with decades of gunsmith experience her that can answer this. Thanks!

 

[GunHawk]

I just had a custom rifle built by a highly respected gunsmith in Montana; a Ruger 77, tang safety in .270 Ackley Improved. I mentioned truing the action, squaring the bolt face and lapping the lugs. He told me that he would measure the action and do what was necessary to make it a rifle that I will be proud to own and proud to shoot . He stated that not all rifles/actions need to have all that work done to them, some actions are already true. From your OP you wrote that you are shooting a Remington action, "everyone" works on Remington actions, so you ought to be able to find a reliable gunsmith, at a reasonable price to work on your build for you. Because I wanted to make my build on the Ruger 77 action, I did not have that luxury. I was told, "We don't work on Rugers," or, "Rugers are not strong enough for us to work on and the receivers can crack when the barrel is tightened," or maybe you just don't like working on Rugers because you are not tooled up for the work period. I understand what you are writing about when you say that you are new to the "custom build" experience. I found this experience to be frustrating and sometimes confusing when deciding what work I wanted done and stay within my budget; but.....when the build is done it is very rewarding. I'd like to say that the caliber you have decided on (.280AI) is an excellent one, and....that decision is half the battle.

I recently picked up another Ruger 77 tang safety rifle that is sort of what I call a "beater" rifle.The rifle will be a hunting rifle and I will try to get it to shoot at its best potential. If the rifle shoots that is great, it will be along on a hunt, if something happens to my/someone's rifle it will be something that I don't mind having them use; I will not say that about all my rifles. I am not sure if I read about this company in this thread/posting, but did find it in one of the replies in the forum. The gunsmith/company is called "Ragged Hole" barrels. The company uses Wilson barrels and offers a rebarrel package for $800 that includes your action blueprinted (I'd question what that entails) with your choice of barrel contour. I don't know a whole lot about Wilson barrels, however from a 2015 posting on the forum, "Our local gunsmith thinks $200 Wilson barrels are the best buy and can sometimes match Kreigers for accuracy." When I did a search for reviews on Wilson barrels I found that there were quite a few positive reviews on them. If you run a Forum search on this site you will find some good reviews on Wilson barrels also. I've got an e-mail out to them, hopefully they will work on a Ruger 77. I think that $800 is about in the ballpark for what is offered. And.....I think that there will be others on the forum with some suggestions about gunsmithing as well. Good luck with your build.

https://raggedholebarrels.net/

Had the same problem finding someone to work on a SAKO 85 action. And I couldn't find a 2-stage trigger for it.