With the rem 700 no longer being made what your action of choice for your long range rifle ?

[dgr416]

"I don't like savage actions even though I own two of them in 260 rem that are super accurate ."

If you don't mind, I have to ask why? My first bolt rifle was a Savage 10 in .308. A very accurate rifle after torqueing the action in the stock.

I just don't like the way the savages bolt .I like the smoothness of the old ruger 77 tang safety rifles .I do like where the safety is on the savage .I already had problems with both of the savage model 10 rifles I bought they are built pretty cheap .The bolt stop broke on one And the other one won't hold the clip in .I have always been a ruger 77 guy I hate the ruger American rifles they are junky to me too .I have used my 338 win mag ruger 77 35 years no problems except for busting scopes and throat wear . They are smooth as butter and totally reliable .

 

[Jud96]

The Ruger M77 isn't a great option to build on. You're limited on magazine box length, aftermarket triggers, aftermarket stocks, and other options. They're a good hunting rifle, but I wouldn't build one or dump money into one. There's a reason everything is copied off a Remington 700. It flat out works, shoots, and has a bazillion aftermarket parts and accessories.

 

[rustyshackleford]

The Ruger M77 isn't a great option to build on. You're limited on magazine box length, aftermarket triggers, aftermarket stocks, and other options. They're a good hunting rifle, but I wouldn't build one or dump money into one. There's a reason everything is copied off a Remington 700. It flat out works, shoots, and has a bazillion aftermarket parts and accessories.

Hey everyone likes what they like. Id honestly say the M77 as it left the factory is a better action that the 700. I think the 700's just took off because they were cheap and people weren't scared to whittle on them. Same phenomenon can be witnessed in glocks and Chevrolet 350's. Ease of modification isn't necessarily an intrinsic characteristic to a quality product. If tikka offered stripped actions I think they would've overtaken Remington a good while back

 

[floyd kittrell]

Get one of the Rem clones as said above , that way you can get a Jewell trigger for it . Unfortunately Jewell does not make triggers for most other actions . JMHO

 

[Jud96]

Hey everyone likes what they like. Id honestly say the M77 as it left the factory is a better action that the 700. I think the 700's just took off because they were cheap and people weren't scared to whittle on them. Same phenomenon can be witnessed in glocks and Chevrolet 350's. Ease of modification isn't necessarily an intrinsic characteristic to a quality product. If tikka offered stripped actions I think they would've overtaken Remington a good while back

You can like what you want. The fact is, a Ruger is a cast action and they are not any better than a Remington in any way. I'm not bashing Ruger or any brand. I'm simply saying the Remington has more things going for it than a Ruger does. People wouldn't be copying Remington's if they weren't a good foundation. The Ruger M77 doesn't offer anything spectacular other than a reliable action that functions well. The trigger isn't great, the tolerances aren't amazing, it's a cast receiver, it doesn't have prefit barrels, it doesn't have a generous Mag box, its a weaker action than a Remington, it's essentially a Mauser action, and there's not much support from them. If you like them that's great. I like small block Ford's but I'm not arguing why Chevy LS engines and SBC's are more popular and better in a way.

 

[rustyshackleford]

You can like what you want. The fact is, a Ruger is a cast action and they are not any better than a Remington in any way. I'm not bashing Ruger or any brand. I'm simply saying the Remington has more things going for it than a Ruger does. People wouldn't be copying Remington's if they weren't a good foundation. The Ruger M77 doesn't offer anything spectacular other than a reliable action that functions well. The trigger isn't great, the tolerances aren't amazing, it's a cast receiver, it doesn't have prefit barrels, it doesn't have a generous Mag box, its a weaker action than a Remington, it's essentially a Mauser action, and there's not much support from them. If you like them that's great. I like small block Ford's but I'm not arguing why Chevy LS engines and SBC's are more popular and better in a way.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the Remington sintered vs a Ruger casting, the Ruger has an integral recoil lug, integral recoil lugs for the scope rings, and the Ruger is CRF? Again nicer in some ways but doesn't lend itself to modification doesn't mean inferior.

 

[Jud96]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the Remington sintered vs a Ruger casting, the Ruger has an integral recoil lug, integral recoil lugs for the scope rings, and the Ruger is CRF? Again nicer in some ways but doesn't lend itself to modification doesn't mean inferior.

The Remington is machined from hardened bar stock. The Ruger is a casting. Integral recoil lug that's on a goofy angle. And an integral lug isn't a game changer really. The built in slots for the scope rings is a good idea but limits you on scope mounting options. Finally, the CRF is overrated. I've only ever hunted with a push feed action and have never felt handicapped. The CRF are more finicky from my experience with Mausers. For dangerous game like in Africa or Grizzly bear, I can see the advantage of CRF, but I think it's way overrated 99.9% of the time. Just my opinion.

 

[rustyshackleford]

The Remington is machined from hardened bar stock. The Ruger is a casting. Integral recoil lug that's on a goofy angle. And an integral lug isn't a game changer really. The built in slots for the scope rings is a good idea but limits you on scope mounting options. Finally, the CRF is overrated. I've only ever hunted with a push feed action and have never felt handicapped. The CRF are more finicky from my experience with Mausers. For dangerous game like in Africa or Grizzly bear, I can see the advantage of CRF, but I think it's way overrated 99.9% of the time. Just my opinion.

I guess I'm thinking of the bolt handle being sintered on to the remingtons. I agree about CRF typically not being necessary and most of your points to a degree but not so much that they can be dismissed. When you buy an aftermarket action lots of those characteristics are features found on more expensive and better actions that remingtons

 

[Jud96]

I guess I'm thinking of the bolt handle being sintered on to the remingtons. I agree about CRF typically not being necessary and most of your points to a degree but not so much that they can be dismissed. When you buy an aftermarket action lots of those characteristics are features found on more expensive and better actions that remingtons

To my knowledge, there's not any thing other than the 3 position safety and claw extractor found on Montana custom actions that custom actions use from a Ruger. And the Montana is a Model 70 copy so not really anything from the Ruger. Again, there's nothing wrong with Ruger's for hunting rifles. I'm just saying, from an accuracy standpoint and feature standpoint, the Remington footprint is better. Most custom actions take a Remington footprint and improve or update things like the extractor, pinned lug, 8-40 scope mount screws, etc. Custom actions are made to better tolerances and made more consistently for the most part as well.

 

[One Hole]

For deep pockets I have been most impressed with Borden and Defiance actions. For shallower pockets most those mentioned here are fine. Living in the PNW I only use stainless actions. That eliminates some options. I wouldn't hesitate to use a good used 700 action but the way I see it a good used stainless 700 action or donor rifle is going to cost about $500 and my gunsmith will charge $200 to $300 to true it up. There are several new quality factory actions in that price range. One advantage of 700s is virtually everyone makes accessories for them and most gunsmiths know and work on them. Just my $.02

 

[dgr416]

I like the safety on the old ruger because I can shoot it like a fine double barrel .I had a rem 700 classic in 35 whelen that I missed a giant buck because of that safety .I had the same luck with the win model 70 lost a giant buck he heard the safety took off .I can pull the trigger at the same time I push the safety off on my 338 win mag .I like the savage safety but hate the floppy bolt .I do like Browning shoot a but the rugers are better to me .I shot some 3/4 inch groups at 200 yards with my 338 win mag so it's a good shooting gun .I was just wondering what action y'all are going to use because the rem 700 is gone .I had two control feed rifles both mess up a win model 70 and a ruger 77 mark II stainless which locked the bolt on the backwards position from the ejector blade .I have shot deer from 4 yards to 425 yards with this old ruger 77 tang safety 338 win mag .I just found a whole bunch of new parts to make it like new .I can't wait to have a tang safety ruger 77 in 260 rem should be a good shooter .The real rem 700 not the cheap 700 sps are super smooth I just hate that safety it's on the wrong side .I have two rem 700 in 416 rem mag they are nice but I wish for dangerous game they had the tang safety of the old ruger !

 

[Pdvdh]

The Ruger tang safety was prone to go into fire position when I carried my M77. Same with the tang safety on my Ruger single shot rifle. Also observed it happen to my hunting buddy twice, with their tang mounted safety. I liked the position of it. Didn't like the lack of a secure safety. So moved away from the Ruger tang safety rifle.

 

[xsn10s]

I never did have many rem 700 rifles but they were always super smooth untill they made the super cheap sps ones .I don't like savage actions even though I own two of them in 260 rem that are super accurate .The win model 70 is about out too because of cost .There is not much left in the way of factory actions .I am going to the good old ruger tang safety action for my next rifle a custom 260 rem with a ligilia barrel .The Browning a bolt is another choice but you never see anyone build rifles with them .

I can find plenty of Rem 700's out there, I imagine that will be true for a few years. But I also look at Howa's and Weatherby Vanguards. Savages are another I consider even though I find them rough. My M70 XTR will always stay near a Featherweight configuration. I do have a JC Higgins Mauser that a buddy offered to convert to a 7mm RM. If that doesn't happen I've considered to re-barrel it into a 26" 30-06, 280 rem, or a 6.5x55. The custom actions would get the nod but I'm on the cheap so these are my choices. I wouldn't rule out Remington just yet.

 

[Montana73]

I think if you are going to build a gun, eliminating irritating issues with 700 type actions is worth the investment. That is why I always choose Montana's Defiance models that have mounts CNC'd in to eliminate bases coming loose. When shooting magnums, this can be an issue - even with blue locative. Don't ask me how I know. You can fit any trigger, any bottom metal, and they rack smooth as glass....and if you like bolt fluting. They can come with that as well.