Learn me about custom actions

K

ksduckhntr

Active member
I am starting to look at custom actions for a hunting rig. There are a lot of choices and options to pick from. I would like to hear some opinions on actions and why you chose them. Are there and Control around Feed actions or are the majority push feed?
 
Majority are push feed, but you CAN find controlled round feed custom actions. Another option is to have a Win 70, Mauser 98, or CZ action blue printed.
 
You don't want one of those Dewey, they are really smooth and made to tight tolerances, do not need truing.. Like I said Dewey, stay away from these, you don't want one.. Lol...
 
For the most part, just about all of the custom actions on the market are good.

Since many custom actions use the Rem 700 footprint the easy answer is a custom action is pretty much an all around better version of a Remington model 700 with an upgraded extractor.
 
Defiance Deviant Hunter or Bighorn Would be my top choices. I have 3 or 4 builds on deviants and they are top notch. Having said that, there is nothing wrong with a trued up r700.
 
I have a Remington and a tikka semi custom and they are nice. But I'd really like to have one with the WOW factory. I don't have a CRF rifle and thought it'd be cool as well. I saw that defiance has an option to make their action CRF, and Mausingfields are as well. I like the fact a prefit savage Barrel works on the Mausingfield action allowing a swap barrel option. Plus they seem to fit Remington stocks and triggers. Which is a plus for the aftermarket category. Are no tan rifle actions anything worth looking at? Who makes an intermediate sized actin (Mauser 6.5x55 length)?
 
Bighorn TL3 is also CRF and are amazing from everything I'm hearing... My smith told me that after doing careful gauging and checking, the Bighorn and Mausingfield are made to the most consistent tolerances... But they are all great actions.
 
I have a Surgeon action on a custom build. It's a great action, I will ether have another build done on a Surgeon or Mausingfield. But.. That's just me.
 
There is a decent article in Recoil magazine detailing the specs and differences in custom rem700 pattern actions. Good read if you are in the market for one.
 
This article is a couple years old, but has good info:
http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-reviews/custom-actions/

A trued Rem 700 CAN be as smooth slick as any custom, but most are not.

I have Defiance, Nesika, GAP 7000 (Lawton), and GAP Templar. All are excellent.
I've had 1 Stiller that felt a lot like a middle of the road Rem 700.

You can't go wrong with Defiance, Nesika, or GAP; unless you want CRF...

Good luck.
 
Don't forget the Borden, they are the standard by which others are measured, IMO.

Also, just because you plunk down $1200- $1600 on a custom action does not mean that it is machined perfectly. Do your homework.

Forget Controlled round feed unless you are really, really worried about a Grizzley, elephant, or Water buffalo running over the top of you.
 
Originally Posted By: ackleymanAlso, just because you plunk down $1200- $1600 on a custom action does not mean that it is machined perfectly. Do your homework.

These words are golden and to me says it all....if for $1600 extra dollars it is not perfect and you need to be worrying about it...then why bother???
This is going to make a few guys that are those $1600 in the hole mad, but be careful about that "wow" factor....
I have barreled up several, owned a few and know several others that have owned aftermarket actions. I will be the first to say that there are no bad ones out there, but they are expensive and in all honesty and fairness don't do much for you "bang for the buck" wise. This is coming from someone who is non-objective.
The guys that own them all spent a lot of money to get there...do you really think any of them will tell the truth and admit that, "it's okay, but I really wish now that I had spent the money on a better barrel, a really good trigger or scope"??? Nope, that is absolutely not what you are going to hear, zero chance...what you will hear is them tell how it's the best, so much better than factory junk...and just how fantastic it is, but you probably wont see all that moneys worth on the target, and that to me is where it matters.
Sometimes the "wow factor" hits you right between the eyes...when you're at the range and the guy beside you out shoots your aftermarket action with a plain old 700 sporting a nice custom barrel. You and everyone else is saying, "Wow!!! You was an idiot!!!!"
 
Originally Posted By: msincThe guys that own them all spent a lot of money to get there...do you really think any of them will tell the truth and admit that, "it's okay, but I really wish now that I had spent the money on a better barrel, a really good trigger or scope"??? Nope, that is absolutely not what you are going to hear, zero chance...

When I spend big and am disappointed, I'm not shy talking about it. A lot of guys that have made precision rifles their hobby are pretty quick to complain loudly about anything less than perfect. And, know what they are looking at and when they should be. Much more so than the typical factory rifle ham and egger who every rifle they own shoots a quarter inch all day if they do their part.

The custom rifle guys I've known, all had pretty keen eyes for detail and not much tolerance for shoddy.

- DAA

 
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Originally Posted By: DAAOriginally Posted By: msincThe guys that own them all spent a lot of money to get there...do you really think any of them will tell the truth and admit that, "it's okay, but I really wish now that I had spent the money on a better barrel, a really good trigger or scope"??? Nope, that is absolutely not what you are going to hear, zero chance...

When I spend big and am disappointed, I'm not shy talking about it. A lot of guys that have made precision rifles their hobby are pretty quick to complain loudly about anything less than perfect. And, know what they are looking at and when they should be. Much more so than the typical factory rifle ham and egger who every rifle they own shoots a quarter inch all day if they do their part.

The custom rifle guys I've known, all had pretty keen eyes for detail and not much tolerance for shoddy.

- DAA

I have no doubt what you are saying is true...that's not what I am talking about though. Not disappointed, "less than perfect" and shoddy. I am talking about spending big and not getting anything extra. Take all those expensive components off of a 700, put them on a brand new Surgeon only to shoot the exact same groups. The Surgeon will still be fantastic...it has to be, after all it cost $1500.00 even though you gained nothing.

 
True enough.

But so is the flip side.

Put all that stuff on a 700 and you still have a 700 and valued accordingly. Put it on a BAT and you have a BAT which is valued accordingly.

By the time you go full monte on a 700 build and add up everything, ready to shoot, scoped, dies etc., etc., the difference between starting with a 700 and starting with a custom action isn't that much. It's still something and not trivial, but on a $5K build it's not a huge percentage either.

For me, it was always as simple as whether I had a suitable donor action in hand already, or not. If so, go ahead and roll with it. If not, order the custom.

But, that's not always necessarily smart, either. I have a Nesika T repeater that I wouldn't do the same way again. Didn't have anything suitable on the shelf. Had a couple single shot Nesika's from back when Glenn was making them in WA that are absolutely flawless and the foundations for extremely accurate rifles (genuine .250 aggs, not any of this shot one group one time bullcrap).

Decided to order a Nesika repeater for the project. Long story made short, and I've shared this with anyone who has asked, I wouldn't buy another Dakota/Nesika. It shoots great, but no better than a blueprinted 700 would. And for the extra money, it just isn't "that" nice, compared to the older Poulsbo Nesika's I own. Fine detail machining isn't as smooth. What I really did not like though, communication, customer service and delivery time vs. promised were all terrible dealing with Dakota. Very unsatisfactory experience. Don't ever want to deal with those people again.

The finished rifle does shoot like a house afire. Pleasing to the eye and all that. And if I ever wanted to part it out I could get a lot more out of it than a blueprinted 700. But, if I had that particular project to do over again, knowing what I know now, I would not have ordered that Nesika.

- DAA
 
I would never start out doing a custom again without using a custom clone action. doing a custom should be something your proud of and doing it on a remington 700 is just plain boring. not to mention what in the world is a "trued" 700 anyways. for all anyone knows the gunsmith doing the "truing" could have made it worse. if I had to build on a 700 I would rather start out with a 700 that wasn't monkeyed with. There in lies the problem you will never get your costs back out of a 700. If you had just used a top knotch like a defiance or Bat machine you will always be able to recoup your money on the action part of the build.

10 or 15 years ago people were still more hung up on controlled round feed actions. As time has went by these type of actions and the people that demand them tend to be dwindling. used to be people would put hundreds of $ into a tired old military mauser with a bolt when extended all the way out would wag like a big labs tail. I never understood that. I think for a precision rifle a CRF action isn't the way to go I think its more difficult to get as tight of tolerances on. most likely your not engaging lions, cape buffalo, or the taliban. in my mind stick with a push fed action.

I personally like actions that are stiffer. surgeon, bat and defiance are the only ones I know of that integrate the lug, and pic rail into the action. this makes for an extremely stiff action and a bomb proof scope mount. surgeon I don't think is filling new orders, Bat machine is a year out, bruno may have some, I personally might give the defiance deviant a try next time around. they have some pretty cool options with that one even what they call a hunter model which trims the top of the action but still ties it all together.
 
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