Any thing wrong with stiller actions

[X-Caveman]

I am about to pull the trigger on a custom action lr rig. Have talked to people who are having similar rifles built and it seems like stiller is losing popularity. I have no problem with their product I was just wondering if the quality is still there

Stiller is a local company for me & I like to support local small businesses. My family has 6 of their actions that we've purchased over the last 3 years. Quality is high and delivery has never been a problem. Ours are all Remington footprint actions (TAC & Predator). Three were in stock for immediate delivery directly from Stiller & three had lead times no more than 10 weeks. Last August I put my name on a SS Viper and I just got a message that it was available. For various reasons I have to pass on it, but a 5 month wait seems in line with the market for a high quality BR/ competition action. Of course, YMMV, but I recommend giving Russ @ Stiller a call to discuss what you are looking to do. It may take a few times to get him, but once you have him, you'll have his undivided attention. They just may have what fits the bill in stock, or be able to point you in the direction of one of their stocking distributers.

 

[Raythemanroe]

I gave Stiller a ring and told them what I was looking to order, The reply was we are this far out on orders so this would be your wait time..That was expected, He then said we are shipping a bunch to a reseller at the end of the month..That is where I picked it up..

 

[clowdis]

A customer brought in a Stiller Predator action that he wanted barreled for 7WSM. He purchased the bottom metal from Stiller with the action. The mag would only hold 2 down because the follower would hit on the top of the triggerguard where the boss stands up for the floorplate release. The mag was too long for the short action bottom metal. It wouldn't feed either. I did get the feed issues worked out but not the magazine issue. Stiller shouldn't be selling this combination without advising customers about the 2 down issue. Another issue that you should be aware of is the bolt binding of all the custom Remington short action copies with tight bolt clearance, not just Stillers. The longer the bolt knob you put on the handle the worse the situation becomes when you try to slam the bolt home during rapid fire or a quick reload. You can adapt and learn how to cycle the bolt but it might not work as expected the first time you use it.

 

[butchlambert]

A customer brought in a Stiller Predator action that he wanted barreled for 7WSM. He purchased the bottom metal from Stiller with the action. The mag would only hold 2 down because the follower would hit on the top of the triggerguard where the boss stands up for the floorplate release. The mag was too long for the short action bottom metal. It wouldn't feed either. I did get the feed issues worked out but not the magazine issue. Stiller shouldn't be selling this combination without advising customers about the 2 down issue. Another issue that you should be aware of is the bolt binding of all the custom Remington short action copies with tight bolt clearance, not just Stillers. The longer the bolt knob you put on the handle the worse the situation becomes when you try to slam the bolt home during rapid fire or a quick reload. You can adapt and learn how to cycle the bolt but it might not work as expected the first time you use it.

So you approached Stiller about this problem or you just took it upon yourself to re engineer the perceived problem? clowdis, I'm always curious as to how a supplier handles things like this.

 

[drop_point]

I had two Stiller actions. One I never built, so I cannot comment on that one.

The other, a Tac30 A/W, was the most accurate rifle I've owned. Like a fool, I sold it, but there were quirks that convinced me to sell it.

First, the bolt would bind when run hard. This was compounded when it was dirty or run dry. This wasn't an issue when I'd shoot F-Class, but during tactical matches, this was a deal breaker. For lots of guys it wasn't an issue at all.

Second, it didn't reliably feed from A/W magazines, but the AICS mags worked fine. I later discovered that this was due to the magazine latch needing modification--but I just ran AICS mags. It wasn't that big of a deal.

Third, I would frequently get light firing pin strikes. These rounds would easily go off on other rifles. This was on Remington factory brass that had the primer pockets squared up. If I didn't square them, this was greatly reduced but still happened. I went through a couple of different sears for Timney triggers and finally got the problem mostly cured to where it worked 98 out of 100 times.

Forth, brass would eject and bounce off my windage turret back into the action when I ran it hard it tactical matches. This caused obvious problems. My scope was rather large, and this wouldn't be an issue for lots of other scopes---but to me the scope choice was more important than the action choice. George Gardner witnessed this happen and told me the fix, which was simply cutting an angle off the M16 style extractor at 45 degrees. This took care of the problem for the most part so long as I wasn't really running the bolt hard.

All this said, my Stiller was more accurate than my current rifle by a long shot---perhaps the dimensional clearances are just too tight for field use? If you're willing to live with those quirks, you'll be completely satisfied. If not, then look elsewhere. It will depend on your discipline. My current rifle works pretty much 100% of the time, dirty, wet, muddy...and it still out shoots me.

Despite the downsides, here I am, kind of wishing I had a Stiller to build a .300 Win from for ELR shooting.

 

[Raythemanroe]

My bolts run smooth, feeding is great, I size my brass right so the pin is contacting well and I have zero trouble with ejection..Could be just luck of the draw because I know how much they are having trouble with keeping tolerances :

 

[clowdis]

A customer brought in a Stiller Predator action that he wanted barreled for 7WSM. He purchased the bottom metal from Stiller with the action. The mag would only hold 2 down because the follower would hit on the top of the triggerguard where the boss stands up for the floorplate release. The mag was too long for the short action bottom metal. It wouldn't feed either. I did get the feed issues worked out but not the magazine issue. Stiller shouldn't be selling this combination without advising customers about the 2 down issue. Another issue that you should be aware of is the bolt binding of all the custom Remington short action copies with tight bolt clearance, not just Stillers. The longer the bolt knob you put on the handle the worse the situation becomes when you try to slam the bolt home during rapid fire or a quick reload. You can adapt and learn how to cycle the bolt but it might not work as expected the first time you use it.

So you approached Stiller about this problem or you just took it upon yourself to re engineer the perceived problem? clowdis, I'm always curious as to how a supplier handles things like this.

Hey Butch. I did call Stiller but Russ and most of the other guys were at the SHOT Show. I talked at length with another guy there (I think his name was Curtis?) who assembled rifles for them and he was unaware of the problem with the WSM cartridges and the two down. I told him that I had angled the latch mounting boss on the triggerguard and that would let the follower by but the latch spring loop was now catching the follower. He said he wasn't a big fan of WSM cartridges in short actions but they would be interested in any solutions that I came up with. I may be wrong but I think they are using standard Remington bottom metal and it has a relief cut in the bottom for the standard (.308) length cartridge box to fit into it. When you extend this box for longer cartridges it hangs over the boss for the latch and that's what catches the follower. I think the solution is to use the standard box and load your WSM rounds accordingly or use the RSAUM cartridges. I don't think Stiller is any better or any worse than any of the other action manufacturers out there and I know that I'll use their actions again. But like some other things when you try to extend the design envelope it just doesn't work out sometimes.

 

[butchlambert]

clowdis, Sounds like you followed up. I personally think you are handicapping either the WSM and RSAUM using a short action receiver.

 

[clowdis]

Couldn't agree more!

 

[NCVarhtr]

Randy,
I have 5 or 6 Stiller Predator actions and one BAT. No problem at all with any of the Stillers. They shoot as well as I can and I will buy another one any time I need a new Action. I think you will be very pleased....George