Cure some ignorance won't you?

[bozo699]

boogershooter,
Yes this is a great thread, lots of stuff to learn. For a while I thought the fur was going to fly but they held it together to make up a very interesting conversation. I do understand HolyMeekrob's flustrations, a few years back I was building a new hunting rifle and was unable to get it to shoot under 1/2", I belonged to B/R central then so I started a thread on getting this rifle to shoot. The oldtimers tried to tell me it wasn't a bench rig and I should be happy with the results I was getting,long story short I thanked them and said ok eventually but in the back of my mind I was thinking I new more than they did and was going to prove it! Well several THOUSAND dollars later I had several nice shooting LR hunting rifles, but to get the accuracy I was looking for I had to break down and build my first BR rifle. I should go back on BR central and thank them old boys and admit defeat. You know there is a old saying you cant polish a turd well..... A Remington action may not be a turd but it will never be a precision Bat,Stiller, or any other of the high end actions no matter how much you polish it. I now wish I would have listen to those old boys, instead of having 4 huge gun safes stuffed clear full of semi customs I could of had one medium sized safe full of very nice custom rifles
Wayne.

 

[butchlambert]

Wayne most people wouldn't admit that. They would carry around a billfold group to prove they were right. The biggest improvement you can make on a factory rifle is a new barrel, trigger, bedding job, and good optics. Your actual improvements in accuracy after that are small and expensive.
Butch

 

[HolyMeekrob]

I now wish I would have listen to those old boys, instead of having 4 huge gun safes stuffed clear full of semi customs I could of had one medium sized safe full of very nice custom rifles

I would certainly agree it's better to have one very nice rifle than several so-so rifles. And since it seems the general opinion is that a squared factory will never shoot like a custom action, I'm giving them another look.
In my searching I've found I like the sounds of a borden, pierce, or stiller predator variant for their 700 footprint and price. I don't think I want to drop over $1000 on an action for a rifle that I won't be using in competition. I may compete one day and I would use this rifle until I felt myself talented enough to be worthy of a go-for-broke rig.
So what are the opinions on these actions? I read somewhere that the pierce is a little gritty because of the cerakote. The borden is a good looking action and they guarantee <.001 clearance when in battery. Also one other question, my original impression was that these actions are rolled off of a line, but held to tighter quality control constraints. Looking them over it seems that each action is in fact a custom job (hence the moniker custom action); not made until the customer places the order. Is that the case?

 

[bozo699]

Butch,
Thank you for the kind words and the knowledge you openly and freely share on here, it is appreciated.
Wayne.

 

[CanusLatransSnpr]

HolyMeekrob,
I can say with confidence that Pierce actions are not rolled off of a line. I have been to John's shop in Lansing and it is impressive to say the least. John is extremely knowledgable and an exceptional machinist. Hes a shooter also so he knows what we expect and look for.

Mike

 

[bozo699]

HolyMeekrob,
In my humble opinion I think if your not going to compete, which is fine you should consider what Butch and a couple of others have said, buy a good barrel, trigger, stock, and true up the action you have and you will probably have a fine shooting hunting rifle. As far as custom actions, I am sorry I have forgotten now what you were even shooting and am not going back now to look while I am writing this post, but I have a stiller predator I like real well, My friend has a Farley that's a tac driver and I am having a .338 LM built right now on a Bat, my smith already has one built and It shoots awesome, I almost can't wait. If you want to stay under 1K Barney Lawton builds a really nice action for just under that price I think, the Stiller was right @ 1K . Good luck to you my friend, and I think what ever high end action you buy you will be happy with the results it gives you. There is one other piece of advice I would like to give you, You NEED a competent gun smith, not your old buddy or the guy that builds pretty nice rifles but the guy that builds winning rifles, if you don't find that guy you ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT BE HAPPY with the results. You will have to pay for his expertise, but you will just be throwing your $ away if you don't have the right guy build the rifle for you. I am not trying to preach to you but if you take your 1k$ action to the neighbor hood mechanic that has a lathe under his carport doing gunsmithing on the side you might as well not bother with the High dollar action, this is of course JMHO. LUCK 2 U
Wayne.

 

[HolyMeekrob]

No worries, I wasn't considering sending it to anyone that hasn't been recommended on this site.

 

[butchlambert]

You might add Kelby's new Remington clone to the list. A Pierce is sure not gritty and might be the only one in the clone class that is CM. Less likely to have a galling problem. Jim Borden is very careful with what product leaves his shop. All of the mentioned are very good, quality receivers.
Butch

 

[ultramagbrion]

Faith???
The factory Remington trigger was never designed to be set to 1 lb. Back before I bought after market triggers my smith could only get them down to about 2.5 lbs safely. Now that I have owned good triggers its hard to use a factory trigger, as a matter of a fact I would much rather have a Remington action with a jewell trigger than a Bat action with a Remington trigger tuned by a expert. spend your money on a good trigger and barrel, and bullets.
Wayne.

This is what I have been told , and read , and heard ...time and time again over the past twenty-thirty years ..."DONT try and take the factory 700 trigger below 2.5 - 3 pounds "

I've done several of my own 700 triggers an got them safely to just below/about 3 lbs , and actually kind of like them there for hunting and varmint duty.