entry level custom vs trued 700

[urbanrifleman]

I have had the Stiller and Defiance action in my hands, I didn't notice they were "smoother" than a Remington. Like... at all. Just sayin...

 

[swd]

I have had the Stiller and Defiance action in my hands, I didn't notice they were "smoother" than a Remington. Like... at all. Just sayin...

When I’m behind any of my custom actions that’s the first thing I notice.. Different people notice different things.

Do you drive an optioned out car or truck or are you happy with roll up windows? With a few quite nice custom actions now under $1K especially with the new Bat coming out they are getting very affordable.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

The name on the action doesnt matter. If the action is straight and square, ignition energy sufficient and consistent, lug contact equal, and bolt fit decent, its going to shoot very well. There can be issues with any action. Some worse and more often than others. Some can take a lot of work to get them to the top level, others its minor tweaking. If the platform is holding the rifle back like in the case of a hunting rifle it may be hard to see the difference. I am sent rifles that will not shoot competitively, most of the time its a relatively small issue in the action. I am probably more surprised by how big of a difference a minor issue can make than you would think. Stupid little things that you can hardly believe would show up on target. Now, I do understand that in the context of a varmint rifle this may not be much of an issue. But if the OP is open to buying a custom, has the money, and wants to try for the best accuracy he can, then your CHANCES of getting a great shooter out of the box are better with one of the better customs. Im not knocking 700s at all, and the single shots they sell make a great little varmint rifle. I would just use it out of the box though, I cant see sinking much money into them.

 

[Spike A]

The name on the action doesnt matter. If the action is straight and square, ignition energy sufficient and consistent, lug contact equal, and bolt fit decent, its going to shoot very well. There can be issues with any action. Some worse and more often than others. Some can take a lot of work to get them to the top level, others its minor tweaking. If the platform is holding the rifle back like in the case of a hunting rifle it may be hard to see the difference. I am sent rifles that will not shoot competitively, most of the time its a relatively small issue in the action. I am probably more surprised by how big of a difference a minor issue can make than you would think. Stupid little things that you can hardly believe would show up on target. Now, I do understand that in the context of a varmint rifle this may not be much of an issue. But if the OP is open to buying a custom, has the money, and wants to try for the best accuracy he can, then your CHANCES of getting a great shooter out of the box are better with one of the better customs. Im not knocking 700s at all, and the single shots they sell make a great little varmint rifle. I would just use it out of the box though, I cant see sinking much money into them.

So let’s take accuracy out Of the equation , if some one asks what’s the first thing you notice about a custom? Or what’s the pros and cons of them?

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Bats and Bordens are timed, so the open/close cycle on them is not even in the same league as a 700. They are much smoother. There are also options like integral lug and rail with is nice as well. Repeaters are cut for extend box magazines which is necessary for most of the longer magnum cases to be throated correctly. Single shots have coned bolts for much smoother feeding and they come with sako extractors that will actually eject the short br or ppc case reliably.

 

[mike a]

You could just screw a Remage prefit in 6BR on and you will think you just turned your rifle into a 5000 custom.

 

[johnfred1965]

I posted one like on this thread, although there are many great opinions. I especially respect Alex's input as a top shelf gunsmith. That said, the man has a rifle with an action that apparently functions well. It may not have perfect extraction or exact fit of the firing pin, but it it a useable action. If he is not looking for benchrest accuracy, his out of pocket for a basic truing is only about $250. As said, if he wants to sell it, it is still a Rem, but while he owns it, he will have piece of mind that any major misalignment has been corrected. I"m a cheapskate without much disposible income, so I see the difference between truing his action, buy and truing an unknown Rem, and going the custom route. If he can take a decent varmint rifle and for a little cash, make it a great varmint rifle, I say do that, and if you really want a custom rifle, make that another project for another time and budget.

 

[JFrank]

Theres a few remington footprint copies that are good and a few that arent. Gotta figure out which one you want

This is exactly right . I would also suggest asking for advice from a rifle builder like DS and leave my ego in the truck.
j

 

[dtucker]

I would always tell somebody if they can go custom due it. It is the satisfaction and confidence you get when you build something your way. The only problem I see going custom is you will never go back. It is the never ending rabbit hole.

 

[Evan]

I understand I don’t “need “ a custom action for what I am doing ... but I will say it’s something I’ve always wanted, and thought maybe why not..

There is no reason more valid than that. If you can afford it, then do it! Corvettes are just as fast as a Ferrari, but that ignores one of the primary reasons that people want a Ferrari. It's the experience it provides.

 

[jelenko]

You could if you want but many thousands of them out there and never been an issue. I know a lot of match shooters that use them and no issues. I have a TL3 action coming in next week and have two barrels sitting here waiting for it. Not concerned in the least bit.

Understand.
For me, I just gotta make sure it's right - leave all my assumptions at the door.

 

[Spike A]

An older gentleman I learned much of my reloading from told me once...Good shooting rifle is like sex... what you have might be the best... but you don’t know if you never try anything else ...

if I have the funds and am willing... would there be a reason to not go custom?

 

[geraldgee]

So let’s take accuracy out Of the equation , if some one asks what’s the first thing you notice about a custom? Or what’s the pros and cons of them?

The 4F’s- fit, finish, feel, and function

 

[jelenko]

Hmm. I just remembered an issue I had with the Remington bolt - the cross bolt pin that holds the firing pin in. It took quite a bit of pounding to get it out and the devil to get it back in. Often the cross bolt pin was broken. It was always bent.

 

[Rob01]

An older gentleman I learned much of my reloading from told me once...Good shooting rifle is like sex... what you have might be the best... but you don’t know if you never try anything else ...

if I have the funds and am willing... would there be a reason to not go custom?

Nope. None at all.

 

[Rob01]

Understand.
For me, I just gotta make sure it's right - leave all my assumptions at the door.

Well you could buy sets of go and no go gauges but after using them a few times you will put them up for sale. LOL.

A little story from a couple weeks ago. A friend with a TL3 didn’t have the handloaded ammo to shoot a match as he couldn’t get primers so he borrowed a barrel from a friend’s rifle in another caliber he had factory ammo for and screwed it on his rifle and used it for a two day match. Zero issues.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Of course, some people buy a Porsche 911 Carrera Turbo and drive them from stop light to stop light...

Shrug. Eh. Its America...

 

[dbaird]

So i would like to start off by saying i don't want this to turn into a debate about custom vs a trued action... how ever that being said i am nervous about the lower priced customs and weather they are worth the extra money over a tured 700.. Let me back up a hair to the beginning that is leading me down this road..

I have a r700 in 22-250, lapped lugs, jewel trigger, aluminum bedding block stock... the current barrel is a factory 700 with a 1-14 twist... its not a bad/ inaccurate rifle.. however my plan from point of purchase was to rebarrel it into a heavy twist 22-250AI to shoot 75-85 grns....

This is where the story really begins... my first initial plan was to go ahead and do a remage barrel. than i started talking to a few fellow shooters.. and said well if you want it to last more than 1000 rds you should seriously consider a cut rifled barrel, it "should" last 30-40% longer... ok .. well there isntt alot of options to cut rifled remage barrel.. so down im looking at getting it cut and shouldered and installed, ok fine ... But than i talked to a few shooting buddies again... and we were talking about barrel life... and they said well you have been wanting a 6mm (the 6xc to be exact) for a long time... why not just rebarrel it to that, you could shoot your 75gr bullets for varmint hunting, but throw some heavies at it for lr shooting ( i end up doing about 50/50 with most of my rifles..) and in the end you will have at least double the barrel life. I say ok.. that is actually a fairly smart move i wont lie... so i start chasing that rabbit...

This is where I start going a little crazy... So if i want to build a nice lr shooting Gun off of this factory action... i know i would be best to either screw on a barrel... or get it trued first if i really want to squeeze the accuracy out of it ( which of course i do).. well geez if im to get it trued... by the time i do that i could sell this rifle and put that money towards what i would call an entry level custom, which is r700 foot print so i could reuse my stock/trigger which alone saves a boat load up front. So i started reading of course about the lower end customs... and i see many people stating they aren't much better than a trued 700...

So FINALLY the question... is a entry level custom really worth the 3-400 extra over the trued 700? I am a little taken aback by the back and forth that is out there so i wanted a few opinions from some of you more experienced fellows out there and your take on the situation..... any advice besides bashing one side or the other would be greatly appreciated...

Spike

I have several Remington rifles that Dan Dowling built for me ( 6Br-/.223/.30-06/). These shoot just as well as my custom actions (Hall- Nesika),with way less money. If you trade rifles often get custom-if you plan on keeping it go Remington.

 

[Evan]

An older gentleman I learned much of my reloading from told me once...Good shooting rifle is like sex... what you have might be the best... but you don’t know if you never try anything else ...

if I have the funds and am willing... would there be a reason to not go custom?

Now you can ask yourself the question: "What options and configuration do I want?"

Based on no knowledge of how you like to shoot or how you intend to set up this rifle, I'll offer that for shooting from a bench, I REALLY like Right bolt, Left Load, Drop Port configuration.

Of course, some people buy a Porsche 911 Carrera Turbo and drive them from stop light to stop light...

Shrug. Eh. Its America...

Hey, if they like the feel of the car, the sound of the engine, the looks they get pulling up at the vallet of their favorite restaurant, then mission accomplished. Don't have to go fast to enjoy a well engineered driving experience, or as often the case - to get the feeling of privilege at having bought "the expensive one". When you really start to question their sanity is when they've buy the masochism special, the GT3 RS, to daily drive around the city.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Now you can ask yourself the question: "What options and configuration do I want?"

Based on no knowledge of how you like to shoot or how you intend to set up this rifle, I'll offer that for shooting from a bench, I REALLY like Right bolt, Left Load, Drop Port configuration.


Hey, if they like the feel of the car, the sound of the engine, the looks they get pulling up at the vallet of their favorite restaurant, then mission accomplished. Don't have to go fast to enjoy a well engineered driving experience, or as often the case - to get the feeling of privilege at having bought "the expensive one". When you really start to question their sanity is when they've buy the masochism special, the GT3 RS, to daily drive around the city.

Here in Tulsa, its is the obligatory $65k monster 4x4 truck to drive back and forth to work... hahahaha