The Right Action
- Thread starter onelastshot
- Start date
Brians356
Silver $$ Contributor
If greasepaint is too messy and time consuming, you could go find a tattoo artist. Go full body, and hunt nekkid in summer. But girls might follow you home, could get awkward.
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I’m a fan of CRF actions, so...
ARC Mausingfield if you aren’t hung up on having a 3 position safety
FNchester if you are.
ARC Mausingfield if you aren’t hung up on having a 3 position safety
FNchester if you are.
NCVarhtr
Gold $$ Contributor
I have BAT, Stiller and several other custom Actions. I have two Defiance Deviant actions and a Rebel. I really like the Defiance Deviant the best and have shot the best groups in my life with that Action. Several others are good or great but I don't believe that any of them are better that the Defiance Deviant. You will like it a lot.
I agree wholeheartedly on the Mausers and the pre-64 Win 70's. One thing that is often overlooked for hunting guns is the safety. Most people load a round at the beginning of the day and unload it at the end of the day, relying on the safety to work if the gun is dropped while in an elevated stand or similar. I much prefer safeties on my hunting guns to directly engage the firing pin instead of just keeping the trigger from firing. The original Mauser safety locks the firing pin as does the pre-64 Win 70, maybe the post-64's also I have never looked closely, the Mark II Ruger M77's also lock the firing pin.
I think locking the firing back is more important for most situations than controlled round feeding.
urbanrifleman
Site $$ Sponsor
I have lots of custom guns and I love my Ruger VT I bedded it and added a ten oz Rifle Basixs trigger. I have had three of them. Best walk around varminter ever!!
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You say this is a 'hunting' rifle. Does that mean 22-24' barrel? While I love the Borden's, Kelbly's, Defiance, etc, for a hunting rifle in the 6.5lb range, I'd just put together a good light rifle on a Model 7, 700 SA, Win 70, etc.... Lightweight stock, Trigger Tech trigger (on the 7 or 700) and be done with it. You'll have a great handling rifle that'll shoot 1/2 MOA or damnded close to it and how much better will a tight tolerance action be? I might be persuaded to go with the Kelbly Atlas or TL as they are great actions with some nice features, but my 'ultimate' HUNTING rifle is not the same as my 'ultimate' precision/target rifle. Two very different animals. Hell, I'd strongly consider a Tikka action as they are smooth as any, and light too. I've never rebarrelled a Tikka that didn't shoot awesome afterwards (they shot pretty good before too).
Interesting, though not surprising that people on this board are recommending a benchrest action for a hunting rifle.
Personally, I would want an action that has been designed to be resilient in less than ideal conditions. Not an action designed to go from the safe, to the covered bench, then back to the safe again. No doubt these bench rest actions are incredible actions, but not the best tool for a hunting rig that is going to see adverse conditions.
Personally, I would look at an ARC Mausingfield (ARC is also producing a special limited edition hunting version of their Mausingfield available through LRI), Lone Peak, Impact has a hunting version of their action coming out in the near future, Defiance, etc.
Personally, I would want an action that has been designed to be resilient in less than ideal conditions. Not an action designed to go from the safe, to the covered bench, then back to the safe again. No doubt these bench rest actions are incredible actions, but not the best tool for a hunting rig that is going to see adverse conditions.
Personally, I would look at an ARC Mausingfield (ARC is also producing a special limited edition hunting version of their Mausingfield available through LRI), Lone Peak, Impact has a hunting version of their action coming out in the near future, Defiance, etc.
Agreed. The Lone Peak Razor fit the bill for me. I will use their action on my next build as well.
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
I have found that some of these actions that are designed for "adverse" conditions have missed some serious design aspects related to accuracy that would not have happened if they came out of the BR world. I want my hunting actions made by a manufacturer that has proven themselves in competition. Defiance actions are just as tight as a Bat for example, there is nothing in the design of a Defiance that would make them any more reliable than a Bat or Borden. Its how they are marketed that would lead you to believe that. Any of them mentioned are extremely reliable and will make a fine hunting action.
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It's going to be a 24 inch barrel.
I've decided; it's going to be a Borden action, a Hart barrel, a McMilan Edge Stock and a Timney trigger. I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what they want for a deposit.
Admittedly the Defiance is not the best example - my previous PRS rifle had a Defiance action, and that rifle really struggled in dusty conditions. I've had it lock up on me in matches a few times. I have a few friends with Defiance actions which also have had field reliability issues. Perhaps I shouldn't have included them in my list, though others seem to make them work. Some (such as Terry Cross) say the Defiance's are perfectly field reliable if spec'ed properly (turned down bolt, etc.).
My latest PRS rifle has a Mausingfield action. Night and day difference between the Mausingfield and my previous Defiance on field reliability. Lone Peak's and Impact's eat up the fine dust as well - it's fairly impressive how well they do. Surgeon's are another action that seem to function well in dust.
Some actions definitely work better than others in some conditions - that I know first hand. It was aggravating being at multiple matches where I would struggle with my action and others around me didn't have any issues. I had to worry about my action functioning, all they had to think about was shooting. I've never ran a BAT or Borden, so I can't say for certainty that they would or wouldn't work as well as some other actions in adverse conditions. What I do know is that you never see them in field competitions such as PRS or NRL - perhaps its a marketing thing, perhaps its ignorance amongst the PRS/NRL crowd, or maybe it's a reliability thing.
I was at a 2 day match with my Mausingfield a few years ago.
The wind was so annoying, 13 mph was prevailing and gusts to 25 mph! Half the stages were prone off the bipod and the fine northern AZ dust was getting into everything.
That action ate dust like no other I've ever seen! It seemed like the only actions in our squad that ran well were these.
When I got home I literally rinsed the rifle in the shower, it was that dirty!
I can complain that the bolt lift is a little stiffer than some actions but that's all.
The wind was so annoying, 13 mph was prevailing and gusts to 25 mph! Half the stages were prone off the bipod and the fine northern AZ dust was getting into everything.
That action ate dust like no other I've ever seen! It seemed like the only actions in our squad that ran well were these.
When I got home I literally rinsed the rifle in the shower, it was that dirty!
I can complain that the bolt lift is a little stiffer than some actions but that's all.
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
I am aware of some places that have some nasty dirt that seems to jam up just about anything in the PRS game. Hunting is not run and gun type of shooting and most of the time you only take or two shots. I dont baby a hunting rifle but Im also not running a timed course with it. I do think Surgeon and Curtis Custom make a good action when a looser bolt fit is wanted. But for hunting its not needed IMO.
Alex have you ever had your hands on a Lone Peak?
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
Yes Sir.
I ran a Borden Mountaineer, the tighter toleranced RR model (not the PRS model) at 6-7 matches last year and never had one issue. We had rain, cold, wind, dust from dried corn/bean fields, two day matches, etc...never an issue. I have not shot in that wet red clay stuff yet though. Most couldn’t believe how smooth the damn thing was. I just shook my head when shooters would brag about how smooth their actions were and they weren’t even close to the Borden or even remotely timed, I won’t even begin to mention their names. Probably the most popular PRS action handled like a clunker in my eyes. I’ll stick with Borden.
What are your thoughts on them? Specifically the Fuzion
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
I like the defiance rebel, stiller predator and of course the good ole rem 700 for hunting.
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