which action to use?

[cowboy717]

hello, i'm a newbie here and i absolutely love the site. alot of info. my question is which action would be best to use for a begining builder. i am wanting to try my hand at building a varmint/tactical/longrange rifle. been already looking for calibers and i think its gonna be around the 6.5, either 260AI, 6.5 lapua, and the 6.5x284. maybe even a 243AI.
i am familar with remington 700s. anyway to use the cheaper 770 or is it just junk. also been intersted in savage, howa, and even old mauser 98's.
thank you
site is great!!
Daric

 

[Loupeznik]

I can't answer your question, but I have one to add:

What about .260 Rem? I understand it has increased barrel life compared to the other cartridges in that same caliber.

 

[savet06]

Daric,
If you are going to be building it yourself, meaning that you will be installing the barrel, trigger, etc... then the savage would be the way to go IMHO. There are plenty of sources out there that will guide you exactly how to do it right. You will need some specific tools to do the headspacing and barrel nut removal.
If you are not going to be doing the building yourself, I would recommend...the savage. I think that for the money, and even up against customs 3x as expensive you can't beat that action.
If the savage isn't for you, you may want to check out the Stiller predator/tac, Lawton, or surgeon,a bit more than the first two) line of actions. You will end up spending just as much on a trued Remington and still not have the quality inherent in one of the customs.
Really depends on how much money you want to spend. Buy the best you can afford the first time. Trust me.
Mike