Rem 700 donor action?
 

Are all 700 actions the same quality? Older the better?

Thanks.

The older ones are polished a little better. Some new one have issue with where the bolt handles are attached and create “bolt click” which means it doesn’t start the extraction process properly. If I had the choice of an older one and a new one I would choose old

Thank you

I had an older700 BDL in 22-250. Great shooting gun and regret getting rid of it. I bought my old man a 700 SPS DM 30-06. It wouldn’t shoot any better than 2” groups, kicked like mule and the bolt felt like it had a wheelbarrow full of sand in it.

I'm looking for something to build a 26 nosler out of. I don't know if it's cheaper to buy a rifle for the action and then rebarrel. Seems a guy can pick up some of those 300rums for reasonable.

If it were my money I would build a 6.5-300wby.

For a “first build” a trued Rem 700 action is a good choice ... however, if it is going to be your “final build”, choose an aftermarket action. My experience is that take-off factory actions never produced the results of the latter.

Don’t be cheap
Get a custom action
;-)

Haha. I've been looking at those fierce rifles and rmr rifles. Decisions decisions.

I haven't gave to much thought on the 6.5-300wby Smokin. Seems I've got 26 nosler on the brain

What was the difference?

Few options out there for a custom action at a reasonable price. GunWerks is having a big sale right now. Also Big Horns new action is under $1000. As far as the 26 Nosler and 6.5 Weatherby go, I wouldn't do either. Burn way to much powder. If you want a fast 6.5 go with a Sherman. Mine shoots a 140 Berger at 3339 fps and it only takes 64 gr of N570 to get there. Plus the barrel will last longer than 700 rounds.

Once you get over the sticker shock and dig a lil deeper into the manufacturing process you can realize the value in a Fierce.Youre getting a production rifle that arguably rivals the quality of almost any custom build and exceeds many other customs with better components for the same cost or less.
You’d be hard pressed to do a full custom build with equivalent quality components and 0.5MOA accuracy guarantee for the same money....in fact it probly can’t be done any cheaper unless you are the Smith building a personal rifle for yourself and not factoring in any labor.

The Sherman uses a 06 case?

Yes the fierce looks like good value for the buck. Found a used one for 2200 which I'm pondering. It's chambered is 26 nosler already.

Tighter bolt-to-chamber radial clearance at lock-up, quicker lock time, don’t require truing. Some come with integral recoil lugs which increases the length of the tennnon. Some have thicker chamber walls, are thicker at the tang, and may have smaller cut-outs for the ejection port, trigger, and mag box (= stiffer).
EDIT: I had three trued 700 actions barreled with Kreigers, none came close to shooting as well as my Stiller / BAT / or Barnards. If looking for another action today, I would go KSA.

Thanks 260. Interesting

I have also found that buying a rem action, having it tuned and trued and a good trigger costs more than some customs. You can however get a pacific tool and die rem action, that is built way better and tighter with a bolt handle and trigger for cheaper than most smiths charge to do the same work.
I will never go down the road of spending the money on a used rem action again.
The next one will be a factory custom, like a Christensen Arms or Fierce.

Thanks for your input fellas. It won't be happening until spring. Gotta sell some guns first.

Yes, Kip at Pacific Tool & Gauge can set you up at a reasonable cost of something ready to go.

Given that most shooters purchasing an action for a build will eventually add more than one barrel, it is a good idea to give the recoil lug some consideration. If the action uses a sandwich style lug, it is a good idea to get it pinned to the action which adds cost. Pinning the lug insures it fits the same in the stock every time (bedded lug pocket), without endless tinkering. Several of the aftermarket actions come with pinned lugs or integral lugs. For example, my Stiller Predator has a pinned lug (I did replace the Stiller square lug with a tapered Holland) which means I can bed it into any compatible stock (Rem 700’s) and then switch it between stocks as I change over barrels. Perhaps today it will sit in a laminated VLS stock with some weight for shooting groups or sitting on a hill with a bipod .... and tomorrow it is in a feathery light Wildcat stock for walk & stalk.

Ive had about 20 custom rifles built on several different actions, Kimber, Wby Mark V, Husqvarna, Remington 700 & Model 7, Stiller, Defiance, Winchester 70, if you pick up any aftermarket action (Defiance,Stiller etc) the tolerances are superior to say a Rem 700 action, doesn't mean it will shoot better but it may and as mentioned above you won't have to have the action trued and bolt face squared,

I honestly can't say any action was a better shooter or more accurate than the next after it was trued and squared but I sure see a difference in an aftermarket barrel, don't skimp on the barrel period.

As mentioned by another poster its hard to beat the price of a Fierce Fury, you'll be hard pressed to build one for the price of that and they come with a 1/2" accuracy guarantee !

Ill give you some rough prices for a custom build, the cheapest route to go is pick up an used Kimber Montana in whichever action you need 84M, 84L or 8400 usually cost between 1200-1500, nice thing about a Kimber Montana is they have an excellent Carbon Fibre Stock which is easy to alter, an excellent adjustable trigger and an all Stainless CRF action,

order a Benchmark Barrel $600 non fluted or $725 fluted to your door

labour to True&Square action, Chamber-Crown and install barrel, paint stock and gunkote complete rifle $1000

so for about $2800-3200.00 give or take a Cpl hundred you have an excellent rifle.

On the other end of the scale I just dropped off my parts for a 280AI build

Defiance Rebel Action $2500.00
Timney Calvin Elite Trigger $ 300.00
Benchmark Fluted Barrel. $ 725.00
Wildcat Stock. $ 425.00
Sunny Hill Bottom metal. $ 380.00
Talleys. $ 75.00
Labour $1200.00 includes buttpad
total. $5605.00 and I still need a scope

You can buy a BNIB Fierce Fury for about 2800.00 taxes included

Here's a picture of a Kimber Montana 6.5-284 I just had built, it has quite a bit of work done to it, Action Slabbed, Alloy Bolt knob, lightweight trigger guard, custom hand made brake, high comb added to the stock, mag box extended
Donor rifle was $1000,
Montana Stock $300
Benchmark Barrel $600
Labour $1550
total $3450.00

http://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/...psz9vlxw5o.jpg
http://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/...pstrxs8rry.jpg

I hate to rain on a guys parade when you have your heart set on a 26 Nosler but I would tend to agree with Beeman3 as mention above in regards to the 26 Nosler or 6.5-300 Wby, Sherman has great cartridges but are Wildcat Cartridges for the most part, I do believe he has brass available now but if your not a dedicated handloader might not be the best route either.

Give Gary Eakin a call at Bighorn Sales and tell him what your thinking in regards to the 26 Nosler and he can certainly inform you of the pros and cons of that cartridge.

On another note ask him about the new (affordable) Defiance Tenacity action he has coming in, he also has some action/barrel/trigger packages with that action so maybe look at that option as well.

Thanks weatherby fan.

The first group out of my new 6.5-284 build with Factory Nosler Trophy Grade 130gr Accubonds !
http://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/...pshhqadtng.jpg

Better send it back for warranty work. Looks like the bullet coming out sideways. Lol. Just kidding. Nice gun and nice shooting.

The Sherman is based off 270 parent case. It is very impressive.

Action prices are better through big horn or rPs than at clays. Buying used is always a risk. Quality of pacific tool is sketchy at best today. Roll the dice.

Cadex and ultimatum have lower priced actions. They lack the production time of the usa counterparts like defiance and bat. Lots of great choices out there for sure.

Thanks for the info fellas. Lots of info to ponder thanks again. After sitting on the fence and swaying whatever way the wind blows I spun the bottle and ordered a Christensen mesa in 26 nosler. The ridge line peaked my curiosity but I'm not sold on the merits of a carbon fibre barrel. In my mind there is no merits in them.

Now I have to deliberate on optics. Fml