Random experience building with customs and working on Remingtons. I’m not a professional, just a very devoted hobbyist
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For all practical purposes, there is little reason to mess with a Remington action. The gains made are barely measurable, arguably any progress that is made over factory is due to the addition of the custom barrel.
A typical action truing job is done a couple of different ways, but the end result is square face, lug abutments, and many dive into truing the threads. Typically by the time the smith gets done whittling away on both the bolt and the receiver, all primary case extraction is gone (if you decide to get one done and the smith says they don’t need to address primary extraction and timing....say thanks and move on). So we get everything perfectly square, move and clock the bolt handle to address primary extraction, but the bolt is now wobbling up and down .015 or more. So further down the rabbit hole we go, reaming the raceway, bushing the bolt and the firing pin hole, or take your chances with a new $$$ PTG bolt.
So yes, your friend is right. To properly true an Remington it will cost as much as a custom when you figure the value of the stock action. There are some nice customs out there for $1K or less. The Ragged Hole guy is selling what he calls a Hell Betty (I think it’s a Defiance?) for $995.
An accuracy guarantee is a dubious claim. What exactly does that mean? How can a smith be held to a .5 guarantee not knowing the shooter, scope, or the ammo? What kind of stock is it in and who did the stock work? Salesmanship at its best.
The Tikka is a nice action. The custom smiths like to set the action face back and put on a Remington recoil lug. I’m not sure that it’s necessary, Tikka doesn’t feel that it is, and they shoot really well right out of the gate.
Anyway, yeah...save for a bit longer and get a custom action if you want a custom rifle. Or, rebarrel your 700. Either way you’ll probably end up with a good shooter if you get a good barrel.
... For all practical purposes, there is little reason to mess with a Remington action. The gains made are barely measurable, arguably any progress that is made over factory is due to the addition of the custom barrel.
A typical action truing job is done a couple of different ways, but the end result is square face, lug abutments, and many dive into truing the threads. Typically by the time the smith gets done whittling away on both the bolt and the receiver, all primary case extraction is gone (if you decide to get one done and the smith says they don’t need to address primary extraction and timing....say thanks and move on). So we get everything perfectly square, move and clock the bolt handle to address primary extraction, but the bolt is now wobbling up and down .015 or more. So further down the rabbit hole we go, reaming the raceway, bushing the bolt and the firing pin hole, or take your chances with a new $$$ PTG bolt.
So yes, your friend is right. To properly true an Remington it will cost as much as a custom when you figure the value of the stock action. There are some nice customs out there for $1K or less. The Ragged Hole guy is selling what he calls a Hell Betty (I think it’s a Defiance?) for $995.
An accuracy guarantee is a dubious claim. What exactly does that mean? How can a smith be held to a .5 guarantee not knowing the shooter, scope, or the ammo? What kind of stock is it in and who did the stock work? Salesmanship at its best.
The Tikka is a nice action. The custom smiths like to set the action face back and put on a Remington recoil lug. I’m not sure that it’s necessary, Tikka doesn’t feel that it is, and they shoot really well right out of the gate.
Anyway, yeah...save for a bit longer and get a custom action if you want a custom rifle. Or, rebarrel your 700. Either way you’ll probably end up with a good shooter if you get a good barrel.
