Blue printed 700 vs B, C, D etc...

[TradLife406]

I'm throwing pennies into a build fund for my first "LR" gun.

I was planning on just rebarreling my Remmy VSF 22-250 into 260 Terminator. Then some people told me that by the time you blueprint and true up a factory 700 action, you're sniffing custom action territory.

So are factory 700 actions junk? The barrel on that rifle is about toast so I'd like to do something with it besides just let it collect dust.

What's the cost of blueprinting an action? I saw Defective Edge says $200 which isn't bad. Is this right?

Now option B is probably to buy a Tikka or a Savage for the price of a custom action and just shoot the chit out of it. Then rebarrel it to the caliber I want later on. Is this more practical on a budget vs buying a custom action? The Tikka seems like a nice action. I almost bought one for 750 today.

Now customs... I have looked a little. Ouch!!! Im guessing it's a cry once kinda deal? They have zero misses and will shoot a single hole at 1500 yards???
But all jokes aside what should I look at? I'd like the option to change bolt faces and the built in lug looks like a good idea. Any ideas?

I'm trying to do this on a budget without a credit card... Probably mission impossible. Especially when I see my long range buddies drop a cool five grand or more on a single rifle a couple times a year.

Thanks!

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[Rob5589]

I never had the dough to lay out for a custom action so I used trued 700's. Never blueprinted, and I have no idea what that would entail. Anyway, with a perfectly cut chamber, which is the most important part IMO, my guns would shoot as good as I could, usually around .3 moa.
Custom actions do offer some great features like milled in rails, smoother feeding, better ejectors, bolt releases, built in lugs, etc. Really depends on how much you are willing to spend for what return.

 

[WeiserBucks]

This is good advice

Also consider the cartridge you want to use. Ive never used a 260 Term but it may be far from ideal in a short action.

 

[TradLife406]

This is good advice

Also consider the cartridge you want to use. Ive never used a 260 Term but it may be far from ideal in a short action.

It's basically a 260 Ackley from what I can tell.

So what's the difference between truing and blue printing? It's not the same?

Definitely want to to this on a budget.

Now to go a little off topic, carbon vs steel?
It'll be a prairie hunting rifle. So I will be carrying it up and down coulees all day. But I also want to shoot it a lot. The range and prairie dogs.

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[WeiserBucks]

Based on my quick research on the 260 Term, looks like it'll fit in a short action, possibly requiring a longer mag box.

Truing vs blueprinting is essentially the same thing, just different verbiage used by different people. I personally think it's worth the cost if you're dead set on a factory Rem action.

Carbon vs SS barrel is going to come down to what you want to spend. Carbon looks cool and is pretty light. SS can be fluted to weigh less than carbon and costs less. I own both, both will be accurate.

 

[B23]

Some gunsmiths won't give you any accuracy guarantee on the build if the action isn't trued/blueprinted. I have many semi customs built on Rem 700's from multiple different gunsmiths and for me having the action trued is just cheap insurance.

You can definitely save yourself some money building on a Rem 700, especially if you already own one, but IMO the key to saving yourself money is keeping the action as stock as possible. Spend the money to have it trued/blueprinted but if you want to keep it a "budget build" don't spend the extra for a Sako or M16 extractor, side bolt release, different bolt knob, fluted bolt, or anything else that you really don't need. If you want all of those things in an action at that point you'll be money ahead going with a custom action.

If you go with something like Shawn's 260 Terminator on a SA 700 then you'll want to go extended mag box which will add a little cost to the build. Another option would be to go 6.5 Creedmoor and have Shawn +P the chamber. It won't shoot quite as fast as his 260 Terminator but I don't think a 6.5CM +P is any slouch either.

 

[wildwilderness]

If you are on a budget stay on the budget.

The best bang for the buck is a factory 700 action, usually shoots well enough - .5 moa with custom loads and not “trued”, get a steel barrel (only advantage carbon wrapped is weight vs stiffness ratio) probably a #3, get a nice stock and trigger. Learn to bed it yourself if it doesn’t shoot how you like it.

You can probably put it together for the following costs if you can find the parts

700 action- 400
Barrel + mount to action 500
Stock- 300
Trigger 150

-1350

you can buy a really nice rifle that will do exactly the same thing for probably half that cost..... and a 6.5 PRC will probably out perform that wildcat.

 

[TradLife406]

Some gunsmiths won't give you any accuracy guarantee on the build if the action isn't trued/blueprinted. I have many semi customs built on Rem 700's from multiple different gunsmiths and for me having the action trued is just cheap insurance.

You can definitely save yourself some money building on a Rem 700, especially if you already own one, but IMO the key to saving yourself money is keeping the action as stock as possible. Spend the money to have it trued/blueprinted but if you want to keep it a "budget build" don't spend the extra for a Sako or M16 extractor, side bolt release, different bolt knob, fluted bolt, or anything else that you really don't need. If you want all of those things in an action at that point you'll be money ahead going with a custom action.

If you go with something like Shawn's 260 Terminator on a SA 700 then you'll want to go extended mag box which will add a little cost to the build. Another option would be to go 6.5 Creedmoor and have Shawn +P the chamber. It won't shoot quite as fast as his 260 Terminator but I don't think a 6.5CM +P is any slouch either.

Good to know! I should just call Shawn and have him quote the whole job, rebarreling and truing.

That'd be good too! There's actually a lot of Creed ammo laying around.

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[TradLife406]

If you are on a budget stay on the budget.

The best bang for the buck is a factory 700 action, usually shoots well enough - .5 moa with custom loads and not “trued”, get a steel barrel (only advantage carbon wrapped is weight vs stiffness ratio) probably a #3, get a nice stock and trigger. Learn to bed it yourself if it doesn’t shoot how you like it.

You can probably put it together for the following costs if you can find the parts

700 action- 400
Barrel + mount to action 500
Stock- 300
Trigger 150

-1350

you can buy a really nice rifle that will do exactly the same thing for probably half that cost..... and a 6.5 PRC will probably out perform that wildcat.

Hahah that's what I'm wondering lol. Just buy a Tikka and be done with it! Or a Browning.

But I don't think practical/thrifty are really terms for long range shooting.

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[wildwilderness]

Hahah that's what I'm wondering lol. Just buy a Tikka and be done with it! Or a Browning.

But I don't think practical/thrifty are really terms for long range shooting.

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Yeah, I do have a full custom that is really nice, but hard to justify the cost...

I have put a few together with a Remage nut but I have been able to justify it for left handed stainless, compact rifles for kids, and other custom applications.

i have been tempted to go the wildcat route as well, but have been too practical this far to spend the extra time and $ to chase the potential 2% performance increase.

Looks like your solution is to up your disposable income

 

[83cj-7]

The “cheapest action” to build is the one you already own. I have “built” over a dozen customs. Mostly 700s but a few Tikkas as well. I have the action/barrel work done at a smith and then I do all the stock work and Cerakote. While a custom action is nice, most accuracy comes from the quality of the smith and the 3 B’s (Barrels, brass, bullets). Just for reference my smith charges $150 to true and action. Remember, you only need to true and action once. I will tell you that I have built 4 rifles on Tikka actions and while all were checked, my smith only “trued” one of them, but only because it had to be re-faced for the barrel I wanted to use.

 

[WRO]

Tikka's are a better starting platform than a 700, if you're planning for resale, get a custom over a trued 700.

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[Rob5589]

The “cheapest action” to build is the one you already own. I have “built” over a dozen customs. Mostly 700s but a few Tikkas as well. I have the action/barrel work done at a smith and then I do all the stock work and Cerakote. While a custom action is nice, most accuracy comes from the quality of the smith and the 3 B’s (Barrels, brass, bullets). Just for reference my smith charges $150 to true and action. Remember, you only need to true and action once. I will tell you that I have built 4 rifles on Tikka actions and while all were checked, my smith only “trued” one of them, but only because it had to be re-faced for the barrel I wanted to use.

Interesting enough, I was told by a smith I shot with the only actions that generally didn't need truing were Tikka/Sako. This was several years ago before Tikkas had any real traction in the game.

 

[83cj-7]

Rob,
Sounds like your smith and mine have similar thoughts on the Tikkas. I think they are great actions and probably won’t build another 700 unless it’s on an action I already own.

 

[jlaner0408]

Interesting enough, I was told by a smith I shot with the only actions that generally didn't need truing were Tikka/Sako. This was several years ago before Tikkas had any real traction in the game.

This is the biggest reason why I hope Tikka chambers the 6.5 PRC this year. My plan is to get a new Tikka in that, shoot it until the barrel is toast, then rebarrel to 7 saum or some other 7mm short action round built off the Tikka magnum bolt face to keep the cost of a full custom build down. Then again, if they just chamber some in 280ai I’d be happy too.

I think I need to just make the jump into something so I quit overthinking things and waffling back and forth on possible chamberings haha

 

[Smalljawbasser]

Lr means different things to different people. How far ya wanting to shoot?

ive built and bought a pile. I’d never spend the money to “blueprint” an action. I would buy a real stainless steel rem 700 and have a good gunsmith chamber a #3 blank from any of a dozen manufacturers and go kill stuff.

a good trigger and a good bedded stock are way more important to me than a blueprinted or custom action.

put your time and money into that and load development.

just my $.02

 

[Cahunter805]

You already have the 700 action so for a budget build I’d stick with that. There are many different views of what “truing/blueprinting” an action is. If you’re on a strict budget I’d have the face of the action trued and use a quality recoil lug. If you want to spend a little more and have the lugs cut, bolt face trued and action threads cut there’s nothing wrong with that. Keep in mind a quality chamber job and how concentric it is IMO are much more important.
I’d probably go with the 6.5creed over the 260 also.

 

[TradLife406]

You already have the 700 action so for a budget build I’d stick with that. There are many different views of what “truing/blueprinting” an action is. If you’re on a strict budget I’d have the face of the action trued and use a quality recoil lug. If you want to spend a little more and have the lugs cut, bolt face trued and action threads cut there’s nothing wrong with that. Keep in mind a quality chamber job and how concentric it is IMO are much more important.
I’d probably go with the 6.5creed over the 260 also.

Why the Creed?

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[Cahunter805]

Why the Creed?

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The 260/260 terminator with heavier bullets usually needs a wyatts box or DBM setup. The creed runs in a standard box and ammo is easier to get.

 

[TradLife406]

The 260/260 terminator with heavier bullets usually needs a wyatts box or DBM setup. The creed runs in a standard box and ammo is easier to get.

Good to know! I was thinking about going to IA mag setup. Would that help? Probably only will be shooting 130-140s.

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