Which action to buy

[B_Reynolds_AK]

That really only speaks to the "smoothness" of the Defiance though. And even then it seems like another poster in this thread feels his AnTi is smoother than his Tikkas so there appears to be no agreement.

Perhaps on a clean, dry action. However get the action wet and dirty, like on a true backcountry hunt, and then try and run the AnTi fast, especially with a little sideways pressure, like could be introduced from being in a field position. The bolt bind is very real in that situation.

 

[khuber84]

Bat igniter short action, can take UM dbm that allows 3.150 coal, or a baney bdl box that'll run 3.120 cartridge. There aren't any other short action in the $1100 range that'll do that. A Vesper or Bumblebee, also made by Bat machine will, but at major price hike.
This is only an advantage if you plan to hand load, or get a custom chamber with longer throat for the 145+ gr high bc bullet offerings.

Wana go cheap, buy a Tikka donor rifle, or a Tikka 6.5prc, but suffer the typical slow Tikka barrel.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Perhaps on a clean, dry action. However get the action wet and dirty, like on a true backcountry hunt, and then try and run the AnTi fast, especially with a little sideways pressure, like could be introduced from being in a field position. The bolt bind is very real in that situation.

100%!!

 

[JohnJohnson]

Perhaps on a clean, dry action. However get the action wet and dirty, like on a true backcountry hunt, and then try and run the AnTi fast, especially with a little sideways pressure, like could be introduced from being in a field position. The bolt bind is very real in that situation.

I'm certainly not a Defiance apologist. They genuinely don't cross my mind ever when it comes to possible builds. It was more a remark on the bolt smoothness discussion overall in here. I think some customs have very smooth bolt operation to offer that gives nothing practical up to a Tikka. Lone Peak (stainless, not titanium) comes to mind as an example of smoothness, not binding, and reliability in adverse conditions like moondust for instance. Mausingfield actions are an example of reliability, though the bolt lift on mine is too heavy in my opinion.

The customs are all weighed down in reliability by their trigger system but as far as bolt "smoothness" it really all depends what you want in your bolt operation. Bolt lift, bolt close, and bolt binding. Tikkas are awesome at the latter two and have a bit heavier bolt lift.

Customs tend to be good at the first two and, depending on manufacturer, can be varying degrees of good when it comes to binding. Though I'm sure if you try you could make even a good one bind which is where the Tikka does do better. When it comes to that I think the binding thing reaches a point where the differences aren't actually practical anymore. Kind of like an integral rail versus a rail that's been expoxied on with the screws red loctited. Yes there's theoretically a difference but is it practical?