Advice on actions

[tomtom]

Hello all,

I've been reading the site for a few weeks and have enjoyed it immensely. I've been hunting for years but just now have the time and money to get in the long range game and do things right. I'm in the very beginning stages of having a custom rifle built. I've pretty much decided to go with a 7mm wsm for the wide range of bullet selections and overall performance. But, I need some advice on getting the right action. I've always preffered Winchester actions over Remington. I'm starting to look around for a rifle to strip down and build back back up and just from perusing the internet(gunbroker and gunsamerica) it appears that finding a Winchester action is going to be more expensive than a Remington. Cost isn't super important but if its going to be a matter of a few hundred bucks then it will at least make me think twice. Basically I need to know what is the best approach to getting a suitable action to build around? I'm looking for a long action.

Thanks,
Thomas

BTW I posted this question here rather than in the "getting started/beginner" areas simply because this area seems to get the most traffic.

 

[4xforfun]

If you are sticking with factory offerings, then 1-Rem. 2- Savage. 3- Win. Why Rem. Good strong action. Aftermarket parts are widely avaliable. Almost every accuracy smith on the planet works on them.

Now.....if it were me......custom all the way, baby!!!!! Cost wise, after spending $$$$ on the factory action, buying aftermarket parts (recoil lugs, firing pins assy or even a new PG&T bolt, ect...ect..) having a smith tune it and true it, the cost is nearly the same as a full on custom. And, after cycling the custom one time, the rest of the money differance melts away.....trust me on this.

You can even bypass the 3 to 6 month wait from the factory by getting a used one. Lots of them on BRCentral. Or buy a new one from some of the shops that stock a few all the time, like Bruno's.

Good luck on the build!!!

 

[davewilson]

get a Phenix receiver and have Pacific Tool and Gage make a bolt assy for it. custom all the way. will cost about 650. yes this will be the same amount of money you will spend on a Rem action and have twice the value. the guy that started Phenix is the same guy that had Neiseka? actions before they were bought out by Dakota.

 

[blipelt]

+1 on the pheonix action. They have tons of options and the one I shot was really nice. Can't wait until I have mine in my hands. Mine is also going to be a 7wsm long action. Quik klip makes some nice center feed bottom metal for the money.

this one is a remington action but it is the quik klip:
http://www.longrangehunting.com/for...-system-video-added-now-pictures-added-34464/

Brent

 

[tomtom]

Thanks for the advice guys. I went to a gunshow today to no avail. Seems like the only thing anyone is interested in these days are little black rifles and 308 police style rifles. Found one model 70 300 win mag but guy wanted a little more than what I was interested in paying. Does phoenix have a website? The other custom stuff at bruno was significantly more expensive than what you guys mentioned for the phoenix. I'll have to check and see if my gunsmith is familiar with them. Most of the rifles he builds are based on either remingtons or winchesters.

At this point I'm just checking classifieds and whatnot basically just waiting to see what comes around. I'm located in Houston TX so if you know anyone local let me know.

Thanks.

 

[James Jones]

If you don't have the action in hand to build on then you would be crazy to go buy a factroy action then throw a pile of money at it to make what you want. I'll throw in another plug form Glenn Harrison over at Phoenix machine , the action is awsome and when everything is screwed toegther right the weapon will shoot great , I would go for the long action with the WSM as it'll let you get all the good out of the round with long bullets. Here is a link to Nathan Dagley's 7mmWSM on a Phoenix Machine long action reciever. Scroll down and watch the vids of it feeding from a mag.
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/long-range-shooting-system-ssg-pix-vid-33579/

and here are some pics of my latest rifle on a Phoenix short action in 308 ,the groups are 168gr FGGM 308 shoot at 100 and 300yds from prone with a bipod.

 

[davewilson]

so where's the dime? LOL great shooting. 5 shots, .3 from the pod. i love it! nice stick

what scope is that?

 

[tomtom]

James Jones,

That looks to be a fine piece of equipment. The rifle on the link is also amazing. The group sizes from both are impressive. I found phoenix's website and it looks like the reciever alone from them is going to run north of $1,000. To be honest the amount of work being done on a factory action isn't quite as much of a concern as it may be for some. The gunsmith that will be doing my work is very reasonable and the rumor is that he pretty much does the work for fun as he either has some mailbox money or some form of inheritance. The only caveat is that the work takes TIME. My cousin's rifle was well over a year in the making.

At this point I would still prefer to just find a beat up 300winmag or 7remmag cheaply, take the action, and go from there. Just as the gun in the link I'm going to be doing a 300wsm necked to 7mm.

 

[blipelt]

James I am puzzled, what is that green stuff under your rifle. All we have here is 50" of snow and getting another 2-4" tonight. I like winter but even I am getting sick of the snow. That is one awesome bullet thrower.

Brent

 

[blipelt]

I just ordered one from nate with all the bells and whistles he gets $750 for them so it wouldn't be as much as you expected. That being said you can do whatever you want you are the one footing the bill. Make sure you get a center feed clip though the staggered might give you problems. The quik Klip is alot more reasonable than HS bottom metal.


Brent

 

[James Jones]

The $1000 piece your looking at is the entire action with their one piece bolt , I bought just the reciever and the bolt from PT&G , much cheaper.

winter is just getting here , it'll be a fridged 36 deg tonight maybe in the upper 20's tomorrow!! we did get some snow this year , about 2-3" a couple weeks before christmas , it was gone in a few hrs and temps int he 80 4 days later , talk about great weather to catch a cold.

Dave that scope is a 6-24x50mm with 35mm tube from IOR and I have to say next to my S&B PM-II its the best scope I've ever looked through. I would have posted a dime up their but the 4yr old has the market cornered on change , hell its hard for me find flat washers as those gon in the piggy bank to , haven't done any load development yet but I think with some hand loads I can get this one to shoot.