True up a Rem 700 or buy a custom action?

[jpfrog]

This is a great thread! I was in the same boat, many times. I have had several Trued Rem700 actions- still have a few and they are great. One is a basic trueing job where I was rebarreling a deer rifle to the same cartridge and wanted to keep it looking as stock as possible. Another had a little more work done and spun on a remage. A third had a lot more work done, bushed the firing pin, etc. and did another remage. Long story short- all are fantastic and shoot better than me for what I use them for. Then last year I decided to do a full custom and built it off a Stiller Predator. I love everything about that action. Everything. The cost of the custom was just barely more than the extensive work done on the third Rem700 I mention above, and it's MUCH BETTER. The minor trueing job was obviously much less costly as I already had the action and it was about 150 extra to square everything up to get ready for the new barrel.

Long story short- I'll probably never spend money to enhance a Rem700 again unless it carries with it some sentimental value, even if I continue to do Remage builds. I prefer the features of a good custom. That said- make sure the custom has the features you want. Otherwise you're throwing good money at a piece of gear that is still going to leave you frustrated in the end.

 

[Sgt. grizz]

Thank you for the explanation.no longer as big a dummy!

All question are welcomed but I might not be able to answer them but the great thing about this site there is always someone that can answer a question.

 

[High Master]

As far as accuracy, that factory Remington 700 will shoot just as good as a custom action. Lots of National Records set and National Championships won with factory Remington and Winchester actions. I buy custom actions for features, not accuracy. You don't have to listen to me. Contact 6x National Champion John Whidden and ask him. Or any other honest gunsmith building match rifles.

 

[milo-2]

What is your budget at this time? Will be easier to stomach the 400 to build on the long ago paid for Rem?
I think everyone deserves to own a custom action in their life, I like them.

Lot of chatter on resale down the road, I can say I have taken huge poundings on custom actions when sold, maybe my options to sell were limited, or the fact that I wanted them gone contributed to the fact. The only custom action I sold that I thought I got my monies worth from was a Stiller Predator, and truthfully that sale baffled me.

I am not bringing much to the table here, but I can say this, I am not only glad I no longer own trued Rem's, I am also glad all my first custom actions are history too, because they were not top shelf actions by todays standards.
Good luck!

 

[SteveBurton]

A remage barrel uses a nut that they call a remage nut it turns your Remington into a savage system. You would have to take your current barrel to a Gunsmithing to have them cut your shoulder down and re-thread the barrel matching the old threads or cutting off the old threads if you have enough room and re-doing the threads just like they are on a savage, so you can use a barrel nut.

Not quite accurate. A remage barrel still has the Remington threads, 1-1/16"x16, but the shank is longer which allows a locking nut to be installed. You install the barrel just like a Savage barrel and use the nut to lock it down once you have the proper headspace. The Remington threads on the receiver need to be retained.
The name "Remage" comes from combining Remington and Savage.

 

[Sgt. grizz]

Not quite accurate. A remage barrel still has the Remington threads, 1-1/16"x16, but the shank is longer which allows a locking nut to be installed. You install the barrel just like a Savage barrel and use the nut to lock it down once you have the proper headspace. The Remington threads on the receiver need to be retained.
The name "Remage" comes from combining Remington and Savage.

Of course they stay the same as original remington threads sorry I did not make that clear. thank you for making that clear.

 

[jpfrog]

Not quite accurate. A remage barrel still has the Remington threads, 1-1/16"x16, but the shank is longer which allows a locking nut to be installed. You install the barrel just like a Savage barrel and use the nut to lock it down once you have the proper headspace. The Remington threads on the receiver need to be retained.
The name "Remage" comes from combining Remington and Savage.

This is an important note. As soon as you ask your smith to alter the receiver threads more than a simple clean up, you're locked into always needing your barrel threads to be cut to match. The key to using prefit barrels or remage, etc is having factory spec threads on your action.

 

[GLTaylor]

Thank you all. Now I'm even less a dummy!

 

[GLTaylor]

One more question:
Where/how does the recoil lug fitinto the equation?
I would love to turn one of my Remingtons into a switch barrel gun?

 

[338 dude]

This is a spin off of my other thread down below where I ultimately decided that a switch barrel rifle fits my current needs the best. I don't have the budget to build multiple rifles right now so i think I'm going to build a single top quality rifle that I can swap barrels on due to the specific need at hand.

My question for this thread is what I should do for the action: I have a Remington 700 LA with standard bolt sitting on my bench that I had planned to have trued up for my first custom rifle. However, considering this will be a high end, long range build, would i be better off just selling the rem action and buying into a nicer custom action? I know a trued action should shoot just as good as any custom action, but I don't get all the bells and whistles with a trued action vs custom action. To have WTO true the action and install their switch-lug I'm guessing I'd be around $350 - $400.

I guess a secondary question is that I can't decide if I want to build on the long action, or go with a short action. The short action is more appealing to me because I can add a second bolt and spin on a .223 barrel for cheap practice, then I would likely go with a 6.5 PRC barrel to cover me for most game and up to elk if I had to but I would rather add a 7saum or 300wsm barrel for elk. If I stick with the long action I would do a 6.5x284 and then probably a .280ai so I don't have to get a second mag bolt, but I'm not sure what could be a cheap practice cartridge for the long action?

So assuming money isn't a factor, would you spend the $350 - $400 to get the rem action trued and lug installed, or just get into a $900 range custom action that can have shouldered prefits spun up for it?

I would get the custom action the longer you keep it and the more barrels you can screw on yourself the more it pays for itself in time and fees of having a gun Smith do it

 

[SteelBanger]

One more question:
Where/how does the recoil lug fitinto the equation?
I would love to turn one of my Remingtons into a switch barrel gun?

You don't need a special recoil lug to run a switch barrel setup, but I'd imagine swapping out the factory lug for a trued (flat and square) lug is probably a good idea ... I know my factory lug looks pretty rough at least. Adding a dual pinned lug also helps a ton with alignment when swapping barrels, if you don't have a pinned lug you would need to buy an alignment tool to make sure it's properly aligned.
Personally I'm planning on using West Texas Ordinance and their switchlug system. They install a dual pinned lug on your action then you simply spin the barrel on and tighten a set screw on the lug to lock it all together, it's a pretty slick system. I put a link below to their website.

https://westtexordnance.com/switchlug/

 

[Terry Balding]

I do my own work. It takes me less than 15 minutes to true the action, about the same for the recoil lug, and anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes to lap the bolt and reciever. We end up with some pretty accurate rifles. 700 all the way! I'm working ao some switch barrel/switch lug actions now. Actions trued, need to order parts to finish.

You ream the raceway, single point the threads, true the bolt completely, and face the action in 15 minutes?

 

[SteveBurton]

SteelBanger,
That's an interesting system. Thanks for sharing.

 

[GLTaylor]

Steelbanger ,
Thanks. I'll follow up.