Buy Custom Action or Stick with Rem 700

[dries001]

I have a Remington 700 7mm-08 that I bought for my older son to hunt with and I have used it occasionally too. I wanted to put it into a better stock, so I bought a McMillan A3 and decided to go with a Hawkins M5 instead of the BDL. I have now ordered a Bartlein barrel for it. My debate is whether or not to just go ahead and buy a custom action and sell the rifle to cover the cost or to have the 700 action trued. I already have a couple of custom guns, so I guess a might have an addiction. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[mtnhunter22]

I have both custom and trued Remington 700. I like my trued 700 but it’s had work (cerakote, threaded bolt handle, side bolt release, pinned lug). After everything I’m probably into it close to a grand. I enjoy it, but if I had to choose between spending money on a 700 or buying custom, I would go custom every time from here on out. Especially with options like the origin or tenacity.

 

[Tungsten7]

What custom action would you be looking at? I mean in all you'll be in a custom action way more then what you'll get out of selling the other and since you have the parts getting it trued will cost you $250 with the possibility of barrel installed at the same time.

 

[BrienM]

Lots of friends have custom actions. They are nice. I recommend buying/building as good as you can afford and be content with it. Upgrade when you can. I run all Remingtons personally. Some day when I grow up, i'd like to have a bat, impact, kelby, etc etc... haha.

 

[Krob95]

If you can swing a custom do it 100%

 

[Travis_260Rem]

I have a clone of the Rem 700. You could call it a custom or just trued. Remington 700 action truing to include truing the threads, face and bolt lug locking surfaces, the bolt face and lugs. The receiver and bolt are both trued in fixtures on a lathe, not with a piloted tap.

 

[jbuck88]

How does it shoot? How good do you shoot? What features do you tant that you don't have? If the rifle shoots good enough as it, I would personally just rebarrel it and throw the extra $ at ammo. If it shoots like crap now I might consider going custom.

If you already have a couple of customs, do you like them more then your R700?

I have a 5r that shoots pretty good, at least as good as I can. So I just put a different stock on it and called it done. As it does everything I want it to do. I also have other customs and AI's, but I probably shoot the 5r second most out my rifles. Its nice to let others borrow it. I know that bumps and scrapes can happen and just don't worry about it.

 

[jcmullis2]

Crown Ridge Barrel works charges about $150 to true a action. I would go with the trued action since you have custom actions. My customs don’t shoot any better than my trued Remington but that’s probably my limits not the rifles. The customs are far better but not everyone benefits from a custom action.

 

[Meety Peety]

I have custom actions and a Remington that I put a bunch of money into back when a lot of the current options out there didn't exist. These days, I see very little reason to dump a bunch of custom work into a Remington action.. but thats just me. Pound for pound I have more money into my Remington action than I have into my Origin action. And the Origin is better with more features.

 

[Secant]

Unless that R700 has sentimental value, go get a custom. The new Mack Bros is $575 with recoil lug and rail, a Zermatt Origin is $825. Gunwerks, Alamo Precision, and Defiance have actions in the ~$850 price range as well (probably others out there or coming soon).

Some typical improvements to an R700 that are often included in custom actions:
Trued Action ~$250
Upgrade Extractor ~$200
Upgrade Ejector ~$100
Receiver/Bolt Coating ~$250
Side Bolt Release ~$100
Upgrade Optic Base Threads ~$75
Tig Bolt Handle ~$100
Pin recoil Lug ~$50
Fluted Bolt ~$30
Threaded Bolt Knob & Larger Knob ~$90

If you just pick a couple things on that list you're already at the Mack Bro's custom action price. I've had an R700 with sentimental value worked on, and it's awesome. I also on some custom actions. But moving forward, I see zero reason to buy/build off of factory actions.

 

[sgtsmmiii]

I like a custom action.

With that said, a customer had LRI do an "extreme makeover" on a Remington 700 S/A action for his varmint rifle, and I have to say, it is as smooth and mechanically nice as any of my customs. So, if you have a 700 sitting around, LRI can make it walk the walk. It did end up costing as much as some custom actions ( he had everything done to it ), and may not have the later re-sale value of a custom, but it will be every bit as good.

 

[dries001]

I was just talking to GA Precision and their tempest has long wait list. I was thinking about just sending GA Precision everything and using their VII action. I know will have one hell of a rifle when it comes back. I'm still looking at Impact, Curtis and Big Horn.

 

[Rob01]

Unless that R700 has sentimental value, go get a custom. The new Mack Bros is $575 with recoil lug and rail, a Zermatt Origin is $825. Gunwerks, Alamo Precision, and Defiance have actions in the ~$850 price range as well (probably others out there or coming soon).

Some typical improvements to an R700 that are often included in custom actions:
Trued Action ~$250
Upgrade Extractor ~$200
Upgrade Ejector ~$100
Receiver/Bolt Coating ~$250
Side Bolt Release ~$100
Upgrade Optic Base Threads ~$75
Tig Bolt Handle ~$100
Pin recoil Lug ~$50
Fluted Bolt ~$30
Threaded Bolt Knob & Larger Knob ~$90

Only three in that list are in the basic work to a 700 and threads is only if needed and bolt knob comes down to user.

OP, it all depends on you and your funds. You can basically get the rifle you have now rebarreled and trued for about $500 and you will basically have a custom rifle. Worked over 700s can shoot with most any rifle out there.

If you wanted to sell the barreled action you have now you might get $450-500 and then spend the rest on a custom action and the rebarrel job. There are a lot of good inexpensive customs now in the $900 range and more if you go up to $1300. So say you get $500 for the barreled action and then spend $900 on a custom and another $250 to chamber and thread the barrel you are in the $650 out of pocket range. BUT you will also have more time and work with sales etc.

So it comes down to what you want to end up with but in the end they will both shoot the same.

 

[Braunschweiger]

it's hard not to try and sway you toward custom action. Most of the guys above have already laid out the numbers but I went with a Bighorn/Zermatt Origin where I could buy prefits and swap to different calibers based on swapping bolt heads. Must remain short action of course. You can also watch for used barrel actions on the hide or other forums and can save even more money. A gunsmith spinning up a barrel and doing action truing will definitely most of the time yield excellent results...but a custom action can provide several other benefits for not much more cost.

 

[GIXXER2000]

I did a Rem 700 build and it shot great. I had the action worked over and had a PTG bolt and still it was not any were close to as smooth as my Steyr or AI, I think a custom action is well worth the money.

 

[Secant]

Only three in that list are in the basic work to a 700 and threads is only if needed and bolt knob comes down to user.

OP, it all depends on you and your funds. You can basically get the rifle you have now rebarreled and trued for about $500 and you will basically have a custom rifle. Worked over 700s can shoot with most any rifle out there.

If you wanted to sell the barreled action you have now you might get $450-500 and then spend the rest on a custom action and the rebarrel job. There are a lot of good inexpensive customs now in the $900 range and more if you go up to $1300. So say you get $500 for the barreled action and then spend $900 on a custom and another $250 to chamber and thread the barrel you are in the $650 out of pocket range. BUT you will also have more time and work with sales etc.

So it comes down to what you want to end up with but in the end they will both shoot the same.

I agree that there is a lot of personal preference here. There's nothing to say you have to do anything to the action when you rebarrel - you could only pay the costs to chamber & thread the barrel if that's really what you wanted to do. The point was that there are certain features that are "standard" with a custom action. Yes, different actions have different features. But if you are looking to compare & contrast, it is worth it to look at the differences and the associated costs.

In my mind, the price of the Mack Bros really makes it hard to build off of a factory action. For an apples-to-apples, the Mack Bros comes with a recoil lug (~$30) and a rail (~$70), so the bare action is $475. If we use the three options that you chose, the price difference is ~$60 if you use the R700 (and that assumes a salvage value of $0 for the R700). If you could sell the R700 barrel action for about $60 or more, you'd come out ahead going with a custom. But assuming you can't/won't sell the R700, for an extra ~$60 you get a fluted bolt, coated bolt, side bolt release, & upgraded extractor (maybe I'm missing something). In my own opinion, that's $60 well spent for the associated upgrades.

But like I said, I've ran down the rabbit hole on R700's as well, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat based on the sentimental value tied to those actions.

 

[dries001]

I was going to put the rifle back into the factory stock and sale it. I figured I could get $600-$700 for it. I don't mind spending the extra for a good action. The custom actions do cycle so much smoother.

 

[Meety Peety]

I was going to put the rifle back into the factory stock and sale it. I figured I could get $600-$700 for it. I don't mind spending the extra for a good action. The custom actions do cycle so much smoother.

Thats probably what I would do. It's not that a customized Remington isn't capable, because they are. Its just that for the price you will pay, you could get a custom action that will likely have more features and a better resale value. My Remington action shoots great. It has also had a ton of work done to it that I will never get back in resale value. And at the end of the day the custom actions still have more features that I like better. It is what is it, I still appreciate my Remington action for what it is as well.

 

[Gobdog]

I'm a fan of the Remington. Customs are nice but I put my money into a better barrel and stock personally

 

[High Desert duck]

Once you spend a bunch of money to make your R700 just how you’d like it. You’ll be close to kelbly’s money. And even if they run the exact same if you’ve bet die use to divest the remmy will still just be a Remmy worth remmy money.
And there are a bunch of great actions on the market right now between $750-1000.

 

[BS Shooter]

I have several 700’s that have been worked over including PTG bolts. They all shoot just as good as my custom actions. That being said from here on out I’m going all customs because if you go to sell it the customs seem to sell better and hold their value much better. I have gotten some great deals on some customized 700s that shoot lights out.

 

[browning442]

I would try to sell what you have and go custom.... my personal experience has been save up and build exactly what you want. Otherwise you’ll always yearn for more lol.

Selling your rifle for an action is something I’ve been doing more of lately. Once you have a custom action you like, you can go a lot of different ways with it. Do your research as there are a TON of options out there these days.

 

[acudaowner]

I still say its up to you what do you want there sounds like better options than something cheap and plastic feeling unless you like that rubber maid feel or the hard cheap plastic feel but again all the options are up to you what you want and what your willing to pay
have been looking at this for two days now i like the mix of metal and wood to me its nice add in your choice of barrel and trigger and an action it could be really nice .

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good luck no mattter what you choose may it serve you well .

 

[Brux]

I have some custom actions and 700 actions on custom builds. The 700's that I have are just as smooth and run just as good as the customs. It's all who does the work that matters.

 

[Totoro]

I've owned "accurized" (term used loosely as definitions vary) to super tuned M700 from Greg-T with sleeved bolts (no question Greg can throw down some serious metal chips and make a M700 astounding) to various custom M700 clones and. I will echo the comments other members have posted.

Whatever you are shooting at be it live, rock, metal, paper WILL NOT give a rats ass what action/stock/barrel/optic/bullet you are shooting, period.

IMO, it comes down to the features you feel that are important to the goal you wish to achieve within the confines of your budget.

YMMV