Sounds to me that if the Remington 700 didnt leave a path for all these "custom" actions to Clone it and make upgrades to it when being cloned, with no disrespect but they wouldnt know their palm from the back of there hand...good thing the majority of these actions,including the Bergara have alot of dues to pay imho to the 700 being developed in the first place and Thank Remington for giving these "custom" action manufacturer's something to follow and more than enough consumers something to start out with...if the 700 wasn't made and used by the majority of shooters out there for over 50 years, there would be no need to use its "foot print", its style triggers, etc...So why dont these "custom" action manufacturers make there own "foot print" and trigger design and just improve on it all together, make them multilug(more than 2), give it a firing pin blocked safety, a flat bottom instead of round with integral lug ,etc...the best you can? Some custom actions have more improvements than other, but for the most part they are just that, improvements. Engineering wise, go all out, and not screw on just improving on the 700's design and str8 make it obsolete all together dont you think? Oh..but then all that money-making 700 aftermarket support would mean nothing when it means "the World" to a big firearms manufacturer trying to sell to the masses...even the "custom" action manufacturers would rather sell to the masses than jus a few, hence why they use the 700 "foot-print"...money makes this world go round'....im not saying the 700 is this or that, it is what it is... Im saying its being "Cloned" for reasons we Shouldnt be paying for...But we do, because we all want the best, but the Best is basically an Improved Remington 700 action...Splenda is cool but it'll never be Sugar. Buy what makes you Happy. Bash what Doesnt. Take a school trained long range marksman with a stock 700P and have him go against the "average joe" with the Best machind,hand fitted, and Most accurate rifle he can find, throw the same scope on both rifles and see who shoots what at any distance more accurately under any time restrictions..now the rifle becomes irrelevant because training is worth more than any custom anything...buy what you can afford and fk the nay-sayers...if a 700 is all you can get, go for it. If a Custom action floats your boat, ride off into the sunset...i own both and they each have their own place in my safe..
-Reagan