Going Custom: The argument for custom actions over blueprinted Remington actions

Getting this concept into an article is long overdue, as it is one of my most frequently asked questions.  Quite often the discussion with new customers begins with "what action should I use?" or "where can I find a Remington action for my project?" It appears we now live in a time where Remington is able to ship bare actions.  These are available at a retail price that is far better than touring the pawn shops.  These are brand new actions without the common dents in the extraction cam, galling on the lugs, and etched bolt faces from Bubba's brother's handloads.  So as good as a brand new, off the shelf Remington action sounds, why purchase a custom action?  The answer is the proverbial, you get what you pay for.

The new Remington actions seem to be acceptable with respect to the machining and alignment of features.  I suspect they have adopted some of the principles of manufacturing at the factory that the custom action manufacturers employ to keep features aligned true to the center line.  Where I find they are lacking is in the bolt timing.  Timing on a bolt action rifle is often overlooked and not understood by the end users.  I usually get a blank stare when I mention it.  Bolt timing is important for the action to actually work.  When you lift the bolt handle, the bolt lugs have to unlock before the extraction cam can start pulling the bolt back.  That concept is simple to understand.  If the bolt timing didn't work as it should you couldn't even cycle the bolt in your new action or rifle.  In keeping the timing requirement on the safe side of manufacturing tolerances, timing is often on the sloppy side which shows up as minimal primary extraction.  The bolt lugs are typically long unlocked before the primary extraction cam surfaces meet each other.  This principle makes for minimal extraction as the gap between the extractor's hook and cartridge's rim has to be closed before the case is pulled from the chamber.   When blueprinting a Remington, every thousandth of an inch machined off of the locking lugs in the receiver or on the bolt, reduces the extraction by an equal amount.  It is entirely possible to end up without ample extraction for reliable bolt cycling.  The bolt handles on a Remington bolt can be removed and reinstalled to correct the timing, but this isn't an easy process and is not something this rifle builder wants to try to make a profit doing.

To be fair, the older Remingtons that you might find as a pawnshop score seem to have better bolt timing, but the features of the receiver are not aligned as well.  I speculate they were made on several machines where setting them up in fixtures does not always yield the best of alignment.

So why not just fix all these things on that shiny new Remington action?  It is more paying work for your rifle builder right?   That is an argument that will get different answers from different rifle builders, but this one would rather spend the same amount of shop time building another rifle and making another customer happy while having more confidence in the rifles going out the door.  And on the customer's side, you still get what you pay for.

Below is a breakdown of the costs to work with a Remington action versus starting with a custom action, along with a description of the extras you get with the custom action.  For this exercise I am going to use the Stiller Tac 30 action for the comparison.  In my experience, they are a strong contender for the "most bang for the buck"  moniker and are probably the fairest comparison to a worked over Remington for this analysis.

The Stiller Tac 30 retails at around $1000, call it $1050 with delivery.  This action accepts Remington style triggers and will fit in stocks and chassis designed for Remingtons.  The Stiller action includes the receiver, bolt, Picatinny scope base, and a precision ground recoil lug.   The bolt is manufactured out of one piece of chrome-moly steel, is fluted, has a threaded on bolt knob, and has a m16-style extractor.  The scope base is held to the receiver with 8-40 screws and tight fitting dowel pins that transfer recoil forces between the base and receiver which relieves the screws from shearing force.  The receiver itself is made with superior processes and will require no blueprinting.  The receiver is stiffer than a Remington and can be ordered to accommodate any of the magazine setups or even as a single shot.  The Stiller Tac 30 can take Remington magazine parts for internal box magazines and hinged-floorplate type bottom metal.  The Stiller Predator is machined to work with the Wyatt's longer magazine boxes.  The Stiller Tac 30 A/W can accept the popular Accuracy International AW-style detachable magazines.

Getting a Remington to a comparable state as the Stiller is shown in the breakdown below.

Parts -
Remington 700 Action  - $475  ^1
Seekins 20 MOA Scope Base  - $100
PTG Recoil Lug  - $45
PTG Bolt Knob -  $10
  - parts total $630

Labor (Stage 1) -
Sawtooth Rifles "Stage 1 - R700 blueprinting"  - $175 ^2
Sawtooth Rifles weld on threaded bolt handle stem - $85 ^3
 - Stage 1 and bolt knob labor $260
 - Parts and Stage 1 - $890

Further Enhancements (Stage 2) -
Mini - 16 Extractor - $200 ^4
Bolt Fluting - $100 ^5
 - stage 2 enhancements $300
 - Parts and Stage 1 Blueprinting plus Stage 2 Enhancements - $1090

I could keep going with pricing further modifications to the Remington to get it closer to the Stiller.  At this point we are over the cost of the Stiller Tac 30 action, yet still have a bolt that is 3 pieces soldered together with poor timing.  We have a scope base that doesn't necessarily fit perfectly and is mounted with less robust hardware.  We still have a bottom bolt release which is strong and generally trouble free but certainly less handy than the Stiller's side bolt stop/release.  Getting the Remington to work with the longer Wyatt's magazine boxes, or AW-style detachable magazines takes yet another setup and milling operation.  The Stiller action's firing pin and spring also involve some improvements over the standard Remington parts.

Just to prove that we will work on a Remington and have enough experience with them to make these arguments...   A Remington 40X single shot with our stage 1 blueprinting and the Sako style extractor work done by Gre-Tan.

 In conclusion, it takes a lot of work to get a Remington to a comparable state to the Stiller action at a cost that is well above what makes sense financially. When considering the additional benefits of some of the other actions with integral scope bases and recoil lugs (Defiance Deviant for example), a Remington just can not get there.  Period.

I will accept that there are reasons other than finances to do certain things, and will leave it at that. When working with a limited budget, a Remington and our Stage 1 blueprinting can offer a functional action with the potential to shoot well.  When working with high expectations and a severe duty use, I think there are several better options.  As more and more of each get tested and shipped out the door, I tend to scratch my head even more with every Remington that comes in that door.


1.  MSRP, Includes bolt and Remington trigger (which you probably will not use)
2.  2017 Pricing, Includes truing receiver face, receiver bolt lugs, single cut threads to 1.080 nominal major dia., bore and chamfer PTG recoil lug to matching 1.080 diameter, pin recoil lug to receiver, lap bolt lugs to receiver
3.  2017 Pricing, welding and blending threaded stem to bolt handle for a smooth transition and strong connection
4.  Work outsourced to Gre-Tan Rifles with round trip freight included
5.  Work outsourced to Pro-Precision Rifles with round trip freight included