Most popular rifles/actions used.

[TuskerOrd]

Being more of a shooter than a hunter as I like shooting more than walking I'm competing in PRS, Positional shooting, and general club shoots with a little Target Rifle on the side.

Whats the most popular rifles used in the comps in your dissiplane?

Rimfire: Using a CZ452(I cant get a 457 in LH in NZ)
PRS/Positional/Field shooting/Hunting: Howa, Tikka, Rem700 and Barnard SMS.

Target Rifle/Bisley: Barnard/Musgrave.

Ive noticed Remington 700s popularity had been declining steadily - is this the same in Australia?

[in2anity]

I only shoot sling; TR, Service and Smallbore. And these are what you most commonly see:

-Omark, Neilson, Angel, Musgrave, RPA, Barnard.
-SMLE No1/No4/7.62(conversion). Swedish Mauser aka "swede". p14. m17. Mauser 98. Mosin Nagant M39. And tonnes more... just diminishing popularity
-Almost exlusively Match 54s for smallbore.

For 3p field rifle, it makes little difference how much you spend. Buy a mild recoiling 10shot HOWA varmint, learn how to properly use a loop service sling, and you can win.

[TuskerOrd]

Cheers mate - Im a big Musgrave fan - have been grabbing them as soon as they become available.

I'n currently shooting a Barnard SMS on my PRS style rifle and Howa or Tikka for basically everything else.

[on_one_wheel]

I've done some homework on this topic (ok, just a quick Google) and it's nice to see that the most popular actions for precision builds are still clones of the mighty REM 700
Good old 3 rings of steel.

[in2anity]

Cheers mate - Im a big Musgrave fan - have been grabbing them as soon as they become available.

I'n currently shooting a Barnard SMS on my PRS style rifle and Howa or Tikka for basically everything else.

My mate uses a Barnard SMS in the whiskey stock for TR. Caused a bit of controversy among the snobs because he’s a solid B grader and they frown on unorthodox choices. Nonetheless he still regularly cleans the target with it. It’s still more accurate than most TRs on the mound. Great action. Pity they basically aren’t being made anymore.

I’ve been eyeing off the Bevan by JJJ imports, but my Neilson MN600 that is my bread and butter just keeps getting better as my skills improve. Snagged a 50.6 on Saturday on the 700m with it, and that was with the older Sierra 2155.

[straightshooter]

.......... mighty REM 700
Good old 3 rings of steel.

Gratifying to see just how effective relentless advertising and propaganda can be.
An early criticism of the Rem 700 series was (and is) the amount of cartridge case head protrusion from the support of the chamber. Instead of the solid head of a typical case being inside the chamber they rely on part of the tapering web for safety. Under normal circumstances it's not a problem but under abnormal circumstances it could be.
Remington quite cleverly turned a design liability into an advertising strength, hence the three rings of steel malarkey.
The design history of the 721, 722, 700 series was to make a rifle action as cheap as possible yet retain the feel and appearance of a quality rifle. This gave Remington a huge cost and profit margin advantage over the then market leader Winchester.

[on_one_wheel]

I knew I'd trigger a few Tika fans with that

[straightshooter]

Well you could at least wait for a Tikka owner to post before you start gloating.

[Wyliecoyote]

.......... mighty REM 700
Good old 3 rings of steel.

Gratifying to see just how effective relentless advertising and propaganda can be.
An early criticism of the Rem 700 series was (and is) the amount of cartridge case head protrusion from the support of the chamber. Instead of the solid head of a typical case being inside the chamber they rely on part of the tapering web for safety. Under normal circumstances it's not a problem but under abnormal circumstances it could be.
Remington quite cleverly turned a design liability into an advertising strength, hence the three rings of steel malarkey.
The design history of the 721, 722, 700 series was to make a rifle action as cheap as possible yet retain the feel and appearance of a quality rifle. This gave Remington a huge cost and profit margin advantage over the then market leader Winchester.

The amount of case head protrusion beyond the chamber in a 700 action is the same as Winchester, Sako, Tikka and many others. If a case head lets go in a Rem 700 action it is contained within the three rings of steel, just like Mike Walker intended when he designed the action in the 60s. The other benefit of this is that the nose of the bolt is centered in line of the barrel. Other actions when a case does let go has brass go backwards along the lugways right into your face. One other action that does what the 700 does is the early Steyr, like SSG 69 type, where the bolt head fits into a surrounding ring machined into the pressed in barrel tenon. Both actions completely enclose the cartridge and both were designed to purposely do this. When Walker designed the 700 series he wanted the action to not be cast like a Winchester or Ruger, but be made of billet steel and his reasons for this are very clear but were not based on economics as there is more work involved in machining an action from billet and pulling a broach through it to form the lug raceways than there is in cleaning up an investment casting .
The only unfortunate thing about the Rem 700 is that its designer, Mike Walker, was not inducted into the IBS hall of fame while he was still alive where there was a push from many in the sport both in the US and here to do this. His actions due to their strength and design have led the way to where we are today with actions like Surgeon, Defiance etc. Benchrest would not be what it is today had it not been for Mike Walker. Never seen a Tikka, Sako or Winchester win any BR match, but a Rem 700 actions have won thousands over the years.

[bigrich]

.......... mighty REM 700
Good old 3 rings of steel.

Gratifying to see just how effective relentless advertising and propaganda can be.
An early criticism of the Rem 700 series was (and is) the amount of cartridge case head protrusion from the support of the chamber. Instead of the solid head of a typical case being inside the chamber they rely on part of the tapering web for safety. Under normal circumstances it's not a problem but under abnormal circumstances it could be.
Remington quite cleverly turned a design liability into an advertising strength, hence the three rings of steel malarkey.
The design history of the 721, 722, 700 series was to make a rifle action as cheap as possible yet retain the feel and appearance of a quality rifle. This gave Remington a huge cost and profit margin advantage over the then market leader Winchester.

ya treat a remington action like a small block chev engine, ya keep the two main parts , bolt and receiver (with the chev it's the block and maybe the crank ),
throw everthing else away , and re machine everything and fit better qaulity aftermarket parts . just like a chevy . after all that they do perform very well

i prefer to buy a tikka and have something that shoots great out of the box

[on_one_wheel]

Actually, you piss the whole Chev engine off and go get a dart block, afr heads and all that jaz

[TuskerOrd]

Glad to see the Rem 700 and clones are still popular - it really is a good design.

I like using/shooting something other than the main stream, just to be different. It is more expensive though as aftermarket parts and add-ons are more pricey.

I was thinking of swapping over to all mini action calibres for the 2024 season, build me a 6,5 Grendel, a 6x45 and a 6ARC - now I have to start testing to see if this ship will sail or sink.

[Oldbloke]

For me 95% hunting (well, trying to )
Marlin 223 Bolt Action.

It's a Remlin, but very accurate so no complaints.

[wrenchman]

the 700 has not been made for a few years they have been reworked i have not got to hold any yet they had the big box store buying them for years here

[bigrich]

the 700 has not been made for a few years they have been reworked i have not got to hold any yet they had the big box store buying them for years here

I had one recently and while the metal work was great, the stock had a noticeable pale stripe across the bottom of the whole fore end where it was not stained correctly. That was a little off putting initially. This was a new production rifle from the new company as well. As for “ the most accurate out of the box rifle “ it didn’t live up to that even with hand loading. The bolt face wasn’t square either. It had a half moon of cartridge contact on one side of the bolt face only. Needless to say after much perseverance I gave up and sent it down the road. I’ve had much better rifles with out of the box tikka’s. Old push feed model 70 xtr’s and Mauser rifles have been better than this new Remington. Dunno if I’d bother trying a new Winchester either as they just don’t make stuff like they used to in general. I would be tempted to try a new Lithgow centre fire however. After paying good money for a new Remington I was disappointed. If anyone else gets an accurate one consider yourself lucky. JMHO

[Wyliecoyote]

Looking at the cost and availability of custom actions i can see a lot of rifles being built on worked 700 actions. Barnard actions are like gold if you have one. Defiance actions have increased by more than 50%. That is if you can get one. Barrels are down to a trickle of what they were pre Covid. The next problem is getting cases and projectiles. Propellants are another issue as not everyone uses ADI. I can see a lot of long range sports dying this year if things don't change. Rimfire BR is at the point where it's getting hard to get good ammo and if you can get it the price is getting prohibitive to a lot of shooters.

[Jorlcrin]

I had one recently and while the metal work was great, the stock had a noticeable pale stripe across the bottom of the whole fore end where it was not stained correctly. That was a little off putting initially. This was a new production rifle from the new company as well. As for “ the most accurate out of the box rifle “ it didn’t live up to that even with hand loading. The bolt face wasn’t square either. It had a half moon of cartridge contact on one side of the bolt face only. Needless to say after much perseverance I gave up and sent it down the road. I’ve had much better rifles with out of the box tikka’s. Old push feed model 70 xtr’s and Mauser rifles have been better than this new Remington. Dunno if I’d bother trying a new Winchester either as they just don’t make stuff like they used to in general. I would be tempted to try a new Lithgow centre fire however. After paying good money for a new Remington I was disappointed. If anyone else gets an accurate one consider yourself lucky. JMHO

I bought my Rem 700 VSF(.308 26" varmint barrel - 1:12" twist) in 2012, following a bunch of shooting mate friends, who were all using 700's.
Mine turned out to be a cracker of a rifle, and has exceeded all my hopes and expectations.
I've lost track of how many small furry, larger furry, and large hairy animals that rifle has nailed at distance.

18 months later, when I noticed that almost all of the shooting mates had moved to Tikka T3 actions for their shooting, I queried the shift.
I was told that my experience with my Rem 700 was the exception, rather than the rule.
Many of them had all sorts of problems with poor QC on the machining of their 700's, and found it was simpler to sell the 700 and move onto a T3.
I'm not suggesting the T3 is perfect by any stretch(I have both a T3 and a T3x), but the comment was the 700's turned out to be much more Hit&Miss, as to whether you got a good one out of the box.
I lucked out on mine, but advice was it was sheer luck.
I'd be much the same as BigRich; I'd be looking at either a Lithgow action, or possibly another T3x action, if I was buying another rifle.

This has been my experience.

[Wyliecoyote]

Jorlcrin the only Rem 700s worth owning in recent times were the VSSFs and the 5Rs. The rest are minute of pig or action value only. While i think highly of 700 actions to build around, the more recent rifles are not particularly accurate out of the box. The 5Rs had selected actions and barrels and were capable of very good accuracy without any work done to them. My 5R in 308 would put 10 x 175 SMKs into under an inch at 300 metres with just the standard M118 load of 43 grains of Re15. Those rifles were made to shoot that bullet specifically with their 11.25 twist rate barrel. It would take a quality barrel and a good smith to build something that competitive in FTR, yet mine and others were very capable straight out of the carton.

I never saw a VSSF of any caliber in the early days that didn't perform. Remington just lost the plot from then on. What i found as the biggest killer of a lot of their later guns was nothing to do with their actions but with the fitment of the barrel itself. If you spun them up between centers using a lathe dog on the crown end, the shoulders were out of square which in turn caused a lot of the half moon brass rub on the bolt face and groups that would form in the plane that was aligned to the high and low spot of the abutment of action, recoil lug and action. Basically the group started or finished in line with the stress point that will alter with temperature and will never correct itself over time where a great barrel would never shoot to its full potential. Something good BR smiths are aware of and align barrels between centers then a steady or use a cat head fixture in the tailstock. All it takes is a very light skim to square the shoulder to the bore and chamber axis and a light skim on the bolt lugs to corrrect the headspace and any error on the lugs turned 90% of those problem childs into tack drivers. The other 10% were just barrel quality issues in the SPS line and others. But generally it was a simple half hour fix to an alignment issue that should have never occured at the factory.

The main difference between Sako, Tikka and every other Euro manufacturer over Remington is QC. Properly done with some very minor changes to their assembly line, Remingtons would still be very good rifles. I know they could do it because their custom shop has been doing it for years. 40X rifles have a reputation like no other and are sold within minutes once put up for sale.

[bigrich]

I never saw a VSSF of any caliber in the early days that didn't perform. Remington just lost the plot from then on. What i found as the biggest killer of a lot of their later guns was nothing to do with their actions but with the fitment of the barrel itself. If you spun them up between centers using a lathe dog on the crown end, the shoulders were out of square which in turn caused a lot of the half moon brass rub on the bolt face and groups that would form in the plane that was aligned to the high and low spot of the abutment of action, recoil lug and action. Basically the group started or finished in line with the stress point that will alter with temperature and will never correct itself over time where a great barrel would never shoot to its full potential. Something good BR smiths are aware of and align barrels between centers then a steady or use a cat head fixture in the tailstock. All it takes is a very light skim to square the shoulder to the bore and chamber axis and a light skim on the bolt lugs to corrrect the headspace and any error on the lugs turned 90% of those problem childs into tack driver.

this would seem to be the issue with my new rem 700 . i paid $2500 for a new supposed qaulity rifle that had issues from new . i've had 4 tikkas and except for col issues related to mag length in a 7-08 all were very good shooters out of the box . i still have a 223 t3x in a bell and carlson stock that shoots .3's or less with 55vmax handloads. the only rem 700 i still own is a 222 that i'm having rebarreled as a comp rifle . it's a 1980 vintage BDL that seems to be of better qaulity than anything made later . my only concerns with it are availability of the pressed extractors . i have 2 on backorder with brownells for 6 months . i would prefer to stay with the rem extractor rather than convert to the sako/m16 style extractor

[Larry]

I would not rate a rem700 action as a target action at all. If I had to pick a commercial action of a dedicated target action like Barnard, Bordern, Kelby ect it would be the Tikka action it has the strength and quality needed.

[wrenchman]

my old 700 in 270 shoots very nice but it is a 40 year old gun