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Best action for the $$$

Penatrator

Penatrator

Raccoon whisperer
Full Member
Minuteman
Jul 29, 2018
142
62
Woodbury NJ
#1
If you were in the market to build a rifle from scratch and wanted an action with

1. Easy at home barrel swaps
2. Interchangeable bolt heads
3. Competitive price
4. Controlled round feed and mech eject are bonuses but not musts

What action would you choose and why? I'm leaning towards an origin but I haven't given it a great deal of research yet. Learn me ;)
 
#3
I am building a rifle from scratch. Most of the way there now and I personally like my Nucleus. Many guys have not found it to be to their taste, but it suits mine perfectly. If I wouldn't have gotten a Nucleus at the pre-order pricing I probably would've ordered an Origin just because of budget constraints.

1. (I'll come back to this)
2. The Origin's bolt heads are less costly by $75. ($125 (except magnum) vs $200)
3. I think the Origin is $850, Nucleus is $1000
4. They both have controlled feed and mechanical eject

Going back to barrel swaps, with either action I would be using an ARC Barloc for barrel attachment. This is under a very specific set of circumstances, though.

1. You don't mind using Savage small shank profiled barrels (some people have a thing about that, especially if you shoot a magnum bolt face)
2. You do not currently own a big enough torque wrench to put on a standard shouldered barrel

If either of these things do not apply to you, it's going to be more cost effective to go a different route (either standard barrel nut or shouldered barrels). If they're true, the Barloc offsets the cost of having to buy a big torque wrench + action wrench. It's also kinda cool that you can swap barrels with an Allen Key, so there's that too.

Easy enough.
 
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#5
MarkLeupold said:
I am building a rifle from scratch. Most of the way there now and I personally like my Nucleus. Many guys have not found it to be to their taste, but it suits mine perfectly. If I wouldn't have gotten a Nucleus at the pre-order pricing I probably would've ordered an Origin just because of budget constraints.

1. (I'll come back to this)
2. The Origin's bolt heads are less costly by $75. ($125 (except magnum) vs $200)
3. I think the Origin is $850, Nucleus is $1000
4. They both have controlled feed and mechanical eject

Going back to barrel swaps, with either action I would be using an ARC Barloc for barrel attachment. This is under a very specific set of circumstances, though.

1. You don't mind using Savage small shank profiled barrels (some people have a thing about that, especially if you shoot a magnum bolt face)
2. You do not currently own a big enough torque wrench to put on a standard shouldered barrel

If either of these things do not apply to you, it's going to be more cost effective to go a different route (either standard barrel nut or shouldered barrels). If they're true, the Barloc offsets the cost of having to buy a big torque wrench + action wrench. It's also kinda cool that you can swap barrels with an Allen Key, so there's that too.

Easy enough.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, great insight as well. I've looked at the barloc and didn't completely grasp it till I watched a video of it. Very simple and good looking system for damn sure. You could probably do it in the field if you wanted to!
 
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#9
Origin..

Slapped mine together over the weekend, used a HH 6 Creed barrel off the shelf with NSS barrel nut and tools, half assed some loads, went shooting. Bam... easy peasy.

Looking forward to burning out the 6mm barrel and trying a 224V.

I’m as novice as novice gets...
 
Last edited:
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#11
I had no wait time. Shops have them. Start by calling Mile High.

Keep an eye on the sale threads on SH and others. Dealers will get them in, and post a quantity available.
 
#12
Building mine off an Origin. If you go with a PVA barrel (there are other makers out there as well), you can get a pre-threaded barrel for the Origin that you merely have to torque on, no Barloc or barrel nut to mess with.
 
#14
I got in on the Nucleus preorder in January. I've had it for about 5 months. I'm pleased so far.

I bought a Savage Prefit from Northland Shooter Supply and installed it with the Barloc in about twenty minutes. Now that I know what I'm doing, I'm sure I could have it done in ten.

I would make sure to order the 19# firing pin spring installed in the action.
 
#15
I own a Nucleus and have handled an Origin. Both are spectacular designs and finish. I do think the Nucleus is a bit (key word is "bit") better construction and finish than the Origin. The Nucleus has some complaints and I was skeptical, though smart people encouraged me to stay on this path. I shot it for the first time during load development Saturday and Sunday at 100m, zero and validation on Monday at 100m, then Tuesday shot it long for first time starting at 1000y (for MV truing). The action feels way better running it in the field (conditions were 20-30 deg temps with snow, wearing gloves and cold weather gear) versus cycling and dry firing in the comfort of my warm shop.

You won't go wrong with either the Origin or Nucleus; that said, I'm a fan of American Rifle Company's work. Also, the ARC Barloc is certifiably badass; making a precision rifle barrel swap something that can be done with my modest armorers tools is almost witchcraft.
 
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#19
Pretty much, there are so many good actions/barrels/stocks/bullets/triggers/etc. today that you could just about randomly piece parts together and have an accurate and reliable rifle.

Boils down to that last 1% that you make it your own, and that 1% is whatever color of spray paint and pattern you throw on the rifle. The other 99% is just throwing money at the precision rifle concept and having a standard “custom” rifle.
 
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#24
I haven't had any experience with Bighorn TL3's, but I built 3 TL2's just before the TL3's came out (as usual, my timing was "perfect" :rolleyes:). They're chambered in .223, 6x47L and .308W. Each barrel was chambered to a specific action. One day, I got a wild hair and decided to switch barrels amongst actions. Guess what, the headspace of each new combination was identical to it's original. That tells me that Bighorn maintains very tight tolerances and consistency. Bolt heads are interchangeable and maintain consistent headspace. I'd like to have a TL3, but I'm not going to take a bath on the TL2's in order to do so. I'm perfectly happy with the TL2's. Oh, and having the built in recoil lug is a big deal for me. I think I probably have 4 different recoil lug alignment tools, for the slightly different tapers of the various recoild lugs that I used when blueprinting 700 actions.
 
#26
Origin:
90 degree 2 lug bolt
T-slot extractor
pin through the lug fits a slot in the front of the action to index

Nucleus:
72 degree 3 lug bolt
dual cocking cams
"leaf spring" extractor with better geometry to keep from slipping over stuck rims
tab on the top of the lug keys into the scope rail for indexing
rotary bolt stop

Both can adjust firing pin protrusion but I think the Nucleus method is more robust.

It's a close call between the two for me. Really comes down to whether you want 2 or 3 lugs and the advantages/disadvantages associated with each.
 
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#30
FromMyColdDeadHand said:
What are the differences between Origin and Nucleus actions?
Click to expand...

I own TL3's thats probably close enough to an Origin and a Nucleus action. The differences stated are there for all to see. In use they are very different actions. The controlled round feed on the bighorn is real, the controlled round feed on my nucleus looks more like push feed to me but its never gave me an issue. If I shot something like a 6BR or a dasher I would appreciate the Bighorn more than I do. The Nucleus seems more innovative to me and I love the 72degree bolt lift. Both rifles I have built off of those actions are wonderful rifles. It would be tough to decide which action I would get if I was buying again today.

I would probably buy whichever one was in stock or fastest and cheapest between those two. Without a doubt though its an exciting time to be alive and shooting precision rifles.
 
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#31
It's crazy to think that last time I priced out the idea of building a "custom" barrel and action the price of the action alone is the same price as an action, barrel and hell FFL fees and shipping too ;)
 
#32
Man we live in a great time it was only a couple years ago that if it wasn’t Sturgeon, it wasn’t thought as a good base to build a practical rifle..

And even then we had to wait to get an action..

Today it’s easy to find off-the-shelf barreled actions from places like Core.

Great scopes, great actions lots of super gear.. great time to be a precision shooter
 
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#33
Just curious about Stiller Actions, and not meaning to hijack the thread.

I agree it's a great time to be in the shooting discipline.

A lot of talk about new sub-$1000 actions, but Stiller has had one available for a long time.

I don't own one, and have handled a few.

Why no love for Stiller?
 
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#34
I have both. Whatcha wanna know about the Stiller ? Maybe thru PM being this a Origin thread.


rookie7 said:
Just curious about Stiller Actions, and not meaning to hijack the thread.

I agree it's a great time to be in the shooting discipline.

A lot of talk about new sub-$1000 actions, but Stiller has had one available for a long time.

I don't own one, and have handled a few.

Why no love for Stiller?
Click to expand...
 
#35
The new Alamo Precision Rifles APR Gen 2 looks really good for the money. Pre-buy price is $750...
https://aprifles.com/collections/apr-actions

I thought the Gen 1 was appealing at $800, but now they have the Gen 2 at $750. I think it would be worth the gamble. Everything I can find about APR they put out a steller rifles and can find no reasons this would be different.
 

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#36
rookie7 said:
Just curious about Stiller Actions, and not meaning to hijack the thread.

I agree it's a great time to be in the shooting discipline.

A lot of talk about new sub-$1000 actions, but Stiller has had one available for a long time.

I don't own one, and have handled a few.

Why no love for Stiller?
Click to expand...

Stiller actions may be $995, but they do not include a scope rail or recoil lug that I know of. They get to be closer to $1150 after getting the rest

EDIT: Disregard this post.
 
Last edited:
#38
Bandit31 said:
Not sure what makes you think that, but they do come with a pinned .1875" or .300" lug and a pinned scope base in either 0, 20, or 40 moa.
Click to expand...

I was always under the impression that the TAC actions didn't come with recoil lug or scope bases. Their website isn't super clear about it and all of the pictures of their actions show them without.
 
#39
MarkLeupold said:
I was always under the impression that the TAC actions didn't come with recoil lug or scope bases. Their website isn't super clear about it and all of the pictures of their actions show them without.
Click to expand...

Maybe but mine did and I don't think I've heard about them not coming with either. When I got my first one six years ago I got to specify what recoil lug size, base cant, and scope base length I wanted. The last Stiller I purchased (tac300) came with a pinned lug and 20moa base and I don't believe I was charged anything additionally.
 
#40
Bandit31 said:
Maybe but mine did and I don't think I've heard about them not coming with either. When I got my first one six years ago I got to specify what recoil lug size, base cant, and scope base length I wanted. The last Stiller I purchased (tac300) came with a pinned lug and 20moa base and I don't believe I was charged anything additionally.
Click to expand...

Previous post has been edited to hopefully aid in clarity of this thread.
 
#42
kthomas said:
Stiller actions are probably the worst feeling custom action I've ever felt.

Take a Defiance, throw a handful of sand in the action and that's what a Stiller feels like.
Click to expand...
Yep, that's what mine felt like. I swear they tried to smooth the action by using a cheesegrater. It was bloody disappointing.
 
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