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Gunsmithing are all new 700 actions equal???

skog

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 14, 2009
545
0
42
Rhodes, MI
with the exception of them being made from stainless or chrome moly are all the current 700 actions the same quality? Local store has 700 sps for $350. I am not seeing any used or pawnshop actions that cheap. Would this be a good action to start with or should I look for a higher end 700. Dont want to go the custom route.
 
Re: are all new 700 actions equal???

I can't see the steel being any less than what uit used to be , maybe the finish and tolerances. But if its gonna be blueprinted and refinished anyway that doesn't realy matter
 
Re: are all new 700 actions equal???

$350? Buy it.

If it is a full custom build, strip off the barrel, stock, and trigger and sell them wherever you can. That might turn it into a $150 donor if you sell the other stuff....
 
Re: are all new 700 actions equal???

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Frank Cordrey</div><div class="ubbcode-body">For $350 I'd buy every one they have ! Can't go wrong at that price . </div></div>

I remember about 3 years back when Wal-Mart had all of the 700 ADL's on clearance, 225.00...I kick myself to this day for not buying every one they had in stock!
 
Re: are all new 700 actions equal???

I'd hop on it, but plan on a new stock and barrel pretty quick. Is it a SPS or a SPS-Varmint? The Varmint barrel you could probably keep but the SPS is very lightweight.

I had a SPS I picked up as a similar deal several years ago. I tried everything to get it to shoot better than 1.5". Free floated, bedded the stock, trimmed the barrel down, recrowned it, even stiffened the stock with carbon fiber rods to get it to stay free-floated on a bipod. I finally rebarreled it and dropped it in a B&C stock, then it shot about 3/4" @100yd.

But to answer your original question, the actions appear to be the same. They may have additional quality control on higher end actions, but I didn't see any evidence of low QC or other problems with my SPS.
 
Re: are all new 700 actions equal???


I bought two 243's and a 270 when the local Walmart had them on sale for $300 each and had them trued. The only issue I had was a rough paint on the action in place of the bluing normally found on a steel action. They trued up fine and I had them blasted for Cerakote. If you want blued, then you will need to polish and blue.

Good shooting
Ron