What are the difference on each type of action(footprints) on the market, pros and cons?

[thexman]

Not sure if anyone or any articles have talked about different type of action before, after googling, I haven't found anything straight forward to the topic and help me understand good and bad about each type of actions.

Wonder if resources is available which can help me to learn each type of actions and pros and cons?

Thanks in advance.

 

[TurboTrout]

Seems tons use the rem 700 footprint

 

[Supersubes]

Dan Lillja of Lilja rifle barrels has written a number of articles on various action types. You should probably define your needs for the receiver first, and that will greatly narrow down what you need to evaluate. Safe to say though for Precision field rifles, Footprint doesn’t matter as long as it fits in your chosen stock and has the features you want.

 

[brianf]

Not sure if anyone or any articles have talked about different type of action before, after googling, I haven't found anything straight forward to the topic and help me understand good and bad about each type of actions.

Wonder if resources is available which can help me to learn each type of actions and pros and cons?

Thanks in advance.

hard one to answer...its like asking the internet what their favorite color is

almost all "custom" actions are based on the remington 700 footprint (physical size), and many of them are made by 2-3 manufacturers with different names etched into the side.

"what the pro's use" is a decent source of info if only because the info is in one place with pics and actual numbers not opinion

in theory, take a look at that and then research those names. more often that not you will find similar features and it comes down to looks and customer service

 

[jcmullis2]

It all depends on what type of shooting you’re doing. I would buy a used Remington 700 police or varmint synthetic if I didn’t know what I wanted and I just wanted something to get started shooting.

 

[b6graham]

3 years here? and you ask this?

 

[thexman]

Dan Lillja of Lilja rifle barrels has written a number of articles on various action types. You should probably define your needs for the receiver first, and that will greatly narrow down what you need to evaluate. Safe to say though for Precision field rifles, Footprint doesn’t matter as long as it fits in your chosen stock and has the features you want.

Thanks, will check out the articles.

Still kind of new in shooting, only got factory rifle for now. Thinking about building custom one next, when I started looking and found there are many different types of actions. I guess many of them are designed for PRS or similar style shooting. Then I tried to figure out what's the pros and cons for each from different manufacturers.

Like I said, still new in shooting, have no idea what those features listed on the manufacturer's website really means to me. I guess, I need to find out either from local club or at any PRS match asking people if I can try and feel the difference.

 

[thexman]

hard one to answer...its like asking the internet what their favorite color is

almost all "custom" actions are based on the remington 700 footprint (physical size), and many of them are made by 2-3 manufacturers with different names etched into the side.

"what the pro's use" is a decent source of info if only because the info is in one place with pics and actual numbers not opinion

in theory, take a look at that and then research those names. more often that not you will find similar features and it comes down to looks and customer service

Thank you for your reply.

I know I probably didn't ask clearly or it's a question about personal preferences.

Because when I tried to pick a chassis, say MDT, I got many options like Tikka, Remington etc. (I assume they are different type of designs or footprints?). So I am trying to find out what is the difference between those action designs and what are the benefits using that type of actions/designs.

I did checked the article custom rifle action on precisionrifleblog, I think I get the idea, but to fully understand the difference, I think I may still need to get on someone's rifle, cycle the bolt and feel the difference.

Thanks, will keep learning.

 

[Supersubes]

There are many threads here detailing this vs that action. Do a google search, you can read for months.

By far the bighorn origin is the favorite for someone in your shoes. The Defiance Tenacity, Arc Nucleus 2.0, and the Kelby Atlas are right there. Each of those have a more expensive big brother. Read around, send PM’s, ask questions etc.

 

[TurboTrout]

Thank you for your reply.

I know I probably didn't ask clearly or it's a question about personal preferences.

Because when I tried to pick a chassis, say MDT, I got many options like Tikka, Remington etc. (I assume they are different type of designs or footprints?). So I am trying to find out what is the difference between those action designs and what are the benefits using that type of actions/designs.

I did checked the article custom rifle action on precisionrifleblog, I think I get the idea, but to fully understand the difference, I think I may still need to get on someone's rifle, cycle the bolt and feel the difference.

Thanks, will keep learning.

When it says Remington most are not running a action built by Remington.

You could be talking a defiance, impact, etc.

 

[thexman]

It all depends on what type of shooting you’re doing. I would buy a used Remington 700 police or varmint synthetic if I didn’t know what I wanted and I just wanted something to get started shooting.

I am mainly doing precision shooting in prone, sort of like F-class but just using tactical style rifle. Got a factory tikka now, plan to build a custom one, so start checking different parts options, couldn't figure out which one to pick for custom action.

 

[gnochi]

I am mainly doing precision shooting in prone, sort of like F-class but just using tactical style rifle. Got a factory tikka now, plan to build a custom one, so start checking different parts options, couldn't figure out which one to pick for custom action.

Think about what features you want:

• Claw vs plate vs spring tab vs M16 extraction
• Mechanical vs spring ejection
• 2 vs 3 lug; also, 55 vs 60 vs 72 vs 75 vs 85 vs 90 degree bolt throw
• Savage small shank vs Remington 700 / Remage vs other barrel shank compatibility
• Prefit barrel compatibility
• Integrated vs separate scope rail
• Integrated vs separate recoil lug
• Trigger pins vs hanger vs screws
• Flat vs round base
• DBM vs BDL vs…

And see which actions match up best. Feel free to tell us what you’re looking for!

All of the above options have pros and cons in niche use cases, but for the most part they don’t really matter, it’s just personal preference.