If building a rifle from an OEM action, which long or short action would you use and why?
- Thread starter Army of One
- Start date
If you don’t already have an action then why are you going to buy an oem instead of something custom?
This.
Howa makes a good action as does tikka.
Remmy isn't a bad choice, but the price on those has gone up to the point that you can buy custom for cheaper.
A 700 footprint is the easy button, zermatt or Mack bros for best bang for the buck
Tikka for OEM, but if you drop $700 on a Tikka, pull the barrel, throw the stock and trigger out..... Then you paid $700 for the action. Pretty darn close to an Origin, more expensive than a Mac Bros Evo.
Tikka all day every day for factory.
Going down the origin or other budget custom route is another option but the few origins I have felt I wasn’t impressed. They wanted to bind easy and not near as slick as tikkas. Also need to factor in the cost of trigger with the origin or similar. The factory tikka trigger with a spring is really good and around 1#. I also prefer the 70* bolt throw.
Some considerations against the tikka. Only a few 2 stage triggers available and they don’t go as low or feel as good at say a trigger tech diamond 2 stage. Plenty of options for stocks or chassis for the tikka but they are harder to find used so if your wanting to build on a budget or swap stuff around and try different setups the 700 pattern is better.
Tikka also is a medium length action so running a longer OAL cartridge like the SAUM’s or 6.5 prc you might be able to get some extra performance.
With all that said. I started with a bighorn tl2, then bought a tikka and built it into a 223. Like the tikka much more than the bighorn other than the available 2 stage triggers for the tikka ( currently running a krg Midas and have tried a timney) wanted to build a new rifle to replace the bighorn and went back and forth on the tikka/custom and ended up going with an Arc archimedes due to the 700 platform so I can run trigger tech diamond 2 stage, and availability of more chassis and easier to buy and sell used to try new things. Also keeps the shorter bolt throw and changeable bolt heads to experiment with other calibers in the future.
Going down the origin or other budget custom route is another option but the few origins I have felt I wasn’t impressed. They wanted to bind easy and not near as slick as tikkas. Also need to factor in the cost of trigger with the origin or similar. The factory tikka trigger with a spring is really good and around 1#. I also prefer the 70* bolt throw.
Some considerations against the tikka. Only a few 2 stage triggers available and they don’t go as low or feel as good at say a trigger tech diamond 2 stage. Plenty of options for stocks or chassis for the tikka but they are harder to find used so if your wanting to build on a budget or swap stuff around and try different setups the 700 pattern is better.
Tikka also is a medium length action so running a longer OAL cartridge like the SAUM’s or 6.5 prc you might be able to get some extra performance.
With all that said. I started with a bighorn tl2, then bought a tikka and built it into a 223. Like the tikka much more than the bighorn other than the available 2 stage triggers for the tikka ( currently running a krg Midas and have tried a timney) wanted to build a new rifle to replace the bighorn and went back and forth on the tikka/custom and ended up going with an Arc archimedes due to the 700 platform so I can run trigger tech diamond 2 stage, and availability of more chassis and easier to buy and sell used to try new things. Also keeps the shorter bolt throw and changeable bolt heads to experiment with other calibers in the future.
OT, but I have a number of tikkas, some pretty modified, along with a defiance tenacity build. Looking at the arc Archimedes as my next short action and would be interested in your thoughts compared to the tikka.
I too prefer the slightly shorter bolt throw and smoothness of the tikka to my tenacity build, not that the defiance is bad either.
I shipped the action off to get barreled a couple weeks ago. Hoping to have it back soon and can give some feedback. Just cycling the action with a trigger it felt pretty good. It’s a little sloppy compared to my tikka and bighorn but didnt want to bind easily. Also wasn’t as slick as my tikka but it’s brand new vs thousands of rounds on the tikka and bighorn. Bolt manipulation is different but after cycling it for a while I think I’m going to really like it.
I’d be interested to hear your opinion once you get it back. Pm would be fine to not clutter this.
On on the fence on if I just buy a couple more tikka barrels for my match gun or give a custom a go. Either way I’m hoping ARC does another Black Friday sale, that may be the decider
I would skip the oem action all together,but tikka for the win.
That's the answer. Building from ground up? Then buying an OEM action is a bad move. Don't do it. You will regret it later.
