Does a custom action have an advantage over a trued Remington?
Frank Murphy This question comes up over and over again, here and elsewhere. Like others, I've given the measured responses you've gotten here, and really there is no arguing with these pieces of advice, for they are correct in so far as they go.
But, enough with being moderate, sensible, and politically correct--let me give you a direct answer: don't screw around trying to make chicken salad from chicken manure. If you really want the BR experience, get a BR gun, period. Believe it or not, the cost of the gun is the least of your expenses. Ammunition and wear on the barrel bring your direct costs to about $0.45 per shot for a 6 PPC, whereas the gun depreciates relatively slowly, especially if you start with a good used one.
Say you buy a decent used BR gun with an aged barrel ($2000 would be a high price) and keep it long enough to wear out say two barrels (4000 rounds for the sake of argument). You then sell it for $1800, losing $200 on the resale. The gun will have cost you $200.
On the other hand, firing the 4000 shots will have cost you about $1600 or a bit more, whether they came from a custom action or a reworked Remington, because that cost represents brass, powder, primers, bullets and the cost of two barrels. Total cost of operating that BR gun was then $1800.
On the other hand, say you already own a Remington, and you have it upgraded with trigger (yes, you need a new trigger), stock (ditto), blueprinting, sleeve, bases, (Stolles come with bases), you will have to put in $1000 or more to be ready to mount its first barrel and go shooting. You'll now have the value of the action and all that extra work tied up in the gun--you'll have to sell it for $1100 or more to come out in the same position you were with the custom action.
So, you see, it doesn't really cost much to use a good action in the first place, if anything.
Paul Dorsey If you already own the Remington action in question then all that is needed is a $ 250.00 blueprint and action sleeve to be competitive.
Resale, a properly trued and sleeved Remington will never be worth less than $5-600 about what you would have invested. Custom actions loose value like everything else. Customs that cost a $ 1000 today will sell for $ 8-850 on the used market.
vmthtr in Green Bay You can use a Rem action. The difference is that when you are done doing all the things to it that you need to make it equal to a custom, (trueing, sleeving, bush bolt face and body) that the cost is more or the same as a custom. When you decide to sell, heaven forbid, you end up eating most of that cost or all of it. A custom holds more value in the long run. My Rem has been trued and has a custom barrel and BR stock. It does not compare to my friends Stolle actioned gun. All the work on my gun is top notch, but until you work the bolt on a Stolle, Hall, Viper or any other custom action, you don't know what smooth really means.
