This has the potential to be a controversial thread, but I have a question. Why would you take a factory rifle, say a Rem 700, and have the action "trued?" Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the idea of a true precision rifle build, and have been salivating over the idea of buying one for quite a while. Getting 1/4 MOA accuracy out of rifle is impressive to say the least, and I'm sure it takes a tremendous amount of work to accomplish that level of precision; part of which is ensuring appropriate tolerances and precision machining of the action.
Here's why I ask. I've owned 3 bolt guns that shoot factory loaded ammo with sub MOA precision with little to no modification: Rem 700 .270 (wood stock, hunter barrel, factory trigger, etc) - my first rifle which shoots just under 1 MOA with factory federal premium ammo; Rem 700 .308 SPS tactical aac-sd - shoots 3/4 MOA with 150g core-lokts; and a Weatherby Vanguard .308 - Sub MOA with core-lokts as well. The AAC-SD is the only one that is not stock. It's got a B&C stock and Timney trigger. Hand loads are getting close to 1/2 MOA on that rifle. I have not yet loaded for the other two. To be fair, it took some time to figure out which factory load worked best in each rifle; none of which shoot "match grade ammo" worth a dern. Maybe I've just been lucky and this is not the norm from factory firearms...
So, does truing the action really improve performance in a measurable way? Or, is it just one part of several (bedding stock or mouting in a chassis, new trigger, new barrel, etc) that SHOULD be done when improving a factory rifle? If so, is there a significant money saving advantage by starting factory or does it make more sense just to save a little dough and buy a custom rifle from the start? This is obviously a question from a relative newbie to the precision shooting community, and I am not taking a stab at anyone who's had their action worked on. Hell, I may have it done to my rifle if I can be convinced it's worth it. But, really, I'm just curious.
Barney, if you're listening, forgive any misspellings and feel free to correct any lapses in terminology. Thanks
Here's why I ask. I've owned 3 bolt guns that shoot factory loaded ammo with sub MOA precision with little to no modification: Rem 700 .270 (wood stock, hunter barrel, factory trigger, etc) - my first rifle which shoots just under 1 MOA with factory federal premium ammo; Rem 700 .308 SPS tactical aac-sd - shoots 3/4 MOA with 150g core-lokts; and a Weatherby Vanguard .308 - Sub MOA with core-lokts as well. The AAC-SD is the only one that is not stock. It's got a B&C stock and Timney trigger. Hand loads are getting close to 1/2 MOA on that rifle. I have not yet loaded for the other two. To be fair, it took some time to figure out which factory load worked best in each rifle; none of which shoot "match grade ammo" worth a dern. Maybe I've just been lucky and this is not the norm from factory firearms...
So, does truing the action really improve performance in a measurable way? Or, is it just one part of several (bedding stock or mouting in a chassis, new trigger, new barrel, etc) that SHOULD be done when improving a factory rifle? If so, is there a significant money saving advantage by starting factory or does it make more sense just to save a little dough and buy a custom rifle from the start? This is obviously a question from a relative newbie to the precision shooting community, and I am not taking a stab at anyone who's had their action worked on. Hell, I may have it done to my rifle if I can be convinced it's worth it. But, really, I'm just curious.
Barney, if you're listening, forgive any misspellings and feel free to correct any lapses in terminology. Thanks