Who makes a good CRF builders action these days?

[charlieb]

Check out Defiances new CRF! Bob Beck is listening to this market I hope now! I personally bought up about 25 classic stainless 375s and 300 rums to build off of.

 

[Rifleman97]

Check out Defiances new CRF! Bob Beck is listening to this market I hope now! I personally bought up about 25 classic stainless 375s and 300 rums to build off of.

I just did! It’s really cool, my only complaint is no Rigby/lapua bolt face offering as of yet!

 

[charlieb]

I just did! It’s really cool, my only complaint is no Rigby/lapua bolt face offering as of yet!

I will ask Bob to possibly offer that!

 

[charlieb]

Here's a good read on it. Simple search for others that may read this.

 

[leslie hetrick]

three of the best, i think.

 

[charlieb]

We already in the ball park! Place your orders at Defiance! Mention Charlie Barnes, it couldn't hurt lol.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

There’s always Granite Mountain Arms. Hands down, my #1 favorite control round feed actions available on the market today. Unfortunately but understandably, not the cheapest.

 

[MacJenkins]

GMA’s are good, I have a couple Satterlee which have been excellent. My new 300H&H is being built on a Mayfair.

 

[Rifleman97]

I will ask Bob to possibly offer that!

If I can get one in Rigby/lapua bolt face for under $1800 I will personally guarantee that my next build will be on a defiance CRF, probably ordering next spring

 

[Rifleman97]

We already in the ball park! Place your orders at Defiance! Mention Charlie Barnes, it couldn't hurt lol.

Just saw this after I left my previous comment. with desert dog talking about the decline of Winchester 70’s recently I might skip my plan to buy a safari express this fall and put a deposit down on a defiance in the next few weeks instead to build a 416 Rigby on, thanks for reaching out for me.

 

[Wyfox]

Just saw this after I left my previous comment. with desert dog talking about the decline of Winchester 70’s recent I might skip my plan to buy a safari express this fall and put a deposit down on a defiance in the next few weeks instead to build a 416 Rigby on, thanks for reaching out for

If I can get one in Rigby/lapua bolt face for under $1800 I will personally guarantee that my next build will be on a defiance CRF, probably ordering next spring

Defiance is $3k with Trigger-Tech trigger timed to a model 70 3 position shroud safety and nitrite finish.

 

[Rifleman97]

Defiance is $3k with Trigger-Tech trigger timed to a model 70 3 position shroud safety and nitrite finish.

Honestly? That’s actually not too bad. I wasn’t expecting to get a 3 position safety included in my made up number for price, nor the trigger, nor the nitrite. So with all included I think 3k is a fair price. 3 position safety alone is quite the pricey upgrade

 

[Wyfox]

Honestly? That’s actually not too bad. I wasn’t expecting to get a 3 position safety included in my made up number for price, nor the trigger, nor the nitrite. So with all included I think 3k is a fair price. 3 position safety alone is quite the pricey upgrade

100% agree

 

[Jefferry404]

There’s always Granite Mountain Arms. Hands down, my #1 favorite control round feed actions available on the market today. Unfortunately but understandably, not the cheapest.

100%.
Quite a few size options,”pregnant flooplates”
And on the African. 0.75” bolt. I think John is about the last man standing along with Stuart Satterlee.
Mac,
I was able to get 3 Mayfair actions from Roger, wish I had gotten more. Got the Kurtz for a 7mm-08.
Steve

 

[Wyfox]

100%.
Quite a few size options,”pregnant flooplates”
And on the African. 0.75” bolt. I think John is about the last man standing along with Stuart Satterlee.
Mac,
I was able to get 3 Mayfair actions from Roger, wish I had gotten more. Got the Kurtz for a 7mm-08.
Steve

GMA are amazing! are they still $4k retail? Lead time still in years?

Biggest downside to the magnum Mausers is lack of stock options available without going full custom. Can a McMillan CZ550 Safari be inletted for a GMA?

Stuarts are amazing too, but again lead time is years and price is above what most are willing to pay for an action.

 

[Jefferry404]

Do not know the street price for the GMA’s (have 7 built, 3 waiting in the wings). I suppose they are expensive but man, are they sweet, particularly the African in 505 Gibbs.
I think I posted here comparing the GMA to Mayfair and Precthl actions. Search my name.
Steve

 

[TheWhitetailNut]

There’s fewer and fewer CRF actions available every year. Last year, defiance discontinued their CRF upgrade, and a year or two ago Mausingfield went out of business. As far as I could tell Montana doesn’t sell bare actions, or even a single rifle with a wood stock anymore, and Mauser’s 98 barreled actions are about as expensive than 2 fully custom rifles combined for some reason.

Is there any option for new manufactured true CRF actions anymore? The Zermatt ones aren’t really true CRF either, as they snap over the case as you close the bolt, meaning while unlikely, it’s technically possible to fail to extract a stuck case from the extractor snapping over the rim.

Is it too much to ask for just a basic CRF action for less than 3 grand, without having to buy an entire rifle and throw away all of the parts except the action? You used to be able to just buy a Defiance and for $150 upgrade it to true CRF for a whole action, of really high quality, for $1500-1750 ish.

There’s a lot of reasons to like controlled round feed even outside of DG hunting. Double feeding is impossible, which happens frequently on poorly built push feeds like the ruger Americans. You can more quickly eject all the rounds from a magazine, without having to do the entire bolt stroke or open up the bottom on hinged floor plate designs. You can slowly pull the bolt back without dropping the case when shooting off a bench with expensive brass you don’t want to ding up with their no spring design.

Like I know it’s more expensive but Winchester is able to sell entire CRF rifles with 3 position safety and a wood stock for like $1500, how hard is it to make just a builders action for under 2k?

If we band together and yell loud enough you think we could get Winchester to go the bergara route and offer a builders or barreled action?

This post is mainly a rant more than a question, feel free to use this place as a way to vent your frustrations on something you want to see available as well. I’m glad Mauser/rigby still exist, but as a professional woodworker I really want to build my own gun off of a quality action, and fit the stock to myself, and not spend 10 grand on just the action. The rifle I want doesn’t exist so I want to make it myself.

I'm frustrated that people are interested in "yelling loud enough". They offered it for years, it didn't sell. They never sell, that's why few people make one. While we're ranting how do you jump from a $1700 action to a Ruger American for comparison. Winchesters are not made well enough to build a quality custom off of without several hundred in machining anyway so nobody will buy them either.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Following up, I want something kinda like this, but with iron sights and CRF, no muzzle break, maybe a barrel band, no fluting, heavier profile barrel, etc. I’m sure someone has made what I’m talking about at some point but there’s non for sale I can find right now, especially not in a chambering I want View attachment 682398

Sounds like a Winchester M70 to me?

 

[CoElkHunter]

I recently had a trigger job done on my vanguard which uses a howa trigger to be 2 stage 14 ounce pull weight, and I am definitely a convert for 2 stage triggers. 14 ounces is just enough it doesn’t go off by accident, and light enough that it doesn’t really give me a chance to pull off from the target or flinch in anticipation. You can buy 2 stage triggers for remington 700, but I get what you mean. I don’t trust the factory triggers on 700’s either. You used to be able to send your 700 bolt to someone and they could convert any 700 style action to a winchester style wing 3 position safety, not sure if people still do that or not. I haven’t looked into that in years.



That rifle is very tempting, if someone would buy my current 30-06 already I’d consider placing a bid lol. As for the stock, I can make my own and plan on it. I don’t make stocks professionally but I do woodworking full time so I can definitely use my fully equipped shop to make my own the shape and design that I want.

The price on that for right now isn’t bad but I’ll be curious to see what it get’s bid up to before it sells, lot can happen in the last few hours.

I haven’t decided on a chambering yet, I’m really wanting a 416 Rigby, I don’t think I’ll ever get to go DG hunting in africa but I just love that round and it would be fun to shoot one. I like the big boomers even if I don’t actually need one. However I’m not really sure the winchesters can have their bolt face opened that much. Maybe, but I’m not sure. 416 rem mag does pretty much the same thing but it doesn’t have the “cool” factor I am craving.

Also I did some research and defiance does not offer the Deviant CRF in .590 bolt face either, so no rigby on that.

Consider a NEW Ruger M77 Hawkeye Alaskan or Guide Gun in .375 or .416 Ruger for $1200-1400 bucks. SS, open sights, CRF, barrel band sling, scope rings, removeable brake. For a .416 cartridge and above, there is NOTHING close to that price and quality out there anymore and NOTHING in stainless steel. Drop down to a .375 H &H and a lot more options are available. I too would be looking for a Winchester M70 SS with a walnut stock in .375 H&H if I were going that route. A couple of years ago, I passed on a new M70 SS/walnut in .338WM for $1600 at a LGS and am still kicking myself. So, I bought a Ruger Guide Gun. LOL

 

[Rifleman97]

Consider a NEW Ruger M77 Hawkeye Alaskan or Guide Gun in .375 or .416 Ruger for $1200-1400 bucks. SS, open sights, CRF, barrel band sling, scope rings, removeable brake. For a .416 cartridge and above, there is NOTHING close to that price and quality out there anymore and NOTHING in stainless steel. Drop down to a .375 H &H and a lot more options are available. I too would be looking for a Winchester M70 SS with a walnut stock in .375 H&H if I were going that route. A couple of years ago, I passed on a new M70 SS/walnut in .338WM for $1600 at a LGS and am still kicking myself. So, I bought a Ruger Guide Gun. LOL

I definitely like the ruger guide guns! I just think that the older I’m getting (I’m 27 but still) the more I want to have quality things that either mean something to me, or are made especially for me, and/or made by me.

I don’t know how else to explain it, but I like the idea of a high quality custom action more than buying a gun that has an action worth half of what I just spent, spending more money to make the action closer in quality to a custom, and then throwing out all the parts I don’t need but paid for. A lot of times all said and done you end up with a rifle that’s as expensive (sometimes more) as a custom action, but without the niceties of having a custom action that had accurate tolerances and clean machining to begin with.

Sounds like a Winchester M70 to me?

As a final note you cant get a model 70 in Rigby bolt face unfortunately, but yes I basically want to build a fully custom rifle quality version of a model 70 that doesn’t cost 18 grand or more. I think the defiance should be able to get me what I want, especially if they’re willing to skip out on the nitrite finish. I’m not really big on the nitrite look.