Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats savage or remington action

I want a custom barrel in 223. I have a savage 12 and a Rem. 700 youth in 243. I'm wondering what action is better for a custom barrel and why.

The Savage will be easier/cheaper to change the boltface on and the action is slightly stiffer than the 700 but the 700 looks way better.

700 does indeed look better, by a long shot.

The Savage is easier/cheeper to change the shifter and looks sharp with a custom barrel fitted like a Remington without the barrel nut.

I completely agree that going nutless with a Savage is the nicest way and it does a lot to make the Savage better looking. I do nutless Savages quite often.

However, unless you have the latest Savage action with the revised bolt release you're still stuck with the rather ungainly (IMO) bolt release/cocking indicator on the RH side of the bridge.

Both actions are capable of becoming a rifle you can be very proud of.

I'll take a Savage bolt release over a Remmy's any day...

No surprize there!

Remmys are a joke, with that stupid little spring. Tempted to send mine to Kampfeld to have buttons installed on the side of the action.

The 700 bolt release is easy to use and it looks good.

The Savage one is easy to use but ugly as heck.

I'm also not a fan of the sear doubling as a bolt release as on the Savage.

I just ordered a savage barrel in 243 Ai and installed it in under 15 minutes. If I don't like it, I can change it back to a 308, or change the mag and bolt face and have a 223 Ai in under 20 minutes.

Can't do that with my remingtons, unless they have been fitted with the savage-type barrel. Even then, I'm stuck with whatever boltface I already have.

Love my remingtons, but the savage is a tinkerer's dream.

Just saying.......

Remington has resell value. No point in starting with a cheap receiver.

Do it, I did and I'm happy with it.

A year ago I would have said take the 700, today I will tell you to take the Savage. You can get the new barrel nut that is smooth and they look just fine. The old style bolt stops are a PITA. Period. They inhibit the ability to do a proper pillar bedding job and and inexplicably connected to the trigger mount. The new ones look better and work fine.

Savage seems to have a smaller loading port, making the action stiffer.

They are extremely easy to get to shoot. Cheesiest thing on the action is that stamped recoil lug.

I'd rather have (1) 700,than (3) Salvages and a quiver full of extry tubes.

Pretty easy to ring the bell on a build,for them inclined and to actually even shoot same...................

Only nsaqam can come up with a gem like this

Could not agree more

Nothing wrong with the Savage action. Using the Remington you'll need to have the .473 boltface bushed to .378 which will also mean a different extractor and more expense. Most cost effective would be to just get another Rem. bolt if you can find one, or a new one from PPG. With what you've got I'd use the Savage action......changing a Savage bolthead isn't difficult and it doesn't cost much.

You gals like to make easy schit difficult. Pretty easy to swap/sell the .473" action for a .378" version of same...though I realize that'll steal your thunder.

Shaking my head.................

Maybe/maybe not.... swapping depends on where you are and who's out there wanting what and finding them. Selling, then finding/buying what you're after isn't easier than just ordering a bolthead.

If that's "difficult",I'm laffin' even harder than initially...which was a belly laugh.

TFF!.....................