Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Defiance Rebel Action

Hi Guys,

Has anyone built on Defiance Rebel Long action? I am doing a 7mm Rem Mag

If so how does it cycle? I heard the bolt is tight. Has anyone out there melonited it ? I heard if I cerakote the bolt and receiver it would be too tight and not be to smooth to operate. Any input or advice would be great and any pics of a Defiance action in melonite or cerakoted action would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Go with KG coating if your spraying the bolt & action body.

Some of the smoothest functioning rifle actions there are.
The melonite process involves heat.
A person would need to call Defiance and find out if there would be any bad side effects in having an action so treated.

I cant see why anyone would want cerakote inside a Defiance action.
The actions are stainless steel.
I have one short action Rebel on a 1000 yards rifle.
And two long action repeaters.
Keep the cerakote on the outside.
Leave the inside alone.

dave

Defiance makes great stuff - use in confidence!!

No problems with cerakote on my Defiance actions - no binding issues and they cycle very smoothly.

They offer them in CM, as well.

Cerekote will apply heavier than KG. Your gunsmith needs to determine which product is best for bolt clearance, especially if your spraying bolt/action inside & out.

This Defiance Rebel would not work if Cerekote was applied.

I build 50-60 rifles a year on Defiance receivers. All of them get KG gunkote finish. No problems at all with clearance. They are possibly the smoothest action out there for sure. They do our private label actions for us. Tolerances are the same but have some other tweaks done to them.

the whole action tightness issue is a MYTH!!! no one I know puts their rifle in the mud or refuses to wipe off the bolt from time to time. I use a BAT action which is among the tightest tolerances in an action maybe short of a benchrest action. I think spiral fluting of the bolt plays a key role in keeping the action running smooth. after using a ruger m77 mk 2 before this rifle I don't find myself needing to wipe it down anymore than I did with the ruger. there are no need for trick coatings or any of that stuff, I like the stainless look of the action as it is. I would also suggest getting the new action with the built in rail and lug, its going to be alot stiffer and the recoil lug is built in which I think is a big plus too.

Is that the tactical or teardrop knob?

ML

Teardrop

Outwestshooter,
What is the intended purpose of this build?
And how were you planning on setting it up?
dave

dave

Yes I know they do.
I talked to Mr. Harrison about that.
He told me that about the only ones they build that way are for guys looking to do a wall hanger/classic build with like,... rust blueing.

But why build with CM for something your going to take out in the poop? SS will rust but nothing like CM.
I actually toyed with the idea of CM on my 1000 yard rifle.
Thats why I asked him.
He actually kind of talked me out of it.
So far no flys on SS for a target action.
But I only have about 800 rounds so far.
TSI-301 and a dab of STP on each lug.
Slick as all get out.
dave

Borden and Bat run the same .002 clearance on bolt to raceway, Bighorn runs .006 but with the floating bolt head concept, surgeon has a generous clearance when the bolt is all the way back but tighten up to around.003 when bolt is being closed, Defiance told me they run their clearances around .002 but my Rebel seems to be a little looser than my Borden Timberline, The built in lug and rail have not been proven any more accurate than an action that has no built in lug or rail, they are nice options but come at the cost of additional weight!

IMHO, ANY/ALL Clones, and even blueprinted Rem's, as well as Howa/Vanguard, and Sako actions will ALL shoot better than most anyone here can hold, in the field - assuming good barrel/stock are mated by a good smith, and good trigger and optic are applied, and good loads used.

Not much 'endshake' when the bolts are rearward, the clones are all pretty tight, in fact you have to make sure you run them straight fwd/back b/c there is not much play like a Rem.

FWIW, to date, all my SS rifles are uncoated, save an M7 XCR that is coated OEM.

I have one pushing & pulling 300 WM cartridges and it is coated.
It was a bit sticky when it was fresh from the smith but I dry fire fairly frequently and it smooth like glass now.

It is cerakoted graphite black and yeah it is kind of a shame to cover the finish that Defiance puts on these actions but I am not so much for the shiny.

I recommend this action without hesitation, put a jewell trigger underneath it and you will have something that is smooth as silk cycling and firing.

I will try to get a photo posted.

What about some of the coatings that work at the metallurgical levels, e.g. Black-T? Maybe I'm mistaken, but these are said to be ultra thin when applied.

I have black t on several M700s.
Black t with TSI-301 as a lube and its a whole different ball game on a M700.
There is supposed to be a new Dura Coat thats made for lubrication.I haven't looked into it.

My two long action Rebels will have to be coated with something

dave

Mine is a first generation Phoenix machine before he became Defiance but same action. Mine IS chrome-moly as I don't like actions made from 416 SS. I had my entire action Melonite treated. They held the salt bath to a temperature that would not ruin Glen's heat treatment. My action is very slick and maintenance free. I will have to take some photos- can't seem to find any. I coated my second barrel, the one on it now, with that Brownells rattle can stuff. It does not hold up as good as even Durakote. Maybe I am just too hard on stuff.

I don't think it could ever be proven or disproven it would be impossible to maintain everything the same to see if that was the factor or something else. I will say the legendary accurate factory rifles like the tikka t3 and remington 788 are all port style actions. sako's TRG uses a port action. there are not scope base screws and there is no recoil lug sandwiched between the action and barrel. watch a slow speed video of a gun firing that barrel whips VIOLENTLY upon firing. eliminating parts that can move has to be a good thing. at the end of the day after you screw a scope pic rail to the top of the action, making it intergral and building in the recoil lug is going to likely ad like 4 oz or there abouts. if your fretting over 4 oz perhaps the purpose of the gun isn't ultimate accuracy or its not even needed for that matter. a lighter weight build with a thin barrel isn't going to be a ticket to long range accuracy anyways.

The 788 does have a more slightly "closed" port than a 700 but also has base screw holes for scope mounting and a recoil lug,it's accuracy is likely attributed to the super fast lock time and action design but stiffness sure dooesn't hurt,for reference, My ss murphy precision rail weighs 5 oz's and a Holland lug comes in at 2 oz's, for LR shooting a little extra weight is a +....