I'll mention again that I'm a relative rifle newbie, but is Remington's claim that their "3 rings of Steel" is the safest action on the market true? Is it really any safer than say a Ruger or Browning action? Just curious.

well ive heard of an awful lot of beating the action open with a 2x4 due to an overload but an action actually letting go due to overload im not sure i have heard of.....atleast short of doing it on purpose......

I don't know how strong a rem 700 action is, But I have seen A-bolts blow up pretty bad. I have an idiot cousin who chambered a 300 win mag into 300 H&H Model 70, all I gotta say is that is one tough rifle.

You do not seem to see many custom rifle builders work with Browning or Ruger actions. There are several that do utilize the Rem 700.
There is a strong possibility that there are more Remington 700's out in the field than Ruger & Browning combined, just a guess.
To answer your question, the 700 is a very strong action that is capable of handling some abuse.
I once heard somebody say that Ruger builds some petty good guns, but will never build a great one. I agree.
Over the years, the Browning name covers a lot of different actions & sources produced all over the world. Some of these are good stuuf, and some, well.... not so good. But almost always pretty.

Crush fitting a .49" shoulder into a chamber that's about .43" ID at that point didn't raise any red flags?

Well I'm not blowing up my 700 action to find out if the "3 rings of steel" is the safest action or not but I do know that most custom actions are a type of clone of the 700 action.

Actions don't blow up unless you do something very wrong. Any of today's manufacturer's actions are reliable and safe.

Just always be sure that you are sticking the right ammo in them.

JM.

I believe they handle excaping gas better than any other. Last year a fellow at the range fired a .270 in a 7mm Rem. Mag. chamber without disastrous results. First time I ever saw a .270 Winchester case with a belt.

A friend at work did the same with disastrous results to the 7 mag. Why he didn't lose an eye, ear or anything but some skin on his face only the Lord knows. Not sure what make but if a 700 the three rings worked. Having a bolt blow backward into yer face has happened.

That's why I said most custom actions are clones of the 700. I know one reason is the 700 is easier to manufacture and easier to work on but it has to have something to with safety I would think.

The 700 is used for most customs because it is easy to work on and accurize to provide a reasonably light and thight shooting rifle.

I don't see the rem 700 as being signifigantly safer than say the Ruger, the Brownings seem to have more reports of broken trigger guards and rusted up actions, but I haven't heard of folks blowing them up.

Remington actions are strong, and the "three rings of steel" true to the extent that a chambered cartridge is completely embedded in steel. Mausers for example have an ejector cut through the bolt that allows gas to escape into the action, as does the bolt face configuration allowing cartridges to slip under the extractor hook. Mauser barrels also have a large cut in the chamber area to accommodate the extractor. Mauser lost an eye during early phases of development to escaping gas, subsequently equipping bolts with baffles to deflect gas away from the shooter.

The weak link in all of this is the brass cartridge case, once it fails, high velocity pressurized gas escaping through the action will wreak havoc on any rifle. Gas venting becomes the deciding safety factor in any action, Remington does it as well as any.

The Remington is safest with the original extractor, and compromised when the bolt is cut away for the Sako type extractor. This defeats the gas containment system.

Remington bolt handles are silver brazed to the bolt body, so they can be broken off, as when hitting them with an object when a cartridge sticks. Same with the post '64 Winchesters, where the bolt is two piece, and many others. There is a modification where the bolt is screwed down after sliver brazing.

Remington actions are plentiful and cheap. Bonus is that there are zillions of aftermarket accessories, parts and accuracy upgrades available for them. The 40X single shot action is a bit stiffer and offers a bit more accuracy when set up properly.

Remington actions that are completely reworked with all the bells and whistles and a high end barrel are accurate enough for anything except competitive benchrest. All in all, they are a good safe product with almost unlimited potential for modification.