Easily customizable bolt action

[SonOfRoost]

I'm thinking of buying a bolt action somewhere in the distant future (I already have a break action .280 for hunting, and a 1911 that I'm customizing). The only big requirement is that I want to be able to easily (in a relative way) be able to customize almost every part of the gun. I'm big on being able to modify my weapons, and it would be nice to start cheap, and build my way up to expensive. Ideally the base gun would be inexpensive, and easy to find. On one last note, it needs to be a .308, .30-06, or 7.62x54mmR, although the first two are preferable. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wlewisiii]

Feh, Mauser 98 action then. You can do more, far easier, with a Mauser than any other bolt made before or since.

 

[Afy]

Savage.

 

[ShroomFish]

Savage 10 or Remington 700 are great for customizing, and fun

 

[helotaxi]

Are you looking for one that can be customized or one that you can customize? If you're looking for the biggest aftermarket, it's a Remington 700, but a smith has to fit the barrel. A Savage has a quickly expanding aftermarket and you can do the barrel work yourself.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Another vote for savage.

In the end there's so much more the average owner can do to one than a rem 700 or Mauser.


Not only are barrels easily changeable but bolt handles and heads are too. As to aftermarket at one time the rem700 may have had more support but that simply isn't the case today. There are VERY few things you can buy for a rem that you can't for a savage, in fact there are quite a few items avalible for savages that aren't for 700's

 

[helotaxi]

The one thing severely lacking for the Savage is a left handed sporter stock without spending $400+ for a McMillan. I'll probably have to order a Stockade and play the waiting game.

 

[joed]

If you want after market parts then go Remington. There are more parts available for Remington then any other make. And that's a good thing after seeing some of the stocks Remington is using.

 

[Dreamcast270mhz]

Tell me, why not 7.62x54R? It has many custom options, many different rifles. There are the Finnish M28/76 rifles, match grade and practically brand new, from centerfire. True, barrels are lacking and so are left handed rifles but ima righty so I guess I dont understand.

 

[Brockak47]

savage or remingtong, but i would go with savage, cheap start up and then can be customized and upgraded to your hearts content

 

[bigedp51]

You can get a Savage/Stevens 200 for less than $250.00 and have rifle that is highly customizable. Easy barrel changes and parts galore all over the Internet.

Below, Stevens 200 .243 and the barrel nut for easy change barrels



Floating bolt head that ensures that both locking lugs contact evenly.



And they also make the Stevens 200 with a 26 inch heavy barrel.

 

[aubie515]

If you want to do the work yourself...look no further than the Savage/Stevens 200...you will get a great shooting rifle for half the cost of going with a Remington 700 action.

 

[helotaxi]

Tell me, why not 7.62x54R? It has many custom options, many different rifles. There are the Finnish M28/76 rifles, match grade and practically brand new, from centerfire. True, barrels are lacking and so are left handed rifles but ima righty so I guess I dont understand.

Anything other than mil-surp available? Nope. Any off-the-shelf mods available? Nope. Does the round feed from a normal, non-curved magazine suitable for a bolt gun? Nope. Is it such a fantastic round that it's worth dealing with all the things detracting from it, namely the rifles chambered for it, to go that route? Not even "kinda."

Welcome to the 21st century. Other than nostalgia, there is no reason to deal with a cartridge and rifle dating from before the turn of the previous century. Even less reason to use one of them as the basis for a person's only bolt rifle when the goal is to end up with a competent custom rifle. The 7.62x54R has nothing to recommend it these days unless you want a cheap rifle shooting cheap ammo and aren't terrible concerned with great, or even good, accuracy.

 

[Dreamcast270mhz]

Why not? Many Mosins were never issued, good as new. They have very good, practical accuracy. My unmodified 91/30 shot 2MOA at 100 yards with Mil-surp 148gr light ball, with match gread maybe even better. With my trigger work, bedding and other things anyone would do on a custom rifle, I probably can get sub MOA quite easily. I would say unless going for a magnum round there is no practical reason to not choose milsurp. My milsurp M1917, .30-06 has a great trigger, smooth action and while plinking it seems to hit whatever I put in front of it, from glass coke bottles to watermelons, soon I will formally report on it.

Plus many milsurps have neat characteristics. The mauser series is stronger and safer than many contemporary designs and the CRF system is great.

Don't discount the K-31, a great straight pull which much surplus ammo is match grade and fairly inexpensive over factory ammo.

The .30-30 is rimmed, yet it remains a popular caliber, and retains many characteristics of other rimmed rounds, namely the 7.62x54r. Finns have successfully used Mosin actions many years for military and police work, and they make some of the finest rifles in the world.

Plus the custom market for Mosins is quite large. Stocks, peep sights, bolts, bedding kits, scope mounts. Only thing is barrels, but you can get a PK or UK59 barrel and have it modified for around the same price, plus you get a heavy barrel that was designed for many, many rounds.

Maybe you have had duds but the Mosin is an unknown gem, and one with great potential. It fits right between .308 and .30-06, and match grade ammo can be found or made at the same or less price as any other caliber.

And why go milsurp? People don't realize you can get great results from an old Mauser, Mosin, or even Enfield. You can customize them more economically, and generally when its all said and done I can see the milsurp path being somewhat cheaper, just need to now where to look, and be willing for patience.

Regarding the magazine, it protrudes no more than most stocks and I find it's latch convenient for fast unloading, compared to a mauser which needs a 8x57 IS cartridge to unload.

 

[Jim Watson]

What are your capabilities, equipment and knowhow?

Got a lathe, mill, handtools, and lots of experience?

Got a mototool and a Guns & Ammo?

 

[helotaxi]

Why not? Many Mosins were never issued, good as new. They have very good, practical accuracy. My unmodified 91/30 shot 2MOA at 100 yards with Mil-surp 148gr light ball, with match gread maybe even better. With my trigger work, bedding and other things anyone would do on a custom rifle, I probably can get sub MOA quite easily. I would say unless going for a magnum round there is no practical reason to not choose milsurp. My milsurp M1917, .30-06 has a great trigger, smooth action and while plinking it seems to hit whatever I put in front of it, from glass coke bottles to watermelons, soon I will formally report on it.

Plus many milsurps have neat characteristics. The mauser series is stronger and safer than many contemporary designs and the CRF system is great.

Don't discount the K-31, a great straight pull which much surplus ammo is match grade and fairly inexpensive over factory ammo.

The .30-30 is rimmed, yet it remains a popular caliber, and retains many characteristics of other rimmed rounds, namely the 7.62x54r. Finns have successfully used Mosin actions many years for military and police work, and they make some of the finest rifles in the world.

Plus the custom market for Mosins is quite large. Stocks, peep sights, bolts, bedding kits, scope mounts. Only thing is barrels, but you can get a PK or UK59 barrel and have it modified for around the same price, plus you get a heavy barrel that was designed for many, many rounds.

Maybe you have had duds but the Mosin is an unknown gem, and one with great potential. It fits right between .308 and .30-06, and match grade ammo can be found or made at the same or less price as any other caliber.

And why go milsurp? People don't realize you can get great results from an old Mauser, Mosin, or even Enfield. You can customize them more economically, and generally when its all said and done I can see the milsurp path being somewhat cheaper, just need to now where to look, and be willing for patience.

Regarding the magazine, it protrudes no more than most stocks and I find it's latch convenient for fast unloading, compared to a mauser which needs a 8x57 IS cartridge to unload.

And in your blind advocacy of the Russian (it predates the Soviet Union by a good bit) cartridge, you completely missed the point. The Mosin is a crap action. It is not particularly strong. To do anything with it takes serious fabrication work and that's just to get acceptable results; excellent result are out of reach. You can't conventionally mount a scope because of the split rear receiver and the use of stripper clips. There is no real aftermarket for it despite what you might think.

You mentioned yourself the biggest reason for not even bothering and don't know enough about what makes a good rifle to even realize it. Barrels. Without a good barrel, no rifle will shoot well.

The next problem is that of ammo. Since you mentioned the 7.62x54R not the 53R, there are precious few loads and precious few bullets in .310-311 caliber. The Russian guns did not use .308 bullets, the Finns with the 53R did. Again, why go to a lot of trouble trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear? Nostalgia? Sorry, I didn't fight with the Russians in the Great War, I have no nostalgia in that regard. Mil-surp rifles are fine for what they are, but they are still not a good foundation for a custom rifle. Especially when you can get modern designs that are several iterations improved from the old warhorses for not a lot of money and have a good barrel, good trigger, thriving aftermarket, large knowledge base and are chambered in a modern cartridge with wide support.

The 30-30 is a poor comparison since it is preferred because of the rifles chambered for it. Lever actions are compact, handy and easy to shoot. It just so happens that the .30-30 is the most common levergun cartridge. It is still around because it has a very strong following of the gun, not so much the cartridge. Notice that you don't see very many bolt action .30-30s. There have been some made, but no current models exist. Why? Because rimmed cartridges are very poorly suited to bolt action rifles. Something that everyone but the Russians realized over 100 years ago. Rimmed cartridges belong in revolvers, lever actions and single shots, not box magazine fed bolt actions or autoloaders.

 

[hardluk1]

Savage also has single shot actions that can be bought from a smithy and you could build at home. Unless you go with a really good barrel like a krieger then you will still need chambering and fit done buy a smithy. But you can buy from several barrel, stock and trigger companies to build your custom the way you want it. Savage has the actions in left side eject right side feed too. Good stuff at a very good price.

 

[petrey10]

get the stevens long action... which really is a savage long action.... replace the stevens stock and trigger ... bed it... good scope and you got a tack driving bolt action

 

[Dreamcast270mhz]

Helotaxi,

You don't like them, thats fine. The Mosin barrels are great for milsurps, and mine as stated produces acceptable accuracy out of the box. If the OP decides on a modern action (which he probably will) he will have a great rifle no doubt, but I wanted to remind him of another, more challenging-but-equally rewarding path. As said there are ways around the barrel issue and a PKM barrel is fairly cheap, and how many rifle barrels manufactured today are derived from a machine gun? Few, he will have a one of a kind.

7.62x54R has been adapted into a number of successful autoloaders, the SVT-40, SVD, PSL, Zastava M91. A rimmed cartridge like it, there is no reason it can't have its place in modern weaponry, it is just was powerful as .308 and nearly as .30-06, its lower pressure than .308 makes it easier on weaponry.

Ammo, there is no need to worry, casting bullets is just as easy as anything else, plus there is a larger selection than one may think, because .303 is also .311 in diameter. If you are worried about the lack of commercial bullets, feel free to pick up any number of Finnish guns that use the.308 diameter, problem solved.

I have no nostalgia regarding Russian weaponry, just there is no reason for me to go out and buy a R700 and pay way more money when a Mosin costs a mere $89, and has a good base to start on. Getting the trigger under 4lbs and nice and smooth costs about $10 at the most, floating/bedding the barrel and bedding the action at most $30. Synthetic stock: >$100, PK barrel install and mod, $159+~$200. Match grade 7n1 $79 for 440 rounds. Altogether you can spend as little as $667, if you want a good scope you add $20 for weaver rail plus the cost of your scope. A very economical route, if you ask me.

The Mosin action is quite strong, and handles gas quite well. On my dad's 1933 Izhevsk we had 3 pierced primers and all of them did not result in a face full of hot gas. And the beauty of the Mosin design is, firing pin protrusion is easily adjustable.

Lever action rifles are not very compact, compared to a bolt action, and every time I try to rapid fire one my finger ends up getting f-ed up by the trigger. The tube mags hang off the barrel, impeding accuracy and sometimes balance.

The K-31 is also another option he should consider, as it has a nice feed system, smoth action and all surplus is match grade non-corrosive and quite affordable, plus it has excellent accuracy out of the box, no reason to change a barrel there.

@SonofRoost

Good luck with your build, whatever you choose, just don't fall prey to the "Mall Ninja" crap out there. I'll be eagerly awaiting range details and pics.

 

[Robert]

Why not a Mosin? Gee I dunno, maybe it is the fact that an out of the box Savage will shoot rings around it with no modifications... And then you can make it better.

there is no reason it can't have its place in modern weaponry

Other than there is no reason to have it in modern weaponry. The 30-06 is more powerful and works fine in modern bolt action rifles. Pressure is of little concern if you use a modern weapon made by a good manufacturer.

casting bullets is just as easy as anything else

For a high velocity center fire rifle? Really? Have you done this? Do you use gas checks?

just there is no reason for me to go out and buy a R700 and pay way more money when a Mosin costs a mere $89, and has a good base to start on.

Well except that a M700 is a better rifle in every aspect. I mean unless you really want a boat oar.

Lever action rifles are not very compact,

Oh man that is funny. So my 1895G is not compact compaired to a bolt action? Compared to what? A Chipmunk?

and every time I try to rapid fire one my finger ends up getting f-ed up by the trigger.

Clearly an inferior design...

The tube mags hang off the barrel, impeding accuracy and sometimes balance.

Not really.

just don't fall prey to the "Mall Ninja" crap out there.

Or the Millsurp is the best everz either.

I am a huge fan of surplus weapons, in fact I have more surplus rifles than I do modern rifles. But surplus is what it is, surplus. Built by a country fighting a war with no great concern for quality. Good enough was good enough. A bone stock Savage or M700 will shoot rings around most of your WW2 surplus rifles straight out of the box. And then you can make them better.

My vote is still for a nice Savage. I am now looking at a 111 in 30-06 with thoughts of changing to a 35 Whelen barrel... dang you

 

[MtnCreek]

Are the Stevens actions and bolts of the same quality as the Savages?
Thanks.

OP: I'm in the process of re-building a Savage right now. So far, it seems like a do-it-yourself dream.
I've had some work performed by a smith on a couple of Remingtons in the past; I don't have the tools or knowledge to properly re-barrel a Remington.

 

[R.W.Dale]

A mosin!?! Really?

Did you even bother to read the thread title dreamcast? The OP wants the most easily customizable bolt action possible.

So let's look at what you can do to a mosin without ANY machining. .....


......

.....

Well you can slap it into a different stock and paint the thing.

AND THAT'S ABOUT IT.


Yeah what a custom job huh!


Tapatalk post via IPhone.

 

[TonyAngel]

From what I've seen, the Stevens action is the SAME as a Savage. I haven't seen anything that would make me think otherwise.

I just want to give you a word of caution. Yes, Savages are easier to work on. I'd even say that they are easy to work on, but this is a very subjective opinion.

Still, the one advantage that the Savage offers may be a bit overstated. What I'm talking about is the ability to change the barrels yourself. If you do get a custom barrel for the rifle, the best way to get your money out of it would be to get a good barrel, which will come in the form of a blank, which will require that a gunsmith cut it, crown it, thread it and set the headspace. All of which is going to cost you the same as it would for a Remington.

Now, once you pay to all of that done, are you really going to go mucking with what you paid for just to use the rifle as a swap barrel? The concept of using a barrel nut isn't new. In fact, if it's what you want, a Remington is easily converted to a barrel nut system. Most that I know choose not to go that route.

You should also be aware that installing the barrel requires the use of a set of "go/no go" gauges to be sure that your headspace is within specifications. Where you land within this set of specifications may or may not result in the utmost accuracy.

When you build a custom rifle, it's because you want it to perform like a custom rifle. I'd suggest, whether you go Savage/Stevens or Remington, getting it built and leaving it alone.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Here's what I got going on. I started out with a right bolt left port large shank, three screw target action that a friend of mine polished to a mirror shine. The bbl is a 30" 1-10 twist McGowan chambered for 308win. A stockade BR stock painted house of kolor gold w green flake. The scope is a Sightron SII 4-16x42AO atop an EGW mount.

This rifle as seen has 100% been built by me, everything fit as ordered and required no machining by me to assemble.

 

[Dreamcast270mhz]

Thats very nice. What do you use the rifle for? The color is creative, but not my first choice, but still looks quite cool. Does it turn heads at the range?