Big Uncle

Not very long ago I had a couple of 700 actions trued (squared, "blueprinted", etc.). One was a current year action and the other was an older action. The internet sages speak poorly of the new 700, but my experience is a bit different from most of the keyboard experts. The new 700 action cleaned up easier with less materiel removed than the older one did. I guess the CNC machining that the factory currently uses is what is making the difference. I like to do some of the work myself and have a trusted professional machinist use his big lathe on whatever else is necessary. To make a long story short - the new action was closer to square than any of the older actions that I have played around with.

mrbb

like pick of the litter IMO
some like older things some newer
I have a bunch of 700 action built rifles, of old and a few some what newer
I have sen some older one's pretty ruff like, just as I have some newer one's
runs between calibrations I think is what matters and when the action was made, beginning after a calibration and or towards the end before being re calibrated again!
and back in the dam before computer run things, HOW well the machinist was doing there job the day he made them! or just experience/skill lever of machinist making them!

it falls back to why some shoot sub MOA and some don't, small details matter
take any 10 rifles of same make.model/caliber and odds are some will always better than others in the 10

Nomercy448

Big Uncle

I am a bit obsessive with lug lapping. There is not a lot of Dykem left when the job is done. It is very nice to have them already in good shape before the lapping process. I never thought about whether they were as pretty on the outside as they used to be but I think you are right. The bluing on the older models of rifles from most manufacturers is better than their current production models.