RE: Strongest Action.
 

Vapodog, I didn't realize you were a very knowledgeable gunsmith building guns for yourself. It was just a couple years ago you were asking simple bedding and reloading questions. You must have really learned quite a bit in the last few years. As I have. Good to hear your a gunsmith.

I have had case separations from loading too many times. Never saw a claw extractor or any gun have a action fall apart from it. I understand the quesiton was strongest action, but if building a custom, action strength of modern actions is a moot point. I would look for features you require instead.

RE: Strongest Action.
 

Boy this is getting real interesting...are we looking at gas handling as well as strength or just strength ? I want both in an action . And hopefully we are comparing just Factory Rifles because there are plenty of custom and semi-customs that no one mentioned.

After owning a few mausers and talking to just a few gunsmiths I would not rate it as an extremely strong action, in my opinion it has more negatives then positives so I won't build another one again. In no particular order I would list them as follows:

Remington ...
Ruger
Winchester
Sako
Weatherby
Savage ? don't know enough about them

RE: Strongest Action.
 

How about the Dakota or Arnold Arms actions?

RE: Strongest Action.
 

I'm glad that the P-17 Enfield was mentioned. I have read several good articles about the strength of this action. I owned one in 30-06 at one time, now I have one that was re-barreled for 300 WM and I have one that is all original (30-06). The problem with the 30-06 is that the barrel is comepletely rust pitted. I had it given to me because it is "un-shootable."

I have dreams of having a custom rifle made from this action. Just not sure which caliber. I have a .308, and 300 WM, so maybe a .338?

RE: Strongest Action.
 

swampdog

In my opinion NO. There may be advantages to a claw extractor for some people, but i've hunted extensively from Dall sheep in the Brooks Range (Alaska) , to the Alaska Peninsula and all over in between, sometimes for weeks at a time. (mostly with Rem. 700 actions) Over all those years of hunting i've "never" seen even one advantage of an claw extractor. I've "never" had a "non" claw extractor action pull off a case, or not function in the field, or fail to feed the cartridge into the chamber.

For me, it's a "non issue", i would not hesitate to use either style of action to build myself a new rifle. Use what ever style makes you happy!

RE: Strongest Action.
 

Mainehunt, Is your P-17 a Winchester or Remington.....or do you have an Eddystone?

The things that have to be done to a P-17 to create a nice sporter is enormous and unless you can do most of the work yourself it's beastly expensive. If you have an Eddystone, I'd advise either trading it or possibly rebarreling it in the same case size as the .30-06.

If you have a Winchester or Remington, it can be converted to .375 H&H, .416 Rem Mag, even .458 Lott. However you could likely buy a new M-70 in any of these calibers for less than the cost of converting the Enfield.

I doubt seriously if I could get $500 for my enfield converted to .375 H&H.....Even though it's a beautiful rifle and shoots very well.

In any case if you do decide to go ahead with the conversion, I strongly recommend you get the foreward ring of the action Magnafluxed to check for cracks.

RE: Strongest Action.
 

I may check on Dakota actions. I have an older 700 Remongton that may be a good candidate for the job.

RE: Strongest Action.
 

James B,The long and short actions by Dakota are $1850.The Magnum actions are $2000.(These prices are from Brownells)

RE: Strongest Action.
 

It seems today's most popular actions are the MRC (Montana Rifle Company) and CZ.

The MRC is a M-70 style that handles up to .458 Lott and the CZ is a Mauser derivitive that can handle up to the .416 Rigby. Prices are under $500 for each.

The MRC I have right now is a very nice action for the money, however a trifle heavy, which is fine for the heavy recoiling arms. The CZ is on order and so I haven't seen it yet.

RE: Strongest Action.
 

For me the Dakotas would be out. I will be checking into the others.