Action design preferences?

[waksupi]

We've got a guy working on designing a new rifle action. What features do you guys like in an action, and which features absolutely suck? We're talking bolt actions, here.

[StarMetal]

Controlled feed with Mauser style extractor claw, Winchester style 3-position safety, offset ejector so there is no weakening cut in the left bolt lug, flat bottomed action with integral bedding lug, possible integrated scope mount, fully adjustable trigger.

Joe

[felix]

Joe has this one RIGHT! Would be nice to have multiple bolt sizes on demand, and be capable of easy switch barrel apps. Easily adjustable head spacing included. But, I personally don't like safeties of any sort, unless it is a design that will allow dry firing without harm. I am one of the few folks on this board that likes the cross-bolt design, and it is because of this dry firing capability. ... felix

[felix]

An addendum: The control feed extractor should be such a design that a cartridge can be picked up anywhere within the 'tray', or even when inserted all the way into the chamber by hand. These flexible extractors are typical on BR actions. ... felix

[StarMetal]

Most of the Mauser extractors can be beveled on the front of the claw so a round can be placed in the chamber and the bolt closed having the extractor snap over the rim. Anyone know why Mauser designed it the other way? Wouldn't it defeat the purpose if you ran out of ammo and were about to refresh your magazine and an enemy approaches and you have loose rounds, that you could throw a round in the chamber right away, bolt it closed and fire?

Joe

[NVcurmudgeon]

A single round can be easily chambered in a Mauser by pressing the extractor, where it is least supported, tward the bolt. This will cause the hook to open up a gap for the cartridge rim. It does take a little practice.

[RugerFan]

I'm a big fan of the Remington M788 style action with 9 locking lugs at the rear. It's a very accurate design. This also facilitates a short bolt throw which I really prefer. I don't care for a 90 degree bolt throw (like the Weatherby Vanguard).

[felix]

How can we press on the extractor when the round is already fully chambered (as in BR single shots)? ... feli

[shooter2]

How about a Blazer style straight pull?

[carpetman]

Starmetal--Joe,my understanding the controlled round feed was designed for trench warfare so that upclose like someone jumping in your trench,the round wouldn't fall out. African hunters like that feature because if an elephant or some such is stomping them they can shoot straight up.

[Blackwater]

Biggest recommendation I can make is to have the bolt handle designed just a bit longer than most of the factory jobs in production now. Just a little extra length can make a significant difference. Angle it back to just the right spot, as far back as you can, but where recoil won't drive it back into your trigger finger even with the larger calibers (if they're intended to fit this action?). Slenderized bolt shaft looks extra nice, and if the bolt knob's pear shaped and angled downward a bit, sort'a bent from the direction of the shaft, that makes for an attractive bit of "polish" on the action, too. No sense in NOT designing in this feature from the beginning, especially if it's going to be an investment casting. It'd make it more desirable, and that can help sales. Just MHO, FWIW.

[versifier]

I'm with RugerFan on the 788. I don't know why they are so accurate, but of the dozens I have owned/shot/seen, even the .44mags, all would shoot better than MOA, many 1/2 or 1/3. They're the best short and medium length action hunting rifles Remington has ever made. I do like Mausers, too, but if I need anything bigger than a .22 to hunt with, it's a 788 I grab out of the cabinet. From woodchucks to moose, they have always done the job for me, and done it well.
I like the magazines, column feed, easily loaded, easily changed. I like the 60* bolt throw. The extractors aren't the Mauser claw, but I have never had one fail in over 30 years of shooting them. There is no controlled feed, but with the straight stacking of the rounds, I have never had a failure. The safeties aren't swing-out W70 style, just little thumb flips, but they've never failed to work for me, and unlike the W70, I have never gotten one in my eye. You can single load a round if you need to: it goes in, it comes out. Like any other bolt action, you do have to work the action positively, but then you can't limpwrist a W94 or a Marlin 36 either, and when you jam one of them up, you need tools.
True, I might want some more of those confidence-building features if I were hunting dangerous game, but I don't, and I'm not likely to be heading off to Africa anytime soon. If I were, I'd probably bring a Mauser or a Ruger with a long or magnum action and chambering for the biggies, though I would also want to bring along a 788 in .308 or 7-08 for camp meat and medium-sized critters.
They weren't designed to be target rifles, yet the first three shots will always go into the same hole, and if you let the skinny barrel cool, so will the next three, and the three after that, etc. With a premium bull barrel, they can hold their own with no problem, and have for years in silhouette matches.
I realize that everyone has his own favorite, and it all comes down to what you are used to, what you are comfortable using, and what you are confident can do the job. There isn't an action made that I have ever tried that I didn't enjoy shooting as long as it was working correctly, though I am admittedly not a big fan of excessive recoil and will happily leave the big magnums to those whose shoulders can handle them.

[Frank46]

No detachable magazines, maybe square bridge mauser type scope attaching points. The rings attach to the tops of the bridges. Frank

[longhorn]

+1 on what StarMetal said. My personal preference is for round, ball-bearing-smooth bolt knobs. What did Col. Cooper say?-something to the effect that the guy that first checkered a bolt know probably kept sandpaper in the outhouse, I think.