Thread: What are some of the smoothest bolt actions you have handled?

Krag, early Mannlicher Schonauer, Lee-Enfield, in that order for smoothness, move Lee-Enfield to the top of the heap for rapidity of fire!

Originally Posted by Woody

You mean pre '64 ay @Micky Duck.

nope.....post 64,non controlled feed....shite it was a joy to cycle rounds through....
never had the privelidge of using a pre 64...rem 700s just feel all wrong...not sure why,they just not as smooth. the zastava is chunky....but perfectly usable.

I had a pre '64 win 30-06 for a while, with a stock by Jack Bramley. A tack driver I regret selling to this day.

Tikka 595... still own it. Smoothest I’ve had


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I was fortunate enough to fondle a pre 64 mod 70, supposedly carried by a famous US marine when attending a comp in Little Rock. I forgot about some of those model 70s. Smooth as silk. I remember some BSAs being pretty sweet as well. Never personally seen a smooth as mauser as your always fighting the tension of the extractor but some of the well worn Parker Hale variants were OK. Mausers were too sloppy on the back end as a rule.




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My fierce fury rem mag is pretty bloody slick (basically a clone Sako 85), but then so is my model 70 control feed.
I'm sure there are better and worse actions out there but I'm happy

My Borden Timberline actioned 7RM is smooth as silk.
My Remington 700 CDL SF is very smooth too.
I had an M700 SPS years ago that felt like the bolt and action were entirely unrelated. It was awful to use and moved on quickly.
All of the T3s I have owned have been smooth and beautifully made.

Tikka. After owning a Tikka for a while, I went to buy a Ruger American Ranch and the action was horrible in comparison. I learnt the difference between a cheap and a mid-range gun that day.

Originally Posted by tiroahunta

Tikka 595... still own it. Smoothest I’ve had


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THIS all of the 595/695 series. If you look at reviews it's always mentioned.

Springfield 1903, Tikka, Sako Vixen, Mauser M03.

my Anschutz and smle then krico

Tikka T3 for me.

My little BSA .222 is about as smooth as they come. Probably wasn’t designed like that, but a secondary effect of having thousands of rounds shucked through it.

To me, there are two ways an action becomes ‘slick’;

1. An action that is machined with great alignment, closeish tolerances and excellent surface finish. eg older manufacture and well used
2. One that is designed for low friction (minimal points of bolt contact with receiver) e.g Tikka and newer M700

My BSA CF2 in 222, slick as Owl Snot. I have SMLEs, Ruger Ranch (worst by far), Interarms Mark X, excellent in 308, not so good in 7x57, and a few others. No experience of many listed above. The Ruger is a great little rifle in 223, my goto goat gun..but spent hours polishing the bolt and action to get it smooth and slick so it didn't hang up.

Lithgow L101
Barnard

No military actions are “smooth”