...Have you ever wondered why there are virtually no competitive precision shooters USING Stevens actions and Barrel nuts? (The only shooter I have ever seen using one in competiton shoots one 300M F-Class match per year) Have you ever wondered why floating bolt heads aren't on any custom actions? Can you name any top shooter that has ever won a national or international event with a drop-in barrel?
The Remington 700 is the action after which most cutoms have been designed and with very good reason. They are a stout, and very safe action, with three separate rings of steel surrounding the base of the cartridge. They are tolerant of a great deal of stress and when trued and have a properly mated custom barrel, have zero headspace.
Yeah, I'd be pissed if the paint flaked off my new $500 rifle, but that was also a problem on the Ford F-150, and they still ran well.
This website and this forum are (or I should say USED TO BE) silently lurked by many top national and world-class shooters and gunsmiths and this local love affair with Stevens is the subject of a great deal of expert criticism and scorn. If you go to 6mmBR.com, benchrestcentral or Fclass.ca you will find none of those forums filled with "experts" advocating that a $200 action is a smart foundation for a precision rifle.