Surgeon Long Action

Your best bet would be to import one from the US. Finding a used one will be almost impossible in Canada, unfortunately.

They are one of the very finest action you can spend your money on. I had a Surgeon/AICS FX and that action was an absolute piece of art.

If you are planning on purchasing everything else for a build - meaning that you don't have the barrel, trigger, chassis, mag - you really should look at bringing in a complete build from Surgeon. The cost may be very close, if not cheaper, with them directly. They always have a few builds ready to go from their website.

Good luck!
 
Last edited:
What Ben said, if you don't have the rest of the components it will be quicker and most likely cheaper to buy a build from surgeon or have them build what you want and have it imported.
 
BenL said:
OP - have you found or made a decision regarding the Surgeon?

I cannot reiterate enough how great of an action (and rifles) they are.
Click to expand...

You must have seen different 1s than I have, I would rank them higher than a 700 for sure but much lower on the scale than some of the other custom actions that are available.
 
alberta tactical rifle said:
You must have seen different 1s than I have, I would rank them higher than a 700 for sure but much lower on the scale than some of the other custom actions that are available.
Click to expand...

I must have yes because the one I had was a fantastic action. Smooth as smooth gets, great (tight) fit on all of the parts, great finish, loved in the integrated lug, integrated 20moa rail, 4140 C-M 38-40Rc construction, one piece / two lugs & fluted bolt.

I have a feeling you'll tell me that they are a bit$h to put together; I didn't have too, but I could see why you'd say that.

I'm no expert by any means or stretch of the imagination, but to me the above qualifies it for a fantastic action.

What was it that you didn't like on the one that you imported and worked on? Also, to which other brand are you comparing it? There could be 5 other brands out there that are twice as good, I simply haven't owned and used them first hand.

Looking forward to your response Rick.

Cheers
 
BenL said:
I must have yes because the one I had was a fantastic action. Smooth as smooth gets, great (tight) fit on all of the parts, great finish, loved in the integrated lug, integrated 20moa rail, 4140 C-M 38-40Rc construction, one piece / two lugs & fluted bolt.

I have a feeling you'll tell me that they are a bit$h to put together; I didn't have too, but I could see why you'd say that.

I'm no expert by any means or stretch of the imagination, but to me the above qualifies it for a fantastic action.
What was it that you didn't like on the one that you imported and worked on? Also, to which other brand are you comparing it? There could be 5 other brands out there that are twice as good, I simply haven't owned and used them first hand.


Looking forward to your response Rick.

Cheers
Click to expand...

We brought in 20 of them.
They arrived in 40 bags, 20 stripped actions and 20 bags of parts. To state "some assembly is required" is an understatement. The bolts you could mix and match which to me means not very precise fitment, although their machine tolerances were generally good overall.
Getting the actions in the white means you HAVE to do something to prevent it from rusting. I was not aware that they were A) unfinished and B) required full assembly of the action. Being used to what Dakota, Nesika, BAT, Defiance and Stiller all offer I was surprised to say the least they way the Surgeons come. All the others the action is 100% assembled and fully fitted so no having to lap lugs, install extractors, ejectors etc. I guess I am spoiled by the other makers opting to send something that is 100% functional out of the box and that is fully finished.
WHY Surgeon opted to use the Remington extraction method eludes me, there are WAAAAAAY better in my opinion.
I was also surprised at the number of tooling marks on the actions, particularly around the bolt release boss.
Frankly I also am not in favor of a milled in place rail. What happens if you want or need more or less MOA? In my case 40 MOA would have been the answer. The machined in place recoil lug is a nice touch however.
I am not saying they are a poor action at all , just in my opinion they could have done better with not much more effort and that some of what they call features are not necessarily good 1s.

I have no experience with Surgeon as far as warranty goes, but can describe in length how TERRIBLE Nesika is to deal with in a warranty situation. Their product is drop dead gorgeous to look at and until it galls is smooth as glass, but then................... and 4 years later still.......
 
Last edited:
I will take a surgeon any day. A defiance would be fine, but no complaints with mine. Very smooth to run, everything is bang on. Rem, extractor?? It hasn't failed me yet so not complaining. 20 moa built in....on a short action, not much more is needed and for certain optics, 40 moa may exceed your scope. In the long action, there is more built in MOA. In the end, there are thousands of surgeon actions running out there and if you look at the Latest tactical competition results from down south there are more surgeons then anything else. Are the other actions, defiance or others not as good? All great but still something to be said about something that crap loads of people are using and winning with. Heck terry cross is one of the most sought after gun smiths in the US and surgeon is all he uses.

You can't go wrong with using it. I had a Nesika before this and it shot well, shot great. Just hated that it was slowly falling apart with every trigger pull. I replaced it with a surgeon. Would do it again.
 
All good information, Rick! I really did have a major JONES for a Surgeon with a .308 boltface. Now I am more enlightened to stick with my M700's until I have enough sheckels saved up for a custom build in .260 Rem. :D

Cheers,
Barney
 
Oh, and it comes in "pieces" or dissassbled for ease of cerakote/duracote or whatever type of finish you want. Defiances look great silver and shiny, no question. They also look good coated, but you would have to disassemble to "cote".
Surgeon took all of 5 minutes to put together. Some may find this helpful or some might not. That comes down to the person, but generally a straight action is going to a smith anyways for a full build.
 
c4pyro said:
Oh, and it comes in "pieces" or dissassbled for ease of cerakote/duracote or whatever type of finish you want. Defiances look great silver and shiny, no question. They also look good coated, but you would have to disassemble to "cote".
Surgeon took all of 5 minutes to put together. Some may find this helpful or some might not. That comes down to the person, but generally a straight action is going to a smith anyways for a full build.
Click to expand...

You don't have to get defensive of your purchase, nobody said that surgeon makes crap. Now some observations were made, and as far as I can tell they are warranted.
first, all he said is that HE would like the option to choose or maybe even change HIS scope cant, just because you don't agree doesn't mean it's not a valid criticism.
second, I saw the info you referenced about the number of top tactical shooters running surgeons, and while that is really interesting info and somewhat telling of the future (.308 for competition is dead), you also have to keep in mind that the majority of these shooters are sponsored, and surgeon sponsors many shooters. That being said, it's hard to ignore the number of surgeons on that list.
 
First off, not attacking the guy. Not defending my purchase either. I know Rick quite well. I also know how he likes his actions. Some people like the integral rail some people like to interchange rails or have more flexibility. Rick said he prefers the rails separate but made reference that a 40 moa would have been the answer he would have preferred. Rick has his preferences and likes and I have mine, and if you ask him I don't think that he has an issue with that. I also know that rocks favorite rifles are not generally anything in a short action....he likes 300's, 338AI's and bigger and bigger.......20moa is good, 30-40 is better on those rigs. Again, personal preference on actions....

I am not trying to piss in anyone's cornflakes , but also want to let the guy who is asking about a surgeon know that its a great piece of kit.

Also not sure where I said anything about 308 for competitions???? I said surgeons, someone else made reference to a 308 bolt face. None of those shooters used a 308, they were using 6's and 6.5's. I run a 6mm crusader in case it actually has any bearing on the action......sponsored or not, when 47% of the shooters in the Precision Rifle Series are using them, that does mean something.

Defiance actions.....great piece of kit....met Glen....with Rick....great guy great kit. Not slagging by any means, there is a reason why glen makes actions for loads of US customer gun companies like APA, Blackops(skunk works)....GAP.....and on and on.......I would shoot one, but I would also and do shoot a surgeon and the OP asked about surgeons.

Rick and I have discussed surgeons before, they just aren't his favorite and I get that, but if he's pissed by anything I have said, I am sure I will get a call on my cell and hear about it. I'm not hear to piss anyone off just throwing out the other side of the coin.....no ill will to you either shabazz and if I came a cross as 'defending' my purchase or slagging, not my intent. Life's to short to get in pissing matches over the internet.
 
Last edited:
Based on your explanation id like to apologize, I read your posts the wrong way. Just to clarify the .308 comment was just an example of how I found the info on those charts valuable (the fact that none of them ran a .308).
 
surgeon

Since we're talking actions hear, would like to mention the results/product used in the 2011 EUR FClass Championship:
Open, Barnard, 1,3,4,6,7,8,10.
BAT 2,5.

Regards,

Peter
 
Last edited:
Pyro We are cool!!
Another part of the equation to consider that I missed was you are really keen on the AICS chassis. The Surgeon is a better fit for that application as it is a mirror footprint to a 700 which makes putting a rifle together in an AI chassis is then simpler as the recoil lug area then does not require being milled out.

Just to set the record straight there is good and not so good to be found in every action, even the 1s we make are not everyone's bag.
Having a lot of info from various sources is sometimes helpful in making a decision.
Personally I put little value on the number of anything that is used in competitive anything as it is common for 1 or 2 manufacturers to dominate the field not because they are the best but simply because the offer incredible incentives like free kit to the guys who play the assorted games.
 
peterdobson said:
Since we're talking actions hear, would like to mention the results/product used in the 2011 EUR FClass Championship:
Open, Barnard, 1,3,4,6,7,8,10.
BAT 2,5.

Regards,

Peter
Click to expand...



Barnard is a sweet piece of kit for sure, but for the UK shooters, they are also some of the easiest for them to import. Not sure how easy they are for find now, but the lack of a stainless action always made me hesitate personally. They do have one of the nicest triggers going, and the option for the integral lug is excellent. If I was going to invest in an action tomorrow, it would probably be a Barnard

I've played with the surgeons and from what I saw, I thought they were pretty good too.
 
Barnards are easier to import and quicker to obtain(we have them) than any American action, although Pierce seems faster than some. I spoke with a prominant builder, Dolphin Guns, who uses Barnard as he thinks they are best. Not aware of any of the comptitors getting free actions in Europe.

In speaking with a few BR guys recently, they mentioned stainless is more prone to gauling and this has ben an ongoing concern, so tactical and stainless might not be the best option, but perhaps we should start a new thread.

Regards,

Peter
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom