Vote: impact precision or defiance action

I've also had issues with a Defiant action in rough conditions. First PRS rifle was a GAP with a Defiance action. There was PRS matches where I had to clean the action out multiple times a day just to keep it running. Meanwhile, Surgeon actions around me where running perfectly fine with no cleaning required. Ended up galling the lugs on that action, as it was impossible to keep running with any grease on it at some matches.

I since replaced my Defiance on my PRS rifle with a Mausingfield, and it handles the fine dust much better. Worlds of difference. I'm not sure if I would everyone back to Defiance for a PRS rig. Runs great wet or dry, and the action is impervious to galling. A lot of better design features on the Mausingfield as well.

My ELR rifle has a Defiance Deviant, and I will admit that it is one of the smoothest actions I've ever handled. It has the raceways polished and the action is IonBonded. Slick as hell. Not sure how well it handles the grit as my ELR rifle is not exposed to adverse conditions for near as long as my PRS rifle.

I would take a Impact over a Defiance for extended shooting in really adverse conditions any day. But most of us aren't exposed to such ####ty conditions, and some rifles (like my ELR rifle) won't see such conditions so it really may not be a factor. The Defiance is a a great action, especially if spec'ed properly, but shooting for extended periods in real adverse conditions is not it's strong suit. There are other actions that are actually designed for that.
 
I've seen plenty of my friends with Defiances struggle with their actions in adverse conditions as well. At the SHC in Washington state a few years ago, I saw Regina Milkovich have to slap her bolt after every shot just to get the action to open. Surprisingly one of the few matches were my Defiance actually did okay.

Where I've noticed that the Defiance struggles is really fine dust - Texas, Oklahoma, ##, New Mexico, etc. Up in the NW you may not be exposed to that, and as such will not have as many issues.

It's really nice to not have to worry about whether your action will function properly or not - that way all you focus on is just shooting. That's enough to focus on as it is.
 
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But others such as Terry Cross will swear that the Defiance is every bit as reliable as other actions in adverse conditions if "properly spec'ed", but then he won't tell you what "properly spec'ed" is ��
 
barny223 said:
Didnt mean to hurt your feelings; too many people attach their ego to brand choices; all have their strengths and weaknesses. Sounds like you use your gear for more concrete pad range stuff under a roof...and that's fair enough. Ask your smith what I'm talking about...if he has any amount of experience he will be able to explain this to you.
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Lol you bet in only use me guns on concrete pads and such, and I have asked my smith about it he agrees with me.
 
this is kind of a mess.... haha

There is probably 20+ minutes between stages.

Pull the bolt, wipe it down, GTG.

An ounce of prevention something something cure.
 
Ryan.M.Anderson said:
this is kind of a mess.... haha

There is probably 20+ minutes between stages.

Pull the bolt, wipe it down, GTG.

An ounce of prevention something something cure.
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Sometimes, sometimes not that much time between stages.

It sucks to have to worry about. Perhaps to others it's not that big of a deal. I don't like babying my equipment.
 
My 2 cents. I shot my Defiance at Rock Lake last year, and there were quite a few stages on the dirt where we were shooting into the wind and blowing up lots of dust. Everything got dusty, scope, rifle and shooter. I could feel the grit in the action as I was shooting, but at no stage did I have to apply undue pressure to cycle the action. Gave the action a good cleaning that night and never gave it another thought.
I haven't shot an Impact action, but I did fondle one at a match, and they are no doubt on par with Defiance.
 
I shot my Defiance Deviant Elite (bare action, no nitride or DLC) at the last 3 matches I shot last fall: Meaford PRS, Rock Lake NRL, JC Steel PRS. Meaford being an artillery pad doesn't really count much towards this discussion. I had zero issues at Rock Lake but it was also October iirc and therefore colder and somewhat less dusty than the summer club matches I've shot there in the past. I also had zero issues during the match at JC Steel, which was at Blueridge Ranch and also gets quite dusty and windy, but it was actually quite cold. What I did notice was after the match, a buddy of mine was finger-####ing my rifle and we both noticed that the condensation from the cold actually kinda "slowed-down" running the bolt, if that makes sense? I wouldn't call it binding but it was noticeable. Again, not noticeable during the match but there if you were looking for it. We'll see what this year brings as I'll be switching back and forth between that rifle and another that has a Nucleus action, which feels every bit as smooth as the Defiance but a bit less tight, which should be beneficial with regards to binding.
 
Mike112288 said:
I’m thinking dlc coating is a winner. My tl3 has np3 coating on the bolt itself. Think that’s what it’s called
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In retrospect I'd get my action DLC'd. The only reason I didn't was that I was wasn't willing to wait the extra time for it to get in house as it would've meant rebarrelling one of my R700s to get by. I also thought I could get my action DLC'd after the fact but turns out that option is kind of a no go.
 
Mike112288 said:
What?? Why would dlc b a no go after?? Maybe have somebody else do it for you
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It's not that it can't be done, it's that the place that I thought would do it up here had my buddy's action in hand for months to get it done and he ended up making them send it back uncoated cause he got sick of waiting. I could get Defiance to do it and might still. It's just the pita of sending a rifle action back and forth across the border.
 
Dave, I was running my Deviant Elite on Saturday and I also noticed the bolt cycling slowing down in sub-zero temperatures. I was attributing that to the fact that I hadn't greased the lugs in a while, but there may be something there... Interesting to say the least.
 
Kudu said:
Dave, I was running my Deviant Elite on Saturday and I also noticed the bolt cycling slowing down in sub-zero temperatures. I was attributing that to the fact that I hadn't greased the lugs in a while, but there may be something there... Interesting to say the least.
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What is actually happening is that it is so darn cold time is slowing down.
 
Kudu said:
Dave, I was running my Deviant Elite on Saturday and I also noticed the bolt cycling slowing down in sub-zero temperatures. I was attributing that to the fact that I hadn't greased the lugs in a while, but there may be something there... Interesting to say the least.
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Yeah, more grease would help. Had the same thing on my R700 with my trainer barrel the other day. Pulled the bolt, wiped it down and re-greased and it was good. My initial observation from Blueridge was when Matt was running my bolt after the 2nd day. It for sure coulda used some more grease at that point. Maybe there is also a better lubricant than white lithium grease for sub zero temps?
 
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