Truing and Timing by Fred

I want to know if any one has had their action done by Fred. How long it took and if you thought it was worth it.

I have had a few done by Fred. Yes, it was worth it for the pure "pleasure" of having it done. It makes for a much smoother, sweeter action. I could not tell you if it made it any more accurate, but that's not necessarily his objective. I suppose it could make a problem action more accurate, but it is primarily intended to make bolt lift easier and sweeter, whatever sweeter means. :)

Once he gets it, it doesn't take but maybe a month or so. The challenge is getting onto his work sheet. If I understand him and Lisa correctly, he does them in batches. You need to ask to be on his list and when he is ready to do some they will contact you. If he is booked or not ready to do any for a while, it can take months to get it done.

I have an appointment for march for two actions so I guess Im on the list or I would hope thats what it means. Accuracy is not the issue but smoothness one more than the other IS. I took the bolt apart on one and there was gouging on the cocking ramp so I thought I better get it done before it gets worse. The other one is fairly smooth but could stand to be better. Its a long action so it kind of gets cockeyed and gets in a slight bind when chambering a round. The bolt lift on both of them is stiff but the creedmoor gets extremely hard at times and I cant tell if its too hot of a load or getting bound up because I can shoot other rounds of the same load or even higher loads and the stiffness is sporadic.

Ive been waiting on the SSS triggers for both for at least 3 weeks. I guess they dont keep any in stock or something. Im going to have to ship them in before I get a chance to shoot with the new triggers. Im shipping in the barreled action because I dont have a vise or a wrench. Oh well.

Now Im officially getting frustrated. I have sent no less than 5 emails with out answer. I guess the way to get answered is to put "order" in the subject line. I realize its a small outfit and that any business that doesnt do live on line selling is an extremely small shop. Communication with patrons is and should be first. At my business I have two gals that all they do is answer the phone. Oh and Ive called with no answer and they do not have a voice mail. Unbelievable!

They are not by any means alone on this. I have unfortunately found it nearly the same across this industry small shops DO NOT get back to you in a timely fashion. Even the chief rep from "Cadex" took multiple attempts to get any kind of answer. When weeks go by and no product, I would expect an explanation. I dont think that is bugging the business. Heck I do basically time wasting appointments most every day but its important to the individual I am talking to so I DO IT.

First and foremost, SSS is NOT known for their CS... Like you said they're a small outfit. They are known, however, for their outstanding work. It's up to you to decide whether or not it's worth the wait.

Me personally, while Fred does excellent work, I've moved on to taking it to a local smith for action truing. While it may not be 'Savage specific,' it does more or less the same thing. I can't discern much, if any difference between Fred's actions and actions trued by others, and I certainly can't tell any difference in accuracy.

YMMV.

Doc check out Nat Lambeth for a T&T job. nlambeth@customgunsandammunition.com I have not used him yet myself but everything I have read about him is top notch and he returns emails. The bench rest guys seem to really like his work.