I am about to order 2 borden action. A alpine for a 260 ai and a timberline for a 280ai. I was wondering if any of you have used this action and what were your thoughts.

He is a fantastic gun builder of the highest quality...and priced accordingly. Just not a good dollar value to me. That is just my opinion, however.

There are a lot of custom actions out there right now and all have the same Remington 700 footprint and some are higher in price than others. I have installed barrels on them and the others and for the average guy, they are a waste of a good dollar.

Talk to Jim Borden . He will make you just what you want and need for your use .

You will be very happy with the finished product and it will shoot extremely well.
No need to worry about the end result.


I would rather have two fine custom rifles and a few barrels than any number of production firearms. This is with many years of hind sight.

Glenn

I am not saying his action is not a good one, on the contrary, I have built a long range match rifle on one and it set the state championship and range record at the same match last year.

What I meant was, for the money the guy is going to put into that thing, he would be cheaper off starting with a factory action and a good barrel.

It's all about what you want in the end. If you want a Remington, and have a barrel installed, that's what you'll end up with unless you spend several hundred dollars to have it trued first. You'll have a better performing action than before, but you will be close to the cost of a custom. Even then you still have a Remington.

If you want a quality rifle, then get one of the custom "clones". The Borden actions I've barreled have performed very well. Stiller makes good actions too, but his delivery time can vary immensely. Pierce makes fine action too, and often has them in stock.

Wayne Shaw

Jim Borden and his wife Joan are a class act. His actions and customer support are second to none.

You often get what you pay for.

Longshot

Actually I am going to build these two rifles for myself. One of them will be a 260 rem ai brux barrel #4 and the other will be a 280 rem ai with a #5 kriger. I was after a couple of rifles with match grade actions without haveing to use match stocks. Appreciate all the input it looks like I will continue in this direction.

Borden rifles do cost more than Rem 700's because they are built one at a time, to impeccable standards.
In addition to pure function there are also many intangibles of custom rifle that increase desirability and value.
it's true you might have a good smith re-work a M-700 to shoot as good as a Borden but you will still have a M-700 with a weak, soldered on bolt handle and clip extractor and the re-sale value of it will be that of a used M-700.

I'll have to agree with Phil. A 700 receiver will cost $300 minimum, $225 for accurazing, $100 for new bolt that fits the fresh reamed receiver, $100 for new bolt handle tig welded on, $75 for Sako extractor,and $100 for an external bolt stop-release. Resale as Phil mentioned.
Butch

http://www.6mmbr.com/actions.html
BORDEN
Borden Rifle ActionJim Borden is one of the top benchrest gunsmiths in the country, so he knows how a custom action has to perform. He has invented many of the features you see on today's top custom actions, such as "Borden bumps". Though in the past Jim had an association with Nesika Bay, Jim's company now produces their own actions. Here shown are the Borden BR-2 action (right) and the Borden Repeater (below). The Repeater is ideal for a precision hunting rifle or for use in the Hunter Benchrest Class. Borden BR actions start at about $1100.
Borden Rimrock Action

Borden Alpine Magnum ActionBorden Rifles has a new series of more-affordable actions designed for the hunter, varminter, and tactical shooter. These $925.00 Alpine and Timberline stainless steel actions feature a 1.350" outer diameter so they are a drop-in replacement for Rem 700 actions. The Alpine (Rem 700 short footprint) and Timberline (Rem 700 long footprint) actions are available in regular and magnum versions, both as single-shots and repeaters. A fluted bolt is standard and a Remington bolt handle is brazed to the fluted bolt body.

On the Alpine and Timberline actions, all finish work on bodies and bolts is done in the hardened state. Bolt bodies are cylindrically ground. Scope base mounting holes are milled and thread milled to 8x40 threads and are all blind holes threaded to the bottom. Barrel tenon threads are 1 1/16 x 18 TPI. The bolts have Remington style nose and utilize the Sako style extractor with the ejector plunger positioned in the boltface to provide for a low ejection angle. The Timberline and Alpine Actions utilize the proprietary feed rails that Gary Amatrudo and Jim Borden designed for the Rimrock repeater to enable smooth feeding of large diameter, non belted magnum cases such as the WSM, SAUM and Ultra Mag cases.
Jim Borden notes: "The original intent of these actions was to provide a less expensive action than the Rimrock action for those building 'economy' hunting rifles. These actions are a good value for building hunting rifles versus the use of a "trued" factory action. During the machining of these actions it became apparent that two versions of the Alpine and Timberline actions were needed. We have a Standard version that has the same magazine wells and loading ports as Remington 700 Actions. A magnum version of this action has a longer loading port and a magazine well to use the Wyatt Length Magazine boxes. All of the Right hand and left hand versions of the Alpine and Timberline actions are available. Delivery time is currently 20 to 26 weeks. We added two more CNC machines to our shop in March 2007 to accelerate deliveries."

If I had a choice bewteen two used rifles,
ie; a quality custom 700 and a custom Borden based rifle, Id prefer to pay more and get the Borden.