I am seriously considering enrollment into a gunsmithing school in the next year. I am trying to learn as much as I can. I have helped a few machinists chamber a few rifles and cut threads.

It seems that most if not all the rifles we have done are Remington or Mauser actions. Is there something wrong with Winchester actions? I mean why are the other two most popular?

Winchester M70s are the best, but they are much harder to get for a good price since Winchester stopped making them (now owned by FN or something like that), point is they cost too much nowadays to tear up for the action. I always preferred M70s, even push feeds, to 700s. Of course, Mausers are always classic and cool. Mausers are still plentiful and cheap. 700s are plentiful, relatively inexpensive, and easy to true up for best accuracy. You will learn all this when you go to school.

Remington actions are to rifles as the small block chevy is to cars. Every goodie manufacturer makes aftermarket products for the Remington. The round bottom is easy to bed, the lock time was very fast compared to other actions of the day when first introduced, which lead to BR shooting and they were number one until the true BR actions came along. The 98 Mauser is popular because there has always been a good supply and from a design and function standpoint are a very good platform for a hunting rifle. Hard to beat an original design that has been copied by so many.
If the M70 has a fault it has always been "spendy" compared to a surplus 98 or commercial clone 98, compared to the 700 there are not many "goodies" & traditionally more expensive. I think one reason that really hurt the M70 was the unfair treatment received from the uniformed press degrading the post 64 action. Granted it was a giant step backwards from the pre 64, but after some small changes it made as good as a platform as any other push feed action. The other factor is that it took Winchester another 20 years to build a true short action to use as a varmint rifle platform.

True; back in the"day", the M70, pre 64, was the "go to" action for custom hunting rifles. Mausers were for those who just wanted one, and of course, they were dirt cheap ($25 was a high price in the 60s) and many thousands were free due to Vet bring backs. 700s were, and are, for accuracy people,, but hi dollar custom hunters were not usually built on them. No class like the 70 and 98. If M70s were the same price as 700s, now, you would see many of them being used.
Tidbit for you; M70s were originally made from flat bar stock; post 64s are all forgings. Rems are made from round bar stock. Mausers are either castings or forgings. A lot more machine work goes into making a M70 or Mauser compared to a Rem, so they are cheaper to make.

By the way, which school are you looking at attending?

I was hoping to get into Yavapai College Gunsmith School in Prescott, AZ. They have a 2 year waiting list I have been told and I just recently applied. Most of the guys I have talked to have said its one of best in the country. I have also heard about the one in Colorado but understand it is more expensive. I live in Arizona so the closer to home would be less expensive for me.

Thanks for the information, I appreciate it.

Because Mauser rifles were the adopted rifle of the World and since a big portion of the losers of WWII had Mausers they were dumped after the war.

That flooded the US with cheap, relatively easy to sporterize guns, compared to the price of a new Model 70.

In Remington's case, the 722 and 700 were cheaper to produce than Winchester and more inherently accurate.
So to the average Joe, the money saved mattered more than a CRF, a one piece bolt, a slap together recoil lug, a hinged floorplate or even cut checkering.

Yavapai is a good school, strong on manufacturing techniques. There are 2 in Colorado, Trinidad, a college and The Colorado School Of Trades. I went to CST (1987) it was very good on design and function, refinish work, repair, stock making- by hand & enough machine shop for re barreling etc. Nothing on manufacturing and not much on the custom end of things. Of course they have an entire different staff now, so the emphasis may have shifted. I am of the opinion that you will get out of a school in relation to how much effort you expend. Question the instructors, make them explain the why's, make them earn the money you are spending.
Good Luck

Don't forget about Pennsylvania Gunsmith School, I'm not plugging it by any means. Infact I would advise aginst it if you have a solid backround in firearms and machining.

Adam