The increased popularity of precision rifle competition has caused an explosion of custom actions. Many are nothing more than a Remington 700 clone with a few added touches. The Deadline Action from Ultimatum Precision is so much more.
The Ultimatum Precision Deadline Action is based on a Remington 700 footprint. This allows shooters to use many of the currently available Remington 700 short action chassis with some minor alteration. Getting one to work with a fiberglass stock is easy as can be.
The Deadline uses a Remington 700 style trigger hanger. This gives Deadline shooters access to a mind-boggling selection of triggers. You can configure the Deadline with a nice light single stage, flat trigger or a arctic weather capable two stage. If you currently have a favorite trigger on your 700, it will likely work on the Deadline.
One of the most convenient features isn’t visible at first glance. The Deadline action uses 1-1/16″ x 20 threads. This thread pattern combined with the breech face design and barrel nut system, allows the Deadline to accept Savage small-shank pre-fit barrels. Shooters will not be at the mercy of gunsmith backlogs.
The Deadline uses a three-lug bolt system. This requires less movement to go from fully-locked to unlocked. The short bolt lift still has to perform the same cocking action as a longer lift. This usually results in a heavier feel on the bolt and prevents fast bolt manipulation. The Deadline action has a light lift and a silky-smooth throw. This feat is accomplished by performing most of the cocking operation on the bolt lift and finishing when the bolt handle is lowered.
With the action unlocked, the bolt handle stops at an almost horizontal position. This will keep it clear of even the largest scopes and leaves it hanging out, waiting for your hand to drive the next cartridge into the chamber.
Modularity is the name of the game with modern firearms. The Deadline action follows suit with three available bolt faces. The entire bolt head can quickly be removed by hand and replaced with either a .223, .308 or Magnum version. When combined with the pre-fit barrel capability and the Deadline barrel nut, a shooter can swap his rifle between a cheap training cartridge, a barrel-burner match cartridge or a heavy hunting cartridge with very little effort.
The Deadline action caps the feature set out with dual ejectors, a heavy rear tang and a feed port designed to accept AICS or AW magazines.
We chose the Modular Driven Technologies ESS Chassis for this project. We reviewed the ESS Chassis earlier in the year and found it to be a great option for competition shooting. MDT tweaked their inlet for the Deadline action and included a magazine release that is 2.5mm shorter in order to accommodate the lower magazine position required by the large diameter bolt.
The pistol grip that we selected is the MDT Pistol Grip. This grip has a little more angle than I prefer on a precision rifle, but the large palm swell is very comfortable. The texture is soft without being sticky.
We had received numerous requests from our viewers to take a look at the pre-fit barrels offered by X-Caliber Barrels. Since the Deadline Action accepts Savage “small shank” spec barrels, this was a perfect chance. X-Caliber sent us a 24″ Varmint Contour barrel with a 1:8 twist, chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. This barrel had their cryo-treatment and a threaded muzzle.
We decided that since this was going to be a competition oriented rifle, we wanted to use a very effective muzzle brake. Silencers are nice, but brakes have an edge in competition. With the MDT Chassis on display, we chose a matching MDT Elite Muzzle brake. The six ports and angled baffles are highly effective at reducing recoil and keeping us on target.
One of the most critical points of contact between the shooter and rifle is the trigger. The Trigger Tech Diamond trigger has been making waves in the competition arena due to its reliability, light pull weight and very clean feel. A Canadian Trigger going into a Canadian action in a Canadian Chassis was just too much for us to resist.
Optics were an easy choice on this one. Although I would have liked to give a Canadian Tangent Theta a chance, we had the Nightforce ATACR F1 5-25x56mm sitting on the bench. This optic has proven very effective on other test rigs and that removes a key variable when we are burning in a new build.
Support duties fell to the B&T Industries Atlas V8 Bipod. However, we added a twist this time. I picked up a Really Right Stuff SOAR dovetail adapter to secure our Atlas to the bottom of the MDT Chassis.
Initially, we attached a MDT Arca-Swiss Mlok rail adapter to the bottom of the ESS Chassis. This rail is relatively short and I wanted to get a little more reach out of it. We instead swapped it out for a Henderson Precision 12″ Universal Arca Rail. This allowed me to run the bipod further out than the front of the chassis tube.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where we run down how each of these components have performed in the real world.
Links:
- Ultimatum Precision Deadline Action
- Modular Driven Technologies ESS Chassis
- Modular Driven Technologies Pistol Grip
- X-Caliber Savage Pre-Fit Barrel
- Modular Driven Technologies Elite Muzzle Brake
- TriggerTech Diamond Trigger
- Nightforce ATACR F1 5-25x56mm
- B&T Industries Atlas V8 Bipod
- Really Right Stuff SOAR BTC-Pro Adapter
- Modular Driven Technologies Arca-Swiss Adapter (M-Lok)
- Henderson Precision Universal 12″ “D” Rail
Hi John – is Ultimatum Precision still around? Myself and others have called, emailed multiple times and NO replies at all. Just wondering if you had any contact with them?
They are still in business, but they are way behind on replying to emails. They are behind on producing their rimfire action and likely getting swamped with emails.
ok, good to go. Semper Fi