American Rifle Company is quite well known in the precision rifle world for their novel approach to scope rings as well as their Mausingfield action. This year ARC released the Nucleus action. The Nucleus carries over the Remington 700 type footprint, controlled round feed and the Mauser type extractor of the Maustingfield, but is most certainly not just a Mausingfield update. The Nucleus uses a toroidal three lug bolt to deliver a smooth 72 degrees of bolt lift. This is considerably shorter than the Mausingfield and most Model 700 clones.

While three-lug bolts and short lift is nothing new, I am not aware of a single modern action that combines these features with controlled-round feed. The Nucleus also offers a Springfield Type internal ejector. This allows the shooter to easily control how hard the spent case or live cartridge is ejected from the receiver. This combination also reduces the chances of double-feed malfunctions.

The Nucleus is compatible with Remington 700 stocks and chassis and will accept Remington 700 triggers. The Nucleus is designed to feed from the center and will work with AICS type magazine systems like ARC’s own “ARC MAG” however it will not work with Accuracy International AW or AX double stack magazines.

The Nucleus has a very long list of features, this makes the list price of $1000 very appealing.