Separating actions into multiple .blend files

Reading this help topic - It sounded just what I needed due to failures in blender (2 armatures on two independent actions don't sit well). I tried doing the same with .blend files, but it didn't 'just import the actions'.
Is this only available on .fbx files?

e.g. model@action.blend


Update: It did work, but not as cleanly as I hoped, also tried with FBX.

I actually expected to see just the actions from the other files, not all the avatars, objects etc.

Is there a way to thin it down by export options or import options?

 

Consider posting in the external tools section - since this is related specifically to blender. Might get more helpful information there.