I have been scheming on putting together a 376 Steyr and now thinking about using a M700 Remington to build a 375 H&H. I have had it in the gun safe for years. It occurred to me that I had never shot the rifle and looking it over it appears to be in 98% condition. While it has the older Fleur D liss (sp) impressed checkering it has a really nice piece of walnut for a stock. I took it shooting yesterday and with Federal premium 150 grain bullets it hovers just over MOA. Now I am thinking about leaving it alone and hunting a bit with it. After all how bad do I need a 375 H&H?

If it aint broke....Sounds like a plan to me.

With the checkering you discribed it should have a stainless steel barrel. These early Rem. 700s are usually very good shooters, and barrels & actions are smoother. While not collectors they are certainly nicer then newer Rems.
I've got one just like yours in same cal. It now wears a Brown Precision stock and has accounted for a number of antelope, deer, and elk. Just a good honest hunting rifle that has never let me down. Pedro

rickt300 I have a Remington 7MM one year newer than yours. It's been hunted a lot. It is my go to deer rifle. Unless your going to Africa or Alaska I'd forget about that .375 HH. That rifle will kill anything in your sights in Texas.

Having been an avid 270 and 30-06 shooter I never used a 7 Rem mag on anything so maybe it is time. The inspiration for the 376 Steyr or 375 H&H is that there are large numbers of feral hogs on our lease, many over 400 pounds. I have seen two that must have been over 600 pounds myself. One was so big I didn't get my rifle out in time because at a glance I thought something that big had to be a cow.

I would try one of these in that 7mm a 175 Gr pp. It will put one of those big boys down.

Woodleigh

quote:

Originally posted by Pedro in Idaho:
With the checkering you discribed it should have a stainless steel barrel. These early Rem. 700s are usually very good shooters, and barrels & actions are smoother. While not collectors they are certainly nicer then newer Rems.
I've got one just like yours in same cal. It now wears a Brown Precision stock and has accounted for a number of antelope, deer, and elk. Just a good honest hunting rifle that has never let me down. Pedro

I have a Remington 700 BDL 7mm Rem Mag that my dad bought new the year after the cartridge was introduced. It also has that cheesy impressed checkering, but the piece of walnut is definitely XX quality. Nice figuring and color. I stripped off the old, yellowed finish and put on a hand-rubbed oil finish and a Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad. It shoots 150 grain Nosler BT and 175 grain Partition handloads in less than one inch every time I shoot it.

From what I've learned, when this rifle/cartridge was on the boards, Remington was worried about barrel life ala the .264 Win Mag. The felt the chrome-moly steel would not hold up and the barrels would be shot out quickly, so they opted for stainless steel. But since NO ONE would buy a shiny, S/S barrel in the early Sixties, they coated the barrel with a cupric compound and layered a base of ferrous material over that, which allowed the blueing to take hold. All I know is that the rifle is 40 years old and shoots like a dream.

The 7 mag is a very good cartridge.
For North america it is about as usfull as could be.
For a hand loader you can taylor your loads to suit your needs.
For a 600 LB pig i think a a 160 or 175 grain bullet will do real well.
I just sold a rifle just like yours to a buddie who had his 7 mag stolen.
I have a 280 ackley and an STW so I decided i didnot need my mag but now I found a real nice custom MK 10 and the 7 mag is on my mind again...tj3006

Great gun. I've got a mid 70's BDL in 7MAG that is my "GO TO" rifle. By far the most accurate rifle I own. I've killed more deer with it than any other.
I bought this gun from a guy for $150. It had been left in his pump shed for years and it looked it. After a lot of TLC it ended up looking real nice. The fact that it's a tack driver is a bonus.

This rifle has a nice piece of walnut on it also. I have been working up loads with 175 grain bullets using the Federal brass. This brass seems soft to me. I load up one grain at a time from the starting load and as soon as I see any mark from the ejector on the case head I back off a grain. H4831 seems to be my best on hand powder. Have to go to the range soon. Sure wish it would cool off. I need to pick up some different brass, probably Winchester.

Federal Brass does suck in that caliber. Too soft. I bought a case of 500 of the Remington cases from Midway.

Leave that rifle alone!

I had its baby brother in 30-06 for twenty five years. Never failed anyone. It was my loaner rifle.

LD

Rick
A friend of mine was having a problem "killing" BIG pigs with his 7 Mag.
He was using conventional non premium bullets. I had him switch to Federal factory [he doesnot reload] heavy Trophy bonded Bearclaws.

No further problems.

With a 160 or 175 Premium bullet the 7 Mag is a great hunting cartridge on the Big game.

A Remmy would be about the worst choice for a DGR rifle what with its lack of CRF and other mechanical compromises. The biggest reason for leaving it be is that it's already a complete rifle. Since your having some case problems with it why not just move it on and get a better gun or scope or something?

Having owned a bunch of push feed rifles over the last 30 years and never had an action related problem I'll have to disagree on the 700 being the "worst" action for a DGR. I have also put together many rifles on Mauser actions where quite a bit of fitting was rtequired on some of them to get them to match what a 700 does right out of the box. I feel that any good action can be made reliable enough to hund dangerous game. Just haow much "dangerous game" have you hunted Savage99? Do you include feral hogs in that category?

I would want any rifle to feed reliably. Even if I were shooting a coyote I would not want the rifle to jam would you?

The control round feed (CRF) feature is designed to reduce the chance of a jam. Even your going to shoot hogs in a fence you don't want a jam do you?

There is more about the Remmy action thats not good for hunting including bolt handles that pull off. Do secure the bolt handle somehow?

quote:

Originally posted by Savage99:
I would want any rifle to feed reliably. Even if I were shooting a coyote I would not want the rifle to jam would you?

The control round feed (CRF) feature is designed to reduce the chance of a jam. Even your going to shoot hogs in a fence you don't want a jam do you?

There is more about the Remmy action thats not good for hunting including bolt handles that pull off. Do secure the bolt handle somehow?

I do have CRF rifles and I have Remingtons. I've been using the Remingtons to hunt with them since before 1973 I still have not had a feed failure. I would not hesitate to use a Remington to shoot any type of game. My personal feeling is that is a urban myth. The only advantage I see in CRF rifles is if you are hanging upside down in a tree while shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by Savage99:
I would want any rifle to feed reliably. ..

No doubt about it, if it is CRF, there is NEVER any kind of Feed Problem.

Or you could look here to see a CRF Feed fiasco.

Remington actions are about as foolproof as any if kept maintained and cleaned. Yes, you could "short-stroke" a cartridge, but that doesn't happen very often.

I do like CRF actions, but the pushfeeds on my Ruger M-77R, Remington 700 BDL, Savage 110E's and post-'64 Winchester Model 70 have never jammed on me yet.

Jay, the above-mentioned "short-stroke" is about the only real reason CRF is considered to be more reliable. You may do this while crapping your pants as a big African lion finishes his charge....aiming at YOU! Other than that, you can feed a Remington upside down if you work the bolt rapidly and smoothly.

Explain this "short stroking" to me. I pull the bolt not far enough back with either action style and then close the bolt. No matter what I will get a click. Double stroking Hmmm, I pull the bolt far enough back to catch a rim, push the bolt not far enough to turn it down, pull the bolt back again far enough to catch a rim and push the bolt forward. Well even with a CRF if I don't push the bolt forward enough for the cartridge to slip under the extractor, which is pretty close to being closed I would have a jam. Both problems seem to me as being gross amateurish happenings for the inexperienced and un practiced. The only true benefit I can see my Mausers having is that I don't have to completely cycle the action to unload it (close the bolt). Ihave heard of bolts coming off bolt bodies but never seen it.

A PF such as the Remmy will start a cartridge from the magazine but not grip the rim. Let that cartridge leave the magazines control and it will move forward but it may not enter the chamber all the way. Pull the bolt back now and start another round and your jammed up.

Some Mausers don't work CRF as the magazine does not fit the cartridge. Some of them are loaded/chambered for short rounds that don't fill the mag. Then the bolt will pick up a second round if it's not returned far enough to eject the first.

The Remmy has a class action lawsuit trigger, a bolt in three pieces with even the lug section brazed on and the bolt handles do break off. They are the cheapest old design around. I use one for target shooting from a single shot 40X but thats their only good use. If you can't afford a better gun then a Remmy is better than nothing.

I have more on the Remmy but not a lot more time. I tried to stear you right. Go ahead and shoot one. Most of the time it does not matter function wise. Not to say its anything to be proud of.

Your push feed failure example is shooter error. Any mechanism can be fouled up by a fool. The bolt lugs are not brazed on and though the bolt handle is there is a lot of bearing surface there and if done right the brazing will not break. As far as the cheapest design on the market I say the Savage 110 holds that honor. Their bolts are held on by a screw that is prone to coming loose! I also saw one that the bore was not centered at the muzzle end? At any rate we are all allowed our opinions.

Here we go again! I usually try to stay outta the CRF v pushfeed for DG simply because I have yet to hunt DG....but I will say that I have experienced far more feeding and ejection problems with CRF (98's, CZ's, Win 70's) than with the few Rem 700's I have had. My Remington experience is now about 25 years old and alot has changed in that time. But my personal experience with Rem and Win has been far fewer problems with the Rems and more out of the box accuracy with the Rems as well. Dang, I feel like an old geez talking about "back in the day."

quote:

Originally posted by Savage99:
...The Remmy has a class action lawsuit trigger, a bolt in three pieces with even the lug section brazed on and the bolt handles do break off. They are the cheapest old design around...

There is a lot of misleading foolishness in those statements.

Don also thinks Belted Cartridges are a "bad design".

No need for me to hammer on him though. He makes himself look bad enough as it is.

Hot Core,

Be more specific rather than resort to wishy washy personal insults.

I still think that AD was coming around just fine but your crap made it no fun aound here. Try to improve.

quote:

Originally posted by Savage99:
Hot Core,

Be more specific ....

Your bias against known excellent firearm designs of ALL TYPES - speaks for itself.

I did not give you a "personal insult", but can if you desire to travel down that road.
---

So you try to draw me in to insulting ad again. No need to since he is gone.
---

Nearly forgot, I've been tracking Feed and Extraction failures on the Gunsmith Board for a good while now. Here is the list I've been able to see. If anyone else knows of any I missed, let me know and I'll add it to the list.

Kind of interesting to see how the "Holy Grail CRF" has done.

M70 CRF 18Dec05
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/833106783

M70 CRF (modified?) 19Dec05
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/286102883

M70 Classic 21Dec05
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/433106983

M70 PF 21Dec05
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/747106983

M70 Stainless Classic – trying to feed 4 from the magazine.
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/549103734

M700 BDL – Converted to AI
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/915108834

2 – M70s – Extractors breaking off
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/2511043/m/374101734

M700 Extraction Problem 9Mar06
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/739103244

M700 & M70 Bolt Handles 18Mar06
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/650102844

M70 Bolt design – operator error? 22Mar06
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/693102154

M70 Feed Ramp and Extractor Tension 21Mar06
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/840106054

M70 Stuck Case 22Apr06
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/633109864

M70 300WSM Feed problem 9Jun06
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/686109294

M70 416RemMag 11Jun06
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/758107394

Where have all the CRF fans gone?

The above list got started back in December of 2005. The reason I started it was because of how many actual "Feed Failure Complaints" I'd noticed on the Gunsmith Board.

Sure don't understand "how" the perfect CRF rifles could look so bad, when they are supposed to keep Feed Failures from EVER happening.

No ideas from the CRF fans?

For what it's worth.

The impressed checkering on the early Remingtons is fairly easy to convert to cut checkering and it looks very nice when completed.

The hard part of the checkering is already done (layout , masterlines and border.)

You just line the cutter up with a row indentions and start cutting.

HC,

The CRF does more and is more complicated and therefore harder to make work right.

In my view the Remmy (721-1/700) design is not pleasing to the person who likes fine mechanical devices. To each his own.

Trigger,

I have a Ithaka Deerslayer stocked in marbled walnut but it has that impressed 'checkering'. Don't think I will attempt doing it over. What a waste of fine wood.

Who did that first? Must have been the fools at Winchester in 1963?

Considering the huge number of fans the M700 has, the actions sleek lines, strength, accuracy, known reliability and aftermarket accesories Then Savage99 your opinion must be part of a small vocal minority! As to comparing impressed checkering to the hand checkered variety it is well known the former resists damage better. I admit to enjoying the looks of cut checkering better.

Your right. The masses know that cheap is cheap. That a Mossburg 12 will go bang and terminate almost anything.

It's just that the discussions get to talking about the best of the best. Don't worry.

quote:

Originally posted by Savage99:
A Remmy would be about the worst choice for a DGR rifle what with its lack of CRF and other mechanical compromises. The biggest reason for leaving it be is that it's already a complete rifle. Since your having some case problems with it why not just move it on and get a better gun or scope or something?

I concur! The Rem 700 has enough problems at the shooting range, that it should never even be used as a hunting rifle of any kind!

Major Caliber and Savage99, your opinions are worth far less than I paid for them. You two work together well as trolls.