I did my early deer stalking with a 22 Max and 243 Max built on Remington 700 actions. Very accurate rifles.

I have subsequently mostly used a left handed Heym - similar action but just that much nicer.

I have been looking for a left hand 22 Centrefire and came across a new in box, albeit a few years old Remington 700 lh 223 SPS Varmint. Much to my surprise I bought it. It shoots really well. I would n't have wanted to pay full UK retail price, but I did n't. Don't like the plastic trigger guard / bottom metal, but it's all steel where it needs to be. It was a bit rough, but a couple of evenings polishing up the feed rails, feed ramp has helped hugely. Also did a little work on the lugs to make sure both are in contact with action face - not enough though to materially alter head space.

I will put a little bedding around the recoil lug, but going to leave it pressure bedded as it came from factory.

Its going to be a fox and range use rifle and for less than £400 very happy with it.

quote:

Originally posted by carpetman1:
I was looking at a friends 700 and when I started raising the bolt to make sure it was empty, it fired. Luckily it was in a safe direction. The owner would not accept that it malfunctioned and thought I had my finger on the trigger---it was not. I told another friend (now deceased) that was a fine gunsmith about the situation. He had experienced this but did say it was an easy fix. Can't damn all 700's because this one malfunctioned---but it did.

would an after market trigger ie timney or jewel have prevented this?

John C.---I did not ask Ken Heinze, the gunsmith what the fix entailed, but I'd think his simple fix response would not include a new trigger.

Why Not???

Something made in the F or earlier s/n range has potential. Just remember there is NO firing pin lock or block on the 700 safety.

Owned a bunch of them, and then had an incideent; no foul-no harm,but enough for me. Sold 10+ rifles and discovered the Win 70 Classics.

700s shoot great and have tons of aftermarket gear & mods available. Better to buy a custom that's already built and has a decent safety... If customizing your 700 action, it won't bring what you put into it on resale... Start w/a custom build and lose no money...

No more Remingtons for me. Best ones I had were the B&C s/n range guns, or the stainless ones from early 00s; before the Acquisition...

I prefer control feed Mausers and pre 64 mod. 70 win.s...and the mk 2 Ruger African. A 700 in a varmint rifle would suit me fine or in a target rifle...The bolt handles do come off from time to time and the triggers are bad and dangerous in some of them, Remington has paid off some 7 million in law suits was published in a magazine and a read on the trigger..but I sure wouldn't call them junk, just not quite finished sounds more accurate to me...reweld the bolt and install a better trigger if you have problems with one..My 600 has never had a problem of any kind and its 40 or more years old.

aklester-
FYI,"F" prefix serial numbered 700 receivers is a miss stamp as it should be an "E" of which some,not all were roll embellished & some not embellished.
4,5,6,7digit,A,B,C,D,E,G RR are numbered/pre-fix letter sequence.
All 600,660,XP-100,XP-100R,Seven,XR-100,673,788,710,770,700,40X,40XR bolt handles are induction silver brazed to the bolt body.

I shot a Remington 40X 308 Winchester in highpower competition for years. The 40X for highpower competition had the same action as the 700 including the magazine for rapid fire stages. I never had a miss feed/double feed as you train for full bolt stroke. The push feed was also handy for slow fire as you could just drop a round in the action and close the bolt. I also never had an extractor failure. Once I had a trigger problem as we were basically shooting in a dust storm. At the time I selected the 40X as they had a better reputation for accuracy than the Winchester Model 70 target rifles.


That being said my big game hunting bolt action riles are primarily Pre 64 Win. Model 70s or the Dakota clones. From my perspective the Model 70 "open trigger" design will not fill with dust or ice which COULD be an advantage when hunting. I also find the Model 70 more esthetically pleasing. But as an Engineer the Model 700 has many advantage from an accuracy stand point (Stiff receiver, easier to bed, fast lock time, very good trigger when it is clean, and not to mention a very well shrouded bolt to handle a ruptured case).

Bottom line, I consider the Remington Model 700 a great rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by john c.:

quote:

Originally posted by carpetman1:
I was looking at a friends 700 and when I started raising the bolt to make sure it was empty, it fired. Luckily it was in a safe direction. The owner would not accept that it malfunctioned and thought I had my finger on the trigger---it was not. I told another friend (now deceased) that was a fine gunsmith about the situation. He had experienced this but did say it was an easy fix. Can't damn all 700's because this one malfunctioned---but it did.

would an after market trigger ie timney or jewel have prevented this?

I had this very same issue happen to me on my 22-250 700. Luckily I did not have a round in the chamber. The trigger adjustment nut had worked itself loose and basically turned it into a super light trigger. Any bump or vibration would set it off. Tightened it back up and a little locktite fixed the issue.

MyNameISEarl,
FYI-
There is NOT any trigger adjustment "NUTS" on any OEM Remington trigger groups.

Non repeatable JUNK Timney trigger groups have jam nuts on adjustment screws.

I have had a lot of Rem 700s pass through my hands. Lots because I used to bed rifles for people plus had lot of Rem 700 actions myself.

The revoted extractor is a pain to look at On the 30/06 bolt face and using non revoted extractor and with a high pressure load such as ejector mark on the case the bolt head has rotated around the extractor.

However, the most annoying thing I have seen as it is there all the time is where the extractor hangs a bit low so the vertical face of the extractor is party below the counterbore. Can make chambering stiff and shaves brass off big time.

But overall they are fine and 99% of them are OK.

Like the M70, they have the best bedding configuration with the position of the front screw and large tang. Also very big recoil lug and more stock material behind the recoil lug of about any action out there.

quote:

Originally posted by john c.:

quote:

Originally posted by carpetman1:
I was looking at a friends 700 and when I started raising the bolt to make sure it was empty, it fired. Luckily it was in a safe direction. The owner would not accept that it malfunctioned and thought I had my finger on the trigger---it was not. I told another friend (now deceased) that was a fine gunsmith about the situation. He had experienced this but did say it was an easy fix. Can't damn all 700's because this one malfunctioned---but it did.

would an after market trigger ie timney or jewel have prevented this?

In my experience, not letting the trigger get gunked up with hoppes and wd40 would have prevented that. Or proper maintenance/cleaning of the trigger assembly would have.

A Jewell and a timely can get gunked up as well.

.

A year or so ago Remington had a recall on their mod 700 triggers. Gravel industries who are the importers of Remington in Canada sent me a box mail prepaid to mail the rifle back to them for replacing of the trigger
I have a 700 in 338 Lapua that did the same,I chose not to send it in for a new Remington trigger but chose to put in a Timney in stead

I have a couple of 700's and they're alright, but I would rather have a Howa these days.

Tony

Sadly, I have read too many recent accounts of Remington's quality control issues. I have no idea if they're factual. I pray they're not.

I do have a Model 700 that was crafted with utmost care in the mid-1970's. It's chambered for the .270 Win. When I went hunting for my first big game rifle, veteran hunters steered me toward the .270 Win because the '06 was too much gun for a young hunter. I have no regrets; I have a lot of gratitude for those who recommended the .270 Win.

My rifle has the Walker trigger. All I have to add is keep your damned finger off of your trigger until you're ready to shoot. Reckless & dangerous people blamed the Walker trigger for their negligence.

Anyway, my Model 700 has been flawless. It'll print .25" at a hundred all day long. My longest shot was with this rifle.

I've added a couple Sako AVs & a Featherweight CRF (a marketing gimmick) to my big game rifle collection. Sako is all quality all the time. But neither of my Sakos will out-shoot my Model 700. I'm gonna sell my Featherweight. It ain't the quality of my Model 700 & nowhere close to my Sakos.

As to Mauser actions, it's gotta be an old school thing. I'd much rather have a Sako action than ANY Mauser action. A Sauer action might be as good as Sako.

BTW, I agree with posters who've recommended keeping the rifle as a .300 SAUM.

Keeping in mind this is merely my opinion: the .308 Win dominates the .308 caliber short action market. It'll kill big game just as dead as any mega magnum.

quote:

Originally posted by john c.:
son is thinking about a 700 tactical 5R heavy bbl 20" in 308 and he keeps hearing that anything from remington is junk. are they? why?

I have a 700 Tactical in 223.. I topped it off with a Zeiss conquest 6-24.. very accurate and I'm pleased with it.

I also have a BDL in 30-06 I bought in 1974 I've taken probably 40 deer with it in three states.. Its been to Africa and has had several scopes on it during its life with me Starting with a Tasco, then a Bushnell, then a Nikon (pre-Monarch) and finally a Zeiss conquest 3-9.

The rifle has been to Wyoming, Colorado, Maine and South Africa.. It has survived all the abuse I could have given it, as well as the minimum wage baggage handlers, and I have not had a single problem with it. Its my go-to rifle.

I love my M700 CDL and have admired Remington for years. Mine was made in 2014 and I can see absolutely no signs of quality degradation. I did swap out the trigger for a Timney, but that was more because I didn't feel like sending it back to the factory for the X Mark recall than my dissatisfaction with the trigger itself. Other than that, it's smooth, attractive, fits well, and simply will not shoot a bad group!

It's funny, but I know folks who don't follow the internet forums and who have hunted DG with push feed actions for years without issue. Too much importance is placed on that one feature. Either the gun feeds or it doesn't.

I have this picture in my mind of a monkey hanging upside down from a limb shooting a Rem 700!

I can't imagine that being an issue but it always comes up in this battle of the 700..I don't recall ever seeing a human shooting his rifle upside down, but Ive known some folks that sure may have tried it, both were since institionalized...

The 700 action will run when held upside down. Craig Boddington did it and took pictures of him doing. You can see them in Safari Rifles II. It will work.

They do indeed feed upside down and sideways so I guess this qualifies me for the institution.

I notice also that pushfeeds tend to hold the cartridge by the magazine lips longer than the typical CRF type rifle does. This allows the bullet to start into the chamber before releasing from the magazine so there's no way for the cartridge to fall out of the action no matter what the orientation of the rifle is. Unless of course if you for some reason stop and pull the bolt back before fully closing the bolt. But why would you do that?

I have been exposed to opinions that Remington's quality control has slipped. I hope it's not true.

The Model 700 was a huge positive impact upon big game hunting, the sport of kings. It allowed working men to afford a very high quality big game rifle at a modest price.

A Model700 .270 Win was my first big game rifle. It's 45+ years-old. I still have it. It ain't going anywhere. It'll print .25" @ a hundred all day long with hunting ammo!!! Lots of hunters spend a whole lotta $$$ on custom rifles that won't shoot as excellent. And it'll feed upside down ;-)

It's hard to beat Sako factory production rifles. They'll out-shoot most custom hunting rifles as well. But Sako comes with a huge premium. Is the Sako premium worth it when a Model 700 will kill big game just as dead?

Good thing I ain't in the big game rifle market...unless I run across an excellent quality, lightweight .308 Win carbine ;-)

Remington used to make a quality product right up until Freedom Group bought them. Once that happened the quality went down hill as the large corporation worried more about the bottom line than turning out a quality product. Then the lawsuits hit and made things even worse.

I am done buying Remington now since the last two rifles purchased had to be returned. The 243Win I bought had missing rifling halfway down the barrel and tooling marks so bad down the barrel that it copper fouled only after a few shots. My cylinder bore 12 ga shot tighter groups at 100yds than the 243 would. Took it to a friend of a friend who had a bore scope and he scoped it and showed me the video. Sent the video attached to an email to Remington and they sent me a return label. Noticed it was addressed to Wild West Guns here in Las Vegas so I just took it down there with the shipping label and told them what was wrong and showed them the video. They replaced the barrel and the rifle shot slightly better but not great. The barrel they replaced had an extremely long throat. So long that I couldn't seat a bullet out long enough to touch the lands. Took the barrel back and they said Remington said it was within tolerances. They also replaced the trigger with their lawyer trigger and it went from so-so to shit.

The second rifle I bought a few years ago and the trigger was unadjustable. It sat at 7.5# no matter how far I adjusted the screw. Then when I removed the little screws on the receiver to install the scope the threads stripped out and I couldn't mount my scope bases. So another email to Remington and another shipping label and another trip to Wild West Guns. They re-tapped the receiver and then said that Remington will not replace the trigger as it's acceptable. So I took the rifle home and ordered a new Timnney trigger and installed it. Thus voiding the Remington factory warranty.

When I compare either of those rifles to the other Remington rifles I have in my safe there is a night and day difference between them. The fit and finish, the action smoothness on the older ones feel like the bolt glides on glass. The new ones feel like I dragged the action through the sand and then tried to work it.

I have 3. Between 1962 and 2012. I don't trust the triggers and have replaced all mine with aftermarket. I have never had a problem with the triggers but a couple friends have. I might add no problems were with the X Mark triggers.

Well, I have a few Remingtons.

Custom Shop M7 Mannlicher - .257 Roberts
Custom Shop M7 AWR - 7mm SAUM
M700 SPS "Tactical" (threaded) .308 (*Hogue rubber stock)
M700 5r .308 Gen 1 24"

Let's see...the first three have regularly cut 1.25" groups at 200 yards. I gave up on 100 yard groups because I know unless I screwed up the rifles will shoot sub 1".

I'm not sure where the limit on the 5r is. I saw a sub 1" group at 200...on "thrown together ammo". And my Dad was shooting it. With a factory X trigger.

I Haven't lost a handle yet...but I think you can buy a one-piece handle/bolt assembly.

I replaced the M7MS with a Rifle-Basix trigger set at 2#. Timney's on the AWR and SPS. I prefer the Timney's but won't complain - they're all significantly better than the X-triggers. The X just feels a tad rubbery right at the break.

There are days I think I should have something really special. I don't know...some super custom whatever. And then I think...wait. I have a rifle that shoots 3/4" with factory Federal Blue Box 150's. Actually, I kind of have three.

As to whether or not quality has slipped? Honestly, I think the biggest difference is that consumer tastes have changed. Blued and fine walnut have been replaced by matte cerocoat (or matte bluing) and plastics.

Is that a "quality" change? /shrug. Maybe.

But rifles today shoot more accurately than ever before. And I've honestly never had a single instance of a Remington M7x not ejecting properly.

IMO, to the original poster, fret not and buy happily.

Only had two 700's, still have one. One was a KS Mtn rifle in 338wm, it did what it was supposed to do. I bought it in 1990, asked the counter guy to gather up all the light rifles they had and put them on the counter, the KS won. It was the second most expensive gun of the bunch. And it shot 5/8 3 shot group with Fed Premium 250 Nos with the first group I tried with it after sighting it.
The other is a BDL that I put a McMillan fibrgrain on, and just put a Triggertech trigger in. But I've had that since 1985 or 86, it is a 7-08. And it shoots MOA with pretty much everything I put in it. 168 Sierra gets down under .75MOA most of the time.
I look at the 700 and think it sells because it is usually a reasonable priced gun that looks half decent and generally will shoot decently out of the box. And like every other mass mfgr'd product, it will have some duds.
Only thing I'd do if I bought another one, assuming it shoots ok right off the bat, is change the trigger.
Had and shot a few other brands of guns over the years that wouldn't feed for one reason or another, Browning, Ruger, 96 & 98 Mausers, Win , Howa etc, 77 tang safety was one that torqued me, and I checked a bunch of other 77's at the time , most did the same thing as mine, would not pick up a round after closing the bolt over a full mag. I was surprised at how many did that at the time, checked about 50 of them, only 4 or 5 didn't do it. Never had an issue with the 700 myself.
Only reason I changed the trigger on the one I still have, is I figured maybe it would cut down any risk of an unintentional discharge, and it would likely be an improvement of some form, and it didn't owe me anything. And they were on sale. And then I went out and bought a #1 to perhaps replace that 700 with, if it shoots. Only other bolt action I will have left after that is a T-bolt 22. Everything else will be a singleshot or a SxS, and an autoloader shotgun and an autoloader 22.