Recently (August 8th) I had occassion to speak in person with the Remington Factory Representative (NW Region) while I was out in Washington State. I spoke with him at Ron Kesselrings Gun Shop near Bellingham, Washington. I have known the rep for about 8 years and he is a pretty up front and honest guy. My inquiry to him was why is the Remington Classic in 221 Fireball so late in hitting the market! After all I had been promised one by mid April and here it was about 4 months later and nearly time for the new Classic caliber to be announced and still no Fireballs anywhere.
The rep assured me that the Fireballs had recently started production and that they would be arriving at distributors by September 1st! No explanation was given for the delay in starting the production of the Fireballs. OK I said and commended him and his company for taking such a nifty caliber and offering it in the Classic.
I have everything else ready for the Fireball as soon as I get my hands on it. I have the Leupold rings, mounts, brass, Redding dies and a 4X12 Leupold scope all ready to get to working but alas still no Rifle.
I do have my Kimber Ultra Varmint Rifle in 221 Fireball to fall back on but I am still antsy to get this nifty little walking Varminter up and running!
So that is the latest info I have heard for those interested in the Fireball Classic. From the interest I have seen this year among friends and the dealers I have talked to, I think this is going to be one of the most popular Classics to date.
Long live the Fireball!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Thanks for the update Dale.

I spoke to the company last week, and was told that the delay was due to waiting for enough orders to justify the run... and that they had just started running them now, and they would be shipping around the first week of Sept... like you said.

CS

Additional Information On The Fireball: Yesterday (August 24th) I had occassion to attend a Firearms jamboree and Swap Meet in Ennis, Montana. In addition to selling two Rifles I met and spoke at length with the Remington representaive for Montana and Wyoming. His version of the delay with the Fireball was that the factory had to re-engineer the first version of the magazine loading ramp. And the reason for this was "to improve loading consistensy" from the magazine to the chamber. The rep said the problem has been fixed and the Rifles are due on shelves next month!
I asked him what would the Classic caliber be for 2003 and he stated he did not know and did not want to know. His understanding from the company was anyone letting out the secret chosen caliber for the next year to the public (and thus the competition also) would be fired!
Come on Fireballs!
Hold into the wnd
VarmintGuy

Catshooter, I read that Rem makes a set number of Classics every year, with no "waiting for enough orders." Sounds like an excuse to me for not getting the bugs worked out of the feeding problem before announcing the Fireball in the Classic.

Geo...

Actually, I think you are right.

I have also heard the "feeding problem" thing, and do believe it is the real truth.
The little .221 FireBall can easily get lost in that big M700 action.

I believe that was the real problem... but I was mostly posting a confirmation that they were being shipped in a few weeks.

CatShooter

Makes me glad I decided to build my Fireball on a Sako 461 action. I watched the gunsmith put in together in just a few hours the other day. It feeds perfectly without any mods to the magazine, etc.

Mind you I have nothing against the Classic. We have one in the safe, and I would love to get hold of another one in 7/08 (they're pretty thin on the ground in Oz).

I work at a good friends gun shop on my time off. We received 1 700 Classic in .221 Fireball from Accu Sport earlier this week. It lasted all of about 45 minutes on the shelf before being sold. Price was $579.00. Accu Sport advised us that they would call periodically to inquire if we wished to receive anymore.

They are all over the place at Guns America. Com
Prices are all over the place as well.
Dan

Remington "Classic" M700 in 221 Fireball have arrived in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Hello,V-man;Back in 1956,I was in the army in San Francisco with A fellow by the name of Dan Plotts From Grand Junction.Have you ever heard of the family name??Thanx!! J.E.Roop