A pd buddy of mine just called and told me he has a line on a Rem 700 BDL in 17 Rem. It has a Luppy 4-12 on it also. The price is $550. Supposedly in very nice shape and shot very little.

I didn't think that sounded too bad. What is your opinion?

Jim

Depends on what year it is, hopefully someone will post the exact years but some of Rem earlier 17's had pretty crappy barrels on them, which gave the 17 Rem a bad name for fouling barrels. To this day I hear the misconception that 17 Rem are inconsistant barrel foulers, which is false. Have him look at the CZ 527 Varmint in 17 Rem very well priced and bar none my favorite bolt gun in my safe.

Pdhntr1: I recently saw a 95% condition Remington 700 BDL in 17 remington sell for $425.00!
I was at a gunshow on the west coast when this happened!
I was a player for that Rifle at that price and someone bought it out from under me!
I was so miffed one of my friends at the show told me he had a Remington 700 BDL in 17 Remington that he would sell me. It was 99% with an OUTSTANDING trigger job and MY FRIEND sold me the Rifle for $350.00 I would have gone nearly $100.00 more for it - my buddy thought "he owed me one" - I guess, and he sold it to me at buddy price.
If the Rifle you are looking into is in VERY good condition it is worth $400.00 for sure and you just can't get a Leupold 4x12 of ANY kind for under $200.00, then the rings and bases and any other extras that you can beg off the owner would make the $550.00 price an even sweeter deal.
Rings and bases of any quality are $40.00+.
So I say offer him $525.00 and hope it sells - if not buy it at $550.00!
I think its a fair deal minimum and actually like you, I tend to think its a good deal!
I have three Remington 700's (all different models) in 17 Remington and have no problems with the barrels of any sort! Two of them are newer Rifles - in the area of 3 to 5 years old and the Rifle I recently got from my buddy on the coast is at least 10 years old.
Good luck to you guys on the Varmint Rifle "swap".
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
P.S.: I recently bought a Remington 700 BDL in 6mm Remington - I stripped it down and sold just the Rifle for $475.00! It was MINT though and they quit making the 6mm Remington in the BDL model back in 1994 - so they have a "slight" premium to them nowadays.

If you guys are not interested in the rifle, I would like to look into in more. If your not interested pdhntr1 I would be greatful for some contact information. Thanks, Duke