I was thinking about getting a 22-250 VS SF Rem. 700.

The question is are the new guns with the J lock
just as good as one of the old ones without
the lock.

I was told that the locks might make the trigger
a little stiffer and that the older 700's were
made a little better than the new ones.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

hunter966

Some folks, wanting to appear purist I guess, have discried the j lock for esthetic purposes. I have rifles with and without and find no difference in the functioning of the rifles. My newer rifles, post j lock shall we say, shoot just as well as my old ones did when first out of the box. After having the trigger adjusted, of course. The new triggers come with an ambulance chaser attached and a pull of about 8 pounds. I understand there are several smiths that provide the after market removal of the j locks. For a fee, of course.

Hunter966: Be real careful when analyzing "what you hear" about Remington products anymore. There are some people out there who are bad mouthing Remington these days and most of what they say is crap! Who knows what their reasons may be? Jealousy, pettiness, contraryism, immaturity, idiocy, who knows and who cares!
My Remingtons with "J" locks shoot every bit as well as my older Remingtons! And that my friend is saying something! Take it from some one who has real world experience with them! If you can get past the new less streamlined look of the lawyer induced "J" lock additon then the performance will still be there.
A lot of the Remington nay sayers are savage lap dogs! I recently handled a savage rifle with the new style trigger and a plastic stock. I would not have TAKEN that gun out of the store with me if the counterman had GIVEN it to me for free! I actually laughed out loud when viewing this piece of crap! If people only point out Remington as moving toward less quality for more money then they are simply full of shit and have an agenda. There has been an increase in price for Remington Rifles (right along with every other brand!) and there is no denying that Remington is not hand finished and hand fitted and PERFECT in every way but they are reliable, safe, accurate, attractive, a good value, retain their value and remain very popular amongst shooters with an open mind.
I saw one idiot posting last week that Remington Rifles all have UNSAFE triggers! That fucking idiot better watch what he writes or he will be making time payments to Big Green for the rest of his life!
Yes assess those who are naysaying Remington and try and find what their alterior motive is. It certainly can not be that Remington Bolt Action Rifles are not the most accurate, safest, most popular, best selling, affordable factory Rifles out there. Simply check any Rifle competition results and prove to yourself how well the factory Remington Rifles perform.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I dislike the new J lock design for a couble of reasons. The first is based more on impression than hard fact. I don't have the background needed for a fact based opinion. I think the shape of the firing pin itself is flawed and the pin is subject to break. The second reason is that the lock can only be used when the firing pin is in the cocked position. This means if the lock is used during the off season, the spring must be compressed. this will result in a weaken spring. Have a great weekend all.

996, My son's got exactly what you want, there's nothing wrong with the rifle, just stay away from the long 55gr bullets like VMAX and Blitzkings, too long for the twist, well, borderline. 50grainers in the two bullets I mentioned will shoot better from all the tests I've seen with this rifle, stick with powders like Varget, RE15, VV140, and H380, you'll get your best results from them, no doubt. When you pick the rifle up, make sure the barrel channel is in sinc with the barrel(Not close to one side and a big gap on the other side), reason being, the first rifle I bought him had a warped barrel, and after a little fighting with Rem. they sent me a new rifle, they said it had a bedding problem, after switching stocks/actions with my 6mm, NOT the case. Jay. PS. I'd opt for the VS model over the VSSF, and get a 223, want more power you say, get the 6mm in the VLS model. Jay.

I can't say one way or the other whether the J-Lock matters since I haven't bought a new Rem in a couple years.

VarmintGuy, I'm a Remington loyalist who's very disappointed with the hit-or-miss quality control in the two VS's and a BDL I've bought. All are pre-J lock, one a .308, the other two 22-250.

Being both a lefty and a target (position) shooter, I've been buying LH 700's for some time. When Rem came out with these short-action VS lefties in 98, I bought two, knowing full well that production would soon cease or diminish as it had after the BDL .22-250 I'd bought sometime earlier.

The problems I encountered and how I went about curing them are too long for this forum (if somebody wants to know, email me), but all guns are now shooters for better or worse. I have no agenda, believe me. Yes, I own Savages too I even have a lefty Browning A-Bolt! Skeery!

Cheers!

Redial

I don't like the j lock either. I can't say that it hindered me in any way, I just don't like it.

I am not a fan of thier triggers. I don't claim to be an expert on firearms, because I am not.

There are a few people on these forums that I trust, and they say the trigger is unsafe. I believe them.

All of my M700's shot acceptable and the my older ones shoot the best. I have a M700 VS in 223 and a VLS in 308 and they shoot very well. I just bought an older 700 BDL Varmint in 222, and it is my best 100 yard shooter. I have had alot of trouble with extraction and ejection on the 223 sized boltfaced M700's.

[ 05-31-2003, 06:43: Message edited by: DLS ]

I can only echo what VarmintGuy said. I have owned Remingtons since 1969, 13 or 14 of them and not a disappointment in the bunch. Yes I have a Savage and a couple Rugers and have tried a couple Winchesters over those years. I still would choose a Remington every time if I had to depend on the accuracy of an out of the box rifle.

There are mixed opinions on the triggers. I have never had a problem and have mine all set at around two pounds. I have been witness to two accidental discharges with Model 700's though. Both guns were made in the 70's and I have never seen or known anyone that has had an accidental discharge on a rifle newer than those.

I have a new VS in 223 and I love it. Do I like the J-Lock? Hell no, but it doesn't bother me. As a matter of fact I don't really even notice it. Oh yeah, I've only done some preliminary load testing but have had several groups under .5". It is definitely a keeper.

I just put the bolt in operate position and "threw away the key" so to speak.

Now it is just like the other Remingtons I have that don't have the J Lock.

End of story.

I've had pre J-lock and post J-lock Remington 700s as has my son and a hunting buddy. My buddy and I both have Savages also. Remington is good, but my lefty .223 VS had the muzzle cut at an angle so bad, it was noticeable without even putting a square on it. I'd ordered it and planned on having it tuned so didn't sent it back to Remington. Tuned? It shoots bulk loaded handloads in the .6's. Ammo it likes...

Most problems with Remington triggers come from the fact they were "adjusted" by people who don't know what they are doing. There is a certain order in which the adjustments MUST be made. Any other, you may end up with a problem. How do I know? While a marksmanship instructor for the Air Force and working in R&D, I was sent to the Remington armorers school they had back then.

I have 7 Remington Bolt action rifles from Remington Classics to 40XBBR's and have never had a trigger problem with one. I suspect the problem is because the safety is high on the stock. To activate the safety you simply pull back with your thumb. If you fail to remove your forefinger from the trigger guard while doing it, you're going to get one hell of a rude awakening. Being human, as the thumb comes back the entire hand, fingers and all, come back at the same time. I've always felt that was the problem but can't swear by it. I just purchased a Remington VLS in 6mm Rem. and am quite happy with it, j-lock and all. Both Remington and Savage produce accurate rifles. One is more expensive than the other, also more attractive. Probably they are equally attractive to their owner and equally accurate. It's merely a matter of personal choice and hardly worth some of the infantile arguments that are waged over it. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal