I own an old Remington 721 in .300H&H. The barrel is in bad codition after 40 years as a working rifle of a PH in Tanzania. Is it sensefull to put a new barrel in this old action?

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Originally posted by Monastery-Forester:
I own an old Remington 721 in .300H&H. The barrel is in bad codition after 40 years as a working rifle of a PH in Tanzania. Is it sensefull to put a new barrel in this old action?

People put new barrels on a hell of a lot older guns than that. If the gun has had any care, the action should still be fine. I wouldn't have any heart burn about reviving a 721.

African Hunter Magazine's Forum "300 H&H"

Not only on AR's forums, but also on the above, this caliber is very much considered as good as ever for medium game. A classic and very accurate caliber.

Have a Rem 721 in 30/06 that had a bad barrel didn't think twice about rebarreling. Had it rebarreled in 30/06 and it again is a useful rifle and accurate. The only thing missing is the knob or lug (whatever you call it) on the orignal barrel is gone. Replacement barrels don't have it. Do it and don't look back. I've heard that the 300 H&H is a great round.

It was not aquestion for the .300H&H - I use it with great pleasur in a Sako Finbear and a Ruger I - it was a question whether the system of the Rem. 721 is a base for a new barrel.

With few exceptions, the 721 is a 700 Remington. The bolt handle, trigger and bottom metal are different but are interchangeable. I have always chased the threads on a 721/722 (and for that metter, a lot of 700's) to insure the concentricty of the threads. Other than that, it is as good an action as any to re-barrel.

Poor extraction system in my opinion, but I know many don't share that view.

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Originally posted by AfricanHunter:
Poor extraction system in my opinion, but I know many don't share that view.

The beautiful thing about the Remington, is if you don't like the extraction system/design, you can change it.

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The beautiful thing about the Remington, is if you don't like the extraction system/design, you can change it.

The 721 extractor may give decades of service without trouble, but if it breaks it's a problem to fix. If you're serious about this gun then go ahead and have a Sako extractor claw installed when you rebarrel and you'll never have to worry about extractor problems. Replace the trigger while you're at it. The factory trigger has a bad habit of spontaneously firing if moved from "safe" to "fire" after having squeezed the trigger while on "safe".

My biggest objection to the 721 is the excessive drop in the factory stock. However, since Europeans don't seem to mind shooting with their heads bobbing in the air, you can disregard this objection.

My experience with 722/721 Remingtons has been without problems, Never had an extractor problem, never an accidental discharge and they were very accurate right out of the box.
Several gunsmiths have commented(here) that early Remingtons required no machine work to blueprint them, as none was required.
As far as the triggers are concerned, I presently have two 722's in my safe and numerous 700's and have yet to have an accidental discharge, never had a bolt handle come off either. I personally think that Remington trigger problems are for the most part, self induced, people turning screws that don't have a clue what they are doing!
YMMV but my experience with Remington has been an extremely pleasurable one.
My advise is to rebarrel it and it'll do the job for many years to come. Also, they'll fit into a newer 700 stock with minimal work, BDL bottom metal being about all that's required.

Stepchild

Heck yes. Get a Pac-Nor prefit barrel. The concearns about extraction are mostly thoeretical. These are great rifles, from a funtional standpoint. They are not pretty but they are very accurate , well made and shoot straight. I would take it over most of the production line rifle you can get today. They are made better than modern versions, (M-700) as far as fit an finish. The trigger/safety problem was on certain M-700s, from the 80's if I remember right. I had a 722 in 257 Bob. It was afine rife and withstood all kinds of abuse and hot loads. I did one trash the extractor with a bad load. It was easily replaced. A good gunsmith will be able to replace the rivet. If you stick to sane load or factory it will never be a problem. Just clean the chamber once in a blue moon and you will be fine. No it is not a prewar 98 sporter but, never pretended to be one.