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| One of Us |
My son asked me the other day that why does the Rem. 700 action seem to be the choice to build custom rifles on. I couldn't answer why and was hoping to get some replies on this matter. Thanks for the replies | ||
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One of Us |
I would disagree with that term....."the choice" For high quality hunting rifles it's almost never the choice. However for varminting, it's used a lot. In short the answer is.....it's a very inexpensive action for the task. There's a entire 30-06 synthetic here for $300 consigned that looks great.....darn cheap action compared to working up a Mauser! /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
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What is the choice for custom rifles? Is there a difference between a custom rifle and a custom hunting rifle? I don't personally know but doesn't Jarret and some other "custom" gun builders use 700 actions? Again thanks for the reply. | |||
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Depends on what you call, custom. Some of us don't consider a factory barrelled action, or even one with just a new barrel, glued into a synthetic stock, and then painted, a CUSTOM! To me, most of what makes a "custom" rifle is extensively worked over metalwork(read improved), and most importantly, a truly custom, one of a kind, wood stock made from a nice blank. I call the reworked guns in synthetic...improved rifles! But it is a free country, call them what you want!  | |||
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There's a good many custom makers that are almost unknown.....and these guys make whatever is wanted and Remington gets the nod because of price....usually a varmint rifle caliber. The Remington is extremely strong, reliable, offers excellent accuracy, and relatively dirt cheap. When the game comes to high quality hunting rifles the actions used are almost exclusively M-70 both pre-64 and classic and the Mauser in one of it's milsurp or clone veriants. Look at the rifles posted here by some of the nations best smiths.....none of them are Remington. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
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PALuke, No difference. The 700 is a good base platform with lots of available after market components. You can do a lot of things with it and get your ownd custom gun for a reasonable amount of money. Mike Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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They are American built The company is still in business and going strong They come in a huge variety of chamberings They come in a wide variety of finishes They are offered with a variety of options There are more aftermarket accessories offered for them than all the others combined They are of simple design They are accurate They are strong They are dependable They are simple to maintain They are affordable Parts are readily available They are easily adaptable for competition and specialized work thats the good parts.. | |||
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They are common and inexpensive, plus receivers are round and easily chucked in a lathe to blueprint them. Then there are momentum issues, like availability of aftermarket stuff like triggers. TomP Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right, when wrong to be put right. Carl Schurz (1829 - 1906) | |||
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Ditto, If someone doesn't think they are great actions to build quality rifles on, they need to talk to a few benchrest guys. They may not be the Rolls Royce of the action world but they are darn fine actions. Reloader | |||
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OK, since no one else is going to address this comment " I " will. And PaLuke, feel free to quote me on this:   --- Hey PaLuke, If you want a Custom or Semi-Custom the M700 takes much less effort by the Gun Smith to simply enhance the existing excellent Accuracy, Ruggedness and Reliable Feeding/Extraction. If you want to sink extra money into a rifle in an attempt to make it nearly as Accurate, Rugged and Reliable as a Remington, it takes a significantly larger pile of money. | |||
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You mean to tell me that Remingtons are accurate, rugged and reliable. After all the negative stuff that I have read here about Rems I sold all my Rems at a yard sale and starting over. Just kidding. | |||
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After reading the replies it seems that the 700 action is one of the few things these days that are still a good buy. If I ever get a chance to have a rifle built or have one customized it seems the 700 is the way to go. Thanks for the replies and the info.........PALuke | |||
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It depends on what type of custom rifle you are talking about. If you're talking about tactical rifles, or ultralight rifles, ie synthetic stocked accuracy minded rifles, the 700 has been the most popular choice because it simply lends itself to the accurizing involved. Now if you're talking about a classic wood stocked hunting rifle, aka high grade custom, the two actions you'll see used far and away most commonly are the M98 Mauser and Model 70 Winchester. __________________________________________________ The AR series of rounds, ridding the world of 7mm rem mags, one gun at a time. | |||
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I pretty much agree with Paul H, but at last years ACGG show in Reno I saw two beautiful clasic styled customs built on Remington 700 actions, and I’ve also seen a pretty slick long range tactical rig built on an old Mauser action that would shoot right along with the best of them. Personal preference plays a huge role in this game and just about any bolt action rifle can be made into a beautiful show piece or a tack driver if you have the right person put it together for you. 700’s have a distinct advantage over many types because of availability, reasonable price, and the huge amount of aftermarket parts out there. Sort of like they way small block Chevy engines used to be. | |||
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I have studied actions to death. I have spent a lot of time talking to guys that know actions. They told me the following- 1. The Remington actions is simple, reliable and can made to work in a very accurate rifle. 2. They are readily available. 3. Most gunsmiths know how to work on them. 4. The Mauser actions are great as well, just more expensive. They have characteristics that make them valuable to dangerous game hunters. On a custom rifle, you can get one that is very accurate, very pretty, built to fit you in about any action you like. Money is the limiter. Anyway, you cannot make a bad decision using a Rem 700, a M70 or Mauser or one of several look a likes. That is the summary of hundreds of hours of contemplations. Now, I then bought several new Model 70's and have shot each until I get .5 MOA guns with the bullets I hunt with. I still have one holdout that does not want to shoot well - a .280 - but I will win in the end as I will re-barrel it if does not behave better. So much for buying/building a custom gun.. | |||
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I need a gunsmith to build me a 416 Rigby and a 505 Gibbs on Rem 700's... Oh, yeah, and I want world peace too...one is as likely as the other. Rich DRSS NRA Life Member | |||
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Man some of you guys are so anal about the exceptions that someone could say the sky is blue and you'ld argue about the truth of that based on cloud cover! Why can't you just admit that when it comes "factory" available actions Remmys are far and away the most customized action around (for the reasons stated by some) availablility, inexpensive, strength, inherent accuracy, easily tunned up. Other factory actions (Kimber, Ruger, Sako, Winchester, Howa, WBY, etc.) probably don't come close to being used as often by smiths even when combined! No there not Stole bench actions. Nor are they one of NULA or Kenny Jarret's propietary actions (although the later used to use Rem.) There not Dakota customs at $1500 a pop or Granite Mountain (Even more). But for everything from .222 head to the .375 H&H head, from varmit and benchrest shooters, snipers in law enforcement, military and the crowd that just wants a sniper rifle, AND HUNTING rifles from coytes to deer to sheep to elk and moose - there may be factory actions as good, but there NONE that are more often used. | |||
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