What can you guys tell me about the Remington Model 720? I have this rifle in 30-06 that I won at a Secretary of the Navy shooting competition back in 1995. It's been at my father's place since then, but I got the opportunity this past week to pull it out and examine exactly what it was. It's still in the box, and never been fired. The stock is stamped with FJA and a round symbol. There's not a bit of rust on it and the stock is pristine. Is this a rifle I should leave unshot?

I have found very little on this rifle by searching the net. Is there a reason for that?

There is little info because nobody knows anything about them.



I have a remington 720 commercial version.



A local gunshop ownwer that was a marine sniper in vietnam has 11 dept of the navy award rifles. Funny thing is , He says they arent enfields actions. Show how much he knows.



What do you want to know ? If you want to shoot it go ahead. Thats what its for.



I had a chance to buy a new in box , never fired award 720 for cheap ,. I should have bought it.



Not very many people know anything about the 720. There isnt much imfo on them. Alot of them were award rifles for dept of the navy.



I ve seen a couple on Guns America for sale but nobody knows what they are.



My 720 is 1941 manufacture .



They are said to be the Cadalac of enfields , very nice actions



There were gunsmiths making 720 copys back in the late '40s and'50s.



I have a model 30 remington that Has all the 720 features , (guide rib, 720 style bolt handle,etc.) but the serial numbers a 1927 making it a model 30 modified with 720 features



Thats what got me interested in finding a 720. I got a deal on the 720 I have, (lucked out finding it),but it needs to be restocked because someone put a crapy custom stock on it.

Mine is also drilled and tapped with buehler bases/rings and a bear cub scope.



Ya want to sell yours??

Here is the 720 I bought with the funky stock.

Here is a pick I have of your award rifle
note the guide rib

GSP, so you bought that rifle, I thought of bidding but didn't, always wanted a 720. A few were sold commercially prewar, the Navy bought the ones still in stock after Pearl Harbor and has been giving them out as prizes ever since. As good as a prewar M70 in every respect. The prize rifles in mint condition show up for sale every so often and some time back passed the 1g mark, what one would bring now I have no idea. They were available commercially in '06, .270, .257 and maybe 7x57. I know of a G&H 720 sporter, guess I should try to buy it.

Vigillinus... Did you see mine on gunbroker?



I was watching it . The guy wanted about $1000 for it . Nobody bid . He came down , down after a month or 2 . I got it for alittle over $300.



The stock looks OK in the picture except for the ugly ingraveing. But the stock is a piece of sh*t. Its cracked and its realy thin and funky , Like someone was making a super light sporter. Its one of my next projects to make a nice stock for it. The action is in very good condition.



The floor plate and bottom metal on the 720 is aluminum. The mag box is steal revited together.

GSP, thanks for the info. I guess the kind of stuff I was looking for was its history. Why did the Navy buy them? Why didn't Remington make more if it was such a great gun? You find tons of stuff on the internet about the 1903s, but nothing on the 720.

Thanks for the pictures too. That is definitely the same rifle I have, box and all. My stock isn't quite as shiney though. Did that person refinish the stock?

BTW, I'm not really looking to sell it. It has some sentimental value which will probably cause me to keep it forever. I just wanted to know some background info on it.

I have heard and read that the Navy contracted for these rifles soon after Pearl Habor.

Remington had about 4,000 model 720's plus a good inventory of spare parts already on hand and the Navy snatched up 1,000 of them in the belief that they needed to arm sailors and Marines aboard ships with high powered rifles(???) and the Navy's inventory of high powered rifles (1903's and 1917 Enfields) was not enough to supply all of the expected troops that would be called into action in response to our entering into the war.

For whatever reason the Navy never issued the rifles to the troops (perhaps someone saw the futility of trying to protect ships with rifles) and they remained in inventory until 1964 when the Navy/Marine Corps started awarding them as marksmenship trophies.

Rick

Jethro: In answer to your question about Remington no longer making them, the answer is simple. The action on your 720 is more expensive to manufacture, the same reason why Winchester stopped making Pre-64s in favor of the cheaper, easier to manufacture 700 action. jorge

Jethro,
I have a 720 I horse traded a friend of mine for. He got it for winning interservice a few years ago. I would be very interested in what yours was awarded to you for? You already said you didn't want to sell it so I won't ask, but if you change your mind.........

I really suspect that when Uncle sam bought them he didn't realize what he was getting. Remington probably saw it as a way to unload a some slow selling rifles. "Yea sure, it would make a great battle rifle, it's just a slightly modified 17 enfield"

The last I heard there were no more in the navy inventory, they had all been awarded.

John

Hey guys, thanks for all the info. You pretty much answered all the questions I had.

Gasgunner, to answer your question, I won the rifle in much the same manner as your friend. I was graduating from the Naval Academy in 1995 and decided to enter the yearly shooting competition held at the Naval Station across the river. I'm not sure who all participated, but it was definitely not just midshipmen. I only went to send some rounds downrange and enjoy the morning shooting. I had no intention of actually winning it. Typically, one of the rifle team members would sweep it, and for good reason. They shoot just about everyday and are nationally ranked. Anyway, after my second round, I had the highest score! Since I was in the last group to shoot, I knew I had won. I thought, boy, that's pretty cool. Little did I know they gave you an award. When they told me that I had won a rifle, that made it even better. The rifle team coach was present and asked me where I learned to shoot. I wish I had a camera at that point, because when I told him hunting deer and groundhogs in PA, the look on his face was priceless. I guess he figured the only way to learn to shoot well was with a good coach and lots of practice at the range. I guess I did get allot of practice out in the woods, but the only coaches I had were my dad and a handful of redneck friends. Best damn lessons a mountain boy could ask for.

Jethro.. The 720 was an improvement of the model 30 and was only manufactured a few years , and replaced by the 721 , which is not a enfield but the cheap manufactured push feed/pipe action like the 700.

The others posters added good imfo ...



Dont know why that picture made the stock shiny , just reflection. It has FJA stamp too.



Some people say the 720 is on the verge of being a collectors item . There arent that many of them.



Tom Burgess sent me some pictures of a 720 action that someone ruined drilling scope base holes all over it . I think it had a 8 holes in the reciever. What a shame.



You have a special rare rifle there. Congradulations.



Rick

Did any other manufacturers make a very similar rifle patterened after the 720? I have one here that looks pretty much identical in the action and barrel, identical safety, barrel taper, same style rounded cutouts in the front and rear of the ejection port, same mauser type extractor etc. This one was made by BSA in england. The only ting I can see different is the one I have has a bolt handle with a dogleg on it. This rifle was given to me yesterday by a co-worker whose father didn't want it any more. Its also a 30-06.

Jethro,

Good job on winning the Award Rifle! I handed several out back in the days when I was the Executive Officer for the PACFLT matches.

They were selling for $1,800 in San Diego area when I last say one for sale. This was the new in the box rifle in un-issued condition. All the Navy rifles were .30-'06 by the way, although the M720 was available in several commercial cartridges such as .257 Remington Roberts.

The 720s are collector items now I would say.

There has been a rumor floating around that Remington had or has some number of 720 actions and the tooling used to produce them, but I haven't found anyone to verify that.

jim dodd

American Rifleman had an article about the 720 a few years ago, I don't remember the issue date exactly but can figure that out later.

I can't believe these go as cheaply as they do considering they were arguably the smallest production run of factory rifles ever produced...with good reason behind that. Pearl Harbor has been mentioned but it happened AFTER the contract was signed. I believe right around 1000 were produced before production was ceased for more important ventures given the times. These ~1k rifles were placed into storage by the Navy and were destined for destruction until a man whom we all owe a note of thanks suggested awarding them as trophies at the national matches. I've yet to commit his name to memory although I intend to do so one of these days... Anyway, to my knowledge the last of the trophies were awarded in 2001. While there was a time when individuals won many rifles, I've heard of seven and some stories of more, they eventually set a limit of two per individual. Information about the match won was engraved by Navy armorers on the floor plate of many if not all of these rifles. I'm not aware of any chambering other than 30/06 for the Navy rifles.

As for the commercial rifles, after making the Rem 30 from the early 20's until the early 40's it's my understanding that Remington had the intent to move on to production of the 720 which contained several improvements over the 30. Obviously Pearl Harbor had an impact on this as well. Production was just under 3000 for the commercial rifles with all but a few in 30/06. There were 17 chambered in 257 Roberts, and either 70 or 77 (I think it was 70) chambered in 270 Win.

Total production was not quite 4000. It's unfortunate to the sporting world that world events prevented Remington from pursuing this path as we were then subjected to the 721/722/700's that are a far cry from the quality of the 720 as a hunting rifle.

How pre-64 Win 70's, where 10's of thousands may have been made in some relatively obscure configuration are "worth" more than a 720 where less than 4000 were ever made is beyond me?

Please don't shoot your 720. These are truly rare birds. I will gladly send you a Remington Model 30 that is almost identical plus enough money to buy several 700's for your 720!!!

Lastly, thanks for supplying some firsthand knowledge of the history of 1% of the trophy rifles. Information is hard to come by and what I've written into my post has taken several years of digging and keeping my ears open.

Oscar ... Yours is a model 30 with the dog leg handle. Or some other enfield. The 720 had a new style bolt handle(with a nob that screwed on to the handle and has a peen mark secureing it) and a guide rib on the bolt. Also the 720 eliminated the square shaped bulge where the gas excape hole is on the right side front ring. Also the rear bridge on the 720 was lower, and the top of the front ring and rear bridge had "sguigly " lines pattern on rib. you can see it in the above picture.



Does yours have the guide rib and slot in the top of the rear bridge?



I heard possible some model 30s had a guide rib late manufacture. Also I was told long ago you could send your model 30 back to remington and have 720 features added



Reed,,,, a gunsmith in Fallbrook Ca. Right behind Camp Pendelton , Dave Ransberger Says He was a marine siper in Korea and Nam wars and says he has several award 720. If My memory is correct I thought he claimed he had 11 of them, new in box. Kind of interesting , I saw one that he showed me. He says he was the arsnel gunsmith at one time on the base.



Rick

Here is a modified model 30 1927 serial. Note the handle is made to look like a 720. Note the square bulge area around the gas hole on the front right ring. 720 eliminated this.

My modified M30 bolt with guide rib, The bolt handle shape is not quiet the same as a 720

More award rifle 720 pictures

GSP7,

Not disputing your friend's story, only relating what I was aware of and that particular individual was a gunnery sergeant from California. I think this was fairly common which is why they introduced the rule limiting the number to possibly win to two (lot's of 2's there...).

I have two Rem30's with guide ribs on their bolts and they are indeed latter examples.

I haven't read this anywhere but I'm pretty sure the serial number ranges on the 720's were started at the conclusion of the Rem 30's and thus are all in the low 40,000's.

Reed

Here is a vandalized 720 reciever, Note the bolt reliese is unique to a 720

Reed...

That is interesting that your m 30s have guide ribs ... Your the first person that confermed that.



What does the top of you reciever look like ? Does it have straight lines instead of the squigle lines on the 720?



Id like to find a stock for my 720 , If you know of one anywhere. My next project is makeing one out of a nice piece of wood.

My model 30 has a nice custom stock with some fiddle back .



This guy REMSHOTS from the remington society send me a letter that says:



The model 720 was made from 1941 to 1944. Designed by Oliver H Loomis and A.L.Lowe of Remington.





It was chambered in 3006,270,257 roberts. Claims of a 300H&H are not true.



The 720 was offered in 3 grades



720A-- standard grade--22" barrel--open sights--checkerd pistol grib





720S--same as A but with 24" barrel



720R a carbine with 20" barrel and the rarest of 720s



Serial numbers started at 40,000. Total production one source says 2,427 another says 2,437



In 1942 the US Navy bought 1,000 model 720s. These were not issued but were given as trophys long after the war.



RemShots



This is the info I have .

I'd have to look to confirm but I'm pretty sure two of them have guide ribs, both latter examples with the "shotgun" style stock as opposed to the "African" style with curved buttplate and schnabel fore-end.

I've only personally witnessed one 720, the one I bought, and it's lines atop the bridge are identical to the 4 Rem 30's I have.

One difference it has that I now recall not having been mentioned is that the front sight area is "stippled," presumably to reduce glare, whereas the 30's all seem to miss this step.

The Lacy book titled for the Rem 700, which I don't yet own, has information on the 720 from what I understand. Might be worth it for those interested. There seems to be a little confusion on the numbers produced although I'd tend to believe your numbers over some recollection on my part.

Whether it's almost 4000 or ~2430 I would think a discussion on major manufacturers production numbers for a particular model (Rem 30, 700, 720, 721, 722, 725, Win 54, Win 70, etc.) bolt gun might be of interest to see if there's anything that comes close to such a low number as the 720?

To me it's a wonderful firearm that was doomed to be a quirk of history and remaining examples should be handled with the utmost care.

Reed

Reed ,,, Ive seen a few unaltered model 30s and I think I remember them haveing the squigely lines too.



My m30 is a 1927 serial number and it has straight lines on the top.



Post a picture of your 720 if you can. Is it a award rifle or commercial?



Next time im at Dave gunshop in Fallbrook Im going to ask him If he has any 720 parts. He might. He has all kinds of old armery parts stashed.

Rick

Stuart Otteson's most excellent book The Bolt Action has a chapter on the Model 720. He writes that the actions and bolts were all conversions of Enfield parts. He does say that the streamlining of the action was "considerable". This probably means that Remington does not have a closet full of 720 actions.

You could make your own 720 by starting with a Model 30 and following Remington's footsteps, if you are good at metalwork.

He verifies the start of the serial range at 40,000, and 2,427 rifles made (the last model 30 number used was #30,540).

jim

Thanks GSP7, Bolt does not have the guide rib. It does have the square bulge around the gas escape holes. The rear bridge is lower than the front. No lines or squiggles on the top of either bridge, the rear bridge is stamped BSA(Birmingham Small Arms) with a decorative outline around it marked Made in England. It's a cock on closing action. Is this thing worth keeping around to make a custom rifle with it one day? Not that I'm going to sell it. I kinda like the action.

I would take a quick guess that the BSA might be an altered 1914 Enfield or perhaps a sporterized 1917. The latter would be an easier job since it was made in '06, the 1914 was a .303. There was also a 1913, the original design, for a big 7mm that the Brits, influenced by the success of the .280 Ross in match shooting, were planning to adopt to replace the .303. All three military actions were essentially the same, the 720 sporter was the final permutation. The 721-722-725-700-600-660-7 etc. series, as has been noted, is entirely different, much cheaper to manufacture, and is probably, in numbers produced, the most successful commercial bolt action of all time.

Yup, it's a 30-06, military by my guess because it has a steel butplate with a trap door for cleaning accessories. Serial # 19xxx. Totally different animal than my 1949 Remington 721 in 300 H&H.

Oscar I have a couple of these im the cabinet. It sure sounds like a sporterised M-1917 (what we usually call the P-17). They are a good action, especially for the large cartridges (416 Rigby sized and up). The 30 had a number of changes throughout it's run, cock on opening, different striker, different bolt handle, etc. The 720 took that a few steps further, with a bolt guide and a few other little things. Yes, they are essentially the same design, but overall, there were a lot of changes made. The 721-722-725 series were based on the new, much cheaper to manufacture tube design. The 725 even looks a little like the 720, have a look at the safety and rear of the receiver, but it too, is a deluxe modified 721-722 (which went on to become the 700, which begat the 600-660/Xp100, which begat the Model 7/new Xp100, almost sounds biblical doesn't it?). I have all the details of the differences between the 14/17/30/720 here somewhere, and have posted them before if anyone would like to do a search. - Dan