Remington CDL Customer Satisfaction

[CatskillCrawler]

I have had the pleasure to shoot three CDL's in the past year, a 257Bob Anniversary, a 30-06 Anniversary and a 35 Whelen. All three were excellent in fit, finish, trigger, wood grain and accuracy.

I know of a few folks on this forum and others which have not expressed similar regards. For those who have shot, handled or own a CDL model of recent manufacture, say five years or younger, what are your opinions?

 

[DrMike]

CsC,

I own the CDL 257 Bob Anniversary. It is an attractive rifle, and fit and finish are good--certainly no major complaints. I can't say that it is shooting as accurately as I would have anticipated. I also have a 260 CDL that hasn't shot as well as I would have hoped. To be certain, I will manage to get each of these to shoot, but I would have expected better out of the box accuracy. Weighing against that, I shot a 270 WSM CDL SF which was quite accurate, and a colleague purchased one of the CDLs chambered in 280 which is more than adequate with 160 grain bullets. I'd say that my experience is mixed at this point. I've certainly had or witnessed far better satisfaction with Browning, Ruger, Savage or Winchester on rifles manufactured and purchased in the past five years.

 

[SJB358]

CC, I was a big CDL fan right up until this previous Fall I bought a brand new M700 CDL 25-06 right after returning from AFG. I have told the story to others and I am sure if search, you will find my tale of woe. I have a M700 CDL 35 Whelen that I absolutely love. Great rifle and shoots everything well, hence the reason I bought the 25-06 in the same rifle.

Well, the 25-06 looked very nice. That stopped once I pulled the stock off. It was inletted very poorly. Mind you, I am not picky about those things if the rifle shoots well, but this rifle would not keep 3 shots within 12" of one another. I tried every load I could, then bought Remington ammo, and it did the same. Long story short, I pillared it, glassed it and it simmered down and would shoot 100gr bullets very good, but 110's, 115's and 120's wouldn't shoot worth beans. I tried 3-4 different powders and other combos. The rifle was just entirely too picky for me. I had to put too much work into a rifle that should have shot at least 2" groups out of the box. Maybe I got a bad one, but I can't see anything that was something that every other CDL did not have as well. I traded the rifle shortly after that. I was a little hurt as I liked the rifle a bunch, but I just couldn't stomach it anymore. Any rifle that is that fussy isn't for me. I like to be able to use a variety of bullets and every other rifle I have will do that within reason. There was also some issues with an extremely loose firing pin that crated the heck out of everything.

To me, the Winchester M70 Sporter is a much better deal. I paid almost 800 for the Remington and received a 100 bucks back after the rebate. Well, the M70 is around 700 new. It has proper bedding in it, it is free floated and a much better trigger system than the XMark in my Remington. Again, I am not soured on all Remingtons, as the CDL's are very nice rifles and I wanted it to work, but it would take alot of proof for me to be taken again.

Just in case your wondering why I didn't send it back to Remington, well, give their customer service a call. Unless I just had really bad luck, they were really crappy on the phone and not very customer oriented. They really tried to blame me for poor shooting and had no ideas of thinking their rifles could be messed up. Again, sorry for the rant. I still have two M700's and they are good rifles, but I will stick with Winchesters from here on out. Even my older ones have been excellent shooters and the only one I have bedded was the latest 264WM in order to eak out just a bit more consistency. Scotty

 

[FOTIS]

I am so glad the 700's as of late manufacture have worked out for you.

For me it has been hit or miss big time. Noted exceptions are the Heavy barrels.

 

[velvetant]

Rant on
"My last CDL or Remington as a matter of fact.
Picked up a brand new Remmy CDL 300 Win mag about 6 years ago. First thing I do if free float the barrel then Swabbed the barrel and went to the range to do a barrel break in.
First shot with Remington 180gr ammo locks the bolt. Finally get it open and discover a gouge in the chamber.
Looks like a chip got stuck in the chamber reamer and they never test fired it or they would of found it.
After a close inspection I also found a nick in the crown.
I personally send it off to Remington expecting them to install a new barrel. NOPE they polished out the chamber and Re-crowned it.
Then they had the gall to say "it's fine and we did nothing to it".
But they did want to charge me for a new stock since I modified the original one.
Sorry Remington, I used to do gunsmithing and I see what you did.
Now my chamber is oversize and I'll never buy a Remington anything.
Maybe one day I'll put on a new barrel."
Rant off

 

[BK]

Scotty: wish I would have thought of it at the time, but I think I had a spare McMillan that would have fit your .25-06 perfectly. It would have been interesting to see if a different stock would have let it shoot better or not. Of course, I don't know if a self-respecting Marine would have wanted to be seen with a purple and turquoise stock.

And it probably would have been great on LOP for you, too!

 

[DrMike]

My eyes! My eyes! Kurt, that is just mean to offer that to a Marine! I believe my heart is fibrillating.

CsC,

I do have a few other Remingtons. One is a 673 chambered in 350 RM. It shoots quite well, after pillar bedding, relieving the channel, and installing a new firing pin and spring. Another is the 280 Anniversary edition. It has shot quite well from the get-go.

 

[sask boy]

I have a CDL in 270win and my nephew has it in the 7mm mag both are lefties and about 5 years old. We installed Remington factory clip systems and they both are tack drivers.
I know a couple of guys that have the 300 ultra mags and have never said anything so I think they are okay.
I will love to try a m70 but I do not think they make them in a lefty or if they do it has just been recently. :?:

Blessings
Dan

 

[BK]

My eyes! My eyes! Kurt, that is just mean to offer that to a Marine! I believe my heart is fibrillating.

CsC,

I do have a few other Remingtons. One is a 673 chambered in 350 RM. It shoots quite well, after pillar bedding, relieving the channel, and installing a new firing pin and spring. Another is the 280 Anniversary edition. It has shot quite well from the get-go.

Come on, Mike. Release your inner pimp.

 

[DrMike]

Come on, Mike. Release your inner pimp.

:mrgreen:

Good one, Kurt.

 

[wildgene]

My eyes! My eyes! Kurt, that is just mean to offer that to a Marine! I believe my heart is fibrillating.

CsC,

I do have a few other Remingtons. One is a 673 chambered in 350 RM. It shoots quite well, after pillar bedding, relieving the channel, and installing a new firing pin and spring. Another is the 280 Anniversary edition. It has shot quite well from the get-go.

Come on, Mike. Release your inner pimp.

Does it come w/ a "Hunting Hat"???

 

[BK]

My eyes! My eyes! Kurt, that is just mean to offer that to a Marine! I believe my heart is fibrillating.

CsC,

I do have a few other Remingtons. One is a 673 chambered in 350 RM. It shoots quite well, after pillar bedding, relieving the channel, and installing a new firing pin and spring. Another is the 280 Anniversary edition. It has shot quite well from the get-go.

Come on, Mike. Release your inner pimp.

Does it come w/ a "Hunting Hat"???

Man, if you could get that in desert digital camo, that'd be awesome!

 

[R Flowers]

Well, yes, Remington customer satisfaction is an iffy proposition these days.

I am a huge Remington fan. My first centerfire was a brand spanking new Model 722 chambered in .244 Remington. Killed lots of stuff with that gun, including my first deer on my first deer hunt when I turned 12. I still have the rifle, but it has been rebarreled since then.

Maybe not pertinent to the discussion, but last year I bought a Remington Model 700LSS chambered in .257 Weathery Mag that was a TOTAL dissapointment. The accuracy was just poor, no, piss poor. I finally sold it at a loss and the guy who bought it (a gunsmith) is still trying to get it to shoot. He tried to put an aftermarket barrel on it the other day and found the threads in the action are crooked.

Anyway, that gun was made in 2008 so you can imagine my concern over buying a Remington Model 700CDL that was also made in 2008. It is a limited edition Boone and Crockett version chambered in 300 WSM. I had drooled over it in a gun store near here for a long time and the guy finally gave me a great deal on it. I should not have worried, that 300 WSM just shoots great. Hardly any load development at all. In fact, I wound up using the same load I shoot in a Remington 700 XCL chambred in the same cartridge.

The only complaint I have about the CDL is that the recoil pad does not fit the wood well at all.
It is too large and off center to boot. Oh well, at least it shoots great and feeds those fat 300 WSM cartridges just fine.

 

[CatskillCrawler]

These responses seem to be very typical of what I'm hearing/reading elsewhere and what I've experienced.

I've shot Rems, and others, since my first rifle which I purchased as a present to my self for sewing on E-4 back in 1984. A Sportsman 78 in .270(a plain Jane ADL). I also own a BDL in 30-06. I am very familiar with and load for my bud's Model 788 in 7mm-08, BDL in .280, and his father's Model 722 and .270 BDL. All of these veterans shoot very good to extremely well. Another friend has a beautiful 6 year old M700 Mountain LSS in .270 that patterns everything we've thrown into it...

I've been drooling over the 257 Bob Anniversary model. I've been scouring the auctions, gun shops and classifieds for a 257 Bob. I'd really like a Featherweight but can't find myself paying the prices folks are asking for them. I was really hoping they would throw me a bone and chamber something out of their FN plant but no dice.

I almost purchased a CDL in 35 Whelen but bought my 358Win BLR instead.

My dilemma continues....

 

[sask boy]

I think that you could scare someone with a hat like that :shock:

Blessings,
Dan

 

[FOTIS]

Ok who makes the hat in Blaze orange?

I want one!

 

[sodak]

Last year my brother and I decided to try out the 300WM. He bought a FN winchester and I bought a 700CDL. The CDL looks nice. The recoil pad does look a little out of place on the end of the stock. I had to have the extractor replaced (at no cost to me) because it was causing issues with chambering (it was a quick job for the shop gunsmith). I hated the xmarkpronewwhatever trigger. It was crap (the factory Win trigger was better, but not by much). But I'm fussy with triggers.

The Win had to be sent back to the factory, twice. The barrel was extremely rough even after fire lapping (done after sending it in the first time). Copper fouling was extremely bad. The gunshop smith borescoped it and agreed that it shouldn't be fouling that bad. After more firelapping it shoots MOA and I think my brother is happy with it. It is a handsome looking rifle (like the CDL). The wood is a little better on the Win.

The CDL shoots .75 to 1.0in at 100yds with my hunting handloads of H4350 and 180gr ABs. I'm pushing it to 2950fps (tested over a chrony). I would like to push a bullet a little bit faster but I haven't found the load yet (and don't have the time right now).

I would say that the quality of the CDL is on par with the Win. But without the $100 rebate I would have bought the Win as well. I do think that we pay too much for rifles that should be shooting better. I don't see any reason to not have 1.0 MOA rifles from the factory as a minimum standard. I would like to see both companies at least test fire each rifle. I think a little QA/QC would go a long way.

Go Army.

 

[257 Ackley]

No more remmey's for me. I have a 260 CDL EL that took way too much work to get to shoot the way it should. New bob 257 did not even get shot...sold it for cost and bought a M70 featherweight in 300 WSM to make a 264. I am with Scitt, don't even talk to me about Remington because you won't hear anything good. Until the bean counters quit running the company and they get serious about making real rifles, I will buy Winchesters. Sako's are still your best choice in my estimation for over the counter rifles.

 

[SJB358]

Scotty: wish I would have thought of it at the time, but I think I had a spare McMillan that would have fit your .25-06 perfectly. It would have been interesting to see if a different stock would have let it shoot better or not. Of course, I don't know if a self-respecting Marine would have wanted to be seen with a purple and turquoise stock.

And it probably would have been great on LOP for you, too!

I appreciate the thought Kurt. I barely hung on to that rifle long enough to really use it though. I am much more into the new Sporter 25-06's that are out. One of these days I will add one to the safe. I really liked the 25-06, can't wait to get a proper one to try out. Scotty

 

[RogueRiver]

my 264 wm mag didn't shoot until I replaced the stock, wood stock had nice grain, but fit to metal was not good and from caring it hunting twice the black coating started coming off the pistol grip cap and cap at end of stock exposing green plastic. I was not impressed with the quality since this was a special addition.