Remingtons quality

[ajvigs]

I dont mean to start a thread war, but I need some real world input on the quality of the rifles Remington is producing currently. In my search for a LR rifle to learn on, I have been lurking on SnipersHide and have been urged to learn on a 700 rifle of some sort. Reasons are:
I wont break the bank with a 700
Can easily sell it without taking a loss
Can mod it to how I want down the line if I continue into the LR shooting circuit

With that being said, what is the quality of the 700's presently? I dont want to drop the coin on one then have it turn to be a lemon....

 

[Guy Miner]

You're going to start a war anyway... :grin:

Me defending Big Green, and the Usual Suspects attacking. It's inevitable.

1. You don't need to buy new. There are about a GAZILLION good, used Remingtons out there, many of which go for very reasonable prices. If you don't like what you see avail new, or you want to build on an older Remington, feel free. The rifle my son hunted with and shot his buck with this year was given to me, brand new, in 1974. That's almost 40 years of hunting and shooting, and it still locks up tight, and still shoots MOA or better. Do not fear a used rifle, Remington or otherwise.

2. I bump into new Remington's fairly often, and so far, they've all been just fine. Absolutely no complaints. Accuracy is good. Reliability is 100% and fit & finish is adequate for a production rifle. I have no fear of the current Remington 700's either.

There are a couple of caveats - and you might want to note:

Several years ago I had a brand spanking new .300 Rem Ultra Mag, Rem 700 CDL. Yes... Too much cartridge in too light a rifle for this fellow, but the problem was that the extractor broke on the sixth shot with that rifle. Remington sent a replacement for free, a local gunsmith installed it, and there were no problems. I shot it another hundred rounds or so and traded it off to somebody tougher than me.

The new trigger - which was supposed to eliminate the "problems" with the old one - can break! Mine hasn't. I've got one, and I've seen others in action. No problem, but apparently they're made of some suspicious metal that can be weak. This does not please me. I've seen a few photos floating around on the net showing them broken, but haven't seen it for myself, so here I am, spreading internet rumors. Ugh.

Appearance of the new recoil pad on the CDL's drives me nuts. It's about half again as thick as I think it ought to be - but they didn't as me apparently. :grin:

There - that's it - the three things I would caution about a new Remington. Appearance of a recoil pad, spreading an internet rumor about the trigger, and the doggone extractor can break - oh yeah - that's been a Remington "weak point" for about 50 years now. Only one I ever had break.

A buddy of mine got a brand new .270 Win, Rem 700 for deer hunting, I think two or three years ago. Brand spanking new rifle. I mounted the Leupold for him. We sighted it in, and he put three 130 gr Remington factory rounds into an inch at 100 yards. He's not a rifleman, and not a hunter, but there they were... It's been 100% reliable and maintains accuracy. He's a half a box a year man, so I figure this rifle will last about 5 generations in his family...

There's only two action lengths for a Remington 700; a true short action for 2.8" cartridges (.308 Win) and a long action that can handle the .375 H&H. You will find that there are other differences, to accommodate the Remington Ultra Mags, but the length is either long or short.

Now, someone else can tell you that the "G" series is better than the "B" series or something like that. Or that the pinnacle of Remington production was the early 1990's, or that they got it right in 1965, or whatever... Every one I've seen, handled, and shot has done just fine. Go shopping and find the one you want.

BTW - most of the used ones really don't have all that many rounds down the tube, and a used heavy-barrel Remington is still an excellent way to get a start in precision shooting.

OK, I'll stand aside now and let everyone else take shots at Big Green.

Guy

 

[Larry in SD]

I have had 3 new Remington's in the past 4 or 5 years or so. I really do not care for their metal finish on the SPS versions, it seemed if I would look at it crosseyed it'd rust whether I touched it or not. Yep had the extractor break on one but then I had a new Remington XP-100 .223 back in the 80's and it too broke the extractor at the first shot. Not anything new as has been stated. One of the 3 was a Stainless Synthetic .308 that I had the barrel shortened to 18 1/2" for my wife. That one was flawless in every way.

I never had any problems with the new style trigger even though I never had any problems with the old style trigger either. Other than the finish if I had anything to complain about with the new Remington's it would have to be that their barrels are not as smooth as the old ones and seemed to copper foul much worse than the older ones. On the flip side of that I had no complaints with the accuracy of the 3 newer Remington's I have had.

I keep wanting to get myself a pair of new SPS Tacticals in .223 & .308 but never seem to save enough to get it done.

Larry

 

[gerry]

No shots from me, I'm a fan. At 24hourcampfire there is a similar thread and many people are saying quality has improved in the last few years from what they were just previous to that. They must be doing something right to have sold over 5 million of them. There are a zillion after market parts available and should someone get a bad barrel there are numerous brand new take off barrels which are cheap to buy and install. There are no doubt a few guns with problems out there, but that happens with almost any manufacturer.

 

[ScreaminEagle]

Get an SPS. Stock is junk, trigger is junk, finish is junk. Barrel will be a shooter! You can replace everything else and make it your own.

If you want a good Remington 700, buy one made in the early 80's

 

[DrMike]

I would certainly be inclined to look on the used rack.

 

[FOTIS]

Find one made in the 1990's and before. Then you're safe

 

[dubyam]

I like my Remingtons. I really do. But I'll add that the ones I own are from 2003 and earlier. There was a period in the latter part of the first decade of this century where quality went away from Rem in some ways. Seems like you'd either get a really good one, or a really bad one. I got a really bad one. So bad, in fact, that I traded it off to a guy who was looking for an action to build, and I told him this one was a lemon from the factory, but the action was sound. Problems abounded with that rifle, from poor accuracy with any load (no groups under 1.5", and only a couple under 3", with many double that), poor finish (mold lines visible, improperly cut threads, and an over-reamed chamber that made my supposed 7mmRemMag into a 7mmRemMagIMP of sorts. If it had been accurate at all, I'd have kept it and dealt with all the issues. It's the only rifle I've ever sold.

That said, I can say plenty of Rems are great rifles (including the ones in my safe, all made before Cerebus took over...) and some of what's being produced today are great. Trouble is, I can't tell which ones are great without buying and shooting, and that costs a lot of money. My faith is not strong in the brand for now. But, to Guy's point, you can find great used 700s around, and a used heavy barreled version would likely be a great start to longer range shooting.

 

[BK]

Hey, I like them. I went through a rifle buying binge a couple of years ago, and ended up with a fair number of 700s. The only one I have that I never got acceptable accuracy with half-hearted testing was an ADL Synthetic in .270 that I bought used, but I didn't try very hard at all... Two factory loads, and no hand loading. To be honest, I didn't really want it to shoot very well, as I bought it as a donor for an upcoming 6.5-06 build.

But a heavy barrel .204 (new), an SPS-SS .243 (used) an SPS-SS .257 Weatherby, and an ADL-SS .30-06 (both new) were fine. Interestingly, all ended up in McMillan stocks.

 

[DrMike]

Interestingly, all ended up in McMillan stocks.

Purple?

 

[Kodiak]

My Remington 700s are from the 1962-1975 era. Rock solid items!

I have handled some of the latest versions, all belonging to other folks, that needed some sort of tweaking to get them going. Barrels are good, it was usually some other manufacturing snafu that needed attention.

As has been said, there are lots of (older) used 700s out there, keep your eye open and you'll find a nice one.

 

[RiverRider]

It's a shame what's happened to Remington over the last decade or so. I think that one day the current ownership will divest, and hopefully that will be when Big Green's reputation will rebound just as the Model 70 and other Winchester offerings have done. I was reading another forum where a fellow was talking about an 1895 Guide Gun he had purchased, and when it arrived he inspected it and it was absolutely horrible in fit and finish so he refused to accept it. The stock appeared to have been left unfinished, the checkering was worse than amateurish, the wood-to-metal fit was horrendous, etc.

It seems that Freedom Group is destroying the reputations of every manufacturer they have acquired---Bushmaster, Remington, Marlin, they've all suffered.

I agree with y'all who say to find your 700s made in another era. Hopefully, well made 700s will appear on the shelves again during our lifetimes.

 

[hubcap]

I,m no expert on this subject. I can say my 700 in 300 winne was new in 1969 and has been perfect in every way. One of our gun club members bought a new 700 BDL in 30:06 about two years ago. The dang rifle would not close the bolt on new factory 180 core lokt,s. The rifle looked great. Don,t know what to say about that case. It can happen I guess. :shock: :shock:

 

[sask boy]

I was a big Remington guy & still own a couple :wink:. I have a CDL & 2 BDLs all have the detachable clips . The only complaint I personally don't like their triggers & have have replaced with Timneys.
All 3 shoot .75" MOA or better when I do my part :mrgreen:.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[Oldtrader3]

Funny, I started out liking Remington's but they were the Pre-64 Models. I had a Model 722, .300 Savage, a Model 721, .270 and a Model 725, .30-06. All of these Remington's were accurate rifles which except for the Model 725 were Plain Jane rifles but they were accurate and worked well. I also bought a 700 ADL which I did not like the blind magazine and a 6mm Rem. BDL which I just never took to the reversed checkering and epoxy finish on either the Remington 700 or the Model 70 Winchester.

In the late 1960's (1969 to be precise) I started buying the push feed Winchester XTR models, first a .375 H&H, followed by a Model 70 Mannlicher, .30-06 in 1970 and it has been either several Pre 64 or newer Model 70's ever since.

 

[EOD Diver]

AJ,
Not a big Remington guy, but my factory Remington 5R in 308 is pretty accurate and that barrel about refuses to foul, even after a 60 round match. I bought it in '11. I replaced the lawyer trigger with a Shilen. That said, if I were to do it over again, I'd buy a Savage BA and call it good.
Joe

 

[IdahoCTD]

I own 30+ Remington 700/78/721 rifles or actions. I really haven't had much issue tuning the newer triggers but the smoothness of the actions has sure changed. The early stainless guns are good too but when they went to the SPS's they got really rough and considerably cheaper feeling. Accuracy is still there with the newer guns. I have a 400.00 Dick's special .243 that I rechambered to AI that shoots under 1/2" with any load I throw at it. I think it's pretty rare to not have a heavy barrel 700 shoot though.

You just missed out on the Dick's sporting goods 400.00 ADL varmints at Thanksgiving. One in .243 or .308 would be a good intro gun for LR plinking.

 

[PJGunner]

Well, my first Remington centerfire was a 660 that I bought back in 1973. Trigger was replaced by Remington during a recall and the extractor gave up the ghost around 1982 or so.
My first M700 came about in 1981. My wife was working at J.C. Penney at the time and JC decided to drop everything and go for the yuppie trade. Everything else was sold off at cost. The wife called and I went down to see what was available and picked up a BDL in 30-06. Now the the wife being an employee entitled her to a 15 percent discount so I got the gun at their cost plus 15 percent more off the tag. I think I hunted that rifle only one time as I had other favorites. Oh, the cost for that one? $110 including tax. I also picked up a Winchester M94 30-30 for $85 and a Marlin M336 30-30 for $95 that fine day. I still have the M94 but let the 336 go to a friend who had need.
Years later I picked up another M700; this time a Classic in 30-06 and about 6 months later another Classic in .35 Whelen. None of these rifles have been shot very much. Just enough to know their accuracy potential. Might have to do something about that. :wink:
All three have a very good feel to me but I don't like the bolt handle. :shock: Seems to me it's a bit too short. The bolt handles on my post 64 M70's seem to work a lot better, at least for me.
I do agree with the idea of looking for one from the 80's. That's the era mine are from and they all work just fine.
Paul B.

 

[ajvigs]

Thanks all. After much deliberation and looking, I may end up with a Savage of some sort :shock: or the FNH SPR series. I have been admiring the 5R Milspec Remington, but I am a little to leery of their quality control, unless I find a pristine used one like you all have said.

 

[Wincheringen]

I wouldn't be too afraid of a new Remington, I think they would take care of you if you had a problem and most any gunsmith worth his salt can do anything to them.

I only own a few, 12 I think, most are older but a few newer ones none with the new trigger though. The only one that gives me heartburn is my .204 ADL, which is probably a first year production gun for the .204 for Remington. Rust is the issue, and I live in a pretty dry climate and really have never seen any rust on any other gun I own but this one will. It also happens to shoot really well. I don't remember what the trigger was like before I adjusted it, but it is pretty dang good now, right at 3lbs with no creep or over travel. I've never been able to adjust any other factory Rem trigger down that light but I can usually get them really crisp and in the 4lb range.