Remington 700 VS

Grant.N

Well-Known Member
I am thinking of buying a remy 700VS as a second rifle for stalking.
I intend cutting it down fro 26" to 22". I was wondering if it will be still a heavy rifle to carry around ??
Does anyone have any experience of this particular model ??
Comments welcome.

Grant.
 
Grant

I have owned two 700 VSSF's in .22-250 and a third in this calibre as well with the heavy barrel and laminated stock, also a .25-06 Sendero (same gun, long action) and the 700 VS you are referring to again in .22-250. (is it obvious I like this calibre??)

The laminated rifle above became the action that was used to build a complete custom rifle in .243AI

Is the current model still using the HS Precision stocks? My synthetic rifles mentioned above as well as the Sendero model all had these stocks fitted with the aluminium bedding block. Considering these stocks can be bought separately for around £400 it made the rifles themselves a bit of a bargain at the time. All I ever did to them then was fit an Arnold Jewell trigger, good mounts and a quality scope. Never once did I have any issues with accuracy but all were home loads.

Because of the amount of work they were doing I saw them as a great workmanlike tool. I know a lot of subscribers on here don't like Remingtons for some reason, but personally I would have one any day over some of the higher end rifles for sale, and then spend a bit of money accurising it if necessary.

What calibre are you thinking of going for because they are a bit limited in 'all deer species' legal calibres?

I know they used to do the 700 VS in .308 but you would have to be lucky to pick up a second hand one now in that calibre. The only slight reservation I would have in shortening the barrel to 22'' would be in .25-06 Sendero version. I have always felt that given the relatively slow burning powders it seems to prefer, more benefit may be seen from the longer barrel in higher velocities being obtained. I always loaded mine in this calibre with H4831SC and 100grn Hornady SP flat base bullets. Great calibre for the Sika at the time. Down side is with the T8 fitted I had at the time, the overall length of the barrel and mod was 30''. Bit of a pest in a highseat and for carrying on the sling.

From memory, the 700VS weighed either 8 or 8 1/2lbs. The fluted version was about a lb or so lighter I think, the website may give you a more accurate weight. I am only guessing but would suggest that 4'' of heavy barrel being removed must be getting close to 8oz or so. May not seem like much but as it is carried at the rifles extreme point this will compute to a fair bit of leverage whilst slung over the shoulder. Never notice it off the bi-pod though;)

Hope this helps a bit.
 
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Thanks for your reply.
Its .308 cal I managed to find in mint condition in left hand !
I intend to home load and put a JetZ compact on the end.
I dont know why some folks do not like remys maybe its just personal preferance. My .243 BDL (now bedded into a Bell and Carlson stock)
puts 100gr Hornaday round nose through the same hole at 100yds !! how much more accuracy do you want for an initial £450 ?
ATB and thanks again for the reply.
Grant.
 
Hi Grant, I have a Sendero in 7mmRM and I got so fed up with the thing trying to turn itself muzzle down when being carried on a sling that I had it re-barrelled with a standard contour barrel. It absolutely transformed it - I didn't measure the before and after weights but it is now lighter but, more importantly, as the majority of the weight was saved from the muzzle end, the balance is now superb. I guess shortening the barrel will have a similar effect but then you'll probably put most of the weight back on with the moderator?
I guess it depends on the type of stalking you'll be doing, lugging mine around on the hill before its transformation was a definite pain!
 
308, go down to 20".
My old howa was rebarreld to 308 varmint 20" and handles very well in the field.
Ultra light stock on and not too heavy scope. Balance is better than expected.

edi
 
hi grant
i owned a heavy barrelled 22/250 and walked the hills with that no problem.cutting the barreldown should not effect the accuracy up to the 300 yard mark.are you going to fit a moderator to the rifle.
 
I see that the RPA woodland rifle has a 16" barrel !
Can anyone tell me if a 16" barrel would be accurate to say 300yds ?
 
Grant,

Have a look on youtube, i saw a guy shooting 1000yds with a .308 and a sub 20'' barrel. Accuracy wont be effected for your use, its just MV which will suffer, but not by a lot, people like Muir on here will be able to give you more info on the MV loss. There was an argument not long ago about some short barrelled rifles be illegal for shooting deer.. If your home loading then this wont be a problem. I liked the handling of the RPA WS too. Your 16'' barrel will be as accurate post cut as pre cut to probably more than 300yds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15qj032UJ1I
 
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Ive got the Remmy model 7 in 22/250 with 20" Stainless barrel, realsie its a slightly cut down version of the 700 but its as light as afeather without the moderator on. The 700 isnt that much heavier so Id imagine it would be a nice weight at 22".
 
Flyingfisherman,
I am now thinking of cutting it down to 21 or 22" and fitting a JetZ
I am wanting a rifle with enough umph for the larger species of deer, but am wanting it to be a little more balanced. Do you think 21" would be a happy medium ?
or would you go to 22"? I do like the idea of 18 or 20" but feel that if I loose too much MV it might go against what I am trying to achieve ??
Any comments welcome.
Grant.
 
Grant, Its really upto your personal preference, the reason i went for 22'' was because this was the shortest full amount of inches that i could have and still fit a P8 mod. Your only going to lose another 30fps with an extra inch off, so i would go for what feels better.. The shorter probably!!

I wouldnt get too wrapped up in the MV category, i think that the book figures when reloading are usually based on a 24'' barrel.. I stand corrected on that one though.If you are concerned, have you chronoed any of your rounds with current loads? If you want to do some and dont have a chrono, ive got one and am happy to come and chrono them for you.

Oh, by the way, my .308 makes book figures with a 22'' barrel. I know theres a lot of variables but its still very legal
 
Just cut my Remmy 700P .243 to 21" was 25" the wildcat mod clears the forend by about 1/4" ish and its transformed the handling, only put it back together Saturday and re zeroed in the wind at 100 yards, then wondering what the shortening would have done to my dope at other ranges - anyway due to wind I didnt bother with a target but put a coke tin at 350yds and belted it round for a bit hitting the bottom face everytime it presented itself all it needed at that distance was 3 more clicks up so its done nothing other than good for my 700. Really made up its turned a really good rifle into a great one for me.
 
Thats really interesting Leon,
I guess that my muzzle mounted Jetz may not balance as well as your over barrel Wildcat, however I am getting it threaded with a spiggot, so it will sleave down the barrel 30mm or so.
 
Thats exactly what I am doing with my 527 in .223 at the minute been chopped to 22" and that will be running a jetz - I reckon I can get it down the tube about 25mm without causing problems.

Leon
 
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