Remington 700 , why do people rate them ?

Olaf

Well-Known Member
Hello, I was wondering why it is that the Remington 700 is rated well by so many people. Are they any good and if so why ? How would one compare to a Sako 75 for example ? Your thoughts on this would be of great interest to me.

Kind regards, Olaf
 
I have owned a couple of remington 700s a newer model with the x-pro trigger and an older lvsf in 17 rem which I like lots, but I sold the newer model in 308 IMHO the newer remingtons are no where as good as the older ones and in no way would any remington regardless of model be as good as anything offered from sako........
 
I think 700's are so popular as the aftermarket extras available of the shelf are endless and they can be customised rite up to any standard.

ive got a 700 vls and after I tweaked the trigger its a real tack driver. I also have a tikka t3 hunter and IMO the t3 seems a bit better made. Just seems tighter and better put together than the 700. Using factory ammo the 700 probably slighly edges it.
 
i have a tikka t3 supervarmint very very sweet to shoot but as stated cant get much parts for them remington 700p is my other gun comes with h/s presision stock which was designed by a gorila action is no where near as good as the tikka but the reason i have it is there was no tikka t3 in 7mm rem mag to be had for 8months do i regret my purchase no its a good gun shoots well would i purchase another no tikka every time why you dont have to up rate it it shoots straight from the box would i purchase a sako no as i think the tikka t3 can do all the sako can for less wonga
 
When i was a youngster in 1972 I purchased my FIRST what we called High Powered Rifle . It was a brand new Remington 700 BDL in 243 WIN . Cost me a grand total of $174.00 . The rifle shot great with factory Remington 100 grain CoreLokt . I killed a number of groundhogs and the first deer I ever shot at !

A year or so after that I became obsessed with the Ruger 77R tang safety gun and kinda changed over . Later I was into Pre 64 Model 70's , Kimber 89BGR's , Sako's etc etc . And then I got intrested in synthetic stainless guns and went back to 700's and Model 7's , that would have been about 1993 or 94 .

Around here EVERYONE shot a 700 and yes they worked on most of them and hand loaded for most as well . Which is partly the reason I went from that 243 to the Ruger's and a long line of other stuff . Some of it was great , some was good and some not so good . When I went back to the stainless rifles that were 700's everyone I put in my hands seemed to shoot well with handloads and typically all I ever did was work the trigger and bit and shim the action up in the stock so the barrel was freefloated .

As much as I once hated to admit a very large percentage of the pre 2000 or so Remington 700's and Model 7's would shoot and shoot very well .

In the last 5 years I've had something like 10-12 700's that were all made before 1980 and they ALL shot very well . And again I lightened the trigger fixed the creep and shimed the action in the stock so they free floated .

The Remington 700 design action must be a winner just look at how many custom action companies there are now that loosely are a copy of the 700 .

Again I like the older 700's .

If I were pressed to buy a NEW rifle to bench shoot or just for accuracy I suspect I would go with one of the offerings from Savage .
 
Remingtons are, generally speaking, accurate rifles. I don't hate them but I don't trust them, either. The extractors are flimsy (I like referring to them as "heat treated paper clips") and the bolt handle is brazed onto the bolt body. I have repaired many Remingtons with both of these items broken and accordingly, I won't take to hard country with on a hunting trip.~Muir
 
Remingtons are, generally speaking, accurate rifles. I don't hate them but I don't trust them, either. The extractors are flimsy (I like referring to them as "heat treated paper clips") and the bolt handle is brazed onto the bolt body. I have repaired many Remingtons with both of these items broken and accordingly, I won't take to hard country with on a hunting trip.~Muir

Folks, that's a fantastic response, it can be such a time saving and informative exercise writing questions here on this site. One gets either a wide variety of responses or a fairly cohesive set of set of replies such as those in this thread. It all seems to point in the same direction which is that a 700 is not exactly the best tool in the tool box.

Many thanks, Olaf
 
Love my "old" 700 in 22/250 never had a problem with her must admit mate brought a new one this week and it wasn't put together like my old one .
​cheers doug
 
Using both presently a Sako 75 and a vssf2 Remington.
I have had quite a few sako's as I have Remingtons to be honest the last Remington was Sh 1te it was an accurate rifle as every remmy has been, but the smoothness of the bolt was akin to rubbing two sheets of sand paper together it was a vs so it had a decent hs stock.
The most recent one vssf2 I bought new last year is poles apart from the previous older vs, the bolt/ action are as smooth as silk apart from maybe changing the trigger I don't know what i could do to improve it .
It looks the part with the fluted barrel an hs stock, the trigger is adjustable an imho acceptable and the outfit is far more accurate that I could ever use its full potential.
The Sako's well what can you say, accurate well finished smooth action/bolt ,flawless feeding, nice trigger/ factory stocks ok but recently changed mine to a mc millan.
Don't discount the rem though, the upper end models are pricey just looked they are £1475 at sportsmans and that's not threaded ! opposed to a sako at roughly the same for a stainless synthetic 85 at £1474 so a quid in it !
 
i've got 3 semi custom 700's from riflecraft , 260rem/308/300rum and yes they need a bit of work to get them up to speed but they are fine rifles and all great shooters? i also have a 223 sako 75 (A1) again pillar bedded etc buy riflecraft and that is also a great rifle?

the great thing with the remmy action is that there is so much aftermarket stuff for them and they are extremely well known and understood?
 
Folks, that's a fantastic response, it can be such a time saving and informative exercise writing questions here on this site. One gets either a wide variety of responses or a fairly cohesive set of set of replies such as those in this thread. It all seems to point in the same direction which is that a 700 is not exactly the best tool in the tool box.

Many thanks, Olaf
I have a Remington 700 .243 will shoot 1/2" group at 100yds, As Ronson would say it does what is say's on the tin. You might purchase as you put it "the best tool in the box" but can you shoot it straight:). Seen alot of people using Sako 85/ Tikka T3 shoot terrible groups.
 
I have 3 remy's. All shoot sub .5". One is a factory sps 270 with a HS stock on it(xpro trigger on this as I'm not allowed a jewel). The other 2 are re-barreled with jewel triggers, on with a HS stock and other with AICS. No problems with the workings what so ever.

Had a T3. this would not shoot much less than 1.5". Twice this rifle discharged when I went to put the safety on when I was unable to take a shot because of deer moving into cover. A screw had came loose in the trigger. This does not fill one with confidence.

I had a 202, this would not shoot much less than 1.5". Twice this rifle would not discharge a shot when the trigger was squeezed. However as soon as I touched the bolt the shots went off. This does not fill one with confidence. It went away for inspection and both times it came back with " no fault found"

I had a sako 75 this shot well enough and had no problems until the cases would not eject every time.

Had 2 mannlichers, both shot very well and would have to say 1 of them(260) would be the most accurate factory rifle I have had to date. Only concern was the flexible fore-end, I do at times wish I had got a better stock and kept this one.

If I had to replace the remy's that I have and was not allowed another remy, then I would choose a remy clone or research the sako 85 or howa
 
I have 2 Sako 75's and a Rem 700 adl in 308w. The Remington was dirt cheap when I bought it and I added a Jewell and a McMillan mountain rifle stock. Of the 3 rifles now my favourite is the Rem 700. For the design not to have changed significantly since 1962 and the fact that a lot of the custom actions are based on the 700 speaks volumes. They are, however almost as dividing in emotion as Blasers, just ask Brithunter how he feels about the model 700? Or a Blaser for that matter:stir: Also from what I have read the quality control has diminished over the years, mine is a 1980's vintage.
 
Got two 700 rifles, neither of them has missed a beat unlike the two 85's I've had and the 75 and the Sauer 202. One has a Jewell on it and that is it. If your looking for a workhorse get one. Sure people have had problems with them but I've had more problems with rifles costing three times as much

​Al
 
i've got 3 semi custom 700's from riflecraft , 260rem/308/300rum and yes they need a bit of work to get them up to speed but they are fine rifles and all great shooters? i also have a 223 sako 75 (A1) again pillar bedded etc buy riflecraft and that is also a great rifle?

the great thing with the remmy action is that there is so much aftermarket stuff for them and they are extremely well known and understood?

but you dont like landrovers?
 
i think is the ford escort of the rifle world you can do so much to make em better but thay are still a ford!
ps i'v got a ranger and happy
 
I have a 22/250 VSSF II and i love it, it came with the x-pro trigger but i did change it for a Basix. A good solid, accurate value for money rifle. I prefer using this to my Blaser. I have also had Tikka, Browning and CZ but the remmy is better.
 
I'v had numerous rifles in the past and they include a lot of different makes from RPA's, Remington ,Tikka ,Sako ,Styer, I have three in the cabinet at the mo and they consist of 2 Tikka 595's one in .17 fireball the other in 6.5x47 and the other is a R700 in 243 ackley! They are all semi-customs and I love them all but the R700 is not really a remington anymore I've changed the barrel, trigger , bottom metal, stock, bolt shroud, bolt knob, recoil lug, the nice thing with the remmy is parts are readily availible! what I'm trying to get at is they can be fine rifles but it costs money! Where as the Tikkas have just been rebarreled and the triggers have been felted! And they shoot just aswell! (especially the 6.5x47) They are fine rifles for probably half the money. I consider the 595 action to be one of the best! And when Sako/Tikka tryed to hack into the American market it was the end of the 595 as they needed to produce a $500 dollar gun! That was when the T3 came along. A solid action no doubt but not a 595. Afraid it's happened again with the Sako 85 not a patch on the older 75 action. Some will disagree but just my opinion.
 
Remingtons are, generally speaking, accurate rifles. I don't hate them but I don't trust them, either. The extractors are flimsy (I like referring to them as "heat treated paper clips") and the bolt handle is brazed onto the bolt body. I have repaired many Remingtons with both of these items broken and accordingly, I won't take to hard country with on a hunting trip.~Muir

While I am sure you have seen what you say , I on the other hand have not .

I've heard of plenty Remington Model 710's or 788's with the bolt handle falling off but not a 700 or Model 7 . The extractor issue I am sure thats come into our shop but I wasn't aware of it as I'm not the one that does the actual repair work .

It just amazes me the collectability the older 700's are recieving now !

I watched a very nice Remington 700 BDL Varmint Special in 222 REM sell on Gunbroker recently for almost $1400 . I sold one as well in late december for almost $800 . People have literally lost their minds !

Plain old 700 BDL 06's from back in the 60's , 70's and 80's are seen selling for as much as $700 now !

I like buying some of the older beat up BDL's to get the actions and rebarrel . But the buying craze is killing that for me at the moment !
 
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