Detachable Magazine conversions for Rem 700 (short action)

LeftHandGuy

Well-Known Member
I'd like to hear anyone’s experiences of the various aftermarket detachable magazine systems available for the short action Remington 700.

There seem to be about 8 that I can find easily on the web; PTG, Badger, Surgeon, Wyatt M4 and M5 from the US, and Third Eye Tactical, Rimfiremagic and AI themselves in the UK.

From the look and description of them, it looks as though the three UK offerings are identical, I guess TET make unbranded ones for the other two? As forthat matter do the PTG and Wyatt M5. Or am I being over suspicious? Not that it matters! I am interested in how well they work, and how much effort is required to fit one into a walnut BDL stock.

So far as I can tell,all except the Wyatt M4 use AI magazines, which are I assume, aboutas good as it gets in terms of reliability and durability. However,the M4 is the only one that promises to be a drop in fit with no working of the stock.

As a Brit with several family members in the US, the PTG seems pretty attractive, offered as it is by Midway for $99.99, as I can buy the AI mags here in the UK,but the amount of work required to get it fitted may well push it up beyond the $250 or so for the complete M4 system.

So has anyone here used any of the above, and would they do so again?

Many thanks,
Guy
 
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I think more important than which system you use, is how it is fitted. I fit a few AI type mag systems every week and we can't seem to find a short cut. The mag must be positioned exactly on the right spot always to guarantee perfect feeding. The best way to go about this is to have the rifle action bedded first (means it has a defined position). We then open the mag inlet slightly larger than needed and find the position that the bottom metal would need to be. Sometimes the mag release catch needs shortening. The magazine must present the cartridge very positive, meaning over stand the bolt by about 2.5mm. Once we have the position and enough material is cleared around we make bed the front and rear tang with a small amount of bedding compound, only to fix position, this is done with the rifle complete mag inserted and dummy cartridge to verify position. After the resin has set we remove action, mag and mag system and do a complete epoxy bedding of the bottom metal. The previous bedding blobs guarantee the original position and angle.
Some mag systems do not have the correct draft angles and need slight prior reworking mostly only on the tang.
The mag systems I have fitted in my rifles have never given trouble, a pleasure to use.
Beware, some of the military style mag releases are very long and not great for a hunting rifle as they might release the mag if reversing out of a high grass position. We normally insert a stronger spring and shorten the lever.
edi
 
Thanks edi - lots there to consider (mostly that that is a job way beyond my skill and ability!).

Are you able to say which or whose DM bottom metal you use?

I would hope that a traditional wooden stock would be a little easy to inlet than a sythetic one!

On the basis of all you've said, the M4 Wyatt still looks like best option - have you fitted these, and did you find all you outlined above applied to them despite their supposedly no-modification-required description?

Thanks,
Guy
 
Fitted the wyatt system to my remington xcr with no problems was working well but been in rifle craft with this recall for weeks hope to get it back for start of stags but it looks I will be lucky if I get it for hinds season
 
Fitted the wyatt system to my remington xcr with no problems was working well but been in rifle craft with this recall for weeks hope to get it back for start of stags but it looks I will be lucky if I get it for hinds season

Thanks patterdale, was it, as advertised, a drop in solution or did it take some fettling to to get it working right?
 
Steerpike,
sorry for the late reply,
I have fitted quite a few different mag systems as customers often supply.
I have not fitted the Wyatt yet and know nothing about it.
The only mag System that I know of that could be fitted with very little work was the Roedale System, which is not made
anymore as far as I know. Pity.
MM sporting have a mag system that I use quite often.
edi
 
Steerpike,
sorry for the late reply,
I have fitted quite a few different mag systems as customers often supply.
I have not fitted the Wyatt yet and know nothing about it.
The only mag System that I know of that could be fitted with very little work was the Roedale System, which is not made
anymore as far as I know. Pity.
MM sporting have a mag system that I use quite often.
edi

Thanks edi - MM Sporting don't list such a system on their website (that I can find anyway) but I guess the website is just a small selection of what they offer.

Thanks for the time and the detail!

Guy
 
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