The Industry Standard Remington 700 Sight Mounting - A Joke?

[M275]

The sight mounting system used on the Remington 700 has been cloned by other rifle manufacturers so now we have the Remington 700, Howa 1500, Weatherby Vanguard & Series II, Nosler M48, entry-level Sauers, the later BSAs, Remington action clones, etc all using this arrangement. It's just 4 tiny 6-32 screws barely protruding into the receiver, with no recoil stop to assist.

Add a 1.1kg scope plus a rail, then those 4 tiny screws have to accelerate the whole optics mass instantaneously in recoil. Why on earth isn't there another receiver hole at each end to take a decent sized recoil pin in the front and back mounts? This would at least resist the shear forces. I've seen a .375 H&H properly fitted with bases that were epoxy mounted just shrug the scope off completely, and this being a magnum version it had the larger 8-40 screws.

When you look at the excellent early BSA system, the CZ system, the Sako system, all have proper recoil stops or pins that can cope well with larger scopes. The Remington system is cheap, and cheerful until your scope flies off, but why standarise on the worst system I've ever seen? Even the .22 rail system is better, such that AI used to use it until they got Picatinny'd.

Thanks for letting me rant, it's helped me..

 

[ejg]

Yes, could have been solved better but not cheaper... I feel better having a steel pica rail on remmy which I epoxy bed not glue. If I would ever loose a rail I would epoxy glue it. There are huge differences in glue quality. I only have 308/300wm as max on a remmy type action but never had anything fail. Of course it also matters who and how a mount is fitted.
edi

 

[ileso]

I am pretty sure most picantiny rails for the rem 700 have a recoil lug built in that sits against the front edge of the ejection port.

But I can see wht anyone would consider it a flimsy system. those screws are very thin..

there could be a price factor involved, but in reality how much cheaper is it to thread the four holes as opposed to machine in a rail system with recoil cutout like the ones used on the old brno zkk (CZ). seeing as its all mostly CNC machined.

 

[cjm1066]

Aren't the scope mounts durable enough? They usually hold together long after the bolt handle has fallen off.

Last bolt handle failure I heard of was after 10 years use, Mauser etc still have intact bolts after a century or more.

 

[Lateral]

I think people underestimate just how strong these bolts are. Does anyone know of any instance, where correctly fitted, the bolts have failed due to recoil ?

 

[CarlW]

I think people underestimate just how strong these bolts are. Does anyone know of any instance, where correctly fitted, the bolts have failed due to recoil ?

I've never heard of it happening.

 

[The deer man]

What's the issue?!
Never heard of a failure even with pic rails for military use and they get some rough use.

 

[bluesako]

ive had remmy 700,s for over 30 odd years never had a problem?

 

[ileso]

recoil lugs for the rem 700 system

 

[CarlW]

recoil lugs for the rem 700 system

What make of rail is that, please @ileso ?
Kind regards,
Carl

 

[ileso]

What make of rail is that, please @ileso ?
Kind regards,
Carl

Remington 700 Short Action Improved Scope Rail (ISR-SA)

At Area 419 we decided that there were no scope bases on the market that really met our requirements for quality, so we made our own. Its all in the little details that set this base apart from the competition. These are machined in house on our 4-axis HAAS VMC from 7075 Aluminum. Straight...

www.area419.com

 

[jon2]

recoil lugs for the rem 700 system

That’s a Picatinny rail for a Rem 700 not a recoil lug. The action on a Rem 700 isn’t flat!

 

[ileso]

That’s a Picatinny rail for a Rem 700 not a recoil lug. The action on a Rem 700 isn’t flat!

actually , it is. (a recoil lug)

- Integral machined in recoil lug bears against the front receiver ring to prevent any base shifting under recoil

When I was researching what rifle to buy I studied this system. I think most manufacturers make versions with and without the recoil lug.

 

[ileso]

this bit

 

[ileso]

one without the lug

 

[ileso]

the difference is that for the rem700 the lug sits inside the ejection port cutout rather than having a dedicated slot in the action.. whether this makes any difference or not in the rifles operability or not I cant say, I opted for something else at the time.

 

[bluesako]

they look fantastic ileso can you get them in the uk and yes it is a recoil lug bs

 

[ileso]

I have no idea if you can get them there (i dont live in the UK)
But I imagine you can order them at your local guns store. most manufacturers have them..

 

[User00003]

Whilst I like the m18 a lot as a cheap knockabout rifle or spare, they placed the holes so the 700 base front recoil lug doesn’t shoulder up against the front receiver...I love Mauser stuff, but have to say the term moronic doesn’t even come close,,retarded would be closer, but still not sufficient.

For anything with decent recoil I would always DT out to 8x40 and buy torx screws of very high quality steel, and of course bed the bases onto the receiver after removing blue and degreasing...as ‘should’ be done of course

 

[CarlW]

Remington 700 Short Action Improved Scope Rail (ISR-SA)

At Area 419 we decided that there were no scope bases on the market that really met our requirements for quality, so we made our own. Its all in the little details that set this base apart from the competition. These are machined in house on our 4-axis HAAS VMC from 7075 Aluminum. Straight...

www.area419.com

Thank you.