What is the reason the "C" prefix can't be used to date the rifle? I don't have it in my hands as of yet but the barrel has what appears from the pictures, a proofmark and "LI 55" (or 53?). I would think that unless the barrel had been changed, the serial number on the receiver would coincide somewhat with the date marks on the barrel.
- Thread starter Prisoncop
- Start date
Based on the info in post #28 the rifle could have been made in 1982 or 2008.
As cherry as it looks I'd probably lean towards the newer production date.
Dying to see photos of your prize.
As cherry as it looks I'd probably lean towards the newer production date.
Dying to see photos of your prize.
I'm pretty sure it's not a 2008. The seller stated he contacted Remington pre-bankrupcy and was told , by Remington, that it is a PSS and made in 1989. He purchased it from a police supply company here in Michigan who stated it was a department turn-in. Before this came along, I had never seen a PSS in a walnut stock and I suppose had no idea they were even made that far back. This has all been a learning lesson for me this far. I had a 2000 something PSS back in 2004 with the 26" barrel and black stock that was an absolute tack driver.
That shape seems different to me as well. Damm I want to handle this rifle and figure out a few things.
I asked the seller last night if the stock has been bedded. He stated it has not. So, I'm going to tear this thing down and get to the bottom of it. We can all figure this thing out together. I'll post pictures later today or tomorrow.
Take the BA out of the stock, shoot a pic of the trigger and post it here once you have the rifle. I do see a tiny 'G' stamped on the side just under the stock...Could be a super 700, as others have mentioned...I believe that is a two-stage trigger and basis for the Super MK13 trigger used in later mod 7s sent to the USMC STA platoons, etc..
Alright now, settle down, your making me giddy!! Lol. Wouldn't that be something?
The C could be used for general purposes, but there was little rhyme or reason to how/when Remington serials matched production times. I’ve heard various reasons, but from a base level manufacturing standpoint, the serial was applied after the receiver was made, not when it was assembled into a full rifle. If they were working in continuous flow then it would be reasonable to assume the serials would come out generally sequentially, but…. Remington did weird things. Serials didn’t come out sequentially, batches of receivers sat for a while, all sorts of different things. C prefixes generally match dates from the mid to late 80’s to early 90’s. The barrel codes will give you a specific month and year of manufacture, on a rotating 26 year basis.
It will be a nice little bonus for you to an already great-looking rifle...
A lot of folks bash Remington 700s but they can shoot as-is...I have two 700Ps in .308 (one will be turned into a 6.5CM soon) that both shoot .75 with my hand loads, and that's with me behind the gun...Competent shooters can prob shrink that down further. Granted, if someone was just starting out with a build and wanted something pre-fit ready, a 700 clone action is def the way to go as you'd be into it for roughly the same amt of money once you factor all the costs/time to blueprint the 700 action, etc but for those that like a bit of nostalgia, history or cloners that have designs on turning an older 700 into an M40 variant, it's a perfectly good way to go.
Great info.
Looks the same to me except...a threaded barrel!! All the numbers are close from what I see. That's a beautiful rifle. And much more than what mine is costing. Thanks.
I apologize for taking so long but I've had a busy day. The seller turned out to be a a Lt. Colonel in the Army 101st Airborne. Really knowledgeable and nice guy. Apparently he had two and let one go. So after tearing it down, unfortunately, no Giselle trigger. It does have a nice clean break with 0 creep/over travel. He told me the story of contacting Remington when he first got them and they stated it is a 1989 PSS. Guys, the pictures don't give this rifle the justice it deserves. It just feels good. I'm itching to put a scope on and get her to the range. Anyhow, enjoy the pics and don't mind the mess. Can someone tell me what the "H" is for inside the stock?
Attachments
When will you be shooting it? I'm curious to read about how it does...
Not sure yet. Maybe next weekend. I haven an old Redfield Tacker 3-9 I may throw on it for the time being just to get on paper. I'll definitely share the results on here. Its definitely gonna need to be bedded at some point. Not sure if I'm gonna leave as is or clone it out at this point.
3 things I see right off the bat that I'd do to ensure proper accuracy, before I'd even mount a scope on it and shoot it...
1.) It's 2024... Snatch that stupid Leupold dovetail mount off, and put a proper 20MOA pic rail on it with some solid rings, like the ARC M-Brace or Seekins Precision.
2.) If you don't know how, I'd have a smith drill and fit (epoxy in) some nice stainless steel pillars in that stock, and then skim-bed the action with DevCon or AcraGlass. That will help tremendously with accuracy, and you can properly torque the action into the stock at 65 inch-pounds. If you're leaving it wood with no pillars, but are going to skim-bed it, use 45 inch-pounds.
3.) If you have, or plan on getting a suppressor in the future, while the smith has it, go ahead and have him thread the barrel 5/8-24, crown it with a recessed target crown after threading it (doesn't make a huge difference, but he already has it in the lathe, it takes one extra pass, and it's nice to ensure the muzzle exit is concentric), and have him cut you a custom flush-fit thread protector.
I don't want to start an argument but I think I'd change the stock rather than modifying it. I'll agree swap out the mounts for a moa rail of some sort. I'd shoot it first and go from there.
My opinion. Leave the weapon as is. It’s a wonderful piece of history
My opinion. Leave the weapon as is. It’s a wonderful piece of history
Summary, your advice is go full bubba?
This is a vintage rifle that deserves a bit more respect than that, though it's the OP's rifle and his call.
Ummm, I'm not familiar with the term "full bubba", but the pillars and bedding are never going to be seen unless you pull the stock off, yet they serve a very functional purpose for anyone running a wooden stock, to avoid dealing with POI shift from humidity changes in the atmosphere from one day to the next. And the Mil-standard 1913 picatinny base has been around since 1995...So that's also pretty close to period correct. Also, as for the threading, most people run muzzle brakes or cans these days... threading barrels has been around since 1902 when Hiram Maxim invented "The Silencer"... So, not sure where any of this is a "new concept"?
And I would hardly call that a "vintage" rifle, being it was made in 1989. If you think that's desecrating a "vintage" rifle you'd hate to see some of the shit I have in my collection that I significantly improved the function and performance of by going against the Fuddery of keeping it traditional.
Same reasoning screwed up a bunch of 03A3’s back in the day.
Guys like me who used these find value in them being original
I understand completely, but I also know that a 1989 rifle is not really "vintage", and there's tons of them out there in private collections, whether for sale, or not. I honestly feel it would increase its value, because it would improve it's potential, but I also like my rifles to be as accurate as possible. Although I do understand the nostalgia of keeping it original, which is why I mentioned pillars in the factory stock, instead of just snatching it off and dropping it into a chassis or HS.
Isn't it funny how cyclical things are... The earliest hunting rifles derived from sporterized military rifles, and then around Vietnam, the sniper rifles were derived from civilian hunting rifles...Like the M70 and Model 700.
Understood. Thank you for your explanation
Shoot it first. Maybe it doesn't need improvement.
Nothing on my 700 is original except the receiver.
Which makes me appreciate the simplicity of an original M40.
I would definitely shoot it first. I was just saying, if I were planning on keeping it in that wooden stock, that's what I do if it were mine. Just a suggestion to help him keep consistent accuracy so he won't be constantly chasing his zero when the weather changes drastically.
Anything over 20 years old is Vintage by definition but that's not really important, I don't disagree that the changes you listed would improve the rifle, its more that this rifle has survived that long with being modified it would be a shame to modernize it. The pillars and bedding not so much.
Just 1 persons opinion.
Just 1 persons opinion.
There's nothing wrong with anyone giving an opinion. Pillar bedding would help a wood stock. but I'm just old fashioned and IMO I wouldn't alter the stock. I'd get a different stock and leave the original alone. But the fact is we all spend our own hard earned cash to get whatever. It's all a matter of choice for the owner. We should all be able to share ideas.
I agree
It's such a beautiful gun and it should shoot well as is. If you modify it, may shoot better, but would devalue the gun.
You got me thinking. Back in the day I would cut a channel inside forend and epoxy a steel rod the length of forend and bed action and channel. Free float the channel in attempt to keep it shooting straight until I got a McMillan stock
Bingo! Pillars & skim-bedding the action, and free-floating the barrel are just about the best ways to fix this with a wooden stock.
That said, many years ago, someone was selling full length aluminum bedding blocks that you could mill-out your wooden stock, and epoxy the block into it, and it looks 100% factory on the outside, but fully aluminum bedded inside. Not sure if they still sell them, but they’re kind of genius, and if you have a really nice grain or custom wooden stock, but want modern consistency, it’s worth paying a Smith to install it.
Definitely could do that. Or just buy the H&S Precision PSS stock for a couple hundred bucks used.
One benefit to doing a pillar bed or any mod to the original stock is you'll keep the original look while upgrading it for consistent accuracy. So if the owner will never sell the rifle and loves the looks then have at it. If reselling is a possibility then I'd get another stock and store the original wood stock.
Here’s a real PSS for sure in 308. I have one in .223 also.
maybe you old guys …ahem @Terry Cross lol…weren’t PSS all stainless up until the the late 90’s
And non PSS has some non stainless parts
Could be wrong but I though I remember reading that why resale values differed
And non PSS has some non stainless parts
Could be wrong but I though I remember reading that why resale values differed
Shot a sweet little pss in 223 about 15 years ago. Had aftermarket trigger and was shooting corbon ammo into a quarter at 200 yards.
The negatives about the rubberized stocks was greatly exaggerated on the Internet, like most things
I don't remember seeing anything but parkerized looking finishes like @Sandhog308's shown above for the first years Rem was marketing them as 700P and PSS.
What I think I remember don't mean shit as I was totally wrong on the 26" thing as well.
I know that Remington ultimately made several iterations over the years. Some had H.S.P. stocks and then B&C got some of their business when they copied the HSP stock almost exactly. Then again, that is not the first time B&C straight up copied other companies products.
Some of the 700Ps had the horrific factory DBM for a while. That was a complete fail. When we would run into those at a class, the user would typically have a Zip-Loc bag with extra mags to try in efforts to have a functional rifle each day.
It was said that the 700Ps had more attention to detail and some even said the custom shop had a hand in their production.
If this was try, it most certainly did not show in the finished products. Some were great and some should have never left the plant.
.
No, Senderos (SF & SF-II), and some of the Varmint models (VS & VSF) were stainless from the late-90’s until current. They’ve had some CDL Stainless and CDL SF and LSS models during that time, as well.
To my recollection, all P, PSS, & LTR’s were blued or parkerized finish, or cerakoted black.
Most of most Hogue stocks had full aluminum bed blocks in them, as well. And I agree, mostly internet Fuddlore about them being problematic.
I know my PSS shoots exceptionally well. But the external dimensions and scope mount holes are off. I lose about 7 moa of elevation and the holes are off to one side a decent amount. It doesn't bother me since the twist rate on the 308 win is 1-12 which limits my bullets and range. However it is disappointing that the attention to detail wasn't what I had heard of with PSS's of that vintage. I don't let it bother me too much since it's a consistent 1/4-3/8" at 100 yards and shoots well out to 1100 yards.
Last edited:
My 308 shoots really well ! Trigger was tickled a tad by a former Marine armorer & gunsmith. Have an archaic Leupold Vari-X lll 6.5X 20 EFR scope with a Premier Reticle that just works !!
Have quite a few Federal Gold Medal 168 gr.s that she Loves.
A keeper !!
Have quite a few Federal Gold Medal 168 gr.s that she Loves.
A keeper !!
I've been busy back at work and haven't had an opportunity to look at the latest responses since Saturday. For whatever its worth, I honestly have no intention in modifying this rifle. I have always had a sweet spot for the M40's in their original form. As I said before, I intend to take it to the range next weekend to see how it shoots. I have a ton of FGMM 175 grn and I may have some 168 grn, not sure. As far as the trigger being swapped out before purchasing, that is not the case. The picture of the trigger with the "G" above is somebody else's picture, a completely different rifle, not mine. If it shoots well, it will stay completely original.
Last edited:
I just caught the trigger shape!!! You guys are right!! In the sellers defense, he did tell me he had two of these rifles and didn't need them both. But, SOB.....I didn't catch it!! I can only assume the first picture was of his other rifle.
Attachments
Similar threads
