Gunsmithing Rem 700 action question

[SquidHC]

I have been wanting to pick up a 308 rifle for some time now, and it seems rem 700 is a good way to go for a starter rifle that you can build on. However, every time I say the word "Remington" to any gun shop in my area I hear 10 minutes of bitching about how since Remington was purchased by the Freedom Group (FG) their quality has gone down the toilet and that I shouldn't even bother buying one. Any thoughts on this?

That being said, if I were to head to a gun show with the intent of purchasing a Rem 700 action, or barreled action, what should I be looking for (or avoiding)? Is there truly a quality difference in the action pre and post FG? Is there anything I should know before purchasing the action?

I know nothing, so please tell me exactly what I should be looking for. Also, what is a fair price for said item?

 

[my human host]

Re: Rem 700 action question

Squid,

If your just picking up an action with the intention of having it trued, don't worry about it.

If your looking at buying a barreled action and dropping it into a stock, about the only things the average Joe can check for would be wear on both locking lugs and perhaps a look down the bore to check for any obvious problems.

The only way to check how precisely an action was made is to set it up in a lathe and check it with indicators.

 

[wtopace]

Re: Rem 700 action question

I recently trued up a .243 Remington 700 receiver (became a .260 when I finished) and to be honest, I was quite impressed with the overall quality.

The worst runout I saw was around .030 (receiver threads), but all of the faces were under 0.005. This was a "G series" ADL that I picked up at Academy (can't beat their prices, cheaper than anything I can order at dealer cost).

Disclaimer: This was just one action and it was my first rifle build, you might pick one up that has .100 runout on every face (although I highly doubt it).

 

[DAVETOOLEY]

Re: Rem 700 action question

look for serial numbers with the prefix C or earlier.

 

[2clicks]

Re: Rem 700 action question

I'm no professional gunsmith but all of my Remington 700's have been capable of shooting bugholes. $450 I think would be a reasonable price for a used action with trigger. You can get a whole ADL rifle at Walmart for around $450.No bottom metal though.

 

[seanh]

Re: Rem 700 action question

The first thing to figure out is, what do you really want. Are you looking for a custom gun? Do you just want something accurate? Are you looking for something that your friends will think is cool? Be realistic in your assessment of your needs first.

If you simply want a shooter that’s accurate, there is nothing wrong with the 700 action. There are plenty of extremely accurate 700’s out there with little to no work done. They’re not ¼ MOA guns but better than 1MOA.

If at the end of the day you want a custom rig that no one else has then look at something like a GAP or Stiller action…you buy it and no work needs to be done. The money sounds like a lot but when you consider what you’ll be spending on the Remington, it’s well worth it.

Say you buy the Remington. You’ll basically end up tossing the barrel and maybe the stock and trigger. You’ll have 35-450 in an action that you’ll spend another 500-600 bucks getting trued, that cost alone gets you the cost of a good action that you don’t have to do anything to.

You can go with the Remington action but then all you have at the end of the day is an trued Remington action…nothing special,

 

[jasonZ]

Re: Rem 700 action question

I would throw out there that if you want something that you can change the barrel on and such, then look at a Savage action. I'm not looking to start a debate here, but just giving my opinion. If you're looking at Remington only, then please disregard me completely.

I say this because if you have the tools and the knowledge, which doesn't require much to obtain either, then you can essentially build your own rifle. I think they are as accurate as Remington right out of the box. I build on these, because I can order a barrel from Shilen or several other manufactures now and install it in my shop. I can switch the barrel at home to make it work for a LR rifle or a hunting rifle and switch the caliber any time I want to tailor it to my situation.

Now with that said, like already stated, there's not much you can do with it on your own with out spending some money on machinery. I agree with what's already been stated that if you want a full on custom, then by the time you buy the action, have it trued, etc, you could have a real custom by purchasing an actual custom action. If you just want an accurate rifle to use and modify with a stock change and such, I'd buy the rifle with the barreled action you want, part with the stock, trigger, or whatever you intend to replace and get what you want to put on it. The options are endless, depending on what you want. So what exactly are you looking for, is where you have to start?

 

[Clark]

Re: Rem 700 action question

I bought two Rem700 actions in 2012:
a) 1963 7mmRM $300 from a gun show table. I got the price down by getting them to take the scope off.
b) 1994 7mmRM $395 from a gun store. It came with a Leupold 3x9x40 vari x IIc scope.

The first one, I took off the old Hart barrel and put on a new Shilen barrel, Holland pinned recoil lug, EGW one piece mount, home made pillars, and High Tech Specialties stock. That shoots well enough.

The second one I have not done anything with it yet.

I bought a handgun in a gun store Thursday.
I had to wait through a 1/2 hour line just to fill out form 4473.
There is a run on guns right now because of what is in the news.

 

[Jimichanga]

Re: Rem 700 action question

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SquidHC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have been wanting to pick up a 308 rifle for some time now, and it seems rem 700 is a good way to go for a starter rifle that you can build on. However, every time I say the word "Remington" to any gun shop in my area I hear 10 minutes of bitching about how since Remington was purchased by the Freedom Group (FG) their quality has gone down the toilet ...</div></div>

You must be relaying the comments of that angry old codger who owns "The Gun Room" in Portland. That dude is legendary.

If you want to buy new, your best bet is to wait until they go on sale at BiMart <450. If you are impatient go to Keith's or NW Armory.

 

[hdbiker1]

Re: Rem 700 action question

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jimichanga</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SquidHC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have been wanting to pick up a 308 rifle for some time now, and it seems rem 700 is a good way to go for a starter rifle that you can build on. However, every time I say the word "Remington" to any gun shop in my area I hear 10 minutes of bitching about how since Remington was purchased by the Freedom Group (FG) their quality has gone down the toilet ...</div></div>

<span style="color: #FF0000">You must be relaying the comments of that angry old codger who owns "The Gun Room" in Portland. That dude is legendary</span>.

If you want to buy new, your best bet is to wait until they go on sale at BiMart <450. If you are impatient go to Keith's or NW Armory. </div></div>

Went there once about 7 yrs ago and overheard a lot of his rants. Never went back.