Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Remington 721 questions

I don't hear much about these guns, good, bad or otherwise.
How are they looked upon by the gun community and are they worth pursuing as a hunting rifle if in good shape? I saw one today topped with a weaver K-4 for 325.00. It felt nice, not too heavy and well balanced. advice please. Thanks

They were the direct ancestor of the Remington 700, and are mormally very accurate, and have a darn good trigger that is easily adjustable. You don't state the chambering, but that's a very fair price, especially with a good K4.

JB

mowzer,

The 721 (long) and the 722 (short) actions led to the M700; all are very similar. These actions were Remingtons attempt to apply their WWII production lessons to civilian rifles. My first centerfire rifle was a M721 .30-'06. I still have it, but now it is a .280 Rem.

The actions will fit in stocks for M700 with some tweaks, and bases for the M700 fit them too.

I see them selling in the $300s too.

What you get with a newer action is improved metalurgy. If I had a 721/722 I would use it, but I would preder a 700 if starting a new project.

jim

The 721 I'm speaking of is chambered for 30-06. Would I be able to fit a 2 year old SS mod 700 bbl to it? I bought the SS 30-06 bbl on this site's classifieds a year or so ago. Someone told me that at least on Mod 700's these bbls often times can be fit right on with little, or no tweaking involved. What I'm looking for is a fiarly cheap (or shot out) Mod 700, or 721 that I can shoot for a while as is, then later on attach the unused 30-06 SS bbl I have to it. When you say "improved metallurgy" waht's meant by that?

mowzer,

The barrel will fit (threads are the same), but the headspace will have to be set. The M721 barrel has a "dog nuckle" in the barrel that the rear sight mounts to. The stock is inletted for this, and if you fit the M700 take off barrel you will have to fit that to the stock. It may not exactly "drop in".

I meant the makers know more now about the steels they choose, and things such as how to heat treat them to maintain dimensions. My M721 was very easy to blueprint (ensure squareness, etc.).

jim

I have two identical model 721s with identical Weaver K4s with a second "Stadia Wire" in both scopes.They are both .270 Winchester. The Stadia Wire was an early attempt at range adjustment in scopes.If you sight in at 100 yds,holding on the Stadia,which is a lighter horizontal crosshair just below the standard one,will put you right on at 300 yds.
With the .270 it works just about perfectly.The rifles are very plane,no checkering,no fancy wood.They are both absolute tack drivers,especially with the old hornady spire point 150 gr. bullets.It's a nice luxury to be able to switch to a second set up exactly like the first if something goes wrong.In practice it has never been necessary.
I've also fired 721/722 rifles in .244 Rem,.257 Roberts,and 30-06.Every one of them was exceptionally accurate.

eggsellent - hmmm the plot thickens. Yep, I think I may pull the trigger on the 721 just because it may represent a better overall value than the 1903 Springfield - lighter too.
Both are nostalgic and both are fairly plain. The 1903 has an ebony cap on the forend but that's about it. The 721 is in very nice shape.

Have a 721 30-06 that we put in a B&C stock. vx-II 3x9 on top. It is one of our favorites in the safe and also pleasantly accurate.

I would definitely choose the M721 over the Springfield unless you collect them.

After all the 721 came from 1947, so half a century newer in design!

jim

My late father-in-law bought a Remington 721 in .270 in the mid-1950s. He used it to take many, many Texas whitetails, mule deer (in five states), elk (in three states), a Canadian moose and numerous coyotes and bobcats--all with Remington factory ammunition. It now belongs to one of his grandsons who takes God knows how many Texas whitetails with it each year (he does a lot of culling).

My first rifle was a pre-64 Model 70 in .30-06 that I bought when I was a junior in high school (about the time that I started dating his oldest daughter). He could never understamd why I bought it...blame Jack O'Connor.

I have a modest collection of 721's/722's. I always hate to see it when somebody starts modifying them

Casey

It wouldnt be out of want. Rather, out of need.
Oh I'd much rather have the 300 buck gun be a shooter and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. But if it aint, 721 bbls aint too easy to find these days for the 40 bucks I paid for these SS bbls. So far I've been real lucky with used 30-06's. Had a 60's Rem 700 for 300 bucks that drove tacks with anything you fed it. Then had a JC higgins Model 50 for 300 bucks that was even better. Then a long bout of unemployment left me with none. I'm just now starting to recoup. So hopefully, my luck will hold. But its tough on the used gun market and buyer beware. Its either a great value, or buying someone elses problems. Let's hope it will be the former.

I have an uncle that has used his Remington 721 in .30-06 as his only deer and elk and whatever else rifle his whole hunting life. He has the utmost confidence in it and, to my knowledge, it has never let him down. For $350 with a Weaver K-4, I'd jump on it.

Good luck!

my 721 in 270 is my most prized rifle. deadly accurate and dependable! it has been to hell and back many times and has taken around 100 hed of game between my grandfather, father and my self. it is a heiriloum, and will be on my back as long as i live!

I had one of the 722's when they first came out. It shot pretty well but the stock was for iron sights like many of those old guns. I wore out the barrel shooting chucks and stuff and got a 700 which was a much better gun but no M70.

If someone still makes extractors for that old 721 then it may last otherwise there are plenty of guns out there. I just picked up a M50 JC Higgins from a dealer for $275. That gun is ten times the gun that the 721 ever was.

I have one in 30-06 I got from my grandfather. Only change I made was to swap out the original Western Field scope (still very accurate, I just couldn't see the fine wires too good) with a Leupold and it knocked a bunch of deer down for me.

Not the most graceful looking gun, but plenty accurate and nostalgic too! Every wombat has a 700, but not everyone has a 721....... (If that means anything to you)

Not the most graceful looking gun, but plenty accurate and nostalgic too! Every wombat has a 700, but not everyone has a 721....... (If that means anything to you)

That does account for something with me. Thats what I loved about the Higgins too. Even the ol 700 I had was cool because it was the early 60'6 ugly ones that many folks don't like. Me, I loved the old girl with her gawdy white trimmings and fleur D'leise cuttings. The 721 reminds me a bit of the Higgins with its very plain looking stock. I thinks I'm gonna get her today.

I own a couple, and they are good guns, and can be had worth the money. I would hesitate to use one as the basis for a custom rifle only because it is hard to find extractors if you ever need one. I guess you can always go the Sako extractor route, but there's more expense.

How much more expense are we talking for the Sako route?

Mr. mowser:
Regarding 721/722 extractors.
This spring I was talking to a very helpful gunsmith near Seattle or Olympia. I�m sorry, but for the life of me I can not remember his name. Man I say that a lot��..sorry.
He had a website and offered a lot of Remington parts, complete bolts etc.
I phoned all over the US looking for a 721/722 extractor and found him that way.
He quoted $125 US to do a Sako extractor in my 722.

For interest sake, the 721/722 has a snap ring type set up for the extractor. Because it is not riveted in place like a 700, it can move very slightly and when it does, mine will not always eject properly. The relationship between the extractor claw and the ejector causes this malfunction.
To fix it, I figured out that if you just turn the extractor back into place with a small screwdriver and it only moves a fraction of a rotation, it works fine.
Of course it does eventually move again and although it is bothersome, I�m not fighting bears with a .250AI, well I hope I�m not anyway....

Some have expressed valid concerns over the Sako extractor conversion on 700/721/722 as it changes the gas venting in the event of a case failure. To me it has some validity.
That said, I�ll likely get a Sako extractor installed if the one on the 722 breaks, as I could not find a replacement anywhere.
FWIW, 721/722 have a great reputation up here, I�d buy another in a heartbeat.
Hope that was of some help, good luck to you.
Dwayne