any one really better then the other as far as hunting rifles go.
pros and cons????

Depends on who you ask. I like Winchester, others like the other 2. I have a Model 70 SS Classic with that sysnthetic stock you asked about and it has worked very well for me. I've considered putting a McMillan on it, but it's pretty accurate the way it is.

I also used a Remington chambered in 300 Weatherby for years and never had any problems with it. I really like the new Ruger Hawkeyes and will probably buy one down the road. I'm just waiting on the new Model 70's. If they don't pan out, I'll buy the Ruger.

reason i am asking is tomorrow i am going to look at a rifle a guy put on consignment at a shop. and just sold my Mod 70 300wsm, planning on buying a new Rem 700 CDL. but the guy said he would sell me the gun with a Burris 6X HBR scope all for 600. looked online and the scope new is a bit over 300. No the ideal scope for big game hunting. but i could probly sell the scope and buy or trade for another one. The rifle has around 300 rds down the tube,30-06 a trigger job, bedded in the tupperware stock. muzzle break (dont like them) but says that he got great accuracy 3 shots covered by a dime FWIW. says the manual says something about the return of the (Pre 64 action)
just trying to get feed back

thanks JBabcock

Own all 3, prefer the Rugers most...but really like the Model 7 and will probably end up with a few more before I'm done. IMO Ruger is the better value when buying new.

I've got all three and more. It really comes down to personal fit and feel and only you can decide that.

I prefer Remmys for 30 cal and under and CRF M-70s for above 30 cal. I like Rugers the least of the three. However, that has no bearing on which is really "better"............

Ruger gets my vote. The new Hawkeyes are very nice with greatly improved triggers. Nothing wrong with the other two just prefer Ruger as they have always served me well. I suppose how the rifle feels to a person would have alot to do with it.

I own both Remington M700's (2) and Ruger M77/M77 MKII's (lost count) and like them both. Took an antelope last saturday with my Rem .308 Win and plan to hunt elk in a few weeks with my Rem m.30-06. (Trying to eliminate the virgins in the safe.)

As to the scope, I would pass on the Burris 6x for $300. I just purchased a Burris Fullfield II 4.5-14x with Ballistic Plex reticle for $259 on Ebay on a "buy now" price. This scope went on my Rem .30-06. Most of my Burris scopes are 3x9 with Ballistic Plex reticles and they are available for considerably less (around $150).

I rank them


1 M70

2 Rem 700

3 M77

but that's just me. BTW, I like all 3.

I much prefer the M70 Classic or pre 64 type actions and not the Remington. Nor would I go near a 'bedded' rifle with a muzzle brake.

Why did you sell the M70?

ya, heck you do that for?

I like the Rugers although I have owned Rem 700s before.

Savage, what have you got against bedding?

I like M70's made before about 2003, also like old Ruger tang safety models.

Of the new guns on the shelf now, I would buy a Rem 700.

I think Ruger has the most bang for the buck and does build a nice rifle. The new 700CDL is one of Remingtons nicest rifle ever built, although a bit pricey. Winchester M70's in the featherweight model are a favorite of mine, but I must say the quality got a bit shoddy towards the end.
dan

I have a Rem 700 SS in 06. I'll never sell it.

T

While I only have Rem 700s(bolts)... I have never had a bad one, which is why I have had so many

while i think it is common knowledge that remington has and continues to outsell every other bolt action big game rifle, i read that ruger outsold winchester buy 230k units in 2005-2006. if that is true, from strictly a "popularity contest" standpoint, one would get the rem first, then ruger, and lastly winchester. i've owned several m70's, but won't be buying another (one i purchased around 2003/4/5 had the barrel screwed into the receiver at an angle). no one really knows how the fn south carolina m70's are going to turn out. i use a mk2 as my primary hunting rifle, and a ss m700 as an alternate. i think both are fine, functional, and dependable rifles. ymmv

I prefer Rugers to any other manufacture. This isn't a stab at the others, but Ruger makes a rifle just the way I want it.

I prefer CRF Model 70's. Although I own more 700's. The I plan on getting a Hawkeye soon. They all are really great rifles and should serve you fine forever. It's really just down to personal preferences, looks, action, chamberings offered, price, etc.

My experience also.
The Remington 700 has always 'felt' better in my hands, and I've never encountered any kind of malfunction with one.
Just my preference.

Have fun shopping and good luck to you on whatever you choose.

Price considered first, and talking used (as your proposed purchase is) I'd go Ruger, Remington, Winchester.
Shooting quality considered, and judging only from my experience with a limited universe of the three, I vote Remington, Ruger, Winchester.
New guns I don't know. Have seen many complaints about the newer Remingtons (mine are all pre 1990) so I'd be darn choosy about investing in a more recent model. Winchesters of the last few Connecticut years were pretty good. FN Model 70's had better be darn good to match their hype. Older M70's have mystique that is greater than their general usefulness: A good gun that's priced like a GREAT gun being no bargain. My 1984 M70 is a good, smooth tough rifle that I bought at a bargain price, but it isn't as accurate as my tang-safety Ruger or any of my 700's.
I guess on balance, I'd go for an older Remington.
But that's me, not you.

With several million (in the aggragate)of all three in circulation,and untold millions of rounds fired in target and hunting,millions of man-hours of hunting time beind them,a guy is hard-pressed to argue persuasively for the superiority of one over the others.

I know which one I'd take in a big game rifle to be used everywhere,on anything;but that does not make my decision the best.I think a guy is hard-pressed to go wrong with any of the three. That said,in the end, for me,it's a Model 70,with the Hawkeye a very close second.

The most important factor is which YOU like best. They will all do what they are intended to do for the most part.

For me it's Winchester only. I have four 1993-2002 Model 70 Classic's, and two push feeds, and I will never need another centerfire rifle as long as I live.
They say variety is the spice of life, but when it comes to bolt action centerfire rifles, my mind is closed, and so is my wallet, I'm done.

Nor would I go near a 'bedded' rifle with a muzzle brake.

Why did you sell the M70? [/quote]

why no bedding and muzzle break?????

sold my mod 70 to replace with a remington 700 cdl.
but might end up buying another mod 70 in 30-06.

thanks guy for all of your input, I went and looked at the rifle today, seemed a little barrle heavy (Unbalanced) to me.there were some marks on the underside of the barrle not sure if it will come off. the gun had a very nice trigger pull i would guess around 4 to 4 1/2#. might make a offer for less.

Just put the dog out of its misery. just called in and ordered
Rem 700 CDL in 30-06. I have this rifle already just put it into a HS stock, and have another HS sitting in the safe. so when the new gun comes in it will ware the HS. MY oldest son will be shooting this rifle when he go hunting. Can't wait.

A few thoughts:

Rugers, for the $ the best hunting rifle you can buy. They are tough, dependable and ones produced in the past decade or so are either accurate or very accurate. But, the triggers on current production guns suck from the factory and need gunsmith work. Personally I think the trigger design is great for a hunting rifle, but it needs work to tune to perfection. The safety is a trigger block in the middle position and a bolt block in the rear position. In the rear position the safety can be heard to find to release it.

Remingtons are typically quite accurate from the factory, and many people like to use them for the basis of a semi custom rifle. The triggers come heavy from the factory but can be adjusted. The triggers are a complex mechanism and aren't going to take the abuse a ruger or winchester will take. Remington safeties, well there is a reason many folks that use remingtons hunt with an empty chamber and safety off. There have been many ad's resulting from the rifle firing when the safety is released.

Win 70's, the rifleman's rifle, well, when in production and produced by people that care about quality. Mdl 70's are like a box of chocolate, you never know what you'll get. Personally I'd take the ruger over the winchester and put the $ into the scope. Great trigger and safety, and in a properly built or customized one, IMHO close to perfection in a hunting bolt action.

I sure like M700's, but that might partly be because I didn't get into high-powered rifles until about 10 years ago, and so the Winchesters I looked at were pretty much CRAP. Their last few years they made some God-awful rifles IMHO. I'm sure they made a few good ones too, but I never handled anything I wanted to buy.

Rugers have nice lines. Very classy.

M700's feel good to me and I've have very good luck with the... minus one total dog <g>. That would be... 6 of them total I believe.

-jeff

Some years ago I did alot of center fire silhouette shooting. Now this was when competitors actually shot rifles and not the weird things I see now. If 100 shooters showed up 90 would be shooting Remingtons. Because they were easy to make shoot well and they are totally reliable. But are they a better hunting rifle? That comes down to personal opinion.

For $600 you don't want that outfit. Tupperware? bedded?? Burris???. Sounds like a junker to me. Buy what you want new and screw it up like you want it screwed up, not someone elses screw-up.

Ruger, Remington toss up.
Winchester after some reports from new owners, maybe!

g

well i used to own a Ruger SS Laminate sporter, sold that after the CDL's came out. I really like the looks of the CDL. That was before i started using HS stocks. i might have to try and do a rattle can on the black HS.

that is excatly what i did. called my guy who i have been buying guns from the past 18 yrs and ordered a CDL in 30-06
should be paying after taxes and shipping like just under 600.00 or just over 600.00

As one famous socialite once said; Ford and every body Ford's with you, Rolls and You Rolls alone.
(Rem / Win / Rug) and every body is with You; Mauser 98, and You 98 alone!

In my experience the Remingtons go some wierd stuff. This goes for their automatic shotguns too. If I were buying right now I would go with a Ruger. They are a super gun for the money. If the new S.C. made Winchesters turn out to be good guns you can't go wrong either way.

I could live and hunt comfortably with any one of the three.
I have a pair of 700 CDL's and think that stock design is one of the very best available for a factory rifle. I also have a Ruger 77 Mk II in 257 Roberts that is a GREAT rifle; I love it. Hugely accurate, and balances perfectly, as do the two CDL's.
Don't own any Winchesters, but I will be buying one of the new ones in 7-08.

Always been a Model 70 man, but will wait until I can handle the new one to comment on that version. This past July I just bought a new Ruger M77 MKII, my first Mark II, and am quite impressed - better than my old M77 tang safety version; I may just have to buy a Hawkeye too. I have owned a couple of Remington M700's over the years and cannot say anything bad about them, I just prefer the Mauser design, so the M700 doesn't attract me.

I just picked up a 1962 model 700 in 243 with a 20" barrel and a piece of junk scope,ran it out to the range and shot a .710 7 shot group with it with 100 gr. bullets.the only winchesters Ive been really drawn to in the post 64 realm is the 70 XTR featherweights,I have a couple of those that shoot under an inch easily,I have a few old M77s that shoot very nicley,they required floating the barrel and bedding the action to get them there,all in all thru out my life Ive probably been drawn to the old ruger M77 the most

I have all 3 and like all 3. My favorite of the 3 is an old 280 700 Mountain rifle. It looks like the new CDL in a trimmer package.

I like the Remingtons for their weight and balance. They just fit me better and think lighter action helps with balance. I have also had extremely good luck from accuracy dept with Remingtons. Rugers are nice, but I've had to work with them more to get them to shoot (sample of 4, so take it for what it's worth) and (to me) are a bit chunky for standard calibers. However, Rugers are a lot of gun for the money. No complaints for the Winchester except they just don't fit/balance as well for me for as Remingtons with factory stock and it's harder to find a good deal to upgrade stock (have had good luck finding deals on second hand 700 stocks). I know there are some QC issues now and then with all of them, but all of mine have been nicely put together, functioned well, and been very reliable.

Lou

yea wish Remington would chamber the CDL in 280 and 308. First year the CDL came out it was offered in 280 but not anymore.

If I remember correctly the 280 Mountain rifle set sales records for Remington or the 280 sold more than the 270 or 06 in the Mountain Rifle. I would think the CDL would be natural place for the 280. Ruger and Weatherby chamber it.

I have the least experience with the model 70. I have several 700s and they all shoot quite well. I have two Ruger MKII rifles. One of the Rugers is the best deal I ever got (free). I won a MKII in .280 and I have fallen in love with it. It will not shoot .5 groups, but It will shoot into an inch with it's favorite load. I like both makes of guns and would be torn to make a choice if I had to pick a brand today.

I really like the Remington, but that's because I have been using them so long, that I feel comfortable with them and have confidence in them.

I don't know if you're interested in making the Ruger 280 into a .5" rifle, but I think it's doable.
With my 77, I scrubbed the bore good with JB Bore Paste, did a trigger job on it, and sanded out that lump Ruger has in the fore end to free float the barrel. No glass bedding, just the above tweeks. Mine put three shots into 9/16" the first time out, which was fine for me without any load developing at all. I could probably get 1/2" if I worked on the load, but I'm real happy with it as is. That group was shot with a Leupy 4x scope.

Don

None of the above. I never was a part of the "herd mentality." Never owned a 700 or 77. Bought a 70 once out of curiosity, got rid of it pretty quick. All good guns, just that over 40 years of gun-looniness I always marched to the beat of a different drummer- (non modern) single shots, Mauser sporters, Mannlichers, Savage 99's, etc. Of course, I've also only owned a couple of American cars out of the 20 or so I've had. Not snobbery, I just get a lot of satisfaction out of doing things differently. Why tote the same shootin' iron as most everybody else does? Dare to be different!

My first centerfire was a 700ADL in .270Win (per Jack O'Conner)with a Weaver K4 and Redfield mount and rings out the door for $156. It's in my cabinet. I have had lots since and lately my passion seems to run more for Howa's and Weatherby Vanguards. I have a Ruger #1 in .270Wby or a Ruger 77 full stock in .243 that may be my favorites and a Howa SS/Syn in 7mmWSM for my knockaround, go-to rifle. Good luck.

My Sav 99's are favorites, too.

Picking a readily available, dependable and affordable product that does the intended job, often in a superb manner, is not necessarily an example of �herd mentality�. To me it makes more sense than picking a product just because it is �different�.

Only one Mauser sporter, a pre-war 98 with �Berlin� stamped on the receiver, has ever caught my eye, and I passed on it. It was a beautiful, well functioning piece in 8x57 and it could have been mine for $225. Wasn�t really in the market for a new rifle, though, and would have preferred a 7x57 instead. Mannlichers have never been of any interest for a number of reasons. The Savage 99 get s a little interest and I�ve look at a number of them hoping to find a .308 in good condition at an irresistible price. Hasn�t happened, probably never will. Not a concern, though, as I�ve gotten less interested in 99�s as time passes.

When it comes to cars, I�ve owned both foreign and domestic and driven lots more of both. Based on that experience I have no use for some popular foreign cars and trucks. Similarly, I�ve no use for some domestic brands, either. Right now we drive three Fords, an Expedition, F150 and F250 and I�m very happy with all of them, plebian as they may be.

�Why tote the same shootin' iron as most everybody else does?� If they meet your requirements in terms of availability, dependability, functionality, affordability and aesthetics, why not? Choosing a product that fails to meet these requirements as well, just to �Dare to be different�, makes as much sense as eating crap instead of flushing it.

Coyote Hunter-

I was reading your response to my posting, which by the way was nothing more than my stating my opinion that there are many alternatives to the "Fords, Chevys, Chryslers" of the gun world, and nodding my head in general approval of your eloquence- right up to your last sentence. What I thought to be a rational, intelligent rebuttal to my opinion turned out to be yet another base insult, the likes of which seem to be increasing at an exponential rate on the internet of late. Has civility gone the way of the Do-Do? Apparently so.

Let's see, who was it that implied shooting "Remington, Winchesters, and Rugers" was "herd mentality"?

Easy guys easy, we dont need to start flaming each other. Thansk for all of your comments and answers, but what i was looking for was stuff like "you can seat the bullet out a little further in the remington cuz it has a little longer throat then the other two" Now i guess i should have been more spacific, but I thought the PROS AND CONS would have been enough.
again thanks for everybodys comments.

I've got 3 M700s, 3 M77s, and a M70 Classic Featherweight. All are great rifles or I wouldn't still have them. Two of the Rems and one of the Rugers have been trued and rebarreled. One of the Rems REALLY needed it, the other was just plain worn out. The Ruger was just one of those wild hairs I sometimes get, it was MOA from the factory. To me the Rugers are the best looking, but a bit bulky. I think I would like them better in the larger calibers, but by some quirk of timing, mine are all .25 cal. and under while two of my Rems. are .277 and .338. My Rugers are wood stocked while all three of the Rems are synthetic, with two of them being aftermarket synthetics. The Win. is a .243 and easily MOA after some work. It's easy to shoot and is growing on me. If the new FNs turn out well, I'll be looking at a Fwt. in 7-08. Which would I buy in the future? I've had great luck with the Rugers and decent luck with the Rems. I guess it depends on what I was looking for, .30 and up I'd look at Ruger. Light and handy sounds more like a M700 Mountain Rifle. Still, I'm waiting to see how the new M70s turn out.