I recently bought a ANIB 1973 Rem 700 Classic marked 243 Winchester. When I shot it I found out it was a 243Improved. Should I spend $70 for dies or rebarrel the rifle 7-08?

How did it shoot? I'd probably gauge what you wanna use it for. Both are super cartridges.

I don't recall there being 700 Classics in 1973.

That said, $70 dies seem a bit cheaper than a rebarrel. If it shoots well I'd run her till the wheels fell off.

What are the planned uses for the rifle........

Lee will build you a collet die set for $50 or so...

You'd still need a FL die...I would have no use for a 243AI..

Maybe you would...but a 7-08 or 260 would be more useful

The 243AI IS a super cartridge! Have you checked the twist rate? 100 gr Partitions have killed many, many deer and elk, or if you want a distance shooter and the twist is right, The 105 Amax and Hornady BTHP are dandies for both distance and game-getting. The bullet weight isn't there in the 6mm compared to the 7mm, but with the right bullets, they are likely identical in game-taking ability. I refer you to John Burns's video of his guiding a woman to take an elk at 688yds with a 243 and VLDs.

I would buy a set of dies and rock on. And the advice on Lee's collet die isn't bad...especially if you can get a Redding body die to compliment the set.

LOTS cheaper than rebarreling.

This looks like a business opportunity, if it shoots good like it is, just shoot away and sell the high quality, premium fire formed brass in the classified's.

We have all read the many threads on how hard it is to fire form brass. (smiley here)

Clearly you thought you had a use for a .243 when you bought it, so shoot it.

The Lee collet die set is a good idea. I don't know if they'll make you a FL die, but somebody will, or get that body die. You may get by with neck sizing for a while.

Hornady .243 brass seems to be readily available now. Others, maybe not so much.

I bought the rifle because it was $700 & had a $350 German Zeiss 6x scope on it, it was pillar & glass bedded by Bob Wood.


http://www.midwayusa.com/product/17...-40-degree-shoulder?cm_vc=ProductFinding

As Steelhead noted, the model of Remington 700 formally known as the Classic wasn't around in 1973. Are you just calling it a classic because it's old?

It doesn't really matter, because you didn't get screwed on the price. If it's a rechambered factory barrel it probably has a 1-9 rifling twist, which is what Remington also started using on .243's after they introduced the 6mm Remington to solve the slow-twist problem of the .244. A few late .244's had 1-10 twists, but the 6mm's were 1-9, so Remington wouldn't again be accused to using a "marginal" twist, and they found it simpler to use the same barrels on .243's after that.

While a 1-19 twist isn't as versatile as the 1-8 many people put on 6mm rifles today, it's more versatile than the 1-10 on most factory .243's. Depending on what elevation you do most of you shooting at, it may even stabilize some bullets it's not supposed to. If it shoots well I'd just keep using it until (and if) the barrel ever loses it's accuracy, at which point it could be rebored to .260 or 7mm-08 AI.

Return the gun and get your money back.

The chamber is not normal.

So called AI's are a waste of time and money

Instead shop for a better design rather than that Push Feed with a poor trigger and safety.

Look at M70's, Mausers, Kimbers.

Another enlightening post when will they ever end ?

The barrel is coded 1973 & I think it was the model that was replaced by the mountain rifle & before the 1 cal per year series. I think this model was made in 223,243,270,7mag,308 30'06. I shot 1 group with it using 55 gr bullets that went about 2". have some 100 Hornady's loaded up so I guess can shoot few of them & see how it does.

Was this meant to be sarcastic? I hope so. I have no idea what a 'normal' chamber would be. They are all holes bored into cylinders of various steels. Not normal may be a square, or oval chamber? Never mind.

Negative on the mountain rifle and Classic dates of 1973. Barrel code tells you about the barrel.

A regular or normal chamber will have a higher resale value, easier to load and get ammo for.

Of course some are entertained by the AI fun.

See the tiny, non CRF, broken extractor on this push feed bolt?

Everyday you are one day closer to assuming room temp.

As I recall it Remington sold M700 Classics in a variety of calibers prior to the company beginning to restrict the Classic line to one new caliber each year. I can not recall what year the company made the change. I know I owned one of the early models but now can not even remember what cartridge it was chambered for.

Jim

According to the Remington site, the Classic started in 1978. I believe the "one at a time" series started in 1981 with the 7x57.

And they ran out of truly classic cartridges about 4 years later...

The 300 Savage is pretty classic, and it was late in the series.

I owned the 7X57, 257 Roberts and 300H&H. Nothing after that caught my interest.

I wish I had kept the H&H.

The Classic was a standard line item before they went to the yearly production. However, I don't think that it was in the lineup in 1973. I think they started in 1981.

The first reference I see to a Model 700 "Classic" is in the 1979 Gun Digest. It was offered in .22-250, 6mm, .243, .270, .30-06 and 7mm Rem Mag.

"Features: A "classic" version of the M700ADL with straight comb stock."

IOW, it got its name from the so called classic style stock as opposed to the Model 700's s normal monte carlo style stock.

The unlimited production M700 Classics ran from 1978-1985, available in 7 different chamberings. The 243 was one of those chamberings.

The limited production, one caliber per year, M700 Classics ran from 1981 thru, I think, 2005.

Either somebody put an older barrel on and AI'ed it, or screwed a stock from a Classic on the rifle (most likely).

The first M700 regular production Mountain Rifles didn't appear until the late 80's.

Casey

As I said, they didn't exist in 1973.

The caliber is suspect. 243 aI ? Were there pictures of scantily clad women in the box ?

243 improved OR 243 Ackley Improved ---
Need to measure fired case before investing in dies ----
What is barrel marked ????----
Thx

You are correct I rechecked the dating & it is "9XV90" so it must have been made in December of 1979. Thank you for your help.

During the past 50 years, the Model 700 family has grown from those first ADL and BDL models to dozens of variations, some still with us, others long gone. Also introduced in 1962, the Safari version in .375 H&H Mag. and .458 Win. Mag. was quite similar to the previous Model 725 Kodiak and differed from the standard BDL grade by its heavier 26-inch barrel, additional reinforcement in the action area of its stock and fancier wood with cut checkering. Integral muzzle brakes on the barrels of early rifles became an extra-cost option in 1964.



The Model 700 Custom came along in 1964 and for about the following 20 years was offered in grades ranging from �C� at the bottom to the highly engraved �Premier� at the upper end. Introduced in 1967, the Varmint Special in .222 Rem., .223 Rem., .22-250 Rem., .243 Win. and 6 mm Rem was Remington�s first standard-production rifle with a heavy barrel. My wife, who shoots a rifle from the other side, received for her birthday in 1973 the very first left-hand Model 700 in .270 Win. to appear at a gun shop in our area. That was also the year impressed checkering was finally replaced by cut checkering.

The Model 700 Classic with unnecessary adornments�such as a cheek rest, grip cap and forearm tip�missing from its extremely handsome stock came along in 1978, and it was followed in 1984 by a Model 700 economy-grade version called Sportsman 78. It was priced at $300 compared to $421 for the Classic, $464 for the BDL, $793 for the Safari and $4,474 for the Custom in Grade V. Other milestones include the first synthetic-stocked Model 700 (Custom KS) in 1986, the do-it-yourself Kit Gun (1987), the MS (Muzzleloader) in 1996, the ill-fated EtronX (2000) and the Titanium in 2001. There have been many others but the 6-pound Mountain Rifle (1986) and the Sendero (1994) with its medium-heavy, 26-inch barrel round out the list of important variations


http://www.americanrifleman.org/article.php?id=13302&cat=3&sub=5&q=2

More wisdumb....

Nope. This is everyday stuff from Don...

I have a redding full length bushing die set i' sell, if interested PM me

You can also use the standard .243 Win LEE Collet die for neck sized duties.

HAR!

gahuntertom,

You got a .243 'cause you wanted one. You lucked out.....the .243AI is just as good, only better. Shoot 70's faster than the std. 243 shoots 60's. Fireforming loads are much faster than a std. 243 and just as accurate. What's not to like? Shoot it and enjoy it. The Rem. classic stock is a really nice one.

And this guy keeps on being dumb.

i keep feeling sorry for him because guys are hard on him but damn, he just keeps posting stupid crap EVERY time...

lol no more feeling sorry