I bought my first nice deer rifle in 1979 from my shop foreman, I was 18. It was a Remington 700 Classic in .270. I killed my biggest buck to date with it last season. In using it there is no comparison to it and the never 700s and it's been that way for years. Mine is much better and has always shot sub 1 minute groups with factory ammo. I'm not sure when it happened but most of the big name companies started a different approach to manufacturing and took most of the skilled hands on work out of the firearms business, much the same as Winchester by re-making the model 70 after 1964. This, to me, was the beginning of the end for many. The accountants had more sway on the company than the people that knew how to build things. Then with rich people looking for places to invest and not knowing anything about the shooting world it got worse.
Remington has made some excellent stuff over the years. I hate to see a great company go down and hope we see it make a comeback. It seems a hard sell in today's climate for quality with the crowd that most companies look to, the younger folks. Were it up to me I'd step back a few years and bring back the model 788 for an economical field grade rifle and make sure every 700 that went out the door had a glass smooth action and that it shot as well as anything that can be had. Drop the handguns and the AR line and cater to the hunter. And only hire real shooters. Then get a PR man like Herb Parsons to show off the best MADE IN USA rifle you could buy.
