Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles have you really had a bad remingto

Have owned more than a dozen RH and LH Rem 700's. Never lost a bolt handle. However, have had two that went "bang" when the safety was released. Fortunately, both instances during range sessions with barrel pointed down range. That's when I started using Timney triggers. Only have one Rem 700 left with a factory trigger.

Just one that had the trigger set improperly by previous owner.
Not the guns fault

I've owned far too many Remington 700s to remember and I've had two I would consider to be "bad"...

The first one was a first generation stainless fluted 300Rum... I threw every trick in the book and could barely get to stay on paper... finally sent it back to Remington and they replaced the rifle... the replacement rifle would still only shoot 4-5" at 100 yards... had it rebarreled with a Lilja and it shot great...

Second one was a XCR tactical long range in 308... the inside of the barrel was so rough that cleaning patches would snag in the barrel... I sent it back and Remington replaced the rifle... had no issues with the replacement rifle...

Yes, Rem 700's - I have had a bolt handle break off in my hand, no falls or anything else to stress it. I have had to replace extractors in three of them which was not really a big deal since they are simple to replace.

But the worse one I had was in the mid-eighties, it was a stainless/synthetic in 260 Rem. It was not only very inaccurate even after bedding the stock, but the bolt squeaked when closing it. I took it to my gunsmith to have it trued and to see if he could improve the accuracy, his comments after fixing it was that it was the most misaligned rifle he had ever seen. The bolt squeaking on closing was caused by the nose of the bolt hitting the back of the barrel on closing, the face of the receiver was out of square and the bolt body/bolt head juncture was misaligned which caused the bolt face to be misaligned also. He trued up the bolt face and trued the bolt body/bolt head juncture portion of the bolt, it required enough off of one side that you could clearly see the pin used to hold the bolt body and bolt head together on one side of the bolt.

Note:
For those who are not familiar with Remington 700 bolt construction they are a three piece bolt consisting of the soldered on bolt handle, the bolt body, and the pinned bolt head.

drover

Owned problably 10 over the years and all good. Accuracy also good. Ed k

Had to replace two triggers, a walker that would occasionally go off when the safety was removed and an x-Mark that I didn't have the patience to do the recall on. Had a speedmaster .22 that was a jam-0-matic and I had to send a new versamax back for a new bolt. The walker may have been messed with by the prior owner, but the rest were on Remington

I have two Rem 700s, both are accurate, now...let's see, both have had the bolt face lapped because it wasn't square. Both have had Timney triggers installed, because one discharged when my wife was taking the safety off at our range on our farm. Both have had their crappy factory stocks replaced, both have had new barrels installed cause they didn't shoot worth a crap in factory guise, and both have had the firing pin bushing thing done because both were cratering primers on well below max loads. Yeah, they're great, so great I'll never get another, but I'll be danged if I'll get rid of these now that they are finally decent rifles.

Not really "bad". But not good either. I've had this 30-06 for 30+ years. I've not shot it all that much, maybe 200 to 250 rounds in all that time. I never shoots better than 1 1/2" at 100 yards despite glass and pillar bedding, multi[le factory loads, multiple hand loads, checking every screw, and switching scopes. Not matter what I do, it just stays at 1 1/2" to 2" at 100 yards. Good enough for swamp hunting, but not much good for more open country.

Still have it since it was my first deer rifle. But I need better and am looking at the Bergara Ridge.

I have had many, never had one that wants a sub inch shooter. I have 9 now.

Never even considered one with Model 70s, Browning (Belgian in both Sako and 98 actions) and of course I do like Weatherbys. That said, I've owned two. One I ordered and waited forever, a 700 Classic in 35 Wheelen back in the 90s when they made a different caliber every year as you guys know. Went to pick it up and when you cycled the bolt, the lug raceways had apparently been overcut because the lock bolt could not be pulled back when the action was opened. Obviously I did not buy it. The second I still have, a bull barreled composite thumbholed stocked in 22-250 we keep at our place in PA for ground hogs and that is where it will stay. I load it one round at at time, NEVER use the safety but it is very accurate. I can say without reservation, I will NEVER own another. I find a non locking bolt safety completely unacceptable.

I bought one new in .300 WSM that wouldn't feed a cartridge from the magazine. The store I bought it from took it back and hgave me a full refund.

Nope not one and I've owned at least 10. I currently own 6 and all are shooters and have functioned flawlessly.

As others, I've owned a lot of 700's; fortunately, I've never experienced a problem.

I have at the moment a 700 in .270 Winchester, where the throat is cut crooked - which I've verified with my borescope. It will become some other caliber.

I have a 721 waiting to be picked up at the gunsmith in Albuquerque that we could not get to shoot either factory ammo or reloads worth a damn. Finally decided to have it rebarreled. It belongs to my grandson and It's a sample of one--mainly because I have never had any other Remington centerfires.

Always liked the lines of the 700, but after owning a 600 and being exposed to other actions with more traditional construction, I lost interest in the "fabricated" ones. Not saying they're no good, or not strong and accurate, but part of the attraction of guns, and in particular, rifles, is the fine machining involved in ones like 98s and the like. Personal quirk, I suppose, but a feller has to indulge himself in a few ways.

I have to add that I never had a single issue of any sort in over 30 years spent with one pre-64, or with any of the numerous Mausers, a couple of old Sakos, or Ruger 77s of any of the three vintages. Problems like those related here would drive me nuts.

Out of the 25 or so 700's I've had, I had a Classic in 350 mag. that gave fits trying to get zeroed. A Remington rep told me that if anything on it was out of alignment, that it would be repaired or replaced. I lost interest in it & never sent it in. Sold it later to a guy that wanted to use it with the irons.


I'd like to compliment the folks here that have the common sense & the honesty to admit that you cannot judge a product for initial quality when acquired used.
Ya' judge something when you're the only person to have their paws on it.

A bad Remington?

Yes. Ordered a new 700 BDL from a distributor and the front sight was loose. Being accustomed to Remington front sights (or so I thought), I figured it just needed a little torque on the two screws. Just a bit of torque sheared off the visible screw on the lower ramp and the sight fell off in my hand. There was no screw hiding under the dovetail, as is normal. Nope, the bean counters at Remington re-purposed the sight base with a little stud that fits into the forward threaded hole in the barrel. Then, they installed a screw which was too long in the rear hole, or low portion of the ramp, which is why it sheared off. Thanks a bunch, you cheap bastards. I had to drill and extract the broken screw (6-48) and locate a new screw of the proper length. It was a lot of labor and aggravation due to a completely stupid engineering change.

Also had a POS from Winchester- a Model 94 Big Bore Timber Carbine in .444 Marlin. This thing wouldn't hit a washing machine at 50 yards. I finally re-crowned the muzzle and VIOLA!
It is now a very accurate shooter. FWIW, there was nothing visibly wrong with the muzzle crown, but there must have been something amiss.

I have had several 700"s but own none presently. Had a 270 go off when the safety was released once and replaced the trigger with a Timney. I had an ADL in 223 that took a lot of work to get it feeding correctly, the finish looked like sprayed on bead blasting material that rusted easily, it would only shoot certain bullets well. I sold it and it was the last new 700 I have owned.

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