Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Rem 721

I have the opportunity to buy a Remington 721 in 270
I have never had a 721, any issues common with this model to look for?
Thank you in advance,

Just the triggers. It was the worst rendition of the Walker trigger and the only accidental discharges I've ever had have come from 721s. But a simple trigger upgrade solves that. Also the extractors are unobtainium if it happens to break. You have to have a gunsmith upgrade it to a Sako extractor

Have owned a few, all in 30-06. Solid guns IMHO. They have all been very accurate.

Have one in 30/06 nice solid gun. Have not had any problems with it.

Good guns, but there is a lot of drop in the factory stock. Couple that with a steel buttplate and they aren't the most comfortable shooting rifle nor are they ideal for anything but the lowest mounted scope.

Remington offered the 721 stock in both low comb and high comb configuration. I have a 721 high comb in .270 Winchester with a Lyman Alaskan 2.5x scope in Stith streamline mount. The button rifled barrels are renown for being very accurate.

Mine is now a 35 Whelen in a 700 BDL stock using the 721 bottom metal. They have a great finish on them.

I got to know Chick Donnelly here locally before he passed. He was one of the last guys to train under P.O. Ackley.

We were at Elk camp and sitting around the fire. I asked him what particular caliber or rifle he preferred to hunt Elk with...

Here's a man who can make anything he wants...

Instead of answering me, he goes over to his truck.. takes his rifle out of the case, walks back over to me and hands it to me..

" This is my Remington 721... I bought this thing for $49 out of the PX in Japan when I was on the way back to the states following the end of the Korea War.... it was chambered in 30/06 from the factory. I can't tell ya how many barrels I've put on it, since I've owned it...but I can tell you its a bunch of them that I have shot out...This rifle has hunted all sorts of game all over the planet... and every barrel has been chambered in 30/06. Never needed more or needed less. 99% of the animals I've taken since I came home from Korea in 1953, has been shot with this rifle."

All things considered, what more endorsement can you give a rifle and a caliber than that.

Don't pay too much...

I took one (.30-06) on a trade and had JES do a rebore.

New stock, new trigger et al...

It is a great shooter.

My brother has one with the stock cut for irons. A pain in the ass keeping a consistent cheek weld with a scope mounted.

I suggested to him to add a butt cuff to get his eyeball consistently level with the crosshair.

Other than that a solid rifle.

I once had a 721 in 30-06 that I used for a back-up for my M77 Ruger tang in 7mm RM for a few years.

Shot them side by side at numerous sight in sessions, and the 721 kicked noticeably more than the M77. I blamed it squarely on the reasons you mentioned.

My son in law has one, he likes it, 30-06.

My son has a 721 in 270 that my Dad bought used in about 1970. It is one of the late produced guns you could get with a straighter/higher comb stock. The barrel is 22 " with screw on sights on the rear.
My brother had a A.D. with it when we were about 15 in the 1970's. Dad cleaned all the gummed up WD-40 or gun oil from the trigger group and fixed that.

P.S. I got into a huge heated discussion on the fire about 15-16 years ago when I described the rifle and a couple of guys said I was mistaken about how the rifle was configured.

I have a 721 that has its fourth barrel. 30-06, then 6mm, then 280 and now 30-06. I’ve replaced the stock in ‘85 because it was an early low-comb model and unless I was planning on continuing to use it with iron sights that wouldn’t do. It was too bad with a 6mm barrel though. When it was rebarreled to 280 I bought a Kevlar 700 stock to replace the factory low comb. Later I put that 700 stock on a different rifle and put a stock Made from a blank on it. The barrel I have on it now is very accurate.

Some people seem to dislike the trigger, others really like it.
The problem with the trigger is it’s adjustable. The nice thing about the trigger is it’s adjustable.

As I recall the trigger adjustment screws on those 721’s were ‘set’ by hitting the adjustment screws with a punch which cross threaded and ‘locked’ them in place. If a person were to adjust those screws and not lock them in place, they could move. The logical thing then was to blame the trigger and to save face - “The trigger is bad!”
After DuPont bought Remington those screws were locked in place with something similar to ‘lock-tite’.
The other problem with the trigger is that some will adjust them in their shop - 70 degrees and oil may be involved, & no water involved. Then in the field water might enter in a rain, or the oil gathers dirt and the minimum trigger pull may become less than minimal. Again, the trigger is bad.

The problem I have with 721’s is the extractor may become worn and need replacing. The standard bolt face (30-06) extractors have become difficult to find. The answer some use is to use an extractor that eliminates the gas protection built into the Remington 721, 722, and 700’s. No one has tested the modified bolt and in my opinion will put the shooter’s eyes at risk if there’s a gas leak.

721 are plain jane, accurate rifles.

Numrich's sells reproduction extractors!

I have two. The best one is one that my grandfather bought new in the late 1940's. It's been hunted hard and fed quite a few families over many winters. The barrel throat was dark and eroded and accuracy wasn't great. The stock was cracked.

JES rebored it to 9.3x62 and I put a new Boyds walnut stock on it. It's back in action!



The other 721 is also in 30-06. I bought it for a project, never shot it and it sat in my safe for a long time.

Decided to sell it, but then shot it, and decided to keep it.

Bedded it, replaced the trigger with a Timney and mounted a Leup 6x42 with target turrets.

That thing shoots everything well, but absolutely stacks 200 grain Sierras!

I remember reading an article a few years back about a 721 in 30-06 that was owned by some Mexicans who took it on safari to Africa. All of them used the same gun on plains game and very few times had to shoot more than once. They left the rifle with the outfitter and guide so they wouldn't have to bring another one with them next time they came. It got used a lot and was eventually given to the guide. He used it for years as a camp gun and loaner eventually having to have it rebarreled to restore it's accuracy. It shot hundreds if not thousands of game animals, his name was Harry Selby. Maybe JB or another person on the fire has more details than I do. But you know it sure makes a statement about 721's...mb

Yep! That was an interesting article.

Update
I went to get the 721 on 12/31 and the guy said now he needed another $100 above our agreed upon price because he was adding a pair of ear muffs and a sling and a box of ammo. I told him I was not interested in the extras just the rifle as we discussed.
I did not end up getting it.

Sounds like he did you a favor... giving you a reason not to deal with him. What a lame thing to do.

Well Dan, I would not have been as polite as you were. I would have told the sob to f off...mb