Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Can a J-lock Rem 700

be accurate? With the firing pin spring all bound up and supposed inconsistent lock time? Does anyone have a jlock gun that shoots bugholes? Or are they a lost cause without replacing the FP assembly? Your experiences please.

Nationally known gun writer here.....and I have several accurate j lock rifles.

I don't have one but a j lock 223 heavy barrel laminate rifle is supposedly one of the most accurate they ever produced.

I have a model 7 with the J lock, it shoots excellent. The J lock bugged the $hit out of me when I first got it, all mental. Never removed it and it’s never been trouble.

I have only have experience with one. A .22/250, it shots very well. I couldn't tell the difference between the j-lock, a ss regular firing pin assembly, and a lightweight after market one from PTG with limited testing and I wasn't going to wear the barrel out shooting paper. YMMV. I even bought a different firing pin spring. The j-lock resides in the parts box just because I like the looks of the SS better on the rifle.

What nationally known gun writer Jim Conrad posted.....

They can shoot, have replaced the ones with no lock assemblies just on principle

The j-lock slows down the locktime considerably, I just change out the striker assembly and bolt shroud.

During that era the J-Lock was not the only issue with some rifle's
I had a couple with oversize holes in the boltface, shipped them off to Gre-Tan to get the bolt bushed with new firing pin, spring, and shroud

No reason to have a rifle with a j lock. It's a simple swap.

I never had a J-lock. Can you explain how the J-lock striker slows down the lock time considerably? Thanks.

I only have one 700. How do I know if it’s a j lock? It shoots very well. Is this something I need to swap out so the cool kids will like me?

Add to your question. Can anyone’s factory Remington resolve in terms of accuracy a <= .01 sec difference in lock time?

I spoke to Bobby Hart about this issue with the J Lock. He said that he had built hundreds of long range rifles with J locks on them to on ill effect.

Mr Hart said that when you cock the bolt on a J Lock rifle, if you hear a lot of grinding, the firing pin spring is binding up against the inside of the bolt body. If you do not hear the grinding, then there is no problem with that particular J lock system.

Side note, the Rem 783 has one of the fastest lock times of any action made, faster than the rem 788.

I have owned a number of 700s with the Jlock. I always swapped them out because I think they are ugly. It never affected the accuracy of the rifle either way…good or bad.

I have two and swapped firing pin assemblies on both. On both of them you could hear the spring grinding on the inside of the bolt. I don’t know if it made a difference in accuracy but it just bugged the heck out of me.

My Model 7 and ADL..243s were J lock. Shot fine.
Did keep the ADL and swapped to GreTan....like others have said, on principle.

In my .17 Rem. LVSF, it made a significant difference in accuracy.

The JLocks here get replaced with standard weight 700 f-pin and shroud assys. A snaked up f-pin spring that the pin drags through on it's travel (both ways) is not what you want happening inside your bolt. Add in the cheesy JLock and there you have it.

Good shootin' -Al

I have a m700 limited classic in 8x57. I turned the j lock off and left it there, never changed out the striker assembly or shroud and never had a problem with it. I'd guess you can classify Steve Gash as nationally known outdoor writer , he reviewed said gun and did not really like it. He replaced the shroud , firing pin assembly and the trigger before he thought it was acceptable to use for Missouri whitetails. I've read more than a few of his articles and come to think his main claim to smarts was marrying a damn good woman...mb

Seen from ‘99-‘04/05, so most original ti’s will have them.

Thanks. I guess it's not something I need to worry about.