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.

Al,

The only J-lock 700 I still have is a laminated-stock varmint model in .223 Remington purchased new in 2001, with a 26" heavy barrel. Have written about this one considerably before, but when new, after some light "accurizing" (bedding but no pillars, clean up crown, etc.) it would consistently put five shots both 50-grain Berger Hollow-Points and Nosler Ballistic Tips in .25" at 100 yards. Of course, now it's had several thousand rounds down the barrel, mostly at prairie dogs, but "renewed" the throat a while back with bore-lapping bullets, and it will still put just about any decent factory ammo into a half-inch or less, for 5 shots at 100. Handloads are more like .35 now.

Can't remember if I tried it with a "regular" bolt shroud, but might have. But it never showed any of the indications of a dragging firing pin, so might have just gotten lucky.

John

I have 2 J-lock Rem 700's, a .300 Win Mag and a 7mm08. Both are quite accurate hunting rifles and I've never had any issues with them. I'm not fond of the J-lock but it doesn't seem to affect accuracy on my rifles. However, I'm about to install Gre-Tan firing pin assemblies with a regular bolt shroud in both of them so we'll see if it makes any difference. My concern with the J-lock is that it could inadvertently lock up your bolt when you don't want that to happen.

First time Google drew a blank?????

Had one of the Heavy varmit laminated .223's and a Laminated mountain rifle in .260 with j-locks. They both shot very well, the .223 especially, just like Mule Deer's. Changed out the springs and bolt shrouds on both, still shot the same. On the other hand I do know of a few that didn't shoot well until the wiggly jammed up firing spring was changed. Some of those springs were really bound up, some weren't so bad. Luck of the draw.

I had a .17 Rem in an LVSF with a J-lock.....it didnt stay on long.....

( also a Nationally known Gun Writer like Jim Conrad...)

Same here, way too ugly to leave on a rifle, yuck! ( :))

I just bought a 700 here on the Fire and I'm tempted to replace. I suppose I'll take it to the range first. It's not accuracy that bugs me, but 1. lock time affected? and 2. looks

Pacific Tool and Gauge:
Remington 700 Firing Pin Assembly w/ Aluminum Shroud - Lawton Style

SKU : 2db80d4f
Choose Firing Pin Tip Size : Standard FP Tip - .075, Choose Shroud Color : Black Anodize, Choose Action : Long Action, Choose Firing Pin Material : Steel
Manufactured to Order
$62.95
1
$62.95
Total shipping $9.70
TOTAL
$72.65

Another option-
https://www.gretanrifles.com/product-page/rem-700-fluted-steel-short-f-p-assembly-silver