Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Opinions Wanted: Remington Model 7

Those original M7s with 18.5" barrels are handy little rifles. I bought one in 7-08 back in the early '80s for my, now, xwife. My daughter has it now and does very well with it.
That round, in that sweet little rifle, is a great combo.

I’ve hunted with both a .260 and 7-08 stainless black stock 20” barrel. Taken deer with each using Hornady, Barnes and Nosler bullets. I like them fine. Maybe because I’ve never had to compare their pointing and handling with the elusive best grade English double.

I have a stainless 20" synthetic 260 with a Leupold 2 x 7. I stiffened the forend of the stock with some graphite arrow sections and a self leveling bonding filler we had at work at the time. Full length bedded over that and it added just enough weight to make it really sweet handling. I've held it to sub MOA to 300 yards with good handloads, it's one of my faves.

Don't know that I would do another unless I just got a great deal on it.

Dave.

I always thought a Model 7 and the 300 Savage would make a nifty little rig.

IMO the Predator version of the Model 7 was one of Remingtons best rifles. I've owned several of them, and every single one was an accurate rifle right out of the box.

I won’t go under 20” unless there’s a can, and I don’t plan on a can*, so……



*might get one someday for my 5.7 and the other threaded .22s on hand, or in the unlikely event I ever gain access to one of the farms in this bedroom area I live in.

I've got one cheaper than that in the classifieds.

Checking on that 👍👍

It sure would, 130 Barnes be perfect

I’ve owned three: a blued 308 in a walnut stock, a stainless 308 in a Tupperware stock, and a 7mm-08 in a Brown Precision. All three were accurate. The 308s were muzzle light. The 7mm-08 balanced well but the barrel was so light that groups would open when it got warm. Groups were tiny if I let the barrel cool completely between shots but I don’t have that kind of patience.

I considered rebarreling it with a sporter-taper barrel but I ended up selling it. I replaced it with a 700 Youth model, which has a 20” barrel and a 13” LOP. It’s about a pound heavier but the weight is all in the right places.


Okie John

I've owned 3. 1 7mm-08 with the 18.5" blued barrel and wood stock, 1 7mm-08 stainless with a 20" barrel and synthetic stock, and 1 .308 "XCR" model with a heavier 20" fluted barrel. The two 7mm-08s were awkwardly butt heavy. Though lighter than a short 700, they need a heavier barrel to balance well. The XCR was better.

So far as weight, balance, etc, what I was looking for in the Sevens was what I found in Kimber rifles. I think all of the remington actions are a bit too heavy to balance well with a mountain barrel or a short sporter barrel unless you find a way to take a huge amount of weight off of the stock especially at the rear.

Yeah, I'd say the scaled-down Kimber 84 action or the 700ti are better fits for the lighter contours with regards to balance, assuming a lightweight synthetic stock.

Some years back, I took an older Remington 660 action, which was the lightest Remington action at the time (predecessor to the M7), and screwed on a stainless 700 sporter barrel, cut to 20". Putting it in a McMillan edge-fill M7KS stock made a sub-6lb rifle that actually balanced well. It generally wears a 2-7x33, but has a 3-9x40 in this pic. There are better ways to skin a cat these days, but the rifle still works.

JPro is right about action weight. Model 7 2# 2 oz. Model 700 ADL 2# 3.5 oz. Mini Mauser 2# 1 oz.

This is where I was headed with my Model Seven until I realized how small the difference in action weight is. I decided it would be cheaper to find a 700 Youth than to rebarrel the Seven. Now I just need to upgrade the factory stock while keeping the 13" LOP.


Bingo. Anything that moves weight closer to the action is the right move, starting with shorter LOPs and lighter recoil pads.


Okie John

Never owned a 7, but a friend has one in .243 and he likes it.

I did have an ADL 700 carbine in .308. I think it had a 20” barrel but don’t remember for sure. That was a nice rifle. I shot a few matches of silhouette with it. That was a bit much, but it was a nice hunting rifle.

Mine is accurate enough for match shooting. Love that about it.


Okie John

I have a wood stocked Rem 7 .260 that i purchased for my daughter years ago and it's very accurate and she's taken quite a few deer with it. She has a 700 now and doesn't use it very often so this one will probably be handed down to a grandkid.

I've had 4 still have 3.1st one was an original 18.5" in 6mm Rem. The butt had been cut for a 12.5".lop, some rancher bought it new, cut it and brought 3 sons up using it when the last graduated to a full size he traded it off. I was thinking of my daughter when I bought it but she didn't like it. So I looked around for a full size replacement stock unsuccessfully. Realized I'd be better off just selling it to someone who needed a kids gun. So I had it at a gs and a couple of local loonies walked up and were handling it talking about its potential new barrel , stock different scope all that shid. Shot them a high price and they said they would think about it and walked off. Was a guy with a 10 year old girl who was little more than a stick kid , 2 boys about 6 and 8 walked up. Joe blue collar, clothes that seen better days but clean just like the kids. He asked to handle it, it had a old Redfield rings base and wideview 2 x7 on it. He looks it over and changes it to 2x then hands it to the girl who lit up with a smile that cut her face in half. He said I can't afford the price you quoted those guys can you do better?. I looked him in the eye and asked what he could afford? He offered 450 which is more than I had in it. I told him it's yours , perfect fit he'd teach all them kids with it. Thru in a part box of reduced loads.
Next one was a predator new in 243 great little gun and so is the Magnum ss 7 mm saum that followed it. Awhile back I scored another 6mm like the 1st one only mint. And it's a keeper. Mb

Had a 1980s or early 1990s 18.5" walnut .308 Win with the three receiver screws. Excellent quality carbine, and mine fed and ejected perfectly, but as others say I found it a bit muzzle light and didn't like the muzzle blast. It was unruly but still controllable. It was everything i wanted in a hunting rifle before I knew what I wanted. To my dismay, I shot 2-2.5" groups with it when the 24" 270 I sold to get it shot 1 MOA.

I found that a 22 inch Winchester Featherweight also in .308 was more my speed, and sold the Model Seven shortly after. It held steadier with a bit more barrel weight, didn't bark at me in my face so much with 3.5" more barrel, and I didn't have to put a rail on it. A nice middle ground between the feisty carbine and the 24" sporter.

These days I wonder if a 24" sporter barrel contour with a McMillan Hunter's Edge might be my huckleberry. I like a little muzzle weight, and the blast would be another 2" away. The thing would probably be 7.5 pounds with a 6x36 on it.