Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles REM 700 Base Screw Question

I recently picked up an unfired REM 700 XCR II and when I removed the base screw plugs I noticed the front hole (over the chamber) is blind.

I am only able to get 2 1/2 turns with any base/screw combo before it bottoms out.

I’ve owned well over 50 Rem 700’s and they all have been tapped clear through so you could see the barrel threads.

This one has a nice clean flat bottom (looks factory finished) but as mentioned is only a few threads deep.

Anybody encountered this?

May explain why it was unfired lol.

I have owned well over 50 Rem 700s. All have have been tapped clear through - so one could see the barrel threads.

In my experiance, what you have is NOT the norm.

GB

Do the base screws tighten or are they too long for that hole?

The other three are all good, but the front screw is far too loose with any of the standard screws supplied with any of my variety of bases.

Went through all my old screws and found the shortest screw imaginable, and it’ll just start to snug up when it bottoms out (at ~ 2 1/2 revs)

I've seen bases that use one long screw and one short one and was thinking that perhaps that is what was going on. Hope it get straightened out for you.

Isn’t that because of the thickness of the base rather than varying tap depth in the receiver?

Thanks for the replies

Thinking at this point I’ll have my smith pull the barrel and drill and tap it.

I just can’t imagine Big Green using a blind hole, so hopefully it’s not a broken tap in there.

This is what I was thinking...
Link

No. According to the OP - the front hole of the receiver is "blind" - it was not drilled all the way through the action. That is the issue. Not the base or length of the screw.

I've had to file/grind more than one of those front screws to get it to fit and tighten correctly. But, as you said, you could see the barrel threads through the hole, not a blind hole. I would suggest a competent gunsmith and possible have the 4 holes D&T for 8-40 screws instead of the 6-40 they are now.

You might just try the short screw you mentioned and put a small washer in the base slot, just a thought