Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Pros/Cons of a 243, Rem M7 vs 700

What are the pros & cons:

Mag length, accessories, action length, etc.

Thanks

SW28

Magazine length for the 7 and 700 SA are the same, no advantage.

After-market accessories, 700 wins easily.

Barrel length, 7 will be shorter and 700 will be longer, 22"+, depend on what you want or need.

Jeff

I believe the action is a tad bit shorter on the Model 7 than the SA Model 700.

The rear bridge on the M7 is about .5" shorter than on a 700 so therefore the action is shorter. Mag length is the same on both. There are WAY more accessories for the 700.

Barrels and recoil lugs are interchangable. The M7s tend to be sold in lighter packages (ie skinny and shorter barrels). For the 243, I'd go with a 700, light barrel and use a 700Ti takeoff stock. If you can find them, there are 700 "Mountain Guide" rifles built for Gander Mountain (stainless) and Cabelas (blued). They are made exactly as I describle.

RH

I think the barrel length of the M7 is now 20". My M7 in 7-08 has the 18.5" barrel.
You will find that the M7 is more nimble than the M700 because of the light barrel. This can be mixed blessings depending on the shooting situation. My M7 has a walnut stock but I understand they are mostly using laminated stocks on the M7s now which, according to some of the posters, gives the M7 a decidedly butt heavy feel.
I'd go to a big box gun store and handle each one and let that decide for you.

Is the LOP the same?

I was/am under the impression the 7 was shorter than the 700 1/2" or so.

I think they're both 13-3/8", correct me if I'm wrong.

I think the unbalanced butt heavy feel of the shorter barreled 7 outweighs the slight advantage of shorter barrel clearance/handling.

I love my two accurate 700's. One is an walnut ADL .243 that is a really great hunting rifle. I rebarreled my 7 and like it now.

stumpy

Thanks guys..........I was looking at the new M7 Predator & that has a 22' barrel.

Hard to beat pricing on an SPS, either blue or stainless though.

SW28

I should have known my advice and experience would be outdated. Sounds like a great gun with a 22"!


stumpy

Yep, SPS in either flavor is a great buy today.

And in all honesty, the new stock design is a big improvement over the previous versions.

A McM it ain't, but the (similar) one on my VTR shoots so well, I can't see making a change.

MM