Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Pros and Cons of a Remington 722?

What are the pros and cons of a Remington 722. I am looking at one in 222 with a 26" barrel.

How are they different than a 700?
What are their weaknesses?

1. The action, trigger and stock are cheap and junky.

2. The cartridge is obsolete, handloading would work.

3. The rifle is heavier than what the little 222 can use but if you like it?

What with no checkering, that cheap bent trigger guard and the brazed together bolt, junk extractor and their reputation for accidents I would not take one again for free.

Every 722 and 721 I have had was a great rifle. They tend to be very accurate. I never had a extractor problem. There not fancy, but a great old rifle that usually was more accurate than pre-64 model 70's .... And always more accurate than a Savage 99 ! LOL

LOL,

The only 72X I ever owned was the 222 I got in 1953 as a gift. When I got my own job I bought a new M70 243 in 1957. I had been 'working' part time in my late dad's tool and die shop and we had a South Bend at home as well. The 72x did not look like a 'Bridgeport' if you will.

The M70 did! Its a class act rifle wise. Sure the 722 was accurate. I shot a couple of deer and hundreds of chucks with it. I bought 40X's for target and M70's, 99's and later others for what we buy guns for.

I just don't admire the 7xx design as good machinery.

DakotaDeer,

The 722's (and long-action 721's) are essentially earlier versions of the 700. The trigger can be adjusted in the same way, to a very fine pull, and some people think the barrels were even better than the average 700 barrel. At any rate, the 722's tend to be extremely accurate, as has already been mentioned. I inherited my grandmother's 722 in .257 Roberts, and it was the first big game rifle I ever handloader for that would consistently group 5 shots well under an inch--and that was with 100-grain Nosler Partitions.

They are also close enough to the short-action 700 that any stock for the 700 will fit them. There will need to be some work done on the barrel channel, due to the rear sight "lump" on the 722 barrel, but other than that they pretty much drop right in. You can either use the 722 in an ADL (blind magazine) stock, or fit a BDL floorplate if desired. But many people leave them as-is.

The one real weakness is that if the extractor breaks, there aren't any new replacements. Some people solve the problem by fitting a 700 bolt, while others look for a used extractor. But I've owned a few 722's other than my grandmother's and never had an extractor break (just as I've never had a 700 extractor break in thens of thousands of rounds), and one of my rifles was a .222 that got used for quite a bit of prairie dog shooting. So the chances of breaking an extractor are pretty slim.

I had an extractor break on a 700 and know of one other. Circumstances for both were the same - both broke shortly after the bolt was reblued.

Solution: don't reblue the bolt.

Interesting. Or at least don't reblue the bolt with the extractor on it!

Good rifles, I killed my first deer [1949] with one [.257 Roberts] and have shot one in .222 rem a lot, no problems..my son has a 722 257 roberts that I restocked about 25 years ago for him..he dosen't hunt with too much anymore...but has and has killed quite a bit of game with it.

highridge1,

I don't remember a thing you typed, but your avatar is outstanding!

What John said.

I have never really cared for the 26" barrels on the 222s, 222Ms, or 244s, but that is due to the long barrels making for a cumbersome rifle, not for any accuracy issues. I tend to "stone soup" the 722s that I haven't bought as donor actions, by taking basic factory specs 722s and then swapping the barreled actions into 700 stocks with 700 BDL bottom metal.

If the price is right, go for it, but remember that it has a 1-14" ROT barrel, so 40 and 50 grain bullets are probably the best options.

JEff

I might look into it. I am thinking that a little 222 with a long 26" barrel with a slow 14 twist would be just the ticket for a prairie dog rifle. I only shoot 40 grainers anyway, and like the idea of a long barrel for less blast and more velocity, but abhor heavy guns.

Plus, they are old enough, with enough patina, to look 'cool' regardless of condition.

I can't remember the last time that I didn't use a heavy barrel rifle or fired a round farther than 50' from the vehicle while pdog shooting.

JEff

One other thing you need to do to fit one into a 700 stock is to remove some wood around the safety as the 722 safeties are shorter and thicker than the 700s. As far as the stock goes the lack of checkering doesn't bother me as they seem to fit me pretty well, if a stock fits right checkering won't be necessary, if it doesn't fit checkering won't help. I have 722s in 222,22PPC, 243, 244, and 257 Roberts and like them all. I have found that the 222 doesn't always feed right, I think it would benefit from BDL magazine box, follower, and bottom metal.

I still have 3 722s; a standard grade 257, a deluxe grade 257, and a 257 that has been had the barrel set back and rechambered in 25-284. The standard grade has been "BDL'd" with a 700 BDL stock and bottom metal. The 25-284 has been "ADL'd" with a 700 ADL stock and trigger guard. I also have 725s in 222 and 244 in their original factory specs, but don't recall that I've shot either them in more than a decade.

JEff

My BIL picked up a 722 in 222 that had been cut down into
a youth model at a yard sale for a very good price. He uses
it for fox calling and turkey in the fall. It shoots very
well, whoever did the job knew what they were doing.

I bought a 1953 "B" model 722 (high grade wood and checkering) in .222 a while back and although it's a little heavy with its 26" barrel it still shoots like crazy; five shots in less than 1/2" with Sierra's 40 gr B/king at 3400 fps. The extra weight helps steady your hold sorta like a heavy barrel.

As far as extractors go, you can find them on G/broker from time to time.
__________
NRA Life,Endowment,Patron or Benefactor since '72.

I was lucky to be able to buy Mike Walker's 722 in 257 Roberts last year at the Super Shoot as well as his Mod 37. Both came with wonderful wood as Mike said he did have his pick of the lumber. He had both of them built with shorter barrels. One of his perks I guess.
Butch

Cool!

Just posted a photo of the Mod 37 on the gunsmithing forum.
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...pictures_of_unknown_22_rifle#Post5053775
Butch

Were there two "grades" of 722--one the plain jane and one with decent wraparound checkering?

I saw a checkered one on an auction site, but maybe somebody did it themselves.