Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles How are the new Remington 700's???

Like a dummy, I sold my pet 700 BDL last year. It was close to 10 years old and I regret it daily. So, I gotta replace it. I want another 700BDL just because I like the 22" barrel on std cartridges better. I has replace the j-lock with a new shroud and had a smith tune and adjust the trigger. I am not against buying a used one but really want a new one. I have a couple of questions:

1. How is the x mark pro trigger? Being externally adjustable would save a trip to the smith if it will really go down to 3 pounds.

2. How is the quality? I know Remington is for sale I have read some of the QC has been spotty but I am looking for real world use from owners of late model rifles.

3. Do they still have the j-lock thing?

I know there are lots of other rifles out there but I love the way a 700 feels and they seem to fit me better than my Ruger. Looking for a little help...

I was in the same boat awhile back and ended up getting a new model 70 Winchester. I think Remingtons of late are not as good as the older ones and vise versa for Winchester IMO...

I looked at the Rem. 700 CDL SF but went with a Sako Tecomate.

The Remington that I looked at had defects in the flutes on the fluted barrel.

Bought a .223 SPS last year; shoots GREAT. The X-Mark is ok. Serviceable once adjusted. I say that as a trigger snob. No J-lock.

Bought a Sendero I guess 4 years ago and it also shoots well. However, the chamber had a burr that was a PITA until I figured it out. That was a little disturbing.

I'd look hard at their XCR line.... I have one from 6-7 years ago and love it. The new ones are black colored which is even better. Upgrade the stock someday if you want to make it even cooler (though the standard stock feels and shoots great on my rifle). Just a thought.

Others have a lot of good material.

Bullshit. This is the same bullshit I heard ten years ago and ten years before that and so on and so forth. And when Winchester came out with the new Featherweights in 1981, "people" were making the same bullshit statements then about Winchester making a good gun "finally" and Remington's quality had slipped and it wasn't what it was twenty and thirty years before, etc.

The bdl 700s they are putting out now are probably just as good as ones in years past, the reason I say probably is bc any of them could have a problem, but they more than likely wont, the sps and the adl that they are producing have crap for finish and have rough bolt movement, however the ones I have bought have shot fine. Buy the bdl you will be pleased

I have worked over a couple for guys lately that they bought this fall when we got home from out last deployment. So far they are all sub-minute guns with the right ammo after proper scope mounting, bedding, and trigger jobs. Both were SPS .308 Winchesters.

My only issue with some of Remington's models is what they cost these days.

The M700's of the last few years generally shoot as well as the best of the old ones--this seems to be especially true of the heavy barrels.

Fit and finish is noticably better--especially in the cheaper grades like the current SPS/ADL vs the matte/synthetic ADL from ten years ago.

The era from roughly 1998 thru 2009 are the ones that I have seen the most QC issues.

When Cerebus bought Remington in the late 90's, it took a while, but it seems to me access to cheaper money for financing helped Remington QC and development of products.

Cerebus just announced in the last couple weeks it is trying to sell Freedom Works (which owns Remington, Marlin, Bushmaster, etc).

Casey

More pointless, anecdotal BULLSHIT. I've heard this era was better than that era, but this other era was WAY better than ANY of those eras, blah, blah, blah, BULLSHIT. The quality and any perceived quality control "issues" -- which are primarily in the heads of Internet posters and gun shop wags -- has and have largely remained the same for all post-WWII Remington products.

Nobody -- and I mean NO-F*CKING-BODY -- has been able to provide any sort of statistical data, warranty return data or anything that would in any way prove that Remington quality has gone up or down in any given era or timeframe. It's always this anecdotal HORSESHIT of "I've seen," "I've heard," "In my opinion," or some other larded-up nonsense.

I doubt most of the opinion bloviators would know the difference in any Remington 700 based on how it shot even if the damned rifle bit them in the ass.

If you were on here 10 years ago when you bought your j-lock remington you would have read all about how those remington 700's were such a piece of crap you wouldn't have bought it.

I was around then, too, dummy. The J-lock and whatever bonehead created it didn't have a damned thing to do with the end quality of the rifle. If you'd had your head out of your ass ten years ago -- or even now -- you'd understand that.

I bought a couple M700s in the last 3 years. A 700SPS-DM SS in .308, and a 700ADL-SS in .270. Both have shot well, and are OK.

I bought a 700 ADL .300 WM back in May, and I am having feeding problems with it. I called up Remington, and they said it sounds like the internal magazine, so they sent me a new one, only made the problem worst. After taking the rifle apart, the casing will barely fit into the chamber with loading from the blind magazine. I finally found a gunsmith yesterday locally and talked to him about it. He suggests that polishing the magazine and action with a dremel and the polishing area, should slick it up quite a bit and help out. Going to give it a try and see what happens in the next coupld of weeks. My older BDL DM, slickest action I own and the most accurate rifle I own.

I've got tons of experience with the 700's and other than some easily fixable feeding issues on some, I've never had a bad one.

bought 2 in the last year and a half , SPS Tactical that is .5 moa gun with a Timney on it and BC stock , and a SPS 308 that I'm still trying different loads for to get it to shoot less than 1.5 MOA. X-Mark trigger can be funtional but good luck getting the epoxy crap off the allen heads to be able to adjust.

I bought a new 700 Varmiter in 243 this summer..It has a mat finish..Had my gunsmith set the trigger for 2.5 pounds, no j lock..It shoots great..Over the years most of my varmit style Rems. were in .222 or .22-250..I have no complaints about this new Remington..Most of my rifles have been rebarreled to suit me..But this factory barrel is a great shooter...

I have several Remingtons. Some dating back to the late 80s and some as new as this year. My opinions and observations are this:

1) The late 80s Remingtons had nice blued finish and nice wood/metal fit. Accuracy is around 1MOA out of the box.
2) An LTR I bought around '05 is an accurate setup (~ 1/2-3/4 MOA) but the camming on the bolt is way off. Never could get the trigger adjusted properly due to creep.
3) Newer Remingtons in the last couple of years seem to be machined better (i.e. primer strikes are centered, engravings on barrel look to be laser etched). However, I'm not a fan of the matte blued finishes. X-Mark triggers suffice after being adjusted but they are no Shilen.

Sixpack: I finally got to shoot one of the two newish Remington 700's I bought two weeks ago.
This Rifle is a Remington 700 SPSV-SS.
I bought it from a rich eccentric friend of mine who goes through Rifles like water.
He fired it just about 150 times and relayed to me that it was the best shooting 223 he had ever owned accuracy wise.
Why he wanted to sell it is known only to him!
Well I mounted a Weaver V-16 (variable 4 to 16 power) on it and headed to the range.
It was 12 degrees with a slight tail wind when I got it somewhat sighted in. Then I fired one 5 shot group there at 100 yards that measured .307"!
Yeah this 700 shoots.
The trigger is simply EXCELLENT on this Rifle (I assume my friend adjusted it?) with no "J" lock - I think they have been out of style for 8 or 10 years now.
I enjoy the fit and feel of Remington 700's (Varminters especially) myself and always recommend them to friends and new shooters.
My local co-op feed store/hardware store/gas station has a small firearms selection in the corner of their huge building - they have 3 Remington 700 SPS-V's in caliber 204 Remington priced at $459.00 with a $40.00 rebate in effect until 12/31/2,012.
That is a good buy on a good solid Varminter ($409.00 after rebate).
I could personally not care less if the surface finish of the 700's metal is not as "shiney" as a Weatherby MarkV!
In fact I prefer the matte finish to the high gloss finish of the Weatherby MarkV or the shiney Sako's.
The new Remington 700's (and I own a BUNCH of them) shoot rather well IME.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Bushrat: I think I have two Remington 700's with the "J" lock feature on them.
One I know for sure is a Remington 700 Classic in 223 Remington - it shoots well and looks nice and I have had no trouble with it.
The best group (5 shots at 100 yards) I have made with it to date measures .659".
And for some reason I fired a 3 shot 100 yard group with it a couple of years ago (something I very seldom do in the Varmint calibers - maybe I was low on ammo that day or rounding out a "row" of fired cases in my cartridge box?) that measured .251"!
Or maybe I was so impressed with the tiny three shot cluster with that sporter weight Rifle I decided to quit while I was ahead.
I am guessing I was just verifying sight in that day and stopped at three rounds fired.
Anyway I have been happy with this Rifle and its somewhat unsightly "J" lock feature.
Are you unhappy with the "J" lock era Remington 700's for the unsightliness, unusefullness of the "J" lock or do you have other complaints from that era.
By the way I only have a 4x12 Leupold variable scope on this Remington 700 Classic (for your information in evaluating my accuracy attainment with this Rifle).
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy