Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best Years for Remington 700 ?

I've owned em from every decade they were made in. Very rare is a Remington 700 that won't or can't be made to shoot extremely well.

Really?? WHAT makes them the "best" functioning Model 700s ever built?

Please, feel free to expound on this...

I have had various 700's over the years and my current go to is a BDL in 7 SAUM. Even after being beat up by a water buffalo which cracked the stock it still shoots better then I can for the most part. (with a new stock of course). Never been bedded and I think once I get a trigger job done it will be even better.
I have never had a bad one and would buy another tomorrow if the price was right.

Mark

Had a few over the years. All were M.O.A. or sub M.O.A. Currently have 3, .270 and 30-06 mountain rifle and a fairly new CDL in 7-08. They all make me look good. If I think for a minute, there are a couple I wouldn't mind having back.

Well I didn't read all the opinions, because I have my own. The late model receivers are machined much better than the earlier ones. Have had several in my receiver truing jig.

I own one, a synthetic stock ADL .270 with iron sights I bought new in 2002. It and my CZ 6.5x55 are easily the most accurate rifles I own. I paid $25.00 to have the trigger adjusted to 3 lbs and put a Pachmayr recoil pad on it.

My only issue is that the bolt handle and knob started rusting soon after I purchased it. I cold blued it and have not had a problem since.

Me too. Bought an SPS 308 Winchester in 2008. It shoots very accurately.

Butch,

A couple other gunsmiths I know say the same thing: The newer 700 receivers take less work, on average, to true up.

I've been buying and using 700's since the early 1970's, but some were used rifles made in the previous decade. I haven't noticed much difference in 700 barrel accuracy in that period, in fact just replaced the shot-out barrel on my 700 .204 Ruger with a brand-new take-off purchased here on the CLassifieds, and it shoots the same load as the old barrel into the same size groups. I also can't see much difference in the quality of 700 barrels with my bore-scope.

John,
I can't give an opinion as the barrels were either not on the receiver or were replaced. I do know that Shilen makes a lot of 17 cal. and 20 cal. barrels for their factory rifles.

I can`t say I ever had a bad one.I did have a 700 Ti that I did not care for as the bolt & action & trigger had a gritty feel to it when you worked the bolt or pulled the trigger.It shot good but I sent it down the road.

Well, that's VERY interesting. Aside from the .204, I have a 700 in .17 Fireball that's VERY accurate.

Before I shot out my first Remington .204 barrel it would put 10 rounds of its favorite load in 3/4" at 100, shot as fast as I could aim well. I decided to replace it when 10-shot groups with the same load opened up to 1-1/4", and this new Remington barrel (purchased from a gunsmith who pulled it off, since a customer wanted a "custom" barrel) shoots just about as well.

The old barrel, by the way, lasted over 1500 rounds, mostly shot on warm summer days at prairie dogs. I did let the rifle cool off occasionally, but mostly it was shot hot. It would still hit most prairie dogs, but the bore-scope showed visible erosion for about 7-8" in front of the chamber, so it wasn't going to hit dogs much longer. The replacement cost $60 o5 $75, I can't remember which.

I have owned a few of the newer SPS Remingtons and I have to agree that generally out of the box accuracy (after some trigger work) has been right around 3/4 of an inch for 5 shot groups. Not bad for Tupperware stocks and not even doing bedding work.

I am not fond of the SPS finish although my latest one (about 3 months ago) has a softer matte on it that does not look like it was bead blasted with gravel.

drover

Late getting back to this:

Where else could one purchase a 5 1/4 pound rifle that would shoot MOA for $900? Purchased a new 7mm/08 and had it rechambered to .284 Win, the smith said the action was as true as anything he had seen. This rifle was the best available for hunting Idaho's steep mountains. I'll agree wooden stock rifles look better but when moving through steep terrain I'm not aware of a better choice in that price range. Used it up to 17,000 feet and really appreciated the light weight there. Looked at a ULA but decided to keep the Ti and bought a second for $950 - I'm WAY ahead.

It would have been clearer in my OP if I had said best function for my type of hunting.

I have 4 M700 currently. A 1982 700 Classic in .257 Rbts, a 1988 Classic in .35 Whelen, a (approx.) 2002 VSS in .22-250 and a 2008 SPS in .270 Win. All of them have been great shooters, better than me in most cases, after a mild trigger job. I agree that the action on the SPS seems a bit "rougher" than the others and the 2 Classics have fairly nice wood/bluing. The 2 Classics "seem" to be a bit more accurate but the VSS has consistently placed 40 gr. Winchester white box ammo into a inch or less since it was new.

Everyone has an opinion. I prefer C series and older. Double bonus for 6 digits!

Had My Fair shair Of Them All. I Also Prefer The C series As Well.

260Remguy: My experiences and observations closely match yours.
I have been shooting Remington 700 Rifles since the 1960's and I also have NEVER had a need for warranty work or factory repair type work on any 700.
And after firing many tens of thousands of rounds through my 700's I have as yet to incur a "missfire" or "accidental discharge"!
I currently own 34 (thirty four) Remington 700's from 17 caliber on up through 30 caliber.
I also own Remington 700's from all decades of production - I am not worthy to comment on the machining tolerances maintaining or diminishing over those decades BUT I am qualified to assess/review the accuracy and dependability of the newer 700's versus the older 700's.
The dependability is the same - superb in all generations!
The accuracy (in my extensive experience!) has NOT diminished at all, over the decades!
In fact I think it has improved on average from very good to excellent!
Let me give an example - earlier this year I bought a Remington 700 SPS Varmint (on sale and had a rebate!) in caliber 223 Remington. I precision mounted a Weaver V-16 (4 to 16 power variable) scope on it, did a quick trigger job on it and headed for the range with some new brass handloads (a known and trusted loading for this caliber).
THE first group (five shots at 100 yards!) after barrel break in and sight in measured .307"!
Let me add that this "original" group was fired with new brass handloads, factory stock and cheap Rifle, with a 16 power scope and was made with Varmint appropriate (non-BR type) bullets!
I also own MANY other Remington centerfire bolt action Rifle Models including 721's, 722's, 788's, 40X's, 7's and XR-100's.
Dittoes on the top notch reliability, safety and GOOD to EXCELLENT accuracy I get with all of these Rifles.
I am a BIG "Big Green" proponent/advocate, and have been for right at half a century now.
I do have reservations about some of Remingtons policies and production decisions and of recent their pricing policiy has me seeking out used 700's more and more often.
I see you are a 260 Remington "kind of guy" - I have an extremely consistent 700 VLS Rifle in caliber 260 Remington and it consistently shoots groups (5 shots at 100 yards) in the 4's on no wind days at my range!
In full disclosure this Rifle does have a Leupold 6.5x20 power variable scope on it to aid in the great accuracy - again my groups are all shot with Hunting type bullets in a factory stock Rifle.
I have recommended Remington 700 Rifles for 40 years now - to new Varmint and Big Game Hunters (who ask of me for recommendations) and many of those folks have bought 700's, I have as yet NOT heard a complaint from any of them.
I say the "best years for Remington 700's" are ANY years!
Any year Model 700 you find a "good deal" on I am sure you
will be happy with the money you invest - and I call it an investment because Remington 700's are VERY easy to resell should the need arise and value of Remington 700's (if cared for PROPERLY!) has virtually always appreciated for me.
Again I have NOT gone for as many full "retail" purchases in the last couple of years as I used to.
Remingtons asking prices of recent have really gone up!
Long live Big Green and the Model 700!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I have 3 700's, all in 300 Winmag. Two of them are from the mid 60's with the stainless/blued barrel. Wanting a true weather proof gun, for the rigors of Alaska, I bought a 700 XCR II a few years ago. Got it home and was adjusting the trigger with the set screw. About the third time I racked the bolt to cycle the action, the bolt handle fell on the floor. To say the least I was pissed. Took it to a local authorized repair shop, who said they would look into rebrazing the handle back on..... I insisted they send it back to Remington, which they did. Have used it on the Alaska trip and a Utah hunt successfully but really have a bad attitude towards Remingtons now. In fact I am leaning towards older guns right now. I really dislike the cross bolt safeties in lever guns...OK, that'e enough....

Bought my son his first centerfire, a new M700 Classic .30-06 made in or near 1980.

Fortunately, I got it at a good sale price.

The bolt had steel chips inside and the firing pin was bent. There wasn't even minimal polishing of the action under the stock line.

The stock wasn't symmetrical where it should be in a classic, i.e. the flutes were off center. Finish looked like pigskin, like the stock had been sprayed and rolled in sawdust.

My son kept the action, but replaced the barrel and stock over the years.

Older isn't always better. I've been a consumer for about 70 years, since I first handed my coins over a counter. There has been no shortage of crap made in the good old USofA, including by big name companies. Certain vehicles come to mind.

Caveat emptor is always good advice.

Paul

From a purely nostalgic point, the best years of the 7XX series of rifles ended with the 725; man, that was a quality rifle - maybe not as accurate as the 700, but bank-vault solid quality.