Ran across one of these today in a local gunshop with $289 on the price tag. It has had the stock altered, and a gross red rubber buttpad installed. No major rust on it and still has factory open sights on it. Bore looks clean, and rifling looks sharp.

Is it worth the asking price?

Keith

Yes.

Dennis

I'll second that...

Pretty sure you could find another stock for it under 300 bucks if you really looked. Also sure you could fit it in a Mickey with some work

I'd be all over it. I wouldn't put that classic barreled action in a plastic stock. It deserves wood. A 700ADL stock can be made to work with a Dremel tool in about 5 minutes.

Well I do have a dentist appointment in the morning so guess I'll swing by there and see if it's still on the shelf. I currently don't own an 06. Figured I would just finish my hunting life witht he .300 Win Mag and the .270 WSM for my hunting needs.

Have to admit it was kinda cool looking down that barrel at the open sights....

Thanks for all the help!
Keith

The only problem with the .30-06, is that you don't need anything else.

Snag it.

Buy it immediately.Well worth the price.I've yet to see one that wasn't accurate.

Not withstanding the POS stock on the rifle, the barreled action alone is worth far more than $289. I'd snag it in a heartbeat.

Don

If your buying that obsolete rifle for the amusement of it or perhaps to resell just for fun then ok. Otherwise the 721/722 is not a good design for hunting.

They have that dinky extractor, the brazed on bolt handle, the brazed on locking lug section on the bolt body and lack CRF. That design only has a trigger safety and one that locks the bolt closed so that you can't even unload a hot round from the chamber with the trigger safety on!

Thus for hunting the 721/722 is nothing to build on. Nor do I have one or want one.

Definition of a dumbazz post, right there.

My oldest hunting pard has never owned a rifle besides his 721 in 30-06,my wife has been shooting her 722 in a 257 Bob for about thirty years.
Stuff keeps dying reliably in front of both of them...
I'm confused....
Ingwe

I had one in .30-06 and it was a good shooter. I originally bought it for my son to use. It was just too long and too heavy for me, so I let it go and replaced it with a Winchester 670 carbine.

A good gunsmith can replace the extractor with a Sako extractor for about $150. I sent my 722 to Tim McWhorter for the job. It's not my opening-morning rifle, but I really like it. I just can't decide whether to keep it as-is, or customize it in some manner. BTW, I contacted McMillan, and they make all their Remington stocks to fit the 721/722, or a 700 stock will work with a little grinding here and there.

I mentioned specific features of the 721/722's that "are not a good design for hunting". If those features don't matter to you then remain happy.

To add that my first centerfire hunting rifle was a Rem. 722 in .222R. With it I shot many chucks and my first deer. The rifle got by and I replaced it when I found designs that I liked better for specific reasons.

I also used and still have a Rem. 40X free rifle in 6mm Intl. which I have won many matches with. For that use the rifle is fine.

Last 721 I bought I paid $300.00 for and felt I did well.

Previous posts not withstanding, I've owned several 721's and one 722 over the years and not one has failed me. Went bang every time and kept the freezer full. While there are better rifles out there, the 721 is no slouch.

You'd be hard pressed to find a better reason to spend $289.00.

If they don't malfunction in the field ( and they haven't) then I'm happy!
But on the same vein, I've never encountered a plethora of other problems I keep hearing about...extractors on m700s,bolt handles coming off, etc......so maybe I've just been lucky ( that hasn't carried on to other facets of life neccessarily!)
Long as I'm on it, I just found and bought my wife a 722 in .222 in minty shape, and it shoots so well, I can see where the cartridge got its reputation...
Ingwe

"This Waterbuck was one of the excellent trophies that Robert Ruark (R) collected with Harry Selby (L) on his first safari to Tanganyika in 1951. This safari resulted in Ruark's book, 'Horn of the Hunter'."
http://gabrimaun.tripod.com/HarrySelby.html

Yeah, those Remington 721 rifles aren't worth a darn for hunting.

-Bob F.

A 722 in 222 would have to be the thing for bear protection on cruise ships...

Better than a 41 magnum?

I like cruise ships. Maybe they are not the best design for big bears.

Have you ever actually owned and used a 721 or 722 and had all those problems with it, or are you just quoting something you believe to be the case?

Like many others here, I've used a 722 for a long time -- 25+ years -- and have never ever had a single problem with it. My Ruger 77 tang safety rifles also lock the bolt on safety -- and for someone who actually knows how to handle a rifle -- that's not a problem either.

Dennis

Please read my post above where I wrote that I had shot many chucks with a 722 ...

My late dad bought me that 722 in .222R. along with a complete reloading set, a Lyman Eze Loader. The rifle had a Lyman 6X Wolverine scope on it in Buehler mounts.

That was on my birthday in 1953. With that rifle I shot my first deer in Vermont that fall.

Yes...but did it suffer all those flaws you are so concerned about?

Dennis

I currently have at least 3 721s here, a couple 30-06 and a 300H&H I let DaninAK talk me out of. I also have one getting a 358Norma barrel screwed on... They have actually been used. I am still waiting for the first failure...

In my view the features that I mentioned are important and matter to me.

For instance if I were handloading some ammo for a 722 and wanted to check the feeding and chambering of the loads in my basement could it be done with the 722 on safe?

No it cannot!

What if a trigger was pulled on a loaded 722 when it was on safe and then the safety was pushed off? Might the rifle fire then?

Its only a trigger safety.

Those are human behavior flaws, not rifle flaws.

I rest my case.

Dennis

I prefer designs like I mentioned. Of course a 721 will blast just about anything.

Is it the best design for most of us? I say not!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Compelling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Could you test function with a 721 on safe? Of course you Could. Would I load ANY rifle with ANY safety to check function inside? Never! It takes but a second to jerk the firing pin out. I have never left any rifle loaded in the safe.

That is going for a visit with Carl Yastrzemski... At the track...

Good point on taking the firing pin out but someone may not do it. Just loading it is easier.

I don't understand your quip about Yaz?



"Yaz," is a former American Major League Baseball player. Yastrzemski played his entire 23-year career with the Boston Red Sox, primarily as a left fielder, with part of his later career played at first base and as a designated hitter. Yastrzemski is an 18-time all-star, the possessor of seven Gold Gloves, a member of the 3000 hit club, and the first American League player in that club to also accumulate over 400 home runs. He is second on the all-time list for games played, and third for total at-bats. He is the Red Sox' all-time leader in career RBIs, runs, hits, singles, doubles, total bases, and games played, and is second on the ......."

To visit Yaz would require a trip to left field, no? Especially as I clarified it with "at the track". Suggesting your points really have merit in a hunting rifle is going into left field...

Savage_99: I have Hunted with Remington 721's and 722's for several decades now!
Not only are they reliable and accurate Rifles they are kind of handsome and simple.
I have as yet to experience my first failure OF ANY KIND with any of my 721's, 722's or 725's that I have owned to DATE!
You could NOT be more wrong in your ill informed assessment!
The first BIG clue to your bogus analysis is that you don't own one!
I have one friend that loves to Hunt Deer, Bear and Elk with his 721's, and he owns a bundle of them, mostly in calibers 270, 30/06 and 300 H&H Magnum - he also has never mentioned a failure with any of his Rifles.
This fellow also owns 721's and 722's in several other calibers including 222 Remington, 244 Remington (I sold him this Rifle), 280 Remington, 300 Savage, 264 Winchester Magnum, 257 Roberts and 222 Remington Magnum - he has shot many of these later Remingtons but does not Hunt with them nowadays due to their current HIGH VALUES.
I have another friend that Hunts with and PREFERS to Hunt with 721's and 722's. In fact he bought each of his 3 sons a 722 in caliber 257 Roberts.
Those three sons have now killed enough Big Game with their Rifles to fill a large semi-truck, TWICE!
The game they have harvested with their Remingtons in 257 Roberts include Black Bear, Mt. Goat, Elk, Blacktailed Deer, Antelope, Whitetailed Deer, Cougar, Mule Deer and countless Coyotes!
Savage_99, point your firearm in a safe direction NO MATTER WHAT you think the safety is supposed to do!
You could NOT be further off base with your bogus inferences!
Just go to a gunshow and find a Remington 721 or 722 on a table and keep an eye on how much "interest" that arm brings!
And the prices they sell for!
Sheesh!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I would buy it and quick...

Not one on GB right now in that price range. I like that model and you can have it re blued, etc and it would look sweet! I saw a couple pics of one with peeps on it in 30-06 and it looked real cool. Go buy it, put a couple bucks in it maybe a new trigger and enjoy the hunting!

CLB

Be not swayed by the nay-sayers in left field.
I currently have seven Remington 722's, and all but one are 3 shot, 1/2" group at 100 yards rifles. I'd be into 721's also if it wasn't for personal recoil issues. But, in 1951, I traded my Rem 722 in 300 Savage I bought in 1949, for a 721 in 30-06. Back then, I shot both of those fine rifles a lot, for everything from wood chucks up to Deer as I could only afford one rifle back then. Never had any problem with those rifles, or the 722's I now have.
In fact, last Thursday I was out testing loads for one of the 722/222 Magnums I have. One load, with Berger 50 grain Varmint bullets, shot a .147" group at 100 yards for 3 shots; this with a completely stock factory rifle built 50 years ago. All I did to that rifle was clean it well, and flush out the trigger, resetting its pull weight to 2 1/2 pounds, down from the 5+ pounds when I bought the rifle.
I use a 20x scope for all load developing.
If you want, I can tell you about groups I shot with each of my 722's in 222 Rem also.

Don

Well, due to budget constraints I am not able to afford this rifle at the current moment in time. If any of my fellow campfire members would like to inquire about the rifle the name of the shop is S&G Shooters supply and the number is 231-755-3863. It's located in Michigan.

Good luck to all....

Keith

The Sako extractor mod is dangerous and should not be undertaken. I'd have like to have had it myself, but I just bought 2 more 700s.

"The Sako extractor modification is dangerous and should not be undertaken."

Another ill informed, hearsay opinion.

Complete and utter BS.

The concept of it being an improvement is at least equally ridiculous...

Perhaps so, but "dangerous" it's not.

When figuring that gunsmiths like Bryant Custom, David Tubb, Karl Feldcamp, American Precision Arms, and a host of other top flight 'smiths can and will do the Sako extractor conversion perhaps speaks to the utter BS of the conversion being dangerous. Figuring that those guys have forgotten more about rifles than most of us know, that they work on more in a year than most of us do in a lifetime, and that EVERY ONE of the rifles that leaves their shop carries their name and liability with it.........

If it was "dangerous", would they do it and risk everything?

Doubtful. At best.

Exactly, my smith, "Bobby" Hart has done thousands for his shop and for other smith's as well. Total BS that it's dangerous.

If you don't mind that extractor passing through your head then it isn't a problem. It's dangerous, and unnecessary!

Prove it.

Prove I'm wrong. There is a gap there for the extractor to pass through in the event of faliure. It's dangerous.

Proving a negative, is impossible.

Prove that it's dangerous; that's your assertion, and if true, one that could be proven with empirical facts.

The fact is, the mod leaves a gap through which the extractor can pass in the event of a failure. It' dangerous and unnecessary. Remington extractors do not fail at any greater rate than any other design.

Prove that it's dangerous.

It's your assertion, and one that you have yet to prove. The assertion by itself flies in the face of the evidence to the contrary of the conversion being done by too many high end, reputable 'smith.

Where's the actual proof of the danger in the conversion? If you have such, post it.

Theory or guesses, don't suffice.

There is no evidence to the contrary. The gap is there. The Sako extractor in a Rem 700 creates a pressure relief in the side of the bolt and if you happen to have a case failure, it creats a dangerous gas relief port as opposed to utilizing the ports designed into the 700 action. This installation defeats the "3 rings of steel" system that the 700 is designed around.

So, you're saying that you have no evidence that it is, in fact, dangerous, correct?

No, you are saying that.

I am asking you for evidentiary proof that the conversion is, in fact, dangerous.

Do you have such factual evidence?

Yes, please see previous post.

And, you have proof of the dangerousness of the conversion related to actual instances of the conversion causing failures and/or injury?

What you posted, is theory. Without evidence to support the theory, it no more proves or disproves any position than does Icarus theorizing that wooden wings and feathers can help man fly.

Swamper, what you said was that the extractor could somehow fly back through the bolt face, bolt head, bolt nose, bolt raceway(s) and stick in the shooters head. Please explain how this happens. Of course a proven incident of this happening would be most helpful as well. I would, however, state that the conversion isn't really necessary.

Looks like it's a pretty common failure.....

http://www.benchrest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59435

If you took the time to read the threads you cited, you will see that in some cases, the wrong size extractor was installed. Did I really need to say that the installation needed to be done correctly? Can you explain why every custom action made off the 700 design utilizes this dangerous extractor. Hint, it has nothing to do with the position of the installation.


I'll be waiting for you to google up some more knowledge.

It's your face. Mine doesn't need any imbedded bits of metal in it. A knowledgeable gunsmith won't do it. I read all the post. I've been reading about how dangerous this mod is for years.

I'm not trying to convince myself that a stupid mod, is a good safe mod. That would be you.

http://www.bryantcustom.com/faq.htm#21

Welding scopes bases to the reciever is probably safer than relying on screws as well.

The 721 and 722 are popular rifles and have been around for a long time and most have given good service..I grew up with a 722 in 257 Robts, but sold it to have enough money to enter the bronc riding at the RCA rodeo in El Paso, Texas, about 1953, lost the gun and the bronc riding the same day!

I don't disagree with what Savage 99 said, as he is correct and I know that if you break an extractor they are hard to replace, and I know that there are pros and cons on about any rifle design..the faults mentioned are there, how bad are they, not terribly but they are never the less there.

I certainly see no reason not to bring these weaknesses to light, it is in fact a service and a source of knowledge if its correct and in this case he was..

Will I continue to use them, I sure will and I have never had one fail, but they have failed as suggested and Rem. has had more law suits over trigger failure than any other firearms company or so I have been led to believe...

There is room for everyones opine on these blogs IMO....

In other words, no, Swampman700 has no actual, evidentiary proof that the conversion is dangerous.

Good to know.

Next?

Are you blind? If you want to kill yourself, go ahead. There's tons of evidentiary proof that as usual I'm right again. Do you need some more pictures of blown up rifles? Pieces of extractor and receiver going through a metal door...hello?

The Sako extractor mod is the bomb!

Where's your proof, as you haven't put it up there yet.

Personally, I could take or leave the modification, but I'm also not making unsubstantiated claims as to it's safety. You are.

Buy it (if you haven't already). You can find M721 stocks on ebay for less than $200, probably less than $100.

My dad hunted with a M721 for 15 years begining in the mid 50's. Between the two of us, we own seven M721's/722's.

If yo want to make that M721 into a serious hunting rifle, I'd find an original stock for show, and buy a synthetic stock for hunting--the original stocks have a fair amount of drop at the heel, and with the original style hard rubber/steel/aluminum pad, can dish out a fair amount of felt recoil even in a 30-06.


Casey

You know......I currently have 14 M700's/721's/722's. I have a late 70's M700 Classic that I've run around 3000 rounds through it--mostly full-house hunting rounds. Those rifles have been carried on horseback in a scabbard, bounced off trees, backpack hunted, and bounced around in the pickup--I've never had a bolt handle break off, never had an extractor break.

Maybe it's just good karma..........


Casey

Maybe we can get Karl Feldkamp (Kampfeld Customs) to comment on this, as he's a member here, one of the best 'smiths in the business, and someone who actually does the conversion upon request.

I have a feeling that your "proof" will go "poof", just as fast as it would, if you bothered to actually read your "proof".

Again, "proof", you've not provided. Theory, yes. Conjecture, yes. Proof, no.

Proof of what?--that none of my bolts or extractors have ever broke?

Some folks can't figure out how to unload the blind box magazine without fully cycling the bolt either.........

I've shown clients how to "pop" the shell out of the magazine--they were surprised it could be done that way..........


Casey

alpinecrick,

I believe VAnimrod meant to reply to Swampman700. They've been having a little ongoing "discussion" in this thread.

Cheers!
-Bob F.

Casey;

BFaucett's reply hit it; mine reply wasn't to you, but to Swampman700.

BTW - is there something in the water in SC that precludes an understanding of "proof"? First Liar 24's mythical M70 .375H&H rollstamped "Made in Columbia, S.C.", and now this.

If pictures of blown up 700s that have been ruined by the Sako extractor mod isn't proof enough, I don't know what else to say.

Is it hard to breath with your head in the sand?

More likely it's because they are stock. Letting "gunsmiths" booger them up, is the quickest way to ruination.

Did ya miss read the fact that the modifications were done improperly?

More importantly, the person who had the extractor problem stated that it was "strictly a reloading error" on his part. Of course Swamp already knew that. Anything can fail and adding human error to the problem doesn't make this a "common" occurrence.

Both of you are completely missing the point. A gas relief port is created where there shouldn't be one. The bolt's strength is completely compromised. Go back and carefully read those post. The mod is very dangerous & very unnecessary. You've seen, and rejected the proof.

You completely missed the point; it ain't the conversion, it's the [bleep] up of the conversion.

And, again, you still haven't posted a single shred of proof.

I'm not missing any point that you are trying to make. You stated that it was a "common" failure. It is not by any stretch of your imagination. One of the gunsmiths that you have cited said it was "a one in a million occurrence". If that's what you call common, start playing the lotto. I DO agree that the mod is not necessary.

Necessary or not, ain't point.

Still waiting on "proof" that it's dangerous.

I'm thinking I'll see Liar24's mythical M70 first...........

Posting pics of blown apart actions only illustrates the real point of catastrophic case failure due to human failure. They didn't become unglued from having a Sako extractor installed.

Yes they did, you can't blow up a 700 Remington with 100,000 PSI loads.

You've seen the proof,& you know it. Just admit you're wrong.

Sorry for being a little slow. I didn't realize that you are just trolling. Have a great day.

It's up to you what you do with the facts. I just hate to see fine rifles ruined.

Numerous examples provided. Google it yourself, or just keep acting stupid.

Since what would constitute proof of the conversion itself being dangerous is so apparently unclear to you, I'll help.

If you can provide proof of the conversion failing and resulting in an actual or potentially harmful event, when the conversion was otherwise installed properly and the loads factory loaded to SAAMI spec, or handloaded likewise, then you have proof and I'll admit that you've proven the point.

Thus far, you've cited instances of improperly performed conversions and handloading errors, none of which proving that the conversion itself is dangerous.

Does this clear it up any for you as to what would constitute proof, and what you need to show to prove your point?

This thread has lost all its validity in a meaningless head butting..

The topic was never about extractors being customized in the first place, it was about the Rem Models 721 and 722 design. So we have a back door hijacking of the thread, close to the subject perhaps, but on Ceeegar.

The addition of Sako extractors is something that has been done for years as a custom feature on Remington rifles..Both views have been stated, so its up to the individual to make his own decision on the conversions safety and it is good this has been stated in case it is dangerous but todate nobody has got a bolt stuck between their eyes as far as I know from this conversion? Sometimes a design flaw is based on probability and nothing more, like maybe it could happen, but never has, in which case if we accepted it as fact then we would all still be chipping flint.:)

I don't know who is right or who is wrong, but about all has been said that can be said on the subject.

The thread hasn't lost its validity to me, because I had that Sako extractor conversion done to my 722, and if it's dangerous, I want to know about it.

Getting back to the question.

I would buy it in a heartbeat. I have a 721 and 722 and love them both. Very accurate!

ddj

YES!

I was talking to Urban Rahoi last night. He is a registered guide who guides at his lodge at Ptarmigan Lake near Kluane National Park in the Alaska side which is a Preserve thus open to hunting.
Urban has guided there continuously since 1949.
He said that in all of his time guiding he used one gun that didn't fail a model 721 30/06 with a 2X Lyman Alaskan. Urban said that it was accurate to about 400 yards and finished numerous grizzlies hit by clients.

He still guides with it. He says he is slower now at the age of 92 but he still gets out there and guides at least 1 hunter per year.
Urban guided Warren Page and was in camp with Jack O'Connor who was hunting from the Canadian Side. I think that this is your evidence that it is a gun of decent quality.

There was a model 30 set with an old express stock at the gunshop last spring. I really was tempted. Those old rifles had a lot of little details that were nice even if it was heavy as heck.

I would pick it up and not look back.

Sincerely,
Thomas

I won't offer proof but my 'smith's experiences. He has witnessed not one but two Sako mod failures at shooting competitions. In both cases the blown off extractor traveled up the lug raceway and right into the arms of the shooters resulting in serious injury. Both shooters carry that steel in their bodies to this day.

Needless to say he is not a fan and neither am I (of Sako extractor mods).

As for the 721s, I knew of two old timers who each owned one in 300H&H and they used them for a lifetime of hunting. Both rifles held up well.

MtnHtr

Sako extractor mods are designed to comfort your CRF dipsh!ts who lay awake at night dreaming.

Most gunsmiths don't like doing sako conversions because they make very little money from it and at the same time risk [bleep] up a perfectly good bolt face that they'll have to replace if they do mess up.

So as a result you hear all kinds of excuses from hot gas escaping,to shrapnel stories,to it makes my dog [bleep] on the floor everytime he thinks about it.

In the end Savage99 is still a complete douche bag that has probably handled a M721 one time and is now an authority.

shut up

So how much money did that gastric bypass set you back?Don't worry you'll manage to gain all the weight back.

Amen!
There's just a whole lot of nostalgia with those old 721's and 722's I can't pass any of them up. And, they all shoot as well today as the rifles made today.
Every one of the 722's I have will shoot at least 1/2" at 100 yards for 3 shots, and the little guys, the 222's and 222 Mag's, shoot better. That accuracy is obtained after a good cleaning only; no tweaking at all, just a trigger adjustment to a 2 1/2 pound pull. For some strange reason, all of the seven 722's I have came with a 5 pound pull trigger.
The main thing I learned from these rifles is that free floating barrels, glass bedding stocks, and bore polishing is not necessary for great accuracy. All of the 722's have barrels bedded as received. I'm sure bullet the points of impact can change from year to year, as the Walnut takes on and gives up moisture, but I can deal with that by shooting the rifles just before hunting with them, and confirming zero's.

I have encountered two or three 722s in 257R in the last
couple of years, wish I would have bought all of them.

I should have mentioned that one of the 722's I have does not shoot well at all. It's the one in 308, one with the checkered stock. Three shot into about a 2" to 2 1/2" group at 100 yards is the best I can do with it.

Many older deer rifles won't shoot much better than that. Modern CNC machines have really rasied our expections when it comes to accuracy.

Savage 99,
These things are true, however it is true as well of the Remington 700, arguably the most popular and widely distributed bolt action ever built. The 721 and 700 are virtually identical. The US military uses it as it's M24 sniper rifle and countless SWAT teams rely on them for tactical work.

The 721-722 has a stock designed for iron sights and have a lot of drop at the comb. This makes you have to stretch a bit to get to a scope and also causes the rifle to muzzle rise more than a straight stock.

I have a couple of 722's and a 721 or two. One of my 722's has a .221 Fireball barrel in it and is my all time favorite light varmint rifle.

The various 721/722's on the market are the greatest 'sleeper' buys out there. I've looked for a 722 in .257 for years and never seen the first one. You guys who keep passing them up ..... CALL ME!

O