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 The cartridge is obsolete, handloading would work.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.

According to the Blue Book of Gun Values, there were three grades of 722s, standard, ADL, with checkering, and BDL, with better wood. They are not marked as to grade, you can only tell by the quality of the stocks.

I've seen a very few of the "deluxe" 722's at gun shows, but they aren't common by any means. My guess is that 99% of the rifles sold were the plain grade, partly because back then they cost less than a Winchester Model 70. Probably people with more money to spend went for a M70.

Having both 721-722's and pre-64 model 70's I can tell you that
I appreciate the old Remingtons for what they are.

They are well made accurate rifles. I have the later 722 .222 with a 24 inch barrel and no sight boss and it groups five shots into one small hole at 100 yards. A 2" longer barrel would not be a handicap for my shooting.

You will be well served by the 722 for target and varmint shooting.

Let's not forget the good old Remington 725!

As already mentioned, the only real drawback to the 722 is the extractor which is a bit weaker than that of the 700 and is unavailable. A 722 in 222 is a classic 1950's varminter and worth having.
Savage 99 would not take one for free but I would happily do so. GD

Every 722 and 721 that I have had shot sub 1" groups, and most sub 1/2" groups after freefloating the barrel and glass bedding.

Trigger can be adjusted very low on these rifles.

I bought one at a gun show with a bad extractor, and had a Sako extractor installed. I then had a Lilja barrel installed in 6 BR then mounted in a McMillen BR stock for a P. dog rifle. Accuracy rivals my Stolle Panda's...

The 725 was my dream rifle in the late '50's. It was a sporterized direct descendant of the 1917 Enfield and the early versions still had the ugly dog leg bolt handle. I visit a gun shop that has one on the wall (not for sale unfortunately).

I'll gladly take one for free if anyone has one.

My 722 is a 257 Roberts that puts 5 shots into 3/8 inch. The trigger breaks like a dream. It came to me with an old hand-checkered Bishop stock and a Leupold M8 4x for $425.

All I've done to it is refresh the oil finish on the stock and swap the scope for an M8 6x. It's now my primary deer and antelope rifle, and will be going with me to Wyoming this year for just that purpose.

A 1956 722 in 257 Bob.
Plane jane stocks and rough trigger guards...ok.
The machine work on the action itself is much nicer than the
lights out, flexable machining cell crap they produce today
You dont want to go betting againt one of these things in the accuracy department.
Stock is kinda short for me so I keep it as my loan-a-rifle.
Damm fine loan-a-rifle if I do say so myself.


dave

Best Remington bolt action ever made. Smooth action, great blue, cut rifling, great trigger, long stiff barrels. Never met one that wasn't sub MOA.

Actually the three grades were A (plain stock no checkering) AC (plain wood checkered), and B (fancy wood, checkered). The ADL/BDL thing came later and were not real 721/2s but the so called transition models that used shorter, lighter barrels with no sight boss from 725s. The Blue Book is wrong which is not unusual.

In the barrel channel, they were stamped A, AC or B and sometimes the caliber as well.

A 721 B makes any non custom shop 700 look like a Mossberg,

722AC 222



Ad for ACs




721B 270 WCF





Ex 722 222 Bench Rest rifle with 700 Hogue stock, period Lyman 10X Canjar SST and 700 SA bottom metal. A certified bug shooter.




But a cheap A in 30-06, buy a 700 stock from Numrich, fit it (easy) and you'll have an 06' that will shoot with the $2000 customs and blow the doors off any Savage 99. (own a bunch of both)

Someone mentioned the .222 Remington being obsolete. I tend to see a few here and there being enjoyed. mtmuley

Hardly obsolete. Quite popular in Europe and still one the the most accurate cartridges around. It ruled Benchrest back in the day ...... something the hotter 22s never did.

Lotsa folks shooting 22 Hornets, because of noise, would be better served by a fine old 26" barrel 722 with reduced handloads, as producing accurate ammo is far easier than a Hornet. (Yes I love my Hornet but ....)

I can recall when the 45-70 was obsolete .... boy has that worm turned.

JawnHenry,

Remington 722/721 barrels were not cut-rifled. Instead they were the first button-rifled barrels--a process patented by Mike Walker of Remington in 1945, in part as another cost-saving measure in producing the 722/721.

Larry Root, how many handles do you have on 24-Hour Campfire? Do you think that posting the same pictures under different handles will keep people from recognizing what a horse's a$$ you are?

Just saying..........

JEff

Close......... That was the short lived model 720.

The 725 had a rocker type safety like the 1917, everything else was an
early version of the model 700.

This is my 722 from Mike Walker in 257 Roberts. He said this was his favorite deer rifle.


I just got it last summer and haven't shot it yet.
Butch

Butch, a real beauty ! A B w/o checkering ? An A that slipped through ? or a custom stock ? The Lyman Alaskan is a nice period addition.

You should rebarrel it to 260 remington because it is so superior to the "Bob",
he he he he!

Sold my B 257 because somebody put a thin pad on it and shortened the stock to keep LOP original.
Sad, but it was just a cheap gun back then.

Still looking for B grade 722 222 magnum, 257 Bob and B grade 721 300 H&H.

Another B in 222 R that came out of New York City. Fiddleback end to end. I bought it from Griffin & Howe, oddly it came with an RWS air rifle scope that sold quickly on Ebay.

Nice pics Larry.

Is that rifle one of yours or just a pic you found on the internet?

It's not too hard to believe that Mike Walker could specify whatever the heck he wanted with regard to his personal Remington firearms.

I have three M721's and two M722's. Would love to find a M722 in 222.

As side note to the posts, in 1958 the 721/722 went 22 inch bbls and eliminated the bulge for most calibers (although some calibers apparently still sported the longer bbls).

My latest 721 is a rusty, pitted 30-06 that went though hurricane Andrew. But amazingly the bore is good and it still shoots well. So I guess I'm going to bead blast and Cerakote it to make it halfway presentable.

Because I like the 700 safety lever more, I fitted the rifle with a 700 trigger (which required filing the tang to clear the 700 lever).

Picked up a Leupold 3x9 cheap, and my plan is to make the 721 into a "Camp Rifle".

It is not a custom or maybe somewhat. When Mike built it or Remington, it was an all Remington deal. All work was done at Remington. He did specify the barrel length, contour, and he handpicked the wood. It is an unaltered rifle. Yes it does have a Lyman scope.
I hope Mike is at the Super Shoot at the end of May again. I intend to visit with him again.
Butch

Just a wonderful piece of history. You are a lucky man ! Now should you get bored with it ......... Drop me a PM.