Curious about the Remington 700

[metro]

Being new to this board but not so new to muzzleloaders I am curious as to what the big deal with the Remington 700 is. With all the threads here about it I was wondering if it was on par with the Savage being smokless etc.

After doing a bit of research I have found out it is not able to shoot smokless(unless I overlooked something), needs a primer conversion and in one review by Chuck Hawkes I believe, the 700 actually is over-rated and has a bit to be desired.

That said, I came across another individual that claimed the Chuck Hawkes reviews should be taken with a grain of salt, that he has biased opinions favoring another brand and that would be putting it nice.

I would greatly appreciate all opinions on this rifle.

[hunter]

I am a 700 fan so you will have to take what I say with a grain of salt also.
I never read the Hawkes review you are talking about but the 700 ml was a little lacking with its slam fire ignition system. This is the main reason they can be purchased reasonably.
With the 209 conversion system that I have (with the help of a few members on this board) I feel the 700ml is about as good as you will get for the money spent. It is almost blowback free and fires the blackhorn powder very reliably. Their barrels are of good quality and are very close to MOA accuracy and I like their feel when shouldered.
Since they have been discontinued for 8 years or so some spare parts are a little hard to find.

And if you want to do a smokeless build they are a good, and reasonalble priced donor rifle.

[Deleted]

From the factory they have issues,Blowby powder in your eyes,bolt,under the scope and everywhere else...
BUT, there are at least two minor alterations that can be done to fix this problem:
1. Hunter's bolt conversion
2.Mountainan's conversion
Installing one of these on a 700ml will make the gun useable.
The fact that there are many aftermarket products(stocks,triggers,mounts,..etc..) designed for
the 700 short action, that the sky is the limit on what can be done to these guns.
Chuck needs to come over to DOUG'S, then he would have a clue.
This information originates here and nowhere else.
Without the bolt conversion the gun is useless,IMO.

[metro]

So I guess this is a rifle that can be found for a couple hundred bucks, have a couple hundred worth of work done to it and be a good bolt action ML?

[Deleted]

If you go smokeless a pacnor custom barrel will be 540 +shipping.
Hunter bolt conversion around $100. Recoil lug $30. Savage breechplug $35 +shipping. 700 donor action varies from 175 to 400,just depends on the deal you can find. Then you need someone to put all of it together,if you can't.?? Gunbroker has them for sale everyday and you don't need a ffl. in most cases to purchase them. Look at the build section to see what can be put together. HillBill has put some very nice ones together lately,he is
also waiting for my barrel to finish my 700ml build.
In bolt action frames your next step up is around $3,000 +.
There are other ways to go smokeless but 700's are hard to beat for the price.

[fishhawk]

All of what is posted on the smokeless board about 700ML's is about guns converted to smokeless with Hunters bolt kit and an aftermarket (Pacnor, McGowen, etc.) barrel. The Hunter kit is also used to upgrade BP sub guns. Hunter has two different bolt conversions, One is for BPsubs, the other for smokeless.

[metro]

So you're looking at around 800 bucks AFTER you find a 700. I think I'll stick with the Savage 10.

[howa]

Aug 28, 2011 18:04:32 GMT -5 metro said:

So you're looking at around 800 bucks AFTER you find a 700. I think I'll stick with the Savage 10.

Remember now, that Remi 700 we're talking about here would have a Pac-Nor fluted barrel in .45 for that price.......and could shoot sabot-less if you wanted to. Those things are worth a little extra money to a lot of people on here.....the .45 part being the main benefit. What we're talking about building here, Bad Bull wants $3950 for!!

[mountainam]

Metro, Sorry, but I'm biased too. I had Rem 700ML's before getting a Savage 10ML. I also like Ford trucks. So to me the Savage 10ml was like making me drive a Dodge. I hated the Savage's accutrigger, I hated the 3 position safety, I hated the breechplug, I hated the rough bore that shaved plastic off my sabots, and the balance and pointability rather the lack thereof. I thought it had half the quality of my Rem 700ML's. The screw-on bolt handle and that Ugly Ugly barrel nut all with the quality control of a Chinese rifle. The 700ML's only flaw was the plunger fired bolt---WHICH was the industry standard of most ALL in-line manufactured in 1996 when Remington introduced them. I thought if I could correct the bolt issue it is a quality weapon. It will use any stock that a SA 700 CF can use and the trigger can be tweaked or replaced by 3 or more aftermarket trigger assys. All of mine use a .32 ACP case for priming with a small rifle primer. I have them in .54; 50 and .45's. All have accuracy capabilities beyond my own. The pointability is awesome. Again, I'm totally biased just like the Ford/Dodge thing. Good luck on your decision!

[ratsnakeboogy]

Aug 28, 2011 19:04:21 GMT -5 howa said:

Aug 28, 2011 18:04:32 GMT -5 metro said:

So you're looking at around 800 bucks AFTER you find a 700. I think I'll stick with the Savage 10.

Remember now, that Remi 700 we're talking about here would have a Pac-Nor fluted barrel in .45 for that price.......and could shoot sabot-less if you wanted to. Those things are worth a little extra money to a lot of people on here.....the .45 part being the main benefit. What we're talking about building here, Bad Bull wants $3950 for!!

Exactly!

[Deleted]

Metro,
Keep your savage ,but keep an eye out for a 700ml over the winter and trust me you'll be calling pacnor and ordering a dd special and buying a stock and everything else involved.
Can you not get it ......lol,here we have a sickness, everyone including me LOVES this sh$t.

[howa]

Aug 28, 2011 21:37:38 GMT -5 @greenhorn said:

Metro,
here we have a sickness, everyone including me LOVES this sh$t.

AMEN and AMEN!

[smokeless77]

Aug 28, 2011 16:39:07 GMT -5 @greenhorn said:

If you go smokeless a pacnor custom barrel will be 540 +shipping.

I just ordered one it was $440.00 with shipping

[Deleted]

You are correct,mine is fluted, must be the difference ,if not, they must like you better than me,lol.

[smokeless77]

The fluting has to be the difference, And for liking me better, I doubt it very much. ;D

[zakjak221]

There have been many nice Rem SML custom jobs on this board.
Accuracy is very good too! 45 cal's are preferred!
The best part is that these guns are a fraction of the Bad Bulls,Ultimate or other high dollar ML's!

Mark

[swampmen]

If remingtons were so good where are they now and where the smokeless powder barrel from the big green . Go with savage

[ratsnakeboogy]

Aug 30, 2011 19:06:03 GMT -5 swampmen said:

If remingtons were so good where are they now and where the smokeless powder barrel from the big green . Go with savage

I don't think anyone was putting the Savage down, just trying to answer the question. Personally I hope more people do go with the Savage because it's starting to be a pain in the a$$ to find a Stainless 700MLS at a reasonable price. People were throwing them at me last year, and now it's hard to even locate one.

[Deleted]

the savage is good and has its advantages but so does the remmy if done in smokeless..
having done several of each I have to say I lean more toward the remmy just because the action is a little shorter and a little smoother. I also like the side safety better and the fact that there is a world of aftermarket parts to choose from.

will I ever sell my savage? NO, it just shoots too darn good and I like it TOO much.
with a hunters conversion the factory remington would be VERY hard to surpass as a bp gun.

the 700 conversions are here to stay and with the ss savages getting more costly all the time the are a very good alternative for anyone thinking of a semi/or custom build...just an old hillbillys 2 cents on the topic..