Like Dogs, I don't hate dogs, in fact I love dogs I just hate their owners (my work, an office allows people to bring in dogs, it gets pretty annoying when you are trying to type out a report - no one has ever asked if I am allergic - I am not but it illustrates my point of disliking certain dog owners.).
To that end 700's, people who own them love them and reccomend them to new shooters ALL THE TIME! They are not a good starter rifle for the money and effort you have to put in to one to get it accurate. Not to mention all of the quality control issues that they have had as of late. To recommend a gun to a shooter that needs a rail, rings, bedding job, free float the barrel, replace the trigger, raise the cheek height and all of the rest of it - this gun is not a starter gun, it's far from a novice gun and maybe even a step above a gun that an intermediate shooter should be using as a building block for a rifle build whether it is for hunting or long range shooting. It's popular because a long time ago it won a military contract and from there the hype just piled on. I myself even bought a remington 700 in 7mm rem mag as my first rifle and hated it with a passion put about 40 rds through it and sold it. The rifle I bought after that was a savage and I love. But again I go back to the original point, 700's aren't totally bad, I just get frustrated when someone recommends it to a new shooter and says it's great gun. No... It's not.