First 700 Rifle Build Question

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SaskatchShooter

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Hi all,

Im looking into doing a Remington 700 rifle build. Nothing too crazy, but just something that I can start out with and get me comfortable with the gun, taking it apart and working on it. Iv been researching for a few weeks now and have a few question Im hoping some of you may be able to answer or provide some insight on:

1. Roughly how much does it cost to get a barrel mated to an action? This is something Ive decided Im definitely not ready for.

2. Is there a problem mating a SS barrel to a blued action? Or vice-versa?

3. As far as precision goes, is there a benefit in accuracy to either? I understand in a hunting environment, stainless can have its benefits, but Ive never heard of precision shooters having any sort of preference.

4. What is an upgraded trigger from the stock 700? Ive read that the stock can leave a lot to be desired.

Thanks all for your help!
 
SaskatchShooter said:
4. What is an upgraded trigger from the stock 700? Ive read that the stock can leave a lot to be desired.

Thanks all for your help!
Click to expand...

I can only help with this.

1) Many of the stocks are fine. It's the Hogue that sucks. It's made for lightness and should be on their hunting rifles as it can affect accuracy, especially with a bipod that applies leverage to the front. (re-reading your question I see you are asking more about triggers sooooo... see the next comment)

2) The stock X-Mark Pro can be decent. You can safey tune them down (to how much, I'm not going to say, but a lot ligther than they say in the manual). At which point, I feel they are comparable to my Timney (the 1.5lb one). I never had any issues with creep or repeatability on my Xmark.

For upgrading, it depends what you want to do. Some say Timney, but if you are going for precision I'd suggest going for their comp model, or skipping and going to Jewel or other units that allow a much lighter pull. The Timney becomes REAL unsafe at levels below ~1.5lbs. The one with the post trigger goes lower.
 
SaskatchShooter said:
Hi all,

Im looking into doing a Remington 700 rifle build. Nothing too crazy, but just something that I can start out with and get me comfortable with the gun, taking it apart and working on it. Iv been researching for a few weeks now and have a few question Im hoping some of you may be able to answer or provide some insight on:

1. Roughly how much does it cost to get a barrel mated to an action? This is something Ive decided Im definitely not ready for.

2. Is there a problem mating a SS barrel to a blued action? Or vice-versa?

3. As far as precision goes, is there a benefit in accuracy to either? I understand in a hunting environment, stainless can have its benefits, but Ive never heard of precision shooters having any sort of preference.

4. What is an upgraded trigger from the stock 700? Ive read that the stock can leave a lot to be desired.

Thanks all for your help!
Click to expand...

Gunsmithing isn't a do it yourself at home job for the owner.

Chambering, threading and fitting a barrel blank to an action can cost anywhere from $150 to $300 I would expect...

Barrel swapping previously fitted barrels can be as little as $20.

All 600/700 actions use the same barrel thread regardless of blue of stainless. Barrel may change from one action to another but they will not index correctly and the headspace must be checked and possibly adjusted. 700 triggers are excellent, some may require an experienced person to adjust them correctly and safely. This is relatively inexpensive ($50 or so) and can be light and crisp and safe at 2.25 pounds. They get bad mouthed because of people who are negligent on maintenance and/or have adjusted them incorrectly. Remington ( as many factories do) had a recall on 700's many, many years ago. A few rifles had problems right from the factory but Remington recalled more than what was required to satisfy the liability insurance and lawyers. With something like over 7 million produced the 700 continues to be a relatively inexpensive and inherently accurate rifle.
 
Thanks for your response Shibby and guntech.

Shibby- I was actually askign specifically about the trigger not the stock but I had never heard anything about the Hogue stock before so thanks for that. Its good to know the stock trigger can be useful as I was thinking that may be an almost necessary upgrade

Guntech- Dont get me wrong, Im not planning on doing any gunsmithing myself, just more cleaning, disassembling etc, and really getting to know how the rifle inside and out so Im comfortable making adjustments or upgrades. Thanks for your response of the barrels as well.
 
Maybe I'm just an unwashed peasant, but the stock trigger works fine for me. Out of the box it's light enough that I think any lighter would be unsafe. Haven't weighed it, but I'd give it a rough guesstimation of about 5 pounds. Maybe. I dunno, I've lost my ability to guesstimate weights.

I started with a Rem700 AAC-SD in .308. 20" 1:10 barrel. Switched out the stock for an MDT LSS chassis, put a Magpul PRS buttstock on it, hogue grip. Topped it off with a Leupold Mark AR Mod 1 3-9x40. Instant rifle that'll probably do me quite well for everything I'd use it for in the next ten years or so. Fairly hefty, I'm estimating about 11 pounds or so based on what other people have posted. Light enough that's it's not dead weight to carry, and sturdy enough to feel confident shooting it on the bench.
 
^^^ I took a similar route and went with the 700 SPS AAC-SD and built around that. Upgraded the trigger to a Timney and expecting a B&C stock to arrive any day now. Out of the box, the rifle wasn't too bad and decent groups at 100yrds if you're hunting but not tight enough to be considered "precision" sub-MOA level. I bedded the crappy Hogue stock and that along with some home rolled ammo, I can get sub-MOA groups easily. We'll see if the B&C stock tightens up things. :)
 
Buy a 700 and shoot it until the barrel wears out. After that 4000-5000 rounds figure on about $600 for a SS Match barrel. Have the trigger tuned once you get it, and have the action bedded. There isn't too much that needs to be done to take it apart and work on it. Two bedding screws and a firing pin removal tool is about as far as you will need to go. Don't monkey with the trigger after you have it tuned up, just squirts some lighter fluid on it to clean it. Lube the locking lugs and primary extraction points when you put it back together.

As far as CM Vs SS barrels go, you would be hard pressed to find a CM barrel on a Target rifle or F class rifle at a national shoot these days.
 
SaskatchShooter said:
Shibby- I was actually askign specifically about the trigger not the stock but I had never heard anything about the Hogue stock before so thanks for that. Its good to know the stock trigger can be useful as I was thinking that may be an almost necessary upgrade
Click to expand...

My response was only for the XmarkPro. I believe everybody's response was for that trigger.

The Hogue I was talking about is the one equipped on SPS tacticals and SPS ACC-SD's. (Ive put 800-1000 rounds down a SPS ACC-SD)

The HS Precision and B&C's are pretty good.

Stevebot-7 said:
Out of the box it's light enough that I think any lighter would be unsafe. Haven't weighed it, but I'd give it a rough guesstimation of about 5 pounds. Maybe. I dunno, I've lost my ability to guesstimate weights.
Click to expand...

You don't want to see what 4oz feels like.... yikes.
 
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