How much damage do you think???NOW WITH PICS

As far as protecting the shooter in the event of a catastrophic case failure, the actions, best to worst, would be 700, Mauser 98, pre-64 Winchester M70. The 700's "three rings of steel" work. The Mauser is almost as good, except for the extractor cut. The casehead is almost enclosed, and casehead projection is less than on the Remington, or the Winchester. The M70's breeching is copied from the '03 Springfield, the casehead is hanging out in the air, and the receiver doesn't have the internal collar of the Mauser. The coned breech of the barrel helps smooth feeding, but does less than nothing as far as safety is concerned. I have inspected a .22-.250 700 fired with a steel rod in the bore. The bullet stopped in the barrel, the casehead had essentially melted. Bolt and barrel were ruined, stock was intact, the shooter was absolutely unharmed, apart from being rather shaken. Try that stunt with a 70, and you'll get hurt. Look at the photos in PO Ackley's books of M70s with their receiver rings blown off.
 
eltorro said:
Are you saying that you'd trust the 700 more than the M98 or M70?

I'm a "convinced skeptic" a regarding the 700, but I took more interest lately in them, as Winchester went out of business. Please shed some light, Guntech....
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I am convinced there is nothing stronger or safer than a Remington 700 series design with the "3 rings of steel".
 
Some have had less than ideal experiences with the 700 action, but for every basher, you will find 10 or more who do appreciate the strength, accuracy potential and solidness of this design. I fall into the latter category. I have been using the 700 action since it's inception in the early 60's [and the 721/722 prior to that] I have probably owned over 200 rifles that sport this action. I have had some minor issues with a couple, but certainly have had many more positives than negatives. I had a friend who inadvertantly seated a 70 grain bullet in his 22-250 over a max load developed for the 40 grain slug. The 700 action saved his bacon, for sure! Similar boltface to the one pictured here, but a new bolt, headspace checked, and away he was shooting it again [with a bit more attention to loading his ammo!!] For good reason this action has been sooooo successful over the years. Regards, Eagleye.
 
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