Looking for advice/buyer's tip for Remington 700

To each his own for sure.You also have to know your rifle and for that matter your own limitations when shooting anything.And besides all that, a model 700 with a twenty inch just looks so cool.
Dave G

The 16"ers are pretty decent too, heavy barrel doesn't make it too heavy, and they shoot. Bit hard on the ears though.
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The short barrel will limit your accuracy at distance.

No it won’t. Velocity, yes. But at practical hunting distances, who cares.

Getting back to the original question, my “advice” would be if it HAS to be a rem700, look for an old one made before they got rid of the bolt lock.
 
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I`ve hunted a lot with various Rem 700s with 22" barrels and found them just perfect. Not too long or clumsy, muzzle blast not too nasty, perfect balance and handling. Always found 24" a little awkward and never felt just right. Never had a 20" .308 but would think the muzzle blast would be ugly.
 
Way back in the 70's the FIL had a Rem 760 carbine in 308 I think 18" it was light, handy and easy to carry it kicked like a mule was very loud and threw flame out the end of the barrel like a flame thrower ( un burned powder ). However back then we hunted deer in the river and creek bottoms a long shot was 200 yards so velocity loss meant nothing. At the same time I had a savage 99E in 308 with a 22" barrel which to me was about perfect, still light and easy to carry, shot much nicer than the short barreled 760, not near as much muzzle jump or as loud, back then everyone shot factory ammo, 150gr Winchester power points were the flavor of the day and we killed a pile of deer with those guns. With all the newer more advanced powders and reloading capabilities I am sure you can maintain reasonable accuracy and velocity out of shorter barrels, they are just not for me, 22" is as short as I will go on a centerfire rifle even a 223, but then that's just me.
 
I own a ruger American ranch in 308 which comes with the 16” barrel. I don’t notice any crazy muzzle blast. It shoots sub moa all day with whatever ammo I put through it. There is no doubt that I am not getting as much velocity as I would out of a longer tube. But the 2 bear and the moose it’s taken had no idea that 180 partition came out of a 16” tube. I don’t plan on taking any long range shots with this rifle - inside 150 yards always. This rifle is a dream to carry and bring around all day in and out of the side by side. I’ts make me a short barrel rifle lover for life. Don’t listen to any negativity on a short barrel 308. I still get 2450fps with a 180 partition. Where as my friends 308 gets 2600fps with the same projectile in a 22” tube. Would I ever want that extra 6” of barrel length for that 150fps? LOL not a chance. I personally wouldn’t even consider a 308 with a barrel any longer than 20”. To me personally one of the biggest appeals to the 308 is its efficiency in a short barrel. Remington has made a 16” barrel model 7. Always had my eye on those too.
 
I hunted blacktail deer and black bear on Vancouver island in the thickest nastiest close up bush you can imagine carrying a 22-inch barrel Model 700 243 and never ever thought "Jeez, I wish I had a shorter barrel."
 
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Remington Model 7 18.5 “ are GREAT . They also made a couple of models with a 16.5 “ barrel . RJ

I had one in 6mm Rem. Short whippy barrel, fouled like crazy, best you could hope for was a 2 moa group on a good day. Ended up trading it to a gunsmith for exchange on a 26 inch match grade barrel for my 7mm Rem. 700 BDL. Good riddance, only thing good about the model 7 was it was very convenient to get out of a vehicle quickly. I am in the longer barrel group, but to each their own.
 
I had one in 6mm Rem. Short whippy barrel, fouled like crazy, best you could hope for was a 2 moa group on a good day. Ended up trading it to a gunsmith for exchange on a 26 inch match grade barrel for my 7mm Rem. 700 BDL. Good riddance, only thing good about the model 7 was it was very convenient to get out of a vehicle quickly. I am in the longer barrel group, but to each their own.

I'm sure the length of the barrel had nothing to do with its accuracy or why it was fouling so badly.
 
I'm sure the length of the barrel had nothing to do with its accuracy or why it was fouling so badly.

no, YOU are the one who's wrong! Everyone knows the responsibility of the last 2 inches of a barrel are to wipe off all fouling and accurize the bullet. Ever notice how wide a sawn off shotgun will splatter? Its the same for rifles!
 
no, YOU are the one who's wrong! Everyone knows the responsibility of the last 2 inches of a barrel are to wipe off all fouling and accurize the bullet. Ever notice how wide a sawn off shotgun will splatter? Its the same for rifles!

A shotgun with a sawn off barrel loses any choke it may have. When a centerfire bullet reaches the last two inches of a rifle's bore, what causes the fouling to be wiped off and how does the bullet "accurize"? Is the bore choked like a shotgun?
 
I'm sure the length of the barrel had nothing to do with its accuracy or why it was fouling so badly.

Obviously it was not a great barrel to start with and a match grade barrel would have improved on that. But it was not a pleasant rifle to shoot, more muzzle blast and a few cases of scope eyebrow while I owned it to boot. Not a fan, don’t miss it and wouldn’t buy another.
 
You can get a 20" barrel if you get a youth model. That's what I've got in 7mm08, dropped into a full size stock. 140gr handloads at 2900-2950fps says the barrel isn't too short...
 
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