Quality of Remington 700 BDL rifles...

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Here is my deal, I have $800 to spend on a hunting rifle for deer, moose and black bear. I want a bolt action rifle in 30-06 or .308 and wan't a good set of open sights on it!! I won't settle for anything other than nice walnut and blued metal, cause im going to make this gun a family keepsake starting with me!! I want a strong, dependable, smooth action that will be able to "drive tacks" into targets up to 300 yards away.

I have been considering the brand new Remington 700 BDL in 30-06 cause I like the looks and have heard the 700 action is all of the above. However I have also heard some mixed reviews about Remingtons products lately, and I cannot afford to spend my hard earned cash on mediocracy.

Will the brand new Remington 700 BDL be everything I want it to be and more for the next 50+ years?? Would I be better off buying a used Brno or Husqvarna Mauser type action in the same cartridge, or something else out there that has what I am looking for??

Can you get the BDL in .308?? If so would I be better off with .308 or 30-06??
 
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savage-man said:
Here is my deal, I have $800 to spend on a hunting rifle for deer, moose and black bear. I want a bolt action rifle in 30-06 or .308 and wan't a good set of open sights on it!! I won't settle for anything other than nice walnut and blued metal, cause im going to make this gun a family keepsake starting with me!! I want a strong, dependable, smooth action that will be able to "drive tacks" into targets up to 300 yards away.

I have been considering the brand new Remington 700 BDL in 30-06 cause I like the looks and have heard the 700 action is all of the above. However I have also heard some mixed reviews about Remingtons products lately, and I cannot afford to spend my hard earned cash on mediocracy.

Will the brand new Remington 700 BDL be everything I want it to be and more for the next 50+ years?? Or would I be better off buying a used Brno or Husqvarna Mauser type action in the same cartridge??

Can you get the BDL in .308?? If so would I be better off with .308 or 30-06??
Click to expand...

Actually if you can find an older Remington, like 1985 or so, I would get that. I have had a bad experience with a newer Remington, a 2004 M-700 Classic so I cannot endorse the new stuff, although it looks good. Like the M-700 Mountian rifles, CDL's, BDL's all look great.

Keep an eye on the Equipment Exchange, there is only about 100 different Remington M-700's for sale on there at any given time. :)
 
I have several newer 700 Remingtons: The same 700 Classic that Demonical has in 8x57, a 700 Classic in 300 Savage, a CDL in 270, a CDL Limited in 7-08, and a 700 SSDM in 30-06, and they are all very fine, accurate rifles with little to say negatively about them. I think there is the odd "slug" put out, but I have even seen a SAKO that was a "slug", so it means little to me. If you like the looks and feel of the 700 BDL, I would say, go for it!! Regards, Eagleye.
 
Just to explain, on my 2004 Classic, the screws holes on the receiver for scope mounting are actually crooked. They are not aligned correctly with the center of the receiver. I was able to get around that by using 2 piece Leupold bases; the Leupold rear base has windage adjustment that let me adjust the rear mount to the left side and get the scope aligned properly with the receiver center.
The screws are still crooked though...

It also had a ####ty trigger but fortunately, the M-700 trigger is easy to adjust so that was no big deal.

The action was not bedded well either. That rifle was the first M-700 that I have encountered that was not accurate out of the box. My buddy Republic of Alberta knows a thing or two about bedding rifle actions and he bedded it for me. The rifle is a great shooter now.

So yeah, Eagle is right, take a good look at any new rifle and make an assessment on what you see. The rifle you look at might not have any of the problems mine had.
 
I just checked 2008 Remington catalog Rem 700 BDL is available in .243win,270win,7mm Rem mag, 30.06 & 300 Ulta mag.
The 30.06 would be a good choice,
I have a 70s vintage 06 that I decided to sell with less than 100 rounds through it, bedded and recoil pad and the best offer i could get for it was $590, didn't let it go. I tried some hand loads in it last summer .350 group at 100 yards and a big inch at 300 yards. I will hunt with it this fall, and going to sell my custom 700 fluted stainless Hart barrel, it weighs just over 6lbs but its McMiilan stock is just plain ugly compared to the BDL stock, and that deep bluing is nice.
Savage- man just go for it you will never look back.
Here is a couple of old BDL and one ADl in the deuce

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I've owned BDL's from '63 and up to mid 90's...the older ones are better.

In my opinion the best BDL's are those from 1973,when they intro'd the anti-bind feature to the mid 80's. If you don't mind the lack of an anti bind feature the Pre'73's are very nice. Probably the nicest two short actions I've owned were a '64 in 222 Rem Mag and a '79 in 6mm.The blueing is better, they polished them better, the bolt to reciver fit is tighter and the machining of the bolt heads are smoother....the ones from '73 to '79 are especially nice with the solid checkering...not the current skip line checkering.
 
Picked up a 700 BDL in 30-06 a couple years back as my "entry into hunting" rifle. Bought it used at a local sporting goods store. I'm a lefty and so is it. :D
Its an older one, manufactured in the early 70's and was in absolutely immaculate shape.
I've never had a problem wit it all - shoots great, smooth action and is likely one of the best looking rifles out there.
 
The rifle and the calibre would be a great choice. .308 is just like the .30-06, just 200 fps slower. I have a 700 BDL DM (detachable magazine), which were made from 1995-2004. The trigger has been tuned to a very crisp 2.75#'s, and glass bedded. I replaced the hockey puck recoil pad that came with them back then and replaced it with a Sims Lab Limbsaver. Awesome pad. It has a 22" target crowned barrel and the iron sights are removed. It did have the 'J lock' style bolt, but that detent system has all been removed now. I love the rifle. There are always some QC issues with new rifles, unless you are buying top of the line, and you can expect to pay a lot more. Bang for the buck, you can't go wrong.
 
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