Remington 700 ! Where were the good old days ?

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huntersmith

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I have owned a couple remington 700's over the years 4 to be correct. One was a 80's BDL two where in the 90's and a newer 700 couple years ago.
My question is for a gun as the 700 who has a great history, when are these "good old days" when remington 700's owned the gun market with the best all round gun. Or for the guys who bought a remington 700 in the passed couple years are we in the best years now. Let's here everyone thoughts I know from my experience my 1998 Sendero is "my good old years, action is smooth as a custom, finish is great, trigger breaks like glass, MOA is a given at anything under 300 yards and all factory.
I talk to family and guys who hang out around ranges and gun shops Remington 700 not like the good old days ! Well when are these days/years ??
 
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huntersmith said:
I have owned a couple remington 700's over the years 4 to be correct. One was a 80's BDL two where in the 90's and a newer 700 couple years ago.
My question is for a gun as the 700 who has a great history, when are these "good old days" when remington 700's owned the gun market with the best all round gun. Or for the guys who bought a remington 700 in the passed couple years are we in the best years now. Let's here everyone thoughts I know from my experience my 1998 Sendero is "my good old years, action is smooth as a custom, finish is great, trigger breaks like glass, MOA is a given at anything under 300 yards and all factory.
Are here from family and guys who hang out around ranges and gun shops Remington 700 not like the good old years ! Well when are there years ??
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Well I can't speak for anyone else but my Rem 700 5R was great! Shot really well and the action was slicker than a greased minnow! My grandfather bought his BDL in the 70's and more animals have taken dirt naps thanks to it than we have time in the day to talk about. I know some people have had bad luck with theirs and there was the trigger issue a while ago but all in all I would feel just as comfortable taking a 700 into the field as my Sako. Back to your original question.. the good ol days are right here!

Gerhard W.
Inside Sales
 
I have had a couple, one will be going up on the EE soon. Not because i dont like it, but because i bought a identical caliber and i like the fit of the other gun better.

Never had a problem, in reality, most bolt guns are pretty simple. I have also heard that the SPS guns are hit and miss for accuracy/barrels. This is true of all guns, one just gets some poor shooting barrels. The Sendero, Police, and 5R have a good reputation for great barrels and less a crapshoot.
 
I bought a plain Jane Model 700 ADL in 243 off the rack in a hardware store in Port Hardy in 1975 and that gun kept my family fed for years on deer and black bear.

It was a tack driver, perfectly sighted in right out of the box with iron sights. Shot it like that for quite a few years before putting a scope on.
 
MD said:
I bought a plain Jane Model 700 ADL in 243 off the rack in a hardware store in Port Hardy in 1975 and that gun kept my family fed for years on deer and black bear.

It was a tack driver, perfectly sighted in right out of the box with iron sights. Shot it like that for quite a few years before putting a scope on.
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Great story, I bet your not the only one
 
I own a Rem 40X built in 1969 and it's been a great gun. Still shooting with new barrels as good as anything custom within reason.
I own a Rem 700 BDL in .308 built in 1974. That gun has been through a lot of hunts and now wears a newer stock and a new Stainless SPS barrel.
I own a couple of 700's built in the 90's too. I cannot see them being inferior to the older ones.
 
First rifle I bought was an SPS Varmint in .308. It's killed moose, elk, a number of deer and some gophers. Most accurate rifle I've ever touched off. I've put around 1000 rounds through it and it has never skipped a beat yet. The stock is leaning toward Tupperware but still it's a great rifle. Action is slick and the X-Mark trigger is quite good.
 
What happened to the 700.

Well, it's downfall started in 1993 when Remington was sold to an investment firm who figured they could make a few bucks (not a few rifles).

They drove it into about 250 million dollars in debt and sold it, in 2007, to a private equity firm who specialized in "distressed investing" (note, not gun building). They also bought up Marlin that same year. This companies other holding included the likes of AT&T, a number of pharmaceutical companies and corner store chains.

Then in 2012 they created the Freedom Group and kinda tossed all the "outdoorsy" companies they had bought up at either a discount or a step away from bankruptcy into one basket.

But make no mistake, their objective is to "make money", not build a better mouse trap (or gun for that matter) - so if they can shave some costs here and there and still charge the bigger bucks, trading on the name and model, that's what you get.
 
Here is an old M700 in the form of a Sportsman 78. It's the pre-SPS Remington budget gun. It's very smooth and well finished. It has been re-tubed with a SS 30/06 bbl. and has become a favourite.

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Bought my first 700(S) in 1965 in Campbell River. Ordered a 40XB(S) and a Unertyl scope . . . The rifle took 7 months to be delivered and the scope 11.
Since then a 338 Classic(S), a 243(S), a custom 260(S), a 280 BDL SS, Sendero in 300 WM(S), a 270 Classic(S), another 243, a 40XBR(S) in 222, a 2506 Varmint(S), a 2506 SPS, a 22-250 Varmint, and a 40 XB Rimfire, and a 40XB(S) in 308, and a 40X(S) in 22 . . . the (s) signifies sold or whatever and I might have missed one.

It probably shows my comfort zone.
 
galamb said:
What happened to the 700.

Well, it's downfall started in 1993 when Remington was sold to an investment firm who figured they could make a few bucks (not a few rifles).

They drove it into about 250 million dollars in debt and sold it, in 2007, to a private equity firm who specialized in "distressed investing" (note, not gun building). They also bought up Marlin that same year. This companies other holding included the likes of AT&T, a number of pharmaceutical companies and corner store chains.

Then in 2012 they created the Freedom Group and kinda tossed all the "outdoorsy" companies they had bought up at either a discount or a step away from bankruptcy into one basket.

But make no mistake, their objective is to "make money", not build a better mouse trap (or gun for that matter) - so if they can shave some costs here and there and still charge the bigger bucks, trading on the name and model, that's what you get.
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galamb you hit the nail dead on very well said and so very true
 
So at this time what is a decent hunting rifle? If the rems are less than they were, savage ? Tikka a budjet rifle? Who makes the best production rifle right now excluding semi custom (cooper and similar) and custom rifles?
 
bought my 700 SPS in .308 about 5 years ago. (my trigger was on the recall). but overall. it is my hunting rifle and shoots very well and has never let me down... has yet to fail me!
 
doc25 said:
So at this time what is a decent hunting rifle? If the rems are less than they were, savage ? Tikka a budjet rifle? Who makes the best production rifle right now excluding semi custom (cooper and similar) and custom rifles?
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In my opinion, the Ruger M77 is hard to beat.... Others will like others and that is fine.... But speaking as someone who has sold off all of his 700's to buy M77's, I didn't do it because the 700 is a bad action.... I did it because of the quality of newer rems and how hard it was becoming to build a collection of the cartridges I wanted in a solid quality rifle..... It's hard to find VG+ condition rifles in the chamberings you want that were built in 1993 or earlier......

My only complaint about M77 rifles, is that they have never been chambered in a true ultralight rifle (yes, they have an ultralight platform, but really isn't ultra light IMOP)..... The compacts are very small, light and manoeuvrable.... But they are not what you want in your mitts if you want to hunt the mountains somewhere and are taking shots over 300 yards..... That is not the regular hunt I do for the most part, but am looking into at least one hunt that will dictate a light carry, long range hunt......

It's a damn shame Remington is being run into the ground...... It was a great name and I spent hours in my youth pouring through the lebaron catalog gawking at the 700...... But all of the cheap products coming out with the name on it turn me off.... Socks, beef jerkey (wtf)..... Thermometers.... Etc.....

It seems freedom group just wants to use the name, with no focus on quality....
 
I have had my eye on a Remington 700 Long Range but the companies current reputation has made me quite cautious with opening my wallet.
 
I would agree with build quality of the M77 Rugers - I don't like the "feel" them so don't own one but you can't deny they are a quality product.

I would also say the Browning X-Bolt is well made, A Mk5 Weatherby, Sako makes a fine rifle.

Slightly less refined than the Mk5's or Sako's or you have the Tikka's and Vanguard's, Model 16 Savages, perhaps the Model 10's.

If you are a "buy it and use it without hopping it up" type there is little pure "advantage" to going with Rem 700.

I have a couple of the Stainless SPS models enroute right now from the wholesaler - they are going to be close to an $1100 rifle - for 1100 bucks you are only getting their crappy plastic stock version. So if you replace the stock, true up the action etc etc etc you will spent more than getting a Sako that requires "no work".

I often say I look for "value", not price. If a hardwood stocked rifle is only 100 bucks more than it's recycled pop bottle counterpart, such that I don't have to drop 200 or 300 bucks on a Boyds stock to "get rid of that crappy tupperware stock", then the wood stocked version is the "better value".

Too many of the mfg's have cut to the bone. They took a (what was) a 700 dollar rifle with a decent stock, added plastic at 1/20th of the cost. Did they pass those savings along? NO, they jacked it up an extra hundred bucks.

I took the butt pad off a 700 SPS and it was stuffed with a folded up sheet (page) of foam (that you use for packing glass in a moving box) - seriously, that's what I get from an 1100 dollar rifle?

If you want to buy a gun, buy it from a "gun company", not a publicly traded company or private capital corporation - both of which is looking for "return on investment" - and putting "extras or refinement" into their product "costs them" thus goes against their very purpose in life.
 
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