Remington Model 700 Sticky

Heavy barrel Model 700’s are consistently the most accurate factory rifles I have shot.
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Statements like this is why I am hesitant to un cork my factory HB Varmint 700 and put a lighter profile and faster twist on it.
 
My current dilemma is mentioned in the 700 Alpha thread.
An under 10rnd ct Varmint HB in an HS 5R Stock in .308Win

Other 700’s I’ve have or had include;

700 Mtn SS 30-06 VX3i 3.5-10x40 CDS w/LW Low Talleys. It sits somewhere around 7.25lbs
700 Classic 6.5x55 Swede (which I foolishly sold..)
 
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My first hunting rifle, a 1980 M700 ADL in .30-06. I've been a fan of the M700 ever since I bought it.
Hunted pretty much every trail in the Swan Hills with that rifle.

Pics through the years...


M700 ADL, .30-06. Nov 28 1980. Original factory stock, and iron sights. Man the finish was gloss lacquer.


Left: 1980 M700 ADL, when it still had the gloss factory stock, but now with a 3x9 Redfield Widefield scope on it. Anybody remember those?
Hideous finish haha!


Original factory stock, gloss finish sanded off, re-finished with oilseed and a recoil pad added. Redfield Widefield scope, 3x9.


The same .30-06, but mounted in a 'Classic' stock, after I had broken the original stock, hauling a bull moose out.


Foreground, she's in a Wildcat Composite stock going on something like 25 years, which partly explains the wear on the stock, now with a 3x9 Bausch & Lomb Balvar scope.
Background 1996 M700 Sendero, .270Win.


The .30-06 going downrange, Dec 13 2021.


Nov 18 2022, we're still hunting together.
 
Nice pics,

yes the early high gloss finish on 700's may not have been to everyone's taste, but the deer don't seem to mind it.

Haha, yes, the day I bought that rifle I literally handled every other rifle in the gun rack, but left that to the last because of that shiny finish.
But nothing else felt right, finally reluctantly I grabbed that ADL and it just fit me perfectly.
As soon as I shouldered it, I said, "I'll buy this!"

The only mods I've made is the Wildcat stock, and I tuned the trigger.

When people complain about the factory M700 trigger I always say, just tune the damn trigger! They are so easy to set.

I'm not an expert, yet the trigger on this old .30-06, the way I tuned it, is the best trigger (that doesn't have a set trigger) that I've ever played with.


And I'll add this little story.

When it still had the original stock, but after the gloss finish had been removed, we were pulling a bull moose out of the bush.
I stupidly put my rifle in the trailer, with the bull moose.

Bouncing through a muskeg, the rifle jumped up, the sling caught on an antler, rifle stock dropped down in front of the trailer.

*Snap* Stock busted right at the pistol grip.

So the next day I called Edmonton gun shops, and Custom Gun (which was bought out and renamed Wholesale Sports... remember they used to be kitty corner to P&D??), and they had a take-off stock from a M700 Classic.

I bought that, dropped my barreled action into it.

I took a couple practice shots at 100 yards and the rifle was still shooting to center.

The next day I shot a bull moose at 280 paces, 10-ring center-shot in the boiler room, 2 shots.

I love all my rifles, but this old .30-06 has a special place in my heart.
 
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Those high gloss finishes are very water proof... and easily dulled up by lightly sanding with 400 grit wet/dry paper and rubbing with 0000 steel wool.
 
Thanks Bud, you also have some great pics. I wish I still lived in Alberta Great province for hunting.
Have a Merry Christmas and the best of luck in 2023.
 
I have had a Model 700 ADL 243 since 1975, it is the only rifle I ever bought new off the rack.

Kept me in deer and bear meat for years before I more or less accidentally ended up getting more rifles.

I have never taken the bolt apart.

Don't know how.
 
I have had a Model 700 ADL 243 since 1975, it is the only rifle I ever bought new off the rack.

Kept me in deer and bear meat for years before I more or less accidentally ended up getting more rifles.

I have never taken the bolt apart.

Don't know how.

It is quite easy to take the bolt apart and I would suggest you should do it, especially on a 1975 rfle.

I admit that I cheat, I bought a purpose built tool to do all my M700 bolts.

Mine is a K.W. Kleinendorst tool (I don't know if there are other companies that make a similar tool).


K.W. Kleinendorst tool.
Edit to add: I got mine from Brownell's.


Slide it over the back of the bolt. This is the bolt from my 1980 M700 .30-06, and jeweled finish is pretty much worn right off.
See the little detent there? When you re-assemble the bolt/firing pin, make sure to index it back to that detent.


Hook grabs the back of the firing pin, then you just use the lever to pull back on the firing pin/spring, and then unscrew the bolt.


When the bolt is stripped the firing pin looks like this...

But notice the way the spring is bunched up, on this factory bolt. This was from a SS M700 .270Win iirc? One of the new production rifles, but I don't know what year exactly, and I no longer have that rifle.


After market firing pin assembly improves on the factory Remington firing pin, because it is larger dia. and then fluted.
That way the spring is aligned smoothly the whole length of the bolt.




I lost a real nice whitetail one time, when I fired the firing pin didn't strike the primer hard enough to ignite round.
And I never got a second chance on that buck, one and done.

Which is why I have this tool.

It turned out the bolt was rusted up internally and firing pin spring needed a good cleaning.

Now I check all my M700 bolts from time to time and clean as needed.
 
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A light primer strike can be caused by the bolt not being all the way down. Try leaving the bolt a 1/2" or more up and pulling the trigger and you'll see.
 
A light primer strike can be caused by the bolt not being all the way down. Try leaving the bolt a 1/2" or more up and pulling the trigger and you'll see.

A lot of energy is used up slamming the bolt down the rest of the way before the pin is released.
 
Dug another 700 out of the safe. 1977 action with a 23" Shilen 9" twist #2 in 280AI. McMillan Mountain Rifle Edge stock and 3.5-10 Leupold in Talley LW's. Weighs 7lbs 2 ounces. Timney trigger and all metal black nitrided.
I have carried it a lot and shot it very little.
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