Like most people when talking to die hard Remmy fan bois I like to drop the name that causes them to convulse and fall over, the 710.
It was 25 years ago now that the 710 came out, was puffed up by the gun press, and then crapped on by pretty much everyone else. Well 25 years after it came out, it seemed like a good time to ignore everyone else and buy one.
Truth is there are a good number of them out there, and at times dead cheap. Its easy to put that down to how bad they are supposed to be, but in truth I think its more due to a reputation than usability.
In its day plastic inserts, pressed in barrels, synthetic stocks and a crappy trigger drew heaps of #####ing. Then again 20 years ago on CGN there were always people #####ing about tupperware, flexing stocks etc, and well here we are.
Now 25 years later pressed in barrels seem to adorn many of the cheaper rifles, as do plastic stocks, and slightly less cheesy triggers. But time seems to have changed peoples views on all the dirt cheap rifles out on the market now, where they seem the norm, and virtually no one wants a wood stock anymore.
Admittedly I have owned a number of guns with plastic components, plastic stocks and pressed in barrels, and to this day I couldnt care less about pressed in barrels or plastic stocks, since like everything else in this world, its not what it is, but how well its made.
So for 400$ I picked up a 710, same grey colour, same thin barrel, and went to the range.
Like any self respecting 710 owner I got one in 300WM, and threw a 25 year old Simmons on it, and set out.
'Out of the box' so to speak I did absolutely nothing to it, but give it a quick wipe down. The results were what 710 owners all seem to say, it was accurate enough.
I fired 40 rounds of 300WM, 150grs down the barrel in about 10 minutes. The results were ultimately predicable with such a thin barrel, good groups at first, then stringing.
Initially the trigger felt awful, long hard pull, and once or twice there was a little fumbling to get the mag into the magwell. Also the bolt needed a deliberate push home, no limp-wristing it closed.
I took the rifle home, cleaned it, popped out the firing pin (easy), cleaned that, and put it back in. Its an easy rifle to clean and maintain, thats for sure. Popped the action from the stock to find someone had 'bedded' it, and made a bit of a hash of it, but cleaned it up a bit, and that all went back together easily. I also cleaned out the trigger pack with some remoil aerosol, and that and the first range trip really changed the feel. The trigger feels much lighter, and easy to judge. Additionally, it is adjustable if you want, but I left it as found.
Second trip got another 20 rounds, and did a little better than the first time,
Its clearly not a match rifle, or one you want to plow ammo through quickly. But even at 20 rounds as quick as I could pretty much load them and shoot, it still did ok.
All of the stock oriented complaints seem fuddly now, as though it was people holding on to the idea of wood being the only way. It was a long time ago, and now it just struck me as any other plastic style stock, not as stiff as fibreglass for sure, but still on par with half the guns being made today, especially the budget rifles.
The factory rail is a bit of old timey-ness too, a picatinny rail would have been nicer, but back then only the tacticool kids were using those. I would have loved to be able to throw a Spuhr with a Schmidt & Bender on it, but the old 4 slot weaver rail just doesnt allow it.
Ultimately its not as smooth as a 700 or Howa 1500, or anything out there for sale at the 1000$+ mark these days. But as what it was touted as back in the day, an inexpensive utility rifle for the occasional hunter, its ok, not great, but ok. In truth it reminds me of the old 870 Express shotguns, that were the cheapest you could get new. We used to sell them to the odd duck/goose hunter who planned on hunting salt water marshes, with the idea that at the end of the season they would just toss the gun. I kind of feel that way about this rifle, at its price if I lost it, broke it, etc, I wouldnt likely care. I dont see many other 300WMs out there for under 400$, and while it took a few boxes to get use to its 'character' it still went bang every time.
It was 25 years ago now that the 710 came out, was puffed up by the gun press, and then crapped on by pretty much everyone else. Well 25 years after it came out, it seemed like a good time to ignore everyone else and buy one.
Truth is there are a good number of them out there, and at times dead cheap. Its easy to put that down to how bad they are supposed to be, but in truth I think its more due to a reputation than usability.
In its day plastic inserts, pressed in barrels, synthetic stocks and a crappy trigger drew heaps of #####ing. Then again 20 years ago on CGN there were always people #####ing about tupperware, flexing stocks etc, and well here we are.
Now 25 years later pressed in barrels seem to adorn many of the cheaper rifles, as do plastic stocks, and slightly less cheesy triggers. But time seems to have changed peoples views on all the dirt cheap rifles out on the market now, where they seem the norm, and virtually no one wants a wood stock anymore.
Admittedly I have owned a number of guns with plastic components, plastic stocks and pressed in barrels, and to this day I couldnt care less about pressed in barrels or plastic stocks, since like everything else in this world, its not what it is, but how well its made.
So for 400$ I picked up a 710, same grey colour, same thin barrel, and went to the range.
Like any self respecting 710 owner I got one in 300WM, and threw a 25 year old Simmons on it, and set out.
'Out of the box' so to speak I did absolutely nothing to it, but give it a quick wipe down. The results were what 710 owners all seem to say, it was accurate enough.
I fired 40 rounds of 300WM, 150grs down the barrel in about 10 minutes. The results were ultimately predicable with such a thin barrel, good groups at first, then stringing.
Initially the trigger felt awful, long hard pull, and once or twice there was a little fumbling to get the mag into the magwell. Also the bolt needed a deliberate push home, no limp-wristing it closed.
I took the rifle home, cleaned it, popped out the firing pin (easy), cleaned that, and put it back in. Its an easy rifle to clean and maintain, thats for sure. Popped the action from the stock to find someone had 'bedded' it, and made a bit of a hash of it, but cleaned it up a bit, and that all went back together easily. I also cleaned out the trigger pack with some remoil aerosol, and that and the first range trip really changed the feel. The trigger feels much lighter, and easy to judge. Additionally, it is adjustable if you want, but I left it as found.
Second trip got another 20 rounds, and did a little better than the first time,
Its clearly not a match rifle, or one you want to plow ammo through quickly. But even at 20 rounds as quick as I could pretty much load them and shoot, it still did ok.
All of the stock oriented complaints seem fuddly now, as though it was people holding on to the idea of wood being the only way. It was a long time ago, and now it just struck me as any other plastic style stock, not as stiff as fibreglass for sure, but still on par with half the guns being made today, especially the budget rifles.
The factory rail is a bit of old timey-ness too, a picatinny rail would have been nicer, but back then only the tacticool kids were using those. I would have loved to be able to throw a Spuhr with a Schmidt & Bender on it, but the old 4 slot weaver rail just doesnt allow it.
Ultimately its not as smooth as a 700 or Howa 1500, or anything out there for sale at the 1000$+ mark these days. But as what it was touted as back in the day, an inexpensive utility rifle for the occasional hunter, its ok, not great, but ok. In truth it reminds me of the old 870 Express shotguns, that were the cheapest you could get new. We used to sell them to the odd duck/goose hunter who planned on hunting salt water marshes, with the idea that at the end of the season they would just toss the gun. I kind of feel that way about this rifle, at its price if I lost it, broke it, etc, I wouldnt likely care. I dont see many other 300WMs out there for under 400$, and while it took a few boxes to get use to its 'character' it still went bang every time.
