Why are Remingtons hit and miss

[scott_r]

After owning a bunch of Remington model 700's and reading posts about peoples worst rifles it really seems Remingtons are hit and miss when it comes to accuracy. Why is it that some shoot well while others plain old suck ass??
I was just about to buy a Remington 30-06 special edition at a gunshow today but thought to myself the rifle looks great but can it shoot?? I decided to wait. I don't think I'll ever buy a new Remington as it seems they need to have a new trigger, new McMillan or HS Stock and glass bedded to be half decent.
How are your guys experience w/ the model 700's or any Remington product??

Cheers!!

 

[catnthehatt]

They are a production style of rifle, same as most.
That is why, and i really don't think there are any more problems than any other brand.
Ford /Chevy/Dodge thing....
Cat

 

[dpopl8r]

I cannot complain at all with three M700's. All (243, 280 and 300 RUM) shoot 1/2 MOA with my handloads. All I have done to them was have the triggers adjusted to 3 lbs and barrels free floated.

No complaints from me, in fact, I am looking for an excuse to buy something different, but cannot find one. Hmmmm...maybe that's reason enough to buy something else.....

 

[roccoskeet]

My rem 700 35 Whelan shoots just under 1 moa with several loads 200-225 gr. not as good with 250 gr but more than acceptable. Free floated and bedded. I have 2 Tikka t3 S.S. lite in .223 and .308 and I get a 3 shot touching leaf clover just about every time. I figgure if they are not touching it was me. What I really like about the Tikkas is the clip. Not cheap to have a spare but when I bought a clip from RECONER1 (CGN) he told me how tough they are and easy to disassemble and clean , and he was right. I like my Remingtons alright but I have a real soft spot for the T3 lite's

Good shooting
Rocco

 

[mowich]

I cannot complain at all with three M700's. All (243, 280 and 300 RUM) shoot 1/2 MOA with my handloads. All I have done to them was have the triggers adjusted to 3 lbs and barrels free floated.

No complaints from me, in fact, I am looking for an excuse to buy something different, but cannot find one.

I agree! I have 4 Remingtons 700 in 3006 & 7mm, a 600 in 308 and a 7 in .243. It has been my experience to tune the guns a bit and custom build a round that works in each gun. You don't reload?- then try a variety of shelf ammo until you find the best one. I like the results I get with Federal Premium over any of the rest. For 06 and 7mm those are a soft point boattail in 165gr.

 

[todbartell]

I think Ive owned around a dozen Model 700s that were made in the past five years. Not one of them would shoot over 1" for 3 shots at 100 yards with a handload they liked. They are just plain not hard to get to shoot, in my experiences.

I shot the second smallest group of my life a couple weeks ago with my new 243, .2" for 3 shots @ 100 meters. Bone stock factory rifle, all I have done is adjust the trigger, and sand the pressure point out of the barrel channel. A bit of a fluke Im sure, I havent had the time to re-test that load. But that day at the range had a few groups under 3/4". Makes me happy

FWIW my 700 CDL SF Ltd in 30-06 will put 165 grain Accubonds or 110 gr VMax bullets into 3/4" average groups at 100m. Beauty rifle, although the walnut stock is going to go before I beat it up

 

[todbartell]

a few pics of some of the shooters Ive owned recently

243 LSS

custom 260

CDL SF ltd 30-06

223 LVSF

260 mtn rifle (my first 700)

LSS 338 Ultra

7mm short action ultra

Titanium LSS 30-06

260 LSS mtn

Sendero SF 7mm Rem Mag

Rembo custom 25-284

VLS 243

338 win mag in Ti stock

thats all I can find pics of. Sure is alot of $ boguth and sold, shoulda kept em all! Two I regret the most are : 25-284 custom (shot stupid good, but my custom 260 just got finished) and my 7mm short ultra mag, what a unfussy rifle. 100 grain hollowpoints over Varget or 175 grain partitions over Retumbo, it'd put em all and everything in between under an inch.

 

[powder burner]

the pic of the LSS 338 Is my favourite of the bunch.

 

[Cowboy]

scott_r

I know there's lots on this site that will bash the rem 700 but I never had a problem with them. Back in the day when I traveled the province shooting silhoutte you would find 9 out of 10 guys shooting a rem action. Most guys starting out would buy a 700 BDL in a heavey barrel 308, take them to someone they knew to adjust the trigger down to what they wanted. Hand load and start shooting. Some of the better shooters started tweeking them with triggers and custom barrels but usually not till they were shot out.

Look at todays market, winchester is gone, browning certainley not selling the numbers that remington is(in rifles), Tika and Sako with guns blowing up and savage trying to make a comeback(very successful I might add). TC selling to S&W will likely work. Any ways we have a very competitive market. Things change fast but I think Remington is still in the picture big time.

Also I wonder is accurate rifles more to do with the caliber than the manufacturer?-----Cowboy

 

[Gatehouse]

I'm not aRemingotn fan for th most part, but the one I bouht last year- a 223 LVSF-was reasonably good OOTBA.

The trigger had some horrible creep, so $30 spent with Guntech cured that problem, and because the rifle had a tendency to throw a flyer per 5 shot group, I bedded it, and it shoots better now.

There was sill some tooling marks on the flutes, which annoyed me, and the fit to the stock wasn't perfect either. Still, as a "walking" yote rifle, it is accurate, ligh and serviceable. I like it, it's prety good.

I have found that these days it's actually pretty difficult to find *any* factory rifle that has poor OOTBA, but most can be improved with minimal effort. Factory OOTBA has never been better, IMHO.

 

[Hungry]

All my M700's have had their triggers turned down to 3 lbs and their barrels free floated. Not a single lick of trouble getting them to shoot into an inch.

Several of them would shoot into 3/4" with boring regularity.

My current M700 .308 Desert VSF shoots 1/2" with spooky regularity as long as I shoot in between heartbeats if you get my drift. My bench technique sucks crap.

I love tweaking my Remington M700's. Right now I have only TWO (I know, I know...) of them and I just love these babies. My wife shoots my other Win M70 StealthII and that's another tight grouper right outta the box (after tweaking the trigger of course)

Cheers,
Barney

 

[Lefty Dick]

It's as simple as QC costs $$$.
If you want to pay 2x the price right now, you probably would get a much more consistant rifle to rifle results.
The market bears the effect to what the grave majority of shooters want. The grave number of shooters want a rifle of their prefered brand at no more than they possibly can or want to pay.

 

[762nato]

Having owned over a dozen 700's they are the staple of my battery. I find Ruger to be nice but they are really hit or miss, #1's especially. Tikka is a good gun but it feel like a toy in your hands. I would not even look at a Savage with the Glock style trigger. And just do not like Sako. Those companies make some good stuff, it is all a matter of preference. I only had 1 problem with a 700, bought a SS DM B in 7 STW and got a rifle with the base holes tapped very obviously crooked, it was replaced and I still own that rifle. I have never had one that I could not get to shoot with reloads, and there are plenty of aftermarket parts to customize/tune them. I will not keep a bolt gun if it will not shoot under MOA, I have had 7 Ruger # 1"s and only 1 went MOA. It is hard to beat the 700 for a modestly priced out of the box rifle(710 is exempt from this statement).

Andy

 

[lejarretnoir]

I've always had good luck with any Rem 700 bolt action. I've been buying them since the 70's. I even have a '69 40X before they put a gas hole in the side. I've owned dozens and they are the only gun I've ever considered customizing. I still like the Swede Mauser action, but when it comes to plunking down big money for custom jobs, the Rem 700 wins everytime.

BTW, everyone of them would shoot under 1" MOA with a good load tuned to the gun. For a factory gun and hammer forged barrel, that is as good as it gets.

 

[gitrdun]

Scott R: I don't know if Remmy's are a hit and miss thing. But buying a gun from a gun show is. A lot of shot out stuff passes through the gun shows. IMHO, you should be particularly beware of the varminting calibers at shows. Besides, the used guns & stuff at shows are ridiculously overpriced to boot. I'd rather buy new or from one of the guys on the EE.

 

[albertacowboy]

Remington

I have 2 700 BDL rifles;one is the 200th Anniversary .30-'06 in maple and the other is a DM in .300 Win Mag. I love them both and they have worked fine for me. I shoot only factory ammo, but I've had plenty of fun with these two rifles. I don't know exactly why, but the stock fit is perfect for me. I also like open sights, and the BDL is one of the very few production rifles now which comes with open sights.

 

[BIGREDD]

Remington is the top producer of firearms in North America since 2001 and they are determined to keep that ranking. You can only cut costs in so many ways and eventually you have to cut corners to increase profits.
Top Three U.S. Manufacturers 2001-2003

Manufacturer Pistols Revolvers Rifles Shotguns Total

2001
Remington Arms 289,470 276,116 565,586
Sturm, Ruger & Co. 112,847 150,844 243,600 7,740 515,031
Marlin Firearms 258,383 258,383

2002
Remington Arms 299,377 298,603 597,980
Sturm, Ruger & Co. 114,870 148,199 303,507 5,505 572,081
Marlin Firearms 257,116 257,116

2003
Remington Arms 290,873 300,399 591,272
Sturm, Ruger & Co. 98,422 110,894 234,595 4,538 448,449
Marlin Firearms 233,759 4,783 238,542

 

[catnthehatt]

Remington don't build a single shot so they are not on my "best sellers" list!
Let ya know when I get my hands on a SXS Sparton, whichh, according to someone "in the know" ain't gonna happen any time soon!

Cat

 

[NAA]

Remingtons

I've got a few Remington's right now myself. Never owned one yet that didn't shoot or couldn't be made to shoot with some minor adjustments.

 

[Claybuster]

Let ya know when I get my hands on a SXS Sparton, whichh, according to someone "in the know" ain't gonna happen any time soon!

Cut out the middle man and buy a Baikal. That's who is making the Spartan line for Remington. As I understand it there is an agreement between Baikal and Remington that the Spartan line won't be sold outside of the U.S.

Most of my experience with Remington is with their shotguns and it's not hard to see the evidence of manufacturing short cuts and quality control gaps in the more recently produced guns.

When I compare a 20 gauge Wingmaster made in the early 90's with my 28 Wingmaster made in 2003 there is a noticeable difference. On the newer gun there are far more machining marks inside the gun, the barrels and bores are not as nicely polished, more MIM parts and general fitting isn't as good. When I consider the 70's vintage Remington 870 Skeet gun that I once had and is now owned by a good friend the differences are even more pronounced.

This isn't however unique to Remington. A lot of the major manufacturers are cutting corners to meet the bottom line.