I bought a CDL rem 700 under the assumption that it was a good basic rifle to make a reasonably accurate coyote gun out of. I am left handed and have waited a long time for a manufacturer to come out with a l/h rifle in a short action and 243 cal. When I saw Rem with one I got one. Now as I read on this site I see nothing but bad about the rifle.Would you all be so kind as to tell me about the good, bad, and ugly things about these rifles? Thank You Frank
Rem 700's Good, Bad, Ugly
- Thread starter RDHNTR
- Start date
Frank, the best I can tell you they're production rifles. At times you'll get good one, a bad one or something in between,its the luck of the draw.
The best advise, shoot it. If it does the job for your intended purpose, burn up some ammo and have fun. If its a dog or has problems then you need to decide how much time, money and effort you want to put into it.
Bill
The best advise, shoot it. If it does the job for your intended purpose, burn up some ammo and have fun. If its a dog or has problems then you need to decide how much time, money and effort you want to put into it.
Bill
RDHNTR - I've been shooting Rem 700's as my primary hunting rifles, and also in some target competition since 1974. That's 30+ years of shooting the darned things in many different configurations. Still have that original rifle too. My favorite deer & coyote rifle isn't much different from yours; a 700 CDL in .25-06 Rem. It's worked out real well.
Good - they are often pretty darned accurate right out of the box. Not at all unusual for a sporter weight Rem 700 to shoot MOA or better with decent ammo. The varmint weight rifles often do considerably better.
Another good point about Remington 700's is that they have been so popular, for so long, that a huge variety of aftermarket parts is available. A lot of gunsmiths have also made a career out of building highly accurate varmint or target rifles from the Rem 700, and know how to make these things really sing.
Bad/Ugly - there have been issues with the safety/trigger mechanisms - I've seen a Rem 700 fire when the safety was flicked off, and there was no finger on the trigger... Not good. I do believe though that in that case, the trigger had been worked on by someone who thought they knew what they were doing.
Sometimes the ejector can get stuck back inside the bolt face. This is usually pretty easy to fix and doesn't happen often.
Sometimes the extractor breaks - I've had this happen exactly once in 30+ years of shooting the darned things, including one rifle that has gone through several .308 barrels. It happened on the 6th shot from a brand new .300 Rem Ultra Mag. Remington promptly shipped me the repair part for free and I was back in business with that rifle in a few days.
Often the factory barrels have a very generous chamber, with a long jump to the rifling. This can cause some consternation for handloaders, but I've found that Sierra bullets generally tolerate the jump to the rifling quite nicely, and good accuracy is the norm even if the bullet has to jump half the length of a football field to engage the rifling...
I don't see it as much of a problem, but some folks get all worked up about it.
Any other issues? Let me know, I've used these things in some very harsh conditions and they continue to impress. Worth remembering that the U.S. Army uses sniper rifles built by Remington - and that they perform rather well in tough conditions. Most LE agencies also use sniper rifles built on Remington 700 actions too.
Regards, Guy
Good - they are often pretty darned accurate right out of the box. Not at all unusual for a sporter weight Rem 700 to shoot MOA or better with decent ammo. The varmint weight rifles often do considerably better.
Another good point about Remington 700's is that they have been so popular, for so long, that a huge variety of aftermarket parts is available. A lot of gunsmiths have also made a career out of building highly accurate varmint or target rifles from the Rem 700, and know how to make these things really sing.
Bad/Ugly - there have been issues with the safety/trigger mechanisms - I've seen a Rem 700 fire when the safety was flicked off, and there was no finger on the trigger... Not good. I do believe though that in that case, the trigger had been worked on by someone who thought they knew what they were doing.
Sometimes the ejector can get stuck back inside the bolt face. This is usually pretty easy to fix and doesn't happen often.
Sometimes the extractor breaks - I've had this happen exactly once in 30+ years of shooting the darned things, including one rifle that has gone through several .308 barrels. It happened on the 6th shot from a brand new .300 Rem Ultra Mag. Remington promptly shipped me the repair part for free and I was back in business with that rifle in a few days.
Often the factory barrels have a very generous chamber, with a long jump to the rifling. This can cause some consternation for handloaders, but I've found that Sierra bullets generally tolerate the jump to the rifling quite nicely, and good accuracy is the norm even if the bullet has to jump half the length of a football field to engage the rifling...
I don't see it as much of a problem, but some folks get all worked up about it. Any other issues? Let me know, I've used these things in some very harsh conditions and they continue to impress. Worth remembering that the U.S. Army uses sniper rifles built by Remington - and that they perform rather well in tough conditions. Most LE agencies also use sniper rifles built on Remington 700 actions too.
Regards, Guy
DesertLefty
Silver $$ Contributor
RDHNTR - Do not shoot that rifle! Just put it back in the box and send it to me. Then you can buy a Cooper for twice the price or a full-custom rig for four times the price.
Desert lefty, Man I'm really sorry but I have shot this rifle And since it only shoots in the .3s at this time I feel it would be a real insult to you to send it to you now.If I had not known how poorly it was going to shoot I would have happily taken your suggestion but now with the knowledge I have It would be really rude to give you such a poor shooting rifle. In the future when I buy a new rifle you will be the first to know so that you can make some more good suggestions that I am sure will save me much greif and heartbreak. With my highest personal regards Frank
RNDHtr it only shoots in the .3s why man you can keyboard tweak that sucker and get another tenth off those scores. I really feel badly that Remmy let such a dog out of the factory. I can remember a time when if you bought a rifle and it shot close to an inch at a hundred yards you would brag about how good of a shooter it was.
If you are sure that you won't let desert lefty have it because it shoots so bad you can always use it for a fence stake or boat anchor or something.
And remember that keyboard tweak thing to always cut the real size of your groups in half to keep up with the rest of the caliper challenged HAHAHa.
If you are sure that you won't let desert lefty have it because it shoots so bad you can always use it for a fence stake or boat anchor or something.
And remember that keyboard tweak thing to always cut the real size of your groups in half to keep up with the rest of the caliper challenged HAHAHa.
I'm sorry but I don't remember ever saying that the rifle didn't shoot good.It took some bedding a new trigger and a bunch of different bullets to get where it is now. Also the scope was at its full elevation and I had to do a little shimming to get that squared away.I not only remember how lucky I felt when I could get a rifle to shoot into about an inch but I still own a few of them including one that has taken over 50 head of big game.In case you didn't notice my response to desert lefty was somewhat tongue in cheek, as I felt that his good humor deserved the same in response.Will the rifle shoot in the 3's actually its best 5 shot group to date is .357 while most are in the .5's.My question was about the negative comments about the 700 that I see on this and other web sites.Mostly concerning quality control and barrels and chambers not being centered.jb77 it took me a moment to figure out what you were talking about the keyboard thing. Seems to me that you know a lot more about it than I do. LOL Frank
Hi all 1 st post . I've been shooting 700's since 77'
The one I own now is a series "E" LH VSS . I'd look for an earlier model,than E) in good shape .
This rifle would shoot 1 inch @100yds. I was not happy .
After bedding and bobbing off two inches of tube, it will hold .5 .I've owned BDLs that would do that out of the box .
I may have it trued and rebarraled at some point .
I'm kind of a throw back as far as powders I like IMR the most accurate for me is 3031, I've been shooting Varget for metering ease, but do like 3031 better accuracy . I like the 165 Sierra GK
Rocklock Semper Fi
The one I own now is a series "E" LH VSS . I'd look for an earlier model,than E) in good shape .
This rifle would shoot 1 inch @100yds. I was not happy .
After bedding and bobbing off two inches of tube, it will hold .5 .I've owned BDLs that would do that out of the box .
I may have it trued and rebarraled at some point .
I'm kind of a throw back as far as powders I like IMR the most accurate for me is 3031, I've been shooting Varget for metering ease, but do like 3031 better accuracy . I like the 165 Sierra GK
Rocklock Semper Fi
OK I'm going to try it. Seems like more people would do it if it works that well. I am now going to type that my rifle shoots 10 shot groups into .125. Now I'll go to the range in the next few weeks and see if it works. If it does I'll never need to bed,lap,clean or work up loads again. If it doesn't then I'll know for sure that its just the B.S that it is. LOL Frank
Catshooter, thank you for the info just goes to show you how inexperienced I am. I am going to check voltage drop and resistance on my keyboard before I go out and shoot. Wouldn't surprise me if I have more than .1v drop across the keyboard which would surely have an inverse reaction on my group size. If resistance isn't within the 1-2 megaohm range I will have to try some high amp cleaning of the circuit. Damn this could be harder than just making a rifle accurate. LOL Frank
Why hell why do we even have to drive to the matches we can all just shoot at home then we can just post our scores here and decide who the winner is. I want to post last though because the first liar, er poster I mean doesn't stand a chance.
RNDHTR now your getting the hang of it, pretty soon you will be reloading ammunition that is going 300fps faster than everyone elses with zero pressure signs and absolutely zero runout. You will be shooting it in the latest whizbang and will be shooting 1's all day long. Catshooter is right though you have to have the right keyboard, mine is a Keyboard Kommando 1000, total custom job, but I can't tell you any details though because you might get my guy to build you one then I wouldn't have the competitive edge that I have now. HaHaHa!!!!!
Seriously though the only drawback the 700's have is they hold their value better than almost all other rifles and good deals on used ones are hard to find.
RNDHTR now your getting the hang of it, pretty soon you will be reloading ammunition that is going 300fps faster than everyone elses with zero pressure signs and absolutely zero runout. You will be shooting it in the latest whizbang and will be shooting 1's all day long. Catshooter is right though you have to have the right keyboard, mine is a Keyboard Kommando 1000, total custom job, but I can't tell you any details though because you might get my guy to build you one then I wouldn't have the competitive edge that I have now. HaHaHa!!!!!
Seriously though the only drawback the 700's have is they hold their value better than almost all other rifles and good deals on used ones are hard to find.
This is getting to be too much fun. As has been suspected my .375 H &H mag just exceded 5800 fps with a 300gr remchester bullet and has zero bullet drop out to 1200 yards.Group size is .0001. That looks preety good to me but I'm sure It will be beat shortly. Again I'm just not as experienced as many of you but I'm catching on fast. Frank
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.