Remington 721 Barrel???

[msinc]

Just got an unfired 30-06 Remington 721. Dont need it but bought it cheap enough and around here they are really not seen much...much less unfired. I wondered what type of method they rifled with at Remington back then {late 40's} and a quick look with the borescope showed something strange. There are tooling marks running across/perpendicular on both the lands and grooves. I kind of expected to see a button or maybe even a cut rifled barrel but it is definately not cut and it would seem a button swaging .004" deep grooves and lands would "iron" out these reamer marks. Hammer forged maybe??

 

[Eddie Harren]

Hammer Forged.

 

[msinc]

Thought so...thanx!!!

 

[acloco]

What year was your 721 produced? I have the same rifle as you. Mine looks unfired as well.

You probably won't find a better shooting factory rifle. These prefer 174 gr and heavier bullets.

 

[1000yardstare]

A big problem with these 1950s 721/722/725 is that Remington destroyed the paper records of serial numbers due to storage problems.

I ran into this with a 722 .308 that I tried to trace year of manufacture and the records don`t exist.

The best you can do is look in the Blue Book as a historical reference.

Bill

 

[msinc]

Thanks for the info guys...The unfired one I actually own dates to April 1953 {307826 code CZZ.} The 721 seems to be fairly rare. I go to alot of gunshows and stop in every little hole-in-the-wall gunshop I can find in my travels and have only ever seen two...the one I just got while vacationing in Ocala, Fla. and the one currently in my shop for repair. Both are 30-06 caliber. There is a guy at work that claims to have a 721 in 300H&H but I have never seen it. I didn't need the one I just got, nor am I in love with Remingtons or the 721 but I always buy every unfired {or unfired in appearance} 60 year old plus gun I can. I understand that one of the problems with these old rifles or at least something to pay particular attention to is the extractor. If damaged, broken or loose you will likely have to install a Sako type to be able to shoot the rifle. The one I have for repair is a sad story...somebody left the barrel get wet and it pitted pretty bad. It also partially froze the striker and it's spring inside the bolt. It must have been standing up and got full of water. The rifle was brought in because it failed to fire while the owner was hunting bear in Pa. Strangely the chamber was perfect, at least it looked that way in the borescope. Some genius used a chambering reamer to get the rust out of the chamber and clean it up. It worked too, except now the rifle has .012" headspace too much which I discovered while test firing. It hang fires, so it's either get a barrel or set this one back. Given the condition of the bore I suggested the owner buy a new aftermarket pipe but I have seen some badly pitted bores still drive tacks...too bad it cost so much to find out.

 

[1000yardstare]

Know all about the Sako extractor.

I took the 722 .308 to a `smith for rebarreling into an F Class rifle. He said the extractor was so worn that he wouldn`t rebarrel unless I agreed to him installing a sako-type extractor.

No problem. He squared the action and installed the extractor for a fair price. Now I don`t have to worry about a stuck case on a hot Summer day.

Bill

 

[msinc]

"Now I don`t have to worry about a stuck case on a hot Summer day."

That is correct, and you never have to worry about a broken extractor either...I cant believe the military dont install them on the M40. If there is one thng I would change on the 700 line of rifles it would be that extractor. You have to get a good and stuck case and then break one on a hunt out of state to really appreciate the Sako install.