Remington Quality Going Downhill??

[dmickey]

Yesterday (Monday, 04/30/2012) I received some bad news. It seems that Remington's Custom Shop now requires a dealer wanting to order a rifle from the Custom Shop to buy at least two rifles in the same year! The dealers in my area (southcentral Pennsylvania) are just small mom and pop dealers and would in no way have the orders for a custom Remington twice a year! I am trying to check with about six of the local dealers to see what price they can get me a Remington 40XB Rangemaster but I am holding my breath!

Also, one of the dealers is saying that Remington's quality has really gone downhill. He says that ever since the Freedom Group bought out Remington, every one of the Remingtons that he has gotten in for his customers has had problems that require him to send the rifle back to Remington for repair or adjustment. One was a .30-06 that came in with no rifling in the barrel! Has anyone else noticed a reduction in overall quality??

 

[Steve Blair]

At the price Remington gets for a 40-XB you could have a custom rifle of similar configuration and better quality. [br]
Pierce SA Single shot 935
Jewell trigger 200
Fitted Krieger (or other) 550
Bedded stock 850

Total 2535

 

[ridgeway]

They started going downhill in the 90's. Custom shop? There are many custom action makers out there to choose from to start a custom build. Check out the gunsmith page on this site and find one close to you and give him a call. A new Remington 40x would be a waste of money compared to what you can custom build.

 

[fdshuster]

If I were looking for a quality factory built rifle, it would not be a Remington, whether it came from the so-called "custom shop" or not.

I would look in the direction of Cooper & consider one of theirs.

Or, as sleepygator said, have your own built in your gunsmith's "custom shop" & get exactly what you want, starting with the all important hand lapped barrel.


If I'm spending that kind of money, I'll be the one to decide on freebore length, chamber neck diameter, barrel twist, choice of triggers (Jewell naturally), stock design, barrel contour & finish, scope mount base, etc. etc. And for me, face to face meetings with the gunsmith are very important, compared to telephone calls, e-mails & shipping by UPS, FedEx, etc.

p.s.; Dennis: Being in South Central Pa., check out Bob Green for a true custom build. One of my rifles has a Shehane Tracker laminate stock that was glass pillar bedded by Bob Green, my local gunsmith fitted a new barrel to the action & closely inspected the stock bedding & said it's the most perfect he's ever seen.

 

[Rustystud]

Both Remington and it's Parent company have new CEOs. Lets see how fast they take Remington out of the civilian market place. It is rumored they are only interested in the Law enforcement and Government contracts. The Remington 700, 870, and 1100 Series has barely kept them in business many years with huge losses. My prediction is Illion, NY will be a Remington Firearms Museum in another couple of years, all manufacturing will be moved to Kentucky, and Alabama. The lack of product advancement, increased cost of manufacture, along with the requirement of American military firearms being required to be made on American soil is changing the oldest American firearms manufactures business plan. Today Savage has taken the lower end market, the target shooter market and rimfire market. Barreta, Benneli, Browning are taking the Shotgun Market. Shooters who want to use Remingtons 700s for target shooting are buying Custom clones that are better products at not much more cost.
Just my opinion, we will just have to wait and see.
Nat Lambeth

 

[shooter63]

the last 40x from rem so called custom shop i bought was in the early 90s sounded as if it had sand in the action it took me & jim carmichael for ever to get it straightened up would never buy another also sent a17 cal marlin to paduca ky. to have it fixed for splitting cases after 2 mo. i got it back still splitting cases sent it to illion ny. after 3 wks. received it back still splitting cases would never own another my opinion only i think for a production rifle i cant see beating a savage for price regards shooter63

 

[Steve Blair]

p.s.; Dennis: Being in South Central Pa., check out Bob Green for a true custom build. One of my rifles has a Shehane Tracker laminate stock that was glass pillar bedded by Bob Green, my local gunsmith fitted a new barrel to the action & closely inspected the stock bedding & said it's the most perfect he's ever seen.

[br]
Amen, brother Frank. Bob has two of my BAT actions as we speak fitting new barrels. If I had a complete rifle project, I would not hesitate to have Bob do it.

 

[markm87]

I guess we've lucked out. The last 5 Rem 700s we've bought have been shooters.

3 of those are the 5R variant, all in different calibers. But yeah.. if read complaints on the forums.

The X mark triggers are garbage of course, and we've skim bedded them all, and put Timney 517s in all of them. But aside form that, they've all been sub MOA guns.

 

[nfhjr62]

Just give Savage Rifles a try, I've had very good results with mine go to www.savageshooters.com/SavageForum

 

[Steve Blair]

Just give Savage Rifles a try, I've had very good results with mine go to www.savageshooters.com/SavageForum

I guess we've lucked out. The last 5 Rem 700s we've bought have been shooters.

3 of those are the 5R variant, all in different calibers. But yeah.. if read complaints on the forums.

The X mark triggers are garbage of course, and we've skim bedded them all, and put Timney 517s in all of them. But aside form that, they've all been sub MOA guns.

[br]
The O.P. was inquiring about a 40-XB Rangemaster. When considering a rifle in that price range, substantially better than 1 MOA is usually expected. The Rangemaster of old, apparently extinct, could do 1/4 MOA in .222 and much better than 1/2 MOA in .308. A production rifle is a compromise between cost and function, now heavily slanted toward cost. Using excellent components, it is possible to assemble a rifle for ~$2500 that will shoot consistently better than production rifles. It will also cost several times as much. This is a pretty simple case of getting what you pay for. As Frank noted, there is also the added benefit of getting exactly what you want as opposed to what the Marketing Department thinks you need.

 

[Bradley Walker]

1990's era Remingtons are much better. New or like new rifles from that era can be had for the same price as the new ones or even cheaper on Guns America. I particularly think the old "Police" and VSSF and VSSF-2 were much better than any of the crap you see now custom or not...

 

[chuckw2]

I gave up on. Remington's a long time ago, I have a $200 Stevens that will out shoot any Remington I own
Chuck

 

[BigHorn WBY]

I never knew their quality went up any hill in order for it to come down ???

 

[markm87]

date=1335887947]The O.P. was inquiring about a 40-XB Rangemaster. When considering a rifle in that price range, substantially better than 1 MOA is usually expected. The Rangemaster of old, apparently extinct, could do 1/4 MOA in .222 and much better than 1/2 MOA in .308.

I see. We have several entry level guns that we're cutting our teeth on. My SPS tactical is a half MOA .308 after stock and skim bed.

But yeah... I can't see going with a factory gun if you're willing to put forth the money that could just go towards a build.

 

[wmdron]

I agree with fdshuster if you want a good factory rifle buy a cooper. Bought two last year and am very happy with them, they are miles ahead of any Remington or for that matter any Savage I own.

 

[Steve Blair]

I see. We have several entry level guns that we're cutting our teeth on. My SPS tactical is a half MOA .308 after stock and skim bed.

[br]
We may define differently what constitutes a 1/2 MOA rifle. I consider the aggregate of five 5-shot groups, no induced errors, to indicate what the rifle and load can do. By this definition, my BAT 3LL .284 Shehane is a .35 MOA rifle. My 6BR Viper SS is a .25 MOA rifle. I have factory rifles like my two (old) 40XBR Remingtons that will shoot almost as well as a custom rifle. Even though they may produce a good group, very few factory guns will consistently group at low levels. That does not mean that some lower cost rifles, with a little tuning, will not shoot well. Most will not.

 

[butchlambert]

You know how internet folks are. Just mention a poor part and it spreads like wildfire. How many of you folks put one of their receivers in an action truing jig and checked measurements on there product. I bet 2 of the people that has posted on this thread may have checked a late model receiver, at most. I find most late models are very good. They are built on modern equip.
Let's stay off their backs until you can actually tell a story from your actual experience, rather than mimic what you read on the net.

 

[Eddie Harren]

+1 for Butch. The great majority of the newer Rem M700 and M7 receivers, that I have checked, are very well done in regards to trueness. I had a pair of M7's in the shop that the headspace, measured without the lug, was within .002". This is a far cry from the "Good Old Models".

 

[WyleWD]

+2 on Butch's post. Last couple I've had checked were too close to mess with. WD

 

[nra-for-life]

well i cant comment on the custom shop orders but i have in the last year aquired 3 remington model 700 sps, a 22/250, a 243, and a 308. they all shoot anout 1.5 moa ish, with the 22-250 being the most accurate of them. I wouldnt say they are great but i wouldnt say they are bad either. it is a mass produced factory gun...

if i were in the 2k ish gun price ballpark i would go for one of Kelbly's in stock rifles. I would be willing to bet they shoot nicely, based on their atlas action I believe (remington clone). Call em up and see what they have to say, you would have a shooter and not have to wait. Cooper has long been known as a good choice also.