which action old or new?

[flinginammo]

i have a friend who has a old remington 700 .243 (blued-wood adl)he wants to sell. serial number starts with b66xxxxxx. and there is AE on the barrel thatremington say march 1958. should i buy that to build off of are should i buy a new one from walmart? i guess what im asking which is better quality? or is all 700's created equally?

 

[superlight93]

The 700s that Walmart sells are complete garbage. They also have a "J" lock bolt. That 700 your friend has is a good action but will stil require work to true it up before rebarreling.

 

[Cort]

If you are going to spend money to have it trued, etc. Buy a custom and forget the 700 action. Otherwise, I would buy the old.

Cort

 

[Scott Harris]

I can't imagine the quality of old steel being as good as new. I sure would not buy a 1958 action: sorry. Buy a Stiller custom for $800 and be done with it.

 

[Sighter]

700's were not made in 1958. 700's arrived in the mid 60's.

Go back and double check the barrel stamp:
http://www.wisnersinc.com/additional_info/remington_date_code.htm

Probably 1984....

New G stamped actions are made on new equipment and many have decent tolerences.

I like some of the older actions just to get the adjustable old style trigger and decent finish. I am not a fan of the cheapo parkerized SPS finish.

If the price is right, have some fun. If you plan to accurize, might want to look at a Stiller or Pierce etc.

 

[jonbearman]

Are they still making the j-lock in current models from walmart. Just for grins my future son-in-law has a new sps in .223 and it is a tack driver.Saying that all sps's are garbage is a pretty broad statement.

 

[alf]

Are they still making the j-lock in current models from walmart. Just for grins my future son-in-law has a new sps in .223 and it is a tack driver.Saying that all sps's are garbage is a pretty broad statement.

J-locks went out a couple of years ago.

I agree, my new SPS 223 is a HAMMER as well. Wal-Mart gets the same guns as everybody else.....

 

[Catfish]

Personally I like the Savage action better. Not that they are so much better, but with their barrel nut it is much eaiser to set the head space. I have several barrels foe the Savages laying around which I can put on different actions.