New to me Remington 700

[savit260]

Saw this at the LGS today. It came in as part of an estate. I was in the market for a lever action or something with a nice trigger, and boy does this one deliver! I'll admit I'm not well versed in rifles, but this one sure feels "right". It's in 30/06 and the date code "EM" dates it to 1965. Bore looks fantastic, and only a few light handling marks and the action is smoooooth. Nice ebony end cap and pistol grip cap and a decent looking piece of Walnut. (looks a little shiny in the pics, as I had just wiped it down with a silicone cloth)The only real flaw I can find is that the white bands between the ebony and walnut look to be discolored as if it lived in and environment with a lot cigarette smoke possibly . The finish on the wood looks pristine. Very little bluing wear, and got it with 7 boxes of ammo. I'd love to hear anyone's insight on the 700.

[gator89]

Looks like a gud 'un!

[savit260]

I found a similar one from the same year that has the same color bands between the ebony and walnut. Upon closer inspection maybe it's a strip of wood like Holly or something instead of plastic and it's supposed to be that color?? This person payed WAAAAAYY more for this one than I did ! Maybe it's a rare caliber or something?



classic.gunauction.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=8526562

[squawberryman]

Let's see about the Remington 700
M40A1
M40A3
M40A5
M40A6
M24's all over the roof of the White House

Ask any Marine or target shooter from back in the day. Ask me or just about anyone who owns half a dozen customs built with one. Everybody and their brother in the aftermarket parts world makes stuff for a "700 footprint". Just about every custom action markets it as "improving on the 700". You did awesome sir. Let us know how she shoots.

[coldtriggerfinger]

I forget the dates of manufacture. But there is a couple years of manufacture where some rifles in the 700 and 600 actions would fire when the safety was released.
You can call Remington and they will tell you if your rifle is in the running . I believe they still replace the potentially faulty triggers for free. And the factory cane tell you your rifles pedigree from the serial #.

I've had several model 700s. But, I'm a cart guy.
I don't put a lot of stock in the Gubmint contracts. A rifle breaks down the shooter just turns it into the armorer and gets handed a fixed one.
But they do function most of the time. And for a deer rifle it will probably function fine.

[savit260]

This one's date of birth was in 1965 so it looks like it predates the recall by about 50 years. Did a quick Google search and it looks like the problem triggers were manufactured between 2006 and 2014.

[dougader]

I had an older 700 BDL and it was a fantastic rifle; a 30-06 like yours but not quite as old. Easy to shoot 1" groups at 100 with most any load.

[jgt]

My first rifle was an ADL model 700 '06 about that vintage. In the seventies I was thinking about having it rebuilt into a custom until I read a Rick Jamison article in Shooting Times on how to clean a rifle properly. I bought the components and supplies and went to scrubbing. After that it shot sub-minute of angle groups with my hand loads. It is still my main go to bolt action. Yours is the BDL but, I'd say you done good!!!

[gunzo]

Doggone good rifles & the caliber is a great one too, yes you did do good. I can't remember ever being around 60's & 70's vintage 700's that shot bad. You could pretty much count on getting good ones. The stocks were shiny & got even more so a few years later. A Dupont coating that's tough as nails.

I have a 1965 BDL that I found in 1986 that still had the hang tags on it. New old stock I guess they call it. A 7 mag. with the factory stainless barrel. Lots of other rifles have come & gone before & after this one, it stays, & will continue to. It also has yellowish colored spacers. They all got that way. While I don't know the material, they were advertised as white line spacers, popular at the time. The Dupont finish on the wood or the spacer itself yellowed over time.

FWIW, the checkering design was changed in 1973 on both the A & BDL. The aluminum but plate on the standard calibers disappeared about that time & was replaced with plastic. Magnums were factory equipped with a recoil pad.

That's about all I can think of about them at the moment. Sorry you asked?

I couldn't help myself:

[savit260]

Aug 26, 2018 10:36:22 GMT -5 gunzo said:

Doggone good rifles & the caliber is a great one too, yes you did do good. I can't remember ever being around 60's & 70's vintage 700's that shot bad. You could pretty much count on getting good ones. The stocks were shiny & got even more so a few years later. A Dupont coating that's tough as nails.

I have a 1965 BDL that I found in 1986 that still had the hang tags on it. New old stock I guess they call it. A 7 mag. with the factory stainless barrel. Lots of other rifles have come & gone before & after this one, it stays, & will continue to. It also has yellowish colored spacers. They all got that way. While I don't know the material, they were advertised as white line spacers, popular at the time. The Dupont finish on the wood or the spacer itself yellowed over time.

FWIW, the checkering design was changed in 1973 on both the A & BDL. The aluminum but plate on the standard calibers disappeared about that time & was replaced with plastic. Magnums were factory equipped with a recoil pad.

That's about all I can think of about them at the moment. Sorry you asked?

I couldn't help myself:

Not sorry at all!!! Thanks! That's just the type of stuff I want to hear. Lovely rifle you have there.

[nolongcolt]

My first bolt action hunting rifle was a late 60's ADL in .308 Win, which I didn't realize is sort of scarce, wish I had kept it. Had a bunch over the years, Classics, BDL, ADL, Mountain rifle, PSS, two M40's. Great rifles.

[kings6]

Love the early model 700s. My dad got the first 7 mag that came into this part of the state when the 700 first came out. Serial # 2468. I gave that one to my oldest son. I inherited another early 700 form dad that was a 243. It now is a single shot fully blue printed match barreled 7mm-08. Great guns out of the box and even better when used as a base for a custom rifle IMHO.

[bigmuddy]

I have an ADL 30-06 that I could not begin to know the number of deer I've taken with it. My brother has an identical rifle, and his has probably taken more. (He didn't switch to handgun only ) Both of ours are MOA rifles. Even though I don't hunt deer with it anymore I would never part with it. Too many stories and memories.

I will say the trigger issue is real and those years mentioned are not all inclusive. Remington's web site has a place to enter your serial number and they will tell you what to do if your gun is "in the range". Mine fired twice in one day by taking the safety off. Had it repaired at a Remington certified gunsmith several years ago. Don't use it much anymore, but shooting it last winter and it fired when closing the bolt. Installed a Timney trigger so should be good now.

Dan

[magnumwheelman]

I have a couple

the 700's are some of my favorite rifles...



a custom 17 Fireball top left ( started life as a 17 Remington, that FIL shot the barrel out of... it was used a lot on prairie dogs )

a 223 heavy barrel 3rd from top left

a custom 6.8 SPC 5th from top left ( started life as a 22-250, that FIL shot the barrel out of... it was used a lot on prairie dogs )

an aniversary of the 30-06 edition 4th from top right

a nearly unfired 35 Whelen 6th from top right

engraved floorplate from the 30-06... nice walnut, & a fluted stainless barrel