In all honesty, that link doesn't tell you what it's like to own one.
I own a model 770 in 7mm Rem Magnum. I also own a couple dozen high quality bolt action rifles, from top quality vintage rifles (like a 1951 Winchester Model 70) to absolutely excellent big game rifles (like a Weatherby Mark V).
So why did I even buy a crappy 770? A local shop put the 770 with factory scope combo on sale for $349 so I dropped 3.5 bills and bought one just for fun and laughs. Who cares how it shoots, it was a cheap thrill.
Holy crap, I am totally impressed with its accuracy, and the ease with which it develops accurate handloads.
Holy crap, I am totally unimpressed with its lousy controls and lousy fit 'n finish. A hard rifle to live with, to be sure.
I hate handling the rifle, it just feels so bad. It feels like a cheap crummy toy of a rifle, even though it shoots 0.770" groups with handloads, and 0.880" groups with Remington factory ammo.
So...
For people who only shoot a deer rifle 30 times in its life, this is the perfect cheap rifle. Totally accurate with factory ammo. And who cares if the fit and finish suck. Who cares if the controls can be somewhat difficult. Who cares that the stock feels like a Tonka Toy version of a toy hunting rifle. Who cares that you release and insert the magazine only with the skill of a surgeon. Who cares that the bolt release is completely un-intuitive. Who cares that the Bushnell scope is a cheap version of a cheap scope. Who cares that the trigger feels like prying open a car door with a crow bar. Who cares that the sling mounts are just barely screwed into the cheap polymer plastic stock. Who cares that drawing the bolt feels like a tow truck winching a wrecked jeep out of a ditch. Who cares about any of that, because when you put the focused crosshairs on something and pull the trigger, it hits that exact spot within 3/8" of the where the crosshairs pointed. Yes, for all its faults, it is indeed that accurate.
For a half million 'wanna be' deer hunters on their one-weekend-per-year trip to a cousin's deer blind where the corn feeder is chummed nightly, this is the perfect cheap deer rifle that will last a lifetime. And it kills the poor deer stone dead. For these shooters, THAT is the big picture.
The target market isn't you. The target market is that wanna be deer hunter who doesn't know a bad rifle from a good one, as long as it kills the deer stone dead. And yes, the 770 is just that accurate. Stone dead accurate, right where the crosshairs point. And if those hunters only shoot 30 rounds in their lives, this Remington 770 rifle will easily last a lifetime. Maybe two lifetimes. Maybe even three lifetimes, if someone cleans it once.
So lots of guys on this Forum bash the 770 rifle badly. For its target market, it's the perfect cheap rifle. Let those other guys buy it, let them have their fun, let them get their deer from that blind every year. What do you care, as long as they're happy.
If it's as accurate as Ants says, that's good. If it needs tweaks, well it's starting out low enough to make some home gunsmithing a maybe? Can you upgrade the trigger? Can you smooth the bolt pull? Anyway to make the stock better like foaming the inside to stiffen? Seems as if there were a used one in the $100 barrel, it might be a project? But, what can you do to it?
LOL I am sure they can be real shooters, but the stock it the worst ever made IMHO. They are more bulky then the Vanguard with the worst grade of plastic I have ever seen on a rifle. I think a Tonka truck is better built. + budget rem rifles have a horable grade of steel that rusts faster then raw iron ore, my ADL was not out of the box for less then a week when I had to start fighting the rust, which is a constant battle no matter how well you keep them cleaned/oiled I think I would take a 100ATR over the 770 and I know I would MUCH rather own another budget Savage/Marlin/Tikka over any budet remington any day of the week.
