Grandson's Custom 721, "06 Rifle

[Picher]

This is my grandson's deer-hunting rifle. I may have written about it before, but decided to do it again and update while I'm at it. This rifle as-is was introduced to me as a Remington 721, 30-06 in an original stock, along with a bunch of parts that my eldest son brought over as a "kit" to make an up-to-date hunting rifle for his 15 year-old son's first rifle and Christmas Gift. The rifle, as it came to me via my eldest son, had a standard plane-Jane factory stock with a couple of notches in it that his other grandfather owned, but he passed away several years ago.

Along with the rifle was a new Rem. Factory 700 ADL plastic stock, sling, scope, and mount. The whole mess was given to me as a weird "kit" to make #1 Son's, only teen Son.

Well, some of you may not realize the fact that the 700 ADL factory stock doesn't easily fit the Rem 721 barreled action. The trigger/safety mechanism was a major stumbling block in fitting the action to the stock and it took tremendous effort to get it to fit, using my Moto-Tool, because I couldn't see where it was hanging up. But, eventually I got everything to fit, glassbedded the action and a bit of barrel and floated the rest.

This was a challenge, being one dead grandfather's favorite hunting rifle, to be 'improved' by the second grandfather, dreamed up and purchased parts by the father and dumped into the other grandfather's lap without consultation as to the parts.

Okay I said I'd do my best to get it done by Christmas. That was a couple of years ago.

Well, setting the action into the stock took about 5 hours, due to the problem with the safety, but I got it to work with no metal sticking out but the safety button. I pillar-bedded the barreled action into the stock, free-floated the barrel, adjusted the trigger and called it good.

Christmas came and the Grandson was very happy with the gift, showing it to all who visited! I took him out to the range and had him shoot it and I made the corrections. He shot a full box of factory ammo and was very happy with the rifle!!! It shot great!!

 

[LoonWulf]

Sounds like a lot of work, but very worth while!

 

[troy fairweather]

Nice

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Nice! I greatly prefer the 721 to the 700, a little higher quality workmanship IMO.

 

[7mmsavage]

Nice rifle, I’d have been a happy grandson to get that one too. I’ve also become a fan of bolt action hunting rifles with iron sights too.

 

[David Hoback]

Very cool. Just one thing....you gotta teach your grandson to keep his finger OFF the trigger until he is shooting. Not while taking a picture. Worst habit there is to break.

 

[Picher]

Very cool. Just one thing....you gotta teach your grandson to keep his finger OFF the trigger until he is shooting. Not while taking a picture. Worst habit there is to break.

Yeah. I mentioned it to him. He was just so excited about everything.

 

[Picher]

I wasn't too happy about a few things...especially the scope mounts for the rifle. I had to do a lot of messing around to get the scope to fit the mount spacing and scope, but didn't have time to get new mounts. Some people would have just thrown up their hands and gotten new mounts. The scope is "okay", but not what I'd have selected, especially for a "presentation" rifle. Time was of the essence, since Christmas was just a couple of days away and I had a lot of work to get the rifle to fit the stock. It all worked out and it shoots really well.

Since then, he shot a deer last season and all's well that ends well!!!

 

[Nature Boy]

The look on his face says it all

 

[Picher]

Nice! I greatly prefer the 721 to the 700, a little higher quality workmanship IMO.

The 721 is a little heavier than the 700, but seems better finished and a little more solid-feeling. Action is very smooth! Accuracy is in the sub-inch range with the kid, so I can't complain about that. All the grandkids, including the three girls, shoot quite well. I taught all of them to shoot, but most live in MASS. so it's not like I get to take them out shooting much.

One of the granddaughters is now in the Air Force and she qualified with a high score. Her mother recently qualified for a MA handgun carry permit, beating all the other students in the class, including her husband! Our eldest grandson just finished his 6-year Army career as a Sniper who served in the Middle East with distinction. (He got a perfect score on his college boards and is going to Harvard this fall.) There's only one more grand-kid in the nest and she's a few years younger than the others. Shooting-wise, she's got a "ways" to go.