Picked up a Remington 78 Sportsman

Anyone else have one of these? How has it held up?

It was my friend's Dad's and he let me borrow it for a week to decide if I want to buy it from him.

It's in pretty good shape. From what I understand, it's essentially a Remington 700 with a "cheaper" stock (seems fine to me), a plastic trigger guard (seems just as durable as any other), and a not as nicely finished bluing (also looks fine to me). The action is silky smooth.

Came with a 3-9X scope which is sturdy and it shoots very well. I like the scope rings because you can look below the scope and use the iron sights if desired.

Is $250 a decent price? I'm really liking it. Chambered in 30-06 by the way

 

I've had one in the past. It is just a 700 ADL in a cheaper hardwood stock. I think the iron sights are a little cheaper too.

The mounts need to go. They are too high to be able to use the scope effectively and too low along with the stock shape to use irons effectively. You end with the worst of both rather than the best of both worlds.

$250 is a good price for the quality. There are take-off stocks available if you look around for not a lot of money that would dress it up a bit if you're interested.

 

That was a concern of mine when I first saw it. Honestly I'm not a scope guy and I've used them plenty of times but this will be the first rifle I've owned with a scope on it. I don't have any problem using the scope effectively, idk maybe I'm missing something here but I can hold the rifle normally, look down the scope, and shoot without having to adjust my neck/head in a weird way

 

The thing is, with the iron sights on the rifle I really couldn't mount a scope much lower on the rifle anyway...

 

i'd buy it at that price for sure.

 

Well technically it's $250 and I drive us to our favorite fishing spot next time, but I think I can deal with that

 

Anymore I'm beginning to feel any wood rifle is worth 250. Next time you are at the range count plastic vs wood and you'll see what I mean.


I paid 340 for a Zasatava commercial Mauser recently. I needed a deer rifle and when faced with the choice of plastic for about the same cash I made the clear "choice".


From what I've heard they're good guns. It'll shoot good enough to kill a deer to 300 yards and will feel solid in the hands. Every plastic gun I've bought has been traded off or sold within months. Wood guns become heirlooms.


HB

 

$250 is a good deal, I would jump on that.

I agree that the scope is sitting too high. Two things you can do about that -

Install some sort of cheek riser OR
The better option - get some new rings and lower that scope as low as you can get it. Remove the rear sight if necessary. These type of guns are an "either/or" when it comes to scope or sights.

Keeping that scope low will allow for a good, consistent cheek weld which is important for repeatable accuracy.

If you absolutely insist on retaining use of your irons, look on ebay for a set of Weaver "tip off" rings for the 700. If adjusted properly, that will allow you to keep that scope low but still use your irons when you want to.

 

I'd buy the rifle and ditch the scope rings. For $250 you can afford proper rings.

 

Thanks for all the input so far.

I really like this rifle, I enjoy shooting it and I realize it's a good deal… but at the same time I'm leaning towards not buying it, simply because I don't have a practical purpose for it. I don't hunt, and I don't ever foresee myself using it in a self-defense situation. If I want to shoot long distance with a scoped rifle, I'd probably just get something in a caliber I already have (5.56/.223) which would make more sense for multiple reasons.

It's kind of like when a store has a good deal on a nice TV. Sure, it's a great deal; but that doesn't mean I need a TV, especially when I could spend the money on something that makes more sense.

Decisions, decisions...

 

Great price. I sold a Rem 78 in 30.06 for $400 last winter. It is the same action as the 700 but had a birch stock and the bolt wasn't jeweled.