Rem 700 ADL Rehab question

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mjkten

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I have an early model with the screw holes in the side of the action for mounting receiver sights I suppose. I got it looking pretty sad, dirty dusty and surface rust. Shoots patterns, not groups. Hard plastic buttplate. I'd like to have a gunsmith rebarrel it and put it in a nice stock. But does that early model action have any extra value because of its age? Trying to decide if it's better to sell it off and buy something Savage accu-something, or put it in rehab. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Mike.
 
If you're into it cheap enough none of those things matter. A gunsmith doing a custom build is going to toss most of those parts and keep the action. It will be refinished anyway. If the rust is bad enough you'll likely not get get a brightly polished finish on the action, but it could be done in a matte finish or parkerized and turn it into solid working gun. It will probably never be a showpiece, but could end up as a very good hunting or target gun depending on which way you go.

The only real advantage to the pre-1982 guns is that the bolt handle is locked down when on "SAFE" and you must move it to fire to unload the chamber. Some guys prefer that style, some don't, but I don't see it making any difference as to value.

Some don't like ADL, but it isn't overly costly to convert it to BDL. There are more stock options with floorplates than for ADL. Personally I like the blind magazine ADL's. It makes for a stiffer stock, a little less weight and expense. I think the money is better spent on a better barrel or optics than converting to BDL.

Sounds like the perfect candidate for a custom rifle.
 
I love the idea of a custom rifle, I've been looking for barrel makers that also do gunsmith work. Hoping to get it rebarreled, then placed in a decent stock. Money is of course an issue, but I'm just trying to be wise, not a spendthrift. Of course this is a hobby, and men's toys just cost more. But while I linger over the GA Precision website, I don't think I'm ready to spend that kind of money.
 
The going price for a hunting accuracy rifle these days screams SELL! Any used rifle can be a hit or a miss and if you aren't taking a bath, you can always go that route again if you prefer but new prices for several old standards (not throw aways) will come in below the cost of repairing what you have.

My favorite used find was a blind mag Winchester under $320 that out shoots my 700, the new price for which would easily be double. I've chased parts on pistols before and realize I could have had a few Les Baers or a really nice full custom for what I've put into Colts and others that needed major surgery. They're worth it to me but not fiscally sound from a resale standpoint nor would the carry the prestige of showing up with a Wilson Combat.
 
You better clean the barrel three days in a row with good copper solvent before you write it off as a bad barrel.

You might be pleasantly surprised!

rc
 
i bought a older rem 700 adl in 6mm for the action as the barrel looked very bad and the owner said he could not hit a barn with it. it sat in the corner of my gun room for a few weeks untill we had a rain event that lasted the weekend and i took that 6mm and started to try and see what it would clean up too. after going tru all the copper cleaner i owned(about 6 bottles of the stuff) and two days of scrubbing and brishel brushing it came out realy nice and the good part was i shot a 5 shot 1.25" group at 100yds(mounted a 12x leupold scope) with factory winchester 100gr pp ammo. i did kill several doe with it, i don,t think he had cleaned it in the 40 years he owned it. i guess what i,m trying to say is check the bedding, tighten the action screws, clean the heck out of the barrel, mount a good scope on it and try good ammo. you may be surprized and have a real nice rifle. i bought this reworked 8mm mauser for 110.00 and the thing was rough as a cob when i got it and after cleaning it up it will shoot 170gr factory ammo into 1" three shot groups at 50yds. eastbank.
 

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Clean it, tighten it. shoot it, assess it, and if it doesn't shoot... sell it.

As above, there's likely nothing wrong with it that a scrubbing won't cure. But if it's not a shooter, sell it. There's foolish-money to be spent having a thing like this worked on. You'll have 2X into it what a new rifle will cost. There's nothing special about these actions, and the rest would be tossed out. I guess what I am saying is that if the barrel is good, then it's a keeper and if not.... find someone else to love it.


If it shoots after a cleaning, an aftermarket drop-in stock would just about complete it.



Willie

.
 
Great advice here. I thought I had cleaned it thoroughly, using wipe out and shooters choice copper cleaner, but after hearing about your cleaning efforts, I'll give that another go. I have checked the scope mounts for tightness, the rings and action screws too. I have an older Nikon 3-9x40 on it, but I'll try another scope just to see if that makes a difference. I imagine I'll use this rifle for a first bedding project and see how that goes. No use getting sentimental or even ambitious with a non shooting rifle.
 
I bought a new Dewey cleaning rod, a couple nylon brushes and some Montana Extreme copper cleaner. The first thirty minutes of cleaning made me think it had never been cleaned before. I have alternated between copper cleaner and nylon brush scrubbing, and Shooters Choice with the brass brush and I think the only copper showing up anymore is from the brush. So after a third round of cleaning I'll probably head back to the range with a box of Fed GMM 168 gr and see if there is any change. I'm going to try glass bedding the action as a learning project soon afterwards.
 
I have an old ADL, wood furniture, plastic butt plate, chambered in .270 win.. I lapped the lugs, lapped the barrel, bedded the action, floated the barrel, slapped a decent Leupold on it, Zee rings, put a recoil pad on it, and it has shots sub MOA for almost 30 yrs.. I've had that rifle for almost 30 yrs.. It's slowing down (FPS), I'll probably have it re-barreled at some point if the groups start to open up. It's ugly, been on many very rough hunting trips, but I wouldn't hesitate to trust it for a 500 yd. shot on a trophy, it's already served me well at over 600 yds. on antelope.

At the very worst, you could re-barrel it, the action is what really matters on 700's, and they are good. As for the furniture, I assume it's wood, that can be bedded for very little expense, and made to function 100%.

GS
 
I have the same wood stock, curved plastic buttplate etc...I am slowly working on making it a shooter. I'll probably use it to teach myself how to do glass bedding and other things.
A question- the info I have seen on lapping lugs shows a fixture that presses against the bolt with the barrel removed...can the lugs be effectively lapped with the barrel installed?
 
I got a 700 out of a flood ravaged field back in 85.It was one of those yucky looking ADL's.It was terribly rusted,and the barrel was junk.I took it all apart and cleaned everything and installed a Wilson barrel.About a month ago I gave it a makeover.I installed a .250 PTG lug,headspaced it to match standards,lapped the lugs,re-did the crown,glassed the H-S Precision stock and ordered up 100 rounds of new 25-06 brass.Had it out shooting today,and enjoyed the heck out of putting SMK's in tight lil groups.Such rifles are just downright fun to resurrect.
 
I like your story. There are lots of practical people who advise against putting too much money into a project like this and they make perfect sense. I guess I am looking for the enjoyment of choosing some great parts and being there to see the final product perform.
 
I got the barrel squeaky clean, mounted a new Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 4.5-14 on it (pretty wordy model name, isn't it?) and got it sighted in after a couple fouling shots. I shot three groups of three, the first was 1.3", second .54", third .50". I'm not sure I can hold and shoot the rifle any better than that.
It does need a recoil pad though, and the finish on the stock and metal could use some help. I am tempted to put it in a B&C stock partly for the recoil pad.
Has anyone mounted a recoil pad on a curved butt ADL stock? Do you cut it down first to maintain a reasonable LOP, or just mount the pad and slide the scope back a bit?
 
You might also try a product called "J B Bore Cleaner". I used that on an older Rem. rifle in .223 caliber, really cleaned that bore up ! I don't use it every time I clean the bore, but did make a real difference. I use a bore mop the same size as the caliber, put a "bit" on the mop and scrub it 20 to 25 times, then wipe out and use Hoppes to really clean out any residue, you'll see on the mop how its cleaning the bore.
 
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