Remington 700 build

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Sammael94

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I'm looking for advice on a remington 700 build. I've never done anything like this before, and I'm just wondering if its something I can even do without specialised tools. Given the amount of money a custom rifle build demands, I'd rather know whether I'm going to have a road block before I invest in the project. Any help you can offer and any resources you can share are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
There is some extra info that will help with the responses.

What is the purpose for the build?
What cartridges are you looking at?
Do you already have an action, Stock, Other stuff that you want to use?
Any special features your expecting to want.
Are you interested in doing a RemAge build (savage style barrel nut), or do you want to do a traditional nut less build.

What is your mechanical aptitude level?

If your handy, and are not building a precision rifle, you can make, or improvise all the special tools you'll need besides reamers and headspace guages. I would tho recommend just renting everything. Places like 4D offer all the tools you need to do a basic job at home.


Scratch all this if your planning a precision rifle build with premium components. That I'd leave to the pros, or at least well equipped and experienced hobbiests.
 
It depends on what you want to do. As a rule Remington barrels are pretty good as is.

None of them qualify as "custom" guns, but they have been customized. My 700 and both of my Winchester 70's are sitting in McMillan Edge stocks. The Remington has had the trigger replaced with a Timney. The bottom metal on the Winchesters is aluminum PT&G which is about 1/4 lb lighter than factory steel. Those are all DIY projects that greatly improved all 3 rifles. I've done similar things to other rifles and found that is all the customizing I needed to be happy.

If you want to replace the barrel or add custom touches like fluting the barrel or bolt, thread the barrel for a suppressor etc, then you need to pay someone to ensure it is right. If I already had an old rifle that the barrel was worn out on, or in a cartridge I didn't want I might consider paying a gunsmith to replace the barrel with a really nice one in a cartridge I liked. Most of the other stuff you could do yourself.

Not all stocks are DIY however. McMillans tend to just bolt up right out of the box, some people bed them, some don't. MIne are, but they shot just fine prior. Many others require final fitting by someone skilled in such things.
 
Like Loon said, if you're building a "Remage" with a barrel nut then yes you can, but personally I would recommend that you buy or rent the right tools. If you're not planning on using a barrel nut then, based on your questions, I would say no, I wouldn't suggest you try it, especially on your first build..

Yes, you can make or improvise many of the tools you'll need but if you've never done anything like this before you don't need the extra hassle of figuring out how to do this while at the same time figuring out how to make your improvised tools work without damaging the rifle... Factory Remington barrels are usually on TIGHT, especially if it's an older rifle and has been on for a long time... It's easy to do cosmetic damage if your not careful and possible to wreck the action...
 
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Good advise above. I assume from your original post you are talking about a build starting with a complete action (receiver and bolt). LoonWulf asked a great question regarding whether you want to build a "Remage" with a nutted barrel, or a more traditional build with a nutless barrel. I have done the former; he has done the latter. Both work very well. Either way, you will need some tools.

Brownell's has a good series of articles on How to Build Your Own Remington 700. Good info throughout.

https://www.brownells.com/guntech/how-to-build-your-own-remington-700-part-i/detail.htm?lid=10506
 
If you want to assemble your rifle yourself: You will need specialized tools, period. Even for a Remage build, you will need a means to wrench the action and barrel apart - or barrel nut. For me, that means a barrel wrench or barrel nut wrench, and an action vise. Let's be realistic, you're not going to blueprint your action or chamber your barrel on your own, so there's not much sense in buying $700 manual blueprinting and chambering tools, and less sense in buying a machine lathe just for one rifle. To remove a Remington barrel and install a Remage, you'll still need an action vise, a barrel wrench to remove the old barrel, then the barrel nut wrench to install the new one, as well as a means to set the headspace for the new barrel, whether you use a fired case, a factory round, or preferably, a set of go and no-go gauges.

If you want a custom rifle: Order parts, and pay a gunsmith to install the barrel. Depending upon what stock or chassis you choose, you may or may not need to block and bed the action. McMillan stocks offer the option of pillar blocks from factory, chassis' don't need to be bedded or blocked, Manners offers a "mini-chassis" option for some of their stocks. Alternatively, if you go with a cheap laminate boyd's stock, you'll need to block and bed it. Not difficult, but something to consider.

For me, I don't really prefer the Remage nut style, so I'd rather order the barrel and action, pay a smith to install the barrel and time my muzzle device, then I do my own stock work, or order a McMillan, Manners, or chassis which doesn't need block & bed work. I own tools to hand blueprint and finish chamber barrels myself, but for the money, if you're only doing 1 rifle, or even 3-4 rifles, you're money ahead to pay a smith.
 
I built a Model 7 in .243 AI. Started with a Model 7 youth in .243 Win. I went the Remage route with a barrel and nut from McGowen. I paid a gunsmith to remove the factory barrel and square the action face. I bought a barrel vise, action wrench, barrel nut wrench, and headspace gauges. Really fun project but not inexpensive. I don’t think there is a way to build a 700 on the cheap.
 
I built this Remington 700 in .308 for pig hunting. I went with a Shillen #3 contour varmint barrel, Timney trigger, surgeon bottom metal with 10 round mag and Hogue built a custom stock for me. I don’t know what your budget is, I think this one was not bad considering what full blown custom rifles cost.
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I'm about halfway through reading all the responses, but as I'm on lunch at work, I would like to say that my build would be on a virgin receiver in 6.5 creedmore for hunting/ just to have. I've never owned or shot a 700 before, and am a little worried about their reputation for going off for no reason, but its the cheapest receiver by far that I could find and as long as i put an after market trigger (can you say Timney?) on it then I figure I'm good. I hope this information helps clarify what I want, and I thank you for your time.
 
Loonwulf ask some important questions.

You will need a gunsmith or machinest to thread and chamber the barrel. If you have any mechanical ability you can bed the stock, replace the trigger and change the firing pin. My shooting buddy made a jig to hold a bolt in his mill for bolt fluting but most send them off to have done. I've done most of this work myself, except for the barrel work. I plan to do the barrel work on my next one, with my buddy coaching, of course!

Another buddy buys short chambered Shilen barrels from Midway and completes them hisself. He has a lot of mechanical ability. For the cost of the tooling you can have one done professionally.
 
A 700 has the potential to make a very accurate rifle. Most trigger problems stem from amateur adjustments or dirty triggers. But, a custom trigger solves this problem, either way.
 
I did a project similar to what it appears you are doing with all the work done by a local gunsmith.
I took a Remington 700 in .300 WSM I bought new for about $300 +/- (on sale at Sportsmans Warehouse) and built a 6.5x WSM with a custom medium sporter contour 24" barrel, Timney trigger, squared and trued receiver, lapped lugs, pillar and glass bedded into a Remington Classic wood stock. Put a 6.5-20x50 Vortex in Warne rings and bases. The 'smith did a beautiful job and gave me an excellent rifle that wouldn't do anything my bone stock Tikka T-3 Lite in .270 Winchester wouldn't do! (Actually, the Tikka shot a smidgen better, group wise, at almost the same velocity. - Group size being the baseline factor.) Loved the Remington! Pretty thing! I truly enjoyed the project and would do it again in a heartbeat. Sold the 6.5 WSM a year or so ago. Surprisingly, I was able to get more out of it than I had in it! :what: (Like, how often does THAT happen?)

I say "DO IT!!!" and enjoy the ride! It really is an enjoyable endeavor that, IMHO, every hobbyist should do at least once!
BTW, start to finish was about 14 months, as I recall.
 
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