Which Remington 700?

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Cricoid

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I'm interested in a Remington 700, but I don't know which model to get. Some help from the experts here would be greatly appreciated.

What I'm looking for:

1. Fun and accurate rifle for distance paper-punching.
2. I don't hunt but would like to start. Deer and possibly elk.
3. Able to modify always a plus. I like to tinker a bit.
4. No concern about weight. I work out haha.
5. Would rather not spend $1000.....but I will.

I'm leaning towards .308, but that's about as far as I've gotten. I'd rather not get into a caliber debate, but would love to hear recommendations on which model I should look at. Some scope recommendations would also be great.

Thanks!
 
308 is good. I'd look to a new trigger, Timney or so. Yes, you could have the factory trigger adjusted, I'd replace. Why not treat yourself to a Sako 75 instead?
 
That's why I'm here. I know very little of bolt-action rifles. The Sako is beautiful though!
 
10 years ago I would have recommended a Remington 700 without blinking an eye. Unfortunately, 2 of the last 3 Remington 700's I bought have either had to be sent back to Remington for repair or are getting ready to go back for repair. The one that works great is one of the 700 SPS Tactical in .308. This gun shoots 1/2" groups easily at 100 yds if I do my part. Keep in mind that for the type gun you are looking for that you want one that isn't too heavy for carrying through the woods all day. I've never shot a Sako but from what I hear they make excellent guns. Whatever you decide, topping it off with a Nikon Monarch will really make shooting it that much more enjoyable (I like their BDC for hunting).
 
I'm exploring and learning here....those Sakos look really nice.

I've read some glowing reviews of Tikka rifles online as well. Thoughts?

Haha here I was thinking I was set on the Remington. Sometimes I think the internet gives folks too much information!
 
My advice on buying a new rifle right now is a Winchester Featherweight or Extreme Weather. Price is about $700-$900. The 308 is a good all around choice. A good round for lots of shooting at the range because of moderate recoil and lower cost. About perfect for deer and adequate for elk as long as you keep the range reasonable.

If you are going to only use it at the range the Remington SPS tactical isn't a bad choice, but if you plan to actually hunt with it weight WILL become a factor eventually. I don't care how much you work out.

For a lot less money consider either the Howa or Weatherby Vanguard. They both sell for around $400 and have enough aftermarket support that you can get aftermarket stocks etc. Weatherby buys their actions from Howa and builds their own rifles using different barrels, stocks, triggers, bolts and safety's. But since they are built on the same actions stocks and most aftermarket parts will fit either.
 
I prefer 30-06 over .308. The 30-06 gives you more flexibility in loads. You can take anything in North America with a 30-06 just by tinkering with the load.
 
Cricoid said:
I'm interested in a Remington 700, but I don't know which model to get. Some help from the experts here would be greatly appreciated.

What I'm looking for:

1. Fun and accurate rifle for distance paper-punching.
2. I don't hunt but would like to start. Deer and possibly elk.
3. Able to modify always a plus. I like to tinker a bit.
4. No concern about weight. I work out haha.
5. Would rather not spend $1000.....but I will.

I'm leaning towards .308, but that's about as far as I've gotten. I'd rather not get into a caliber debate, but would love to hear recommendations on which model I should look at. Some scope recommendations would also be great.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

First of all have you had any experience shooting a large centerfire rifle? If not the 308 my be a little to large to learn to shoot accurately (I have seen some people learn very bad habits ie: flinching when pulling the trigger ect) when going from a 22 to a 308/270/30-06 ect. If you think you will be okay with a 308 by all means get one and IMHO you are better off with a 308 over a 30-06 and for what you want a 308 will do everything a 30-06 will do with less recoil, muzzle blast ect.

A hunting (sporter) style rifle will have to be shot slowly when you take it to the range giving the barrel time to cool between shots. I would look at a varmint style rifle with a heavier barrel to do double duty (hunting and range) and on average the Varmint rifles (heavy barrel) only weight around 1-1/2 pounds more then the same hunting (light barrel) rifle.

If you can afford a Sako then get one if not buy a Tikka (made by Sako). The great things about Sako's and Tikka's is there is nothing to upgrade on them. For what you get IMHO the Tikka is a really great buy The stock is fibre-reinforced and doesnt flex. The barrels they use are the same as what they use on Sako's and there factory floated. The triggers that come on the Tikk'a and Sako's are as good as any aftermarket match grade job you can buy and are easy to adjust down yourself without affecting the safety engagement.

If you really want a Remington then for not much more $$$ I would choose the 700 Police over the Tactical as the H-S Precision stock is alot nicer the the Hogue. The 700P really is a nice rifle and if I was going to buy a Remington that would be the one I would get. As far as Scopes go I would look at a Zeiss Conquest (for the money I havent found anything as good) next would be the Sightron S11 BigSky and then the Vortex Viper. Whatever you choose good luck.
 
I'm a big fan of the 700 actions. It's probably because there is so much available for them and I'm not real crazy about the idea of a floating bolt head. My first venture into bolt guns was an SPS Tactical.

With that being said, the only other 700 purchases that I've made were only for the donor actions and possibly any other goodies that were attached to the rifle. If I were looking for a rifle with the intention of leaving it in mostly stock form, I'd look for something else.

My biggest gripe with the stock 700s is the barrel. The chambers are usually fat with a longer throat than is necessary and at least a couple were so rough that they needed to have the copper fouling removed after as few as 40 rounds.

What I like to do with 700s is to find a cheap donor. Like an ADL or used BDL model. Pick up a pull of HS Precision stock and throw a new barrel on it. It's a relatively inexpensive way to get into a semi custom rifle that's going to shoot better than anything that Remington sells off the shelf.
 
I only suggest the 30-06 if you really plan on hunting. If you want one round that does it all, the 30-06 is king. Here is a good article about it's flexibility:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_11_50/ai_n6209996/

If you plan on doing mostly target shooting, you are better off with the .308.

As for which 700 model, I prefer wood to plastic. I like the CDL. It is a classic hunting rifle with good looks.

If you want the most accurate 700, that is the Sendero. The Sendero is a bean field rifle and pretty heavy. For target shooting or stationary hunting, it is great. If you have to carry it around on a long hunt, it won't be fun. My Sendero in .300 Win Mag shoots 0.5 - 1 inch 3 shot groups at 200 yards off of a bench fairly regularly under good conditions. The rifle is amazing!
 
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I'd go shopping for a used 20-30 year old 700 BDL, probably in .30-06...I have more than one caliber I could use, but find a .06 suits me for most of my purposes. Back when I was younger and poorer, I selected a 700 BDL in .30-06 to be my one sporting rifle. I shot groundhogs most of the year and deer hunted in the fall.
 
If you can afford a Sako then get one if not buy a Tikka (made by Sako). The great things about Sako's and Tikka's is there is nothing to upgrade on them. For what you get IMHO the Tikka is a really great buy The stock is fibre-reinforced and doesnt flex. The barrels they use are the same as what they use on Sako's and there factory floated. The triggers that come on the Tikk'a and Sako's are as good as any aftermarket match grade job you can buy and are easy to adjust down yourself without affecting the safety engagement.

If you really want a Remington then for not much more $$$ I would choose the 700 Police over the Tactical as the H-S Precision stock is alot nicer the the Hogue. The 700P really is a nice rifle and if I was going to buy a Remington that would be the one I would get. As far as Scopes go I would look at a Zeiss Conquest (for the money I havent found anything as good) next would be the Sightron S11 BigSky and then the Vortex Viper. Whatever you choose good luck.
Click to expand...

This is the exact gun I just bought. Tikka T3 lite in 30-06 with a Zeiss conquest 3-9x. The gun was $650 and the scope was $375. Action is smooth as butter and with very little experience tinkering with guns I easily adjusted the trigger down to exactly where I wanted it. I'd highly reccommend looking at this package.
 
Pretty much all the 700 models are the same barreled action sitting in different stocks. The cheapest models tend to have truly crappy stocks that need to be replaced right away. You can either pony up in the beginning for a 700 with a good stock or you can get the cheapest 700 with your preferred barrel profile (e.g., an SPS Varmint) and drop it into a good stock like a B&C, McMillan, etc.
 
BTW the other models that people have suggested are very nice, but if you "like to tinker," you'll love having a 700.
 
I'd grab a used BDL in a heartbeat.
I just sold a 700 CDL SF LTD in .280 Remington. I had two rifles in that chambering and could only keep one, so I kept my 20-year-old A-Bolt to which I'm sentimentally attached.
That CDL was a lovely rifle. Beautiful to look at, ergonomic stock that feels just right when you shoulder the rifle. VERY good factory trigger, that new X-Mark Pro. At least, mine was. And it was decently accurate to boot. I don't think the CDL SF is available in .308, but it would be a great choice.
The other advice regarding new Win 70's and Sako rifles is worth heeding as well. Can't go wrong either way.
 
I'd look into the Remington 700 SPS Tactical AAC-SD edition. Mine was shooting sub MOA with the cheapo Hogue stock, a fixed 10x Bushnell and Match Grade handloads. With a new stock and my nice handloads I have shot sub half MOA groups from prone on a bipod with rear rest. I the Tikka T3 Tactical or Compact Tactical are also great shooters. I know a guy that has one shooting half MOA with no upgrades to the rifle at all. The plus side to the Reminton is that there are parts everywhere and you can upgrade pretty much everything on it. The Tikka is much more limited on upgrades but there is not really any need to upgrade in the first place.

Rememember there is no guarantee of similar accuracy with any of the rifles. That level of accuracy is being achieved with handloads that are dialed in for the rifles. Accuracy with factory ammo is slightly under MOA. Don't expect tiny little groups if you don't handload even though 1 MOA isn't bad.
 
Go with the 30-06 and the long action, the magazine in the long action gives you a bigger choice of bullet weights before the length becomes a problem. The 30-06 will be a better choice for elk but if you stay happy with smaller game the .308 is great.
 
From what I understand the .308 vs. .30-06 debate can best be summed up as follows. Up to 180grain bullets both are for all intents and purposes equal. But with extra case capacity, the .30-06 pulls ahead after 180 grains. I talked to my father-in law that was with the Army during Vietnam, and a reason he told me that the military changed over from .30-06 is they realized that their infantry wasn’t engaging the enemy over 600 yards therefore didn’t need the extra range, kick, and weight of the .30-06. I have heard this from a couple other sources also, so there maybe some truth to that. So one might also say the .30-06 might will give you bit of extra range in addition to handling heavier bullets easier. Now the aforementioned information is just general. The two rounds are so similar you can easily run into exceptions to what I just wrote. But if you are really curious the differences, and also feel like you would like to have the .30-06 extra abilities, then look at the ballistic tables from the various manufactures. You will find that if you compare the same weight bullets, same B.C. that the .30-06 has a small edge, especially after 600 yards. But keep in mind that the loads for the .30-06 was loaded with the older guns in mind, and is under loaded compared to the .308 which is always built on newer actions, therefore the factories load them to a higher pressure. If you reload for the .30-06 the difference is bigger.

However in application the .308 maybe be more accurate you at all ranges, due to the fact it will kick less and therefore you might shoot more accurately with it. In my humble opinion that’s the reason you see any real difference between the accuracy of the two guns. The “applied” accuracy, if you will, is better with the .308. People can handle the recoil easier with the .308, therefore they shoot better with it. I believe most people fail to see the difference between “applied” accuracy and true accuracy. True accuracy is what you would get if you bolted the gun in a rest and shot it. Applied accuracy as I call it is the accuracy of the weapon with a person interacting with it. In the end it’s all the same thing, really so it’s a mute point. But it’s a point I thought I would bring up.
 
My brother in law has a 700 that had to go back a month ago. Brand new gun, I think it had headspace issues, but I'm not sure.
 
Here is what you need:700/VSSF/308 with GA Precision work...rifle fired maybe 15x's before the work, 4 times after the work the put back into the safe...GA P wrk was nearly $500...which include ship/ins both directions.

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7mm Rem Mag Sendero. You'll spend more than $1000 probably for new one. Look around though and you can find one for a little less. I think it meets your criteria.
 
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