Remington 700 quality

[Trickymissfit]

G'Day Fella's,

My last two Rem 700 purchases were a Stainless SPS in .223 and a Blued MLR in .338Lapua.

After a little bit of work that I completed myself, the .223 shot an 8 shot 0.400"/10mm group with 55grn B/tips @ 100meters ! I'm Very happy!!!

I'm still in the process of completing a similar amount of preparation work on the .338 at present (and getting my R/dies, components etc together) but I'm hopeful!

A local gunsmith/mate that has re-barreled a few current manufactured Rem 700's and he has told me of some pretty horrendous factory threading of barrels and receivers!!!

Doh!
Homer

every company will ship a bad product from time to time. If they didn't, then they are not doing anything. Yet when it becomes a common thought, you have a problem. If I buy a new 700, and have to rebed it, then there's something wrong. (samething with the other brands as well). You buy a new rifle, and mounting rings and bases with a trigger adjustment (not replacement) are kinda normal things. I also think that most anyone buying a new rifle sorta plans for this.

You get a bad rifle and send it back. It comes back just as bad or with a note saying that this rifle is "OK." I know one guy that bought a rifle chambered in 416 Remington. Sent it back for some stock issues that are important to a dangerous game rifle. It came back just as bad, and really looked like it had not been removed from the box. He sends it back a second time, but rigged it to tell if it had been removed. They didn't even take it out of the box! He traded it for a MK.V. in 416 WBY mag, and promptly got ready to goto Africa. This particular guy and his son bought four new Remingtons every year for a month long trip to Africa (must ne nice to have that kinda money). He ain't buying anymore because of the way he was treated. Can you blame him?

Just for compairison, I had a Colt 22 Match Target. I couldn't hit the side of a barn with it at fifty feet!! I discover the barrel is loose in the reciever. Called my local gunsmith about the issue, and he said don't shoot it anymore. Colt has him send it back to them. I get a letter apologizing about the issue from Colt, and assuring me it would be fixed asap. Two weeks later I get a phone call from Colt telling me that they have a problem, and it's gonna take awhile longer. They no longer have any N.M. barrels in stock, and are going to have one made for the pistol by one of the custom makers (I don't remember right off hand who cut it). He said he was going to hunt up a couple extra magazines and send the reciever group thru their custom shop. About three months later I get a box with two extra mags in it and it's a serious tack driver. That's the way it's supposed to be (Remington, Savage, Browning and ETC). I had a similar deal with Smith & Wesson a few years back with a 629 that was stolen from me. I got the gun back and it it had some light scratches in the frame plus I had a feeling that it'd been dropped. I wouldn't shoot it without it being checked out, and had my gunshop contact S&W about looking it over plus refinishing it. The revolver had been dropped! They repaired it (replacing several parts). Installed a new set of sights, and charged me $80 to refinish it and relaser etch all the logos and stuff. They were a little slow, but I wasn't in a big hurry anyway. (took about six months). I tried to send the sights back to them, as I had removed them to mount a scope base. But they simply to keep them as spares! I like those guys!

This is the way it's supposed to be done. No arguments, and make the issue a rare thing.
gary

 

[TXshooter]

I own a lot of Remington's and all have always performed well. I own the other brands and most have shot good to but I prefer the Remington. Of course I always get the sendero Remington so that might help them shoot. As far as their trigger goes, they could be better but then again I don't think you can get a factory rifle with a good trigger. I personally don't like the accutrigger. Sure it can be made a little lighter from the factory but I hate the feel of having to compress something to pull the trigger. And no trigger can be worse than a ruger trigger. I just plan on a new trigger every time I buy a new rifle. They aren't that much more and will be miles better than any factory trigger

 

[martyj]

I like mine but than again only ever owned this one.

 

[mhiltz]

I have a 7mm RUM Sendero SF II and a 257 WBY CDL SF. I really like them now, but at first they were a pain. I couldn't get either to shoot very well. It took a lot of time on the reloading bench, and a bunch of different components. With the CDL I took it to a gunsmith to get some forend work done, and free floated the barrel, and glassed the action. I was pretty disappointed at first with it, but now it is a very good shooter. The Sendero was just very finicky, that might have had something to do with the round it was designed to shoot.

I will vote yes, because I learned quite a bit with these two rifles, and looking back I am glad that I did.

 

[Caleb]

Ive got two 700 hand me downs from the early 80's and one that I bought new in 07' and they have all been excellent guns. The newer one even seems to be the better of the 3. Remingtons budget models seem to fill the shelves but they still make some nice classy rifles and I think they all are good.

 

[redneckclimbing]

I think that the older ones are great. Also, if you are looking for a donor for a custom action I would still buy one because of the plethora of aftermarket parts for them, althought this gap is closing quickly.

I would personally go with a Savage if I wanted a "factory" gun that I wansn't going to do much with, beside shoot. I have had a .243 Win. and a 7 RM that both shot well under MOA, consistently, with just a bedding job! And they look great. The 7 was a 114 that even came with a DBM set up.

The last two rems. I've bought / shot. Were an SPS that is a donor and the smith said that it actually wasn't too bad when he trued it up. The other a CDL that my brother just bought, I am not impressed with. First, only one recoil lug makes contact at all! Second the bore is so tight that you literally can not get a .243 brush or jag into it! The stock and finishes were nice, but the barrell is not floated even though it has a medium weight barrel on it!

With this said, it does shoot pretty well with some hand loads we developed, you just can't get anywhere near a max load with it. Haven't put it through the chrono yet, but I'm sure it will be less than impressive.

 

[Joe King]

CNBC Remington under fire,

No I wouldn't buy one

 

[Robert08]

The accustock models are not exactly bargain priced at well over $600. You are not necessarily getting a more accurate rifle than one without the Accustock. Savage rifles are notorious for their fine factory accuracy.

 

[brentc]

CNBC Remington under fire,

No I wouldn't buy one

It's not just Remington that's under fire. It's the entire industry. Remington was just a convenient target.

It's probably best not to turn our backs on anyone in the firearm industry, especially because of a cooked up claim by the media based on an extremely small sample of failures. Remington is a giant for us in the fight for the 2nd amendment. We need Remington's support as much as they need ours.

 

[Greyfox]

It's not just Remington that's under fire. It's the entire industry. Remington was just a convenient target.

It's probably best not to turn our backs on anyone in the firearm industry, especially because of a cooked up claim by the media based on an extremely small sample of failures. Remington is a giant for us in the fight for the 2nd amendment. We need Remington's support as much as they need ours.

While I agree with the overall notion that the arms companies are key to the support of our liberties, it's pretty clear that Remington's quality has slipped over the past few years, and I suspect they have lost market share to their competitors. They are responsible for addressing this. The only real support a company gets is when people buy their products.

 

[bornlucky]

I have to agree with greyfox, lets face it if we lose our 2nd amendment rights, arms manufacturer's have more to lose than anyone but remington rested on their rep and other manufacturers have surpassed them, but what i found the most troubling was the total lack of concern when they sent me a gun with a faulty trigger. that is inexcusable.

 

[Trickymissfit]

Most of the big ticket corporations over the last fifteen to twenty years has experienced a major (and often rude) awakening that the products going out the door are sub standard. It's not just firearms but everything from cars to TV sets. Some got the message sooner than others and some rufused to ever admit it, and died. Remington is still in the limbo state; where their corporate managers refuse to admit it. Can they turn this around? Certainly! Will they turn it around? We cannot say, and only they can.

I worked for a corporation that was so big that Remingtons plants would have been lost inside it. We had one side of the division that ran between 40% and 46% scrap! (aircraft) Luckly here none of it ever went out the door. The other side wasn't a lot better and often was in the mid to low 30% bracket. The aircraft side now is in the 6% to 8% bracket (better than 90% of the competetors). The otherside is now running at well under 2% scrap. What this gave them was free money to reinvest with. It also cut warranty cost to less than a percent, and is the industry standard for the rest. This came about with an effort from the folks on the work floor and managment.

Can Remington clean up their act? Most likly they can, but they have to make a major change in their train of thought. People don't by products anymore on their names. They look items that meets their needs and stays together. Their designs are sound, and have been proven out over the years (yes we all know they've had some glitches, but everyone could have been fixed easilly). Right now they are operating on the 1970's car quality train of thought, and this won't work in today's markets.
gary

 

[Greyfox]

Agree. I also believe that Reminton like many other companies are missing the social media phenomenon. The entire way people make decisions about what they buy and who they buy it from has changed. Companies like Savage, Nightforce, Berger, etc. would have had a much more difficult time building their business 10-20 years ago without this change in the market. People have made their decision before they walk into the store today.

 

[Homer Oz]

G'Day Fella's,

As Trickymissfit mentioned, not only have quality gone out the window with some products but also service!
I put all of this down to direct effect of Globalisation!!!

Doh!
Homer