Remington actions

[JWgroups]

Can anyone tell me what prefix Remington receiver to stay away from? Are the RR's okay?

 

[WeiserBucks]

The ones you want to avoid say Remington on them.

 

[Buttermilk]

I've had good luck with all my Remington 700's. 1/2 MOA even on my factory guns, including an "E" prefix as well as RR versions.

The one I avoid are the right handed ones. I prefer the left handed versions.

 

[akdad]

I would be interested to hear as well I have an old action I pulled a barrel off and it had no prefix. It may be completely imaginary but it sure seems to be smoother then any others I've got

 

[Bang4theBuck]

The biggest thing to look for is the primary extraction, or lack thereof. You can see this with your own eyes. You can also look at the uniformity of wear on the back of the recoil lugs as another (albeit not definitive) indicator of whether or not the action is somewhat true. Any evaluation beyond that will require taking it to someone with a lathe or other means of indicating surfaces. The primary extraction problem is not a show-stopper, but is it a couple hundred bucks to fix, and usually tips the scales against using a Remington donor action as opposed to and origin or solus, or similar.

 

[3800fps]

I've had good luck with all my Remington 700's. 1/2 MOA even on my factory guns, including an "E" prefix as well as RR versions.

The one I avoid are the right handed ones. I prefer the left handed versions.

I've had the exact same experience…owned at least a dozen…glass bedding, some minor locking lug lapping and handloaded ammo always achieved 1/2-5/8ths" groups with at least one bullet…the ones I spent money to true up and rebarrel went 1/4" territory bedded in pricey fiberglass stocks…

Of course all my current guns and caliber favorites are considered "old school" obsolete collectibles…(Sakos, pre-Obama Coopers, REM 700s, Savage)…not tech-savvy enough for eldx,ttsx,ablr etc. bullets and chassis builds….

 

[FlGunner]

Never an issue with Remington actions in my experience. They're good, well at least good enough other companies have cloned/copied them for years…. That ought to tell ya all you need to know.

 

[Tiny Tim]

No help on prefex's, but unless you plan to simply hand lap the lugs and only true the receiver face, you'll have more invested in "truing and bluing" a Remington 700 than a custom action and it'll still be worth less IMHO.

 

[med358-boise]

The biggest thing to look for is the primary extraction, or lack thereof. You can see this with your own eyes. You can also look at the uniformity of wear on the back of the recoil lugs as another (albeit not definitive) indicator of whether or not the action is somewhat true. Any evaluation beyond that will require taking it to someone with a lathe or other means of indicating surfaces. The primary extraction problem is not a show-stopper, but is it a couple hundred bucks to fix, and usually tips the scales against using a Remington donor action as opposed to and origin or solus, or similar.

Can you be more specific regarding primary extraction? What specifically can I see with my own eyes?

 

[mmgravy]

.

 

[Georgiashooter]

The RR actions in particular are the ones to avoid. Picture attached showing severe lack of primary extraction on a 300 RUM we took in yesterday.

ETA: This is on a left hand action if it looks confusing. Those two angled camming surfaces should be touching when the bolt is lifted to this point.

 

[med358-boise]

The RR actions in particular are the ones to avoid. Picture attached showing severe lack of primary extraction on a 300 RUM we took in yesterday.

ETA: This is on a left hand action if it looks confusing. Those two angled camming surfaces should be touching when the bolt is lifted to this point.

So this is a manufacturing and tolerance flaw?

 

[Georgiashooter]

So this is a manufacturing and tolerance flaw?

Yessir. Bolt handle has to be heated and taken off, placed in a jig and preferably tig welded back on.

 

[bballard]

Most of the 700's that I own are easily 1 moa or less without too much work. Yes, remington had some crap stuff towards the end of their demise, but generally not bad actions.....bunches out there! Used to be the start of many customs back in the day......