Remington Alpha 1 revisited

[K.E.C. Darkside]

Sounds like every new gun I've ever bought. I always completely strip my New guns and clean and make nessacery adjustments. Good for you.
Have Fun With It.

 

[.300 Dakota]

Going back and forth now on whether he fired it or not. I installed the bolt as mentioned above. I just went and removed it and it had white powder residue all over the front of the lugs. Inspection revealed overzealous thread compound where the barrel was installed. It ALSO revealed a spot of rust at the 5:30 position on the outside of the lip of the barrel outside the chamber. That would explain the extra stiff lock up and release of the bolt. It's a small spot, maybe a 1/4" long by half that wide. I'll have to see if I can get a Dremel buffer in that far. But since the thread compound is powdery, maybe it hasn't been fired by this guy. If it has, it would seem like awhile ago. I didn't get any overtime amount of powder out of the area just in front of the chamber, either. Looking at the bolt, what do y'all think? Note the knob in the background.

 

[.300 Dakota]

Going back and forth now on whether he fired it or not. I installed the bolt as mentioned above. I just went and removed it and it had white powder residue all over the front of the lugs. Inspection revealed overzealous thread compound where the barrel was installed. It ALSO revealed a spot of rust at the 5:30 position on the outside of the lip of the barrel outside the chamber. That would explain the extra stiff lock up and release of the bolt. It's a small spot, maybe a 1/4" long by half that wide. I'll have to see if I can get a Dremel buffer in that far. But since the thread compound is powdery, maybe it hasn't been fired by this guy. If it has, it would seem like awhile ago. I didn't get any overtime amount of powder out of the area just in front of the chamber, either. Looking at the bolt, what do y'all think? Note the knob in the background.

I forgot to mention, the barrel has 7 flutes and measures .740" where the threads start. Close to a #6 contour. Note the extractor is not standard old Remy, either.

 

[K.E.C. Darkside]

Only looks like a couple rounds chambered. Factory usually shoots 1 to 3 for verifying headspace. IMO

 

[.300 Dakota]

Only looks like a couple rounds chambered. Factory usually shoots 1 to 3 for verifying headspace. IMO

I think you may be right. There was lots of thread compound dust and very little powder residue in there. I got it all cleaned up, including the spot that looked like rust, for the most part. Trigger breaks consistently between 2 7/8 lbs and 3 lbs. I use to pay to have my new Remingtons turned down to 3 lbs of pull (it was as light as the gunsmiths of the day would go - and with good reason) and they seemed phenomenal! After oiling up the rails, it is smoothER, but still required a bit of oomph to lock up and then unlock (whether the trigger has been pulled or not). I think it's about as smooth as a factory 2-lug action is going to get. Not Tikka smooth, no, but decent.

 

[.300 Dakota]

There is absolutely nothing about this rifle that would suggest to the eye that it's a Remington 700. The swept bolt handle is gone, everything is different. Bolt shroud, everything.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

How much does it weigh?

 

[BAKPAKR]

If that is an AG Composite stock, I bet it is the Privateer. Weatherby had that on its first generation Backcountry. The forearm has a weird feel to me because the sides just go straight up without contouring into the barrel. I am guessing that is so they could open the barrel channel up to accept larger CF barrels.

 

[Airedale56]

"…They have put a threaded bolt handle on and a knob that is pretty small, but not exactly a ball and not exactly a bell or spool. It is totally replaceable, though if you don't like it."

If you'd like to try a ball knob, unscrew your bolt knob and head to your local ACE Hardware if you have one. In the bolts, nuts, screws hardware section try several bolts, metric and SAE, to find the right thread for your Remington bolt knob.

Then in the same section find the black plastic balls with threaded brass inserts of the correct size and thread pitch to match your bolt. The balls come in several sizes. I did this and upgraded my factory bolt knob on my Blaser R8 to a larger knob at a SUBSTANTIALLY lower cost than ordering another from Blaser.

Good luck with the project.

 

[Bob Wright]

Glad you picked one up to evaluate.
I know the move from Illion was a major setback to /re-tool/re-plan and re-start production. I'm hoping they made you a good example of what could be a fresh start for Remington for the future.

 

[xsn10s]

I know when I tested rifles I usually checked headspace, then fired a proof round to make sure everything held together. Then checked headspace again. Fired a group, then checked headspace one more time.

 

[.300 Dakota]

How much does it weigh?

I never put it on a scale. I had no reason to dispute Remington's claim of 7.4 pounds. Now might it actually be 7.5 or 7.6 having that small hole drilled through the barrel vs a .308 which is what was likely weighed for press and ads? Yep, it may. I don't think it's any lighter than that. I will weigh it maybe tonight.

 

[.300 Dakota]

I could be wrong because it's tough to tell them apart looking at pictures, but I can take a couple measurements to confirm, but I think it's actually the Sportsman. I'm pretty sure the forend has more beef than 1 1/2" a Privateer would have.

IF that's true, there are no left handed models because AG doesn't offer the Sportsman in left hand configurations. Unless they make them for Remington and just don't offer them to the public. AG has been known to do such before.

If that is an AG Composite stock, I bet it is the Privateer. Weatherby had that on its first generation Backcountry. The forearm has a weird feel to me because the sides just go straight up without contouring into the barrel. I am guessing that is so they could open the barrel channel up to accept larger CF barrels.

 

[xsn10s]

Going back and forth now on whether he fired it or not. I installed the bolt as mentioned above. I just went and removed it and it had white powder residue all over the front of the lugs. Inspection revealed overzealous thread compound where the barrel was installed. It ALSO revealed a spot of rust at the 5:30 position on the outside of the lip of the barrel outside the chamber. That would explain the extra stiff lock up and release of the bolt. It's a small spot, maybe a 1/4" long by half that wide. I'll have to see if I can get a Dremel buffer in that far. But since the thread compound is powdery, maybe it hasn't been fired by this guy. If it has, it would seem like awhile ago. I didn't get any overtime amount of powder out of the area just in front of the chamber, either. Looking at the bolt, what do y'all think? Note the knob in the background.

The rifle is fired at the factory to insure it's in good working order. That's common practice for all legit firearms builders. The action is a modified Rem 700. All Remington 700's now come with 5R barrels. And the short action are modified to fit 2.950" cartridges. This is noted by the feed ramp being relived in the center to accommodate the longer cartridges. I wouldn't take a dremel to anything. I'd give it a real good cleaning and go shoot it. My new Remarms ADL 7mm RM shoot sub moa in a KRG stock. I'd just shoot yours and see how it does.