700's are like old Chevy Impalas, can bolt on anything, some ran like hair on fire, some ran like no hair.' My take is the 700 offers a roll dice build for lot of us that for most part will shoot pretty good if you happen to have decent action. I had last 700LA action trued up by a really good smith that felt sorry for me due to all issues including extraction. He did way more work on that action just to make it "shootable" IHO. And only charged me basic true action pricing. Like I said, he spent ton of time with me going over everything, what and how to set action. For most of you no big deal, but this was kindness and generosity to share his knowledge to a newbie which was eye opener to me. I now have huge appreciation to the details that are not seen and never knew.
Truing/working over a Rem700 LA
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Idaho Lefty
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If, your Primary Extraction is "Good",.. You can,.. Deburr, Polish and Lap, your Action, yourself ( I've done this work and yup, pretty Smooth, Now ! ).
My Last Rem 700 SS New, action was purchased about, 2+ years ago, just BEFORE, they closed the Fact. down and it was, very Nice and Precise EXCEPT that, the Primary Extraction was OFF, a Tad ! After doing the work noted above and installing, a 6 XC Criterion 24", SS Barrel, Glass Bedded the stock, Jewell Trigger, etc., the Rifle "shoots", 80 to 108 grain, bullets, in the 3's and I've found, One load, in the 2's ( Good enough for, Me ) But,. I'm NOT ever, buying another Rem Rifle or, Action !
My 1981 Model 700 Rem in .22-250 Rem., Spoiled Me, as IT is,.. Perfect !
It'll be, MORE, L-H Tikka's or, a Custom Action from here, on out for, me.
My Last Rem 700 SS New, action was purchased about, 2+ years ago, just BEFORE, they closed the Fact. down and it was, very Nice and Precise EXCEPT that, the Primary Extraction was OFF, a Tad ! After doing the work noted above and installing, a 6 XC Criterion 24", SS Barrel, Glass Bedded the stock, Jewell Trigger, etc., the Rifle "shoots", 80 to 108 grain, bullets, in the 3's and I've found, One load, in the 2's ( Good enough for, Me ) But,. I'm NOT ever, buying another Rem Rifle or, Action !
My 1981 Model 700 Rem in .22-250 Rem., Spoiled Me, as IT is,.. Perfect !
It'll be, MORE, L-H Tikka's or, a Custom Action from here, on out for, me.
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I have had several Remington 700's over the years and found that pretty much without fail the bolts feed the cartridge in, fire the cartridge reliably and extract the spent cartridge flawlessly. In other words, "If it ain't broke don't fix it." Leave well enough alone. I've found that once you take something that is working as expected don't mess with it. If you want a rifle with a smooth bolt buy a Tikka, Sako or Kimber and don't try to improve on it.
Unfortunately, the LH actions/rifles demand is not as great for most manufacturers to have them readily available on their shelves. Most will take special orders or wait until they have enough to do a production run that is most cost-effective for them to manufacture.
What is your budget for your build? Regardless of my project build, I always start with a budget, as it will dictate what components I can piece together. I have done several semi-custom budget builds, most of which can be had for under $1K, except with Savage actions for its budget and DIY friendliness. As @Roughrice noted, you can do a Remage build with your existing component(s). Good luck!
Look at what you are going to spend on doing the work then look at pacific tool and gauge at a 700 action that has already been done. If you are looking for smoother bolt slides and lock up lap the bolt. I bought my lapping compound at Brownells and use it on different guns for different things
Bang4theBuck
Well-Known Member
This is exactly what I would do, for multiple reasons. First, I have not had a single instance over the course of a dozen or more instances where a rem/age replacement didn't deliver exception results. Results have varied a little from one ragged hole to 3/4 moa, so all of.them shoot.
Secondly, and especially if you do the work yourself, which I highly encourage you to do, if for some reason the new barrel doesn't do the job, you can still remove that barrel and have the action tried, if you want to to. Once the action is tried, you can spin the same barrel back on and because the barrel nut controls the headspace, you can easily adjust for what your smith might have taken off the action.
This also gives you the opportunity to replace the factory recoil lug with a precision ground version.
I highly recommend Northland Shooters Supply. You can get the barrel, recoil lug, barrel nut, all the tools you need, and a fancy new trigger thelat the remmy probably needs anyway all in one phone call.
I would be very surprised if the rifle didn't shoot really well with those updrades
Remington actions are good actions right from the start. I have had more than I can count since the '60's with no problems, including -03 and 03-A3's, 721's and several 700's that I still shoot. No problems with any. The guys on here that tinker I think bring on their own problems, possibly like digging out the adj. screw plug trying to adjust their own triggers that are not meant to be adjustable. The only failure I have seen was a broken extractor on a 721. Someone had a spare and it was fixed in the field. Keep it clean add it will serve you for a lifetime.
Below, stock Remington 700, 22-250 right from the factory.
Below, stock Remington 700, 22-250 right from the factory.
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My two cents from someone who has a few semi customs Rem 700 rifles and no gunsmith training. They all shoot lights out with shouldered premium barrels. No experience with RemAge. My GS trues the action, smoothed it, and works in whatever he thinks it's off. It usually runs me between $600-800 depending on what he finds. This includes all the barrel work, muzzle treading, skin bedding etc. This are hunting rigs, and they work for me. I think it's a great start into custom, semi custom rifles, especially since you have the action. I also have premium actions, and they are at another level compared to the Rem 700. Many pluses to premium actions, but from a shooting standpoint my REM and Premium they all shoot better than I can.
shedhunt
Well-Known Member
Do you know of any carbon fiber barrel makers that make the remage barrels for 700 actions?
Yes, preferred barrel blanks, and Carbon six for sure. When you go to the drop down menu it's elect thread pick Remage, and buy the barrel nut. It's easy to set up, is did it for a friend in my garage as a project 35 Whelen. He's happy with the results.
shedhunt
Well-Known Member
Thank you very much!!
Southern Precision Rifles, Crown Ridge Barrel Works and Straightjacket Armory can also help with Carbon wrapped Rem/Age barrels.
I've used all of these and had great shooting finished barrels sent directly to me ready to spin on.
There are other barrel makers as well
I've used all of these and had great shooting finished barrels sent directly to me ready to spin on.
There are other barrel makers as well
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shedhunt
Well-Known Member
Great, thank you for the info.
