Rebuilding my Old Rem 700! Suggestions needed

J

JCL

New member
I have a Remington 700 BDL 22/250 that I bought new in 1974. I have already rechambered it once about 15 years ago when I shot the head space out. I have decided to do it right this time and replace the barrel, and add a new trigger.

1. I need suggestions for a new barrel. I plan to go with nothing heavier than a medium weight since I hike and carry it lots of miles while calling. Also I shoot it off hand quite often at running coyotes etc so Im not looking for bench rest gun. I do occasionally shoot it at prairie dogs over the hood of my truck and have been known to run through 40 or 50 rounds fairly quickly.

2. I also want to replace the trigger and possible the safety. My 700 is one of the old ones where the bolt will not open unless the safety is in the fire position. It has tricked on me twice and I had a gunsmith readjust the trigger both times. I have not sent it to the factory to be fixed and maybe that is what I should do before I start this project. Suggestions for a trigger and what to do with the safety issue. Since I will use it for hunting primarily I don't want a trigger that is so light I can't feel it before it breaks. I have most of my rifles set at about 2 to 3 lbs.

3. As crazy as this sounds I want to keep the original stock with the new barrel. It just fits me well. I do want the action squared. My gunsmith that I have used for years is now in his 80s and Im afraid not healthy enough to do the project nor do I want to stress him out thinking he has to do it. He is a great guy and I feel bad but I need to find a new gunsmith that will do a great job on this. So suggestions on a gunsmith for this overhaul.

Thanks
 
You could give SGR custom rifles a try The smith also does warrenty work for Rem. and he maybe able to switch triggers and fix safety issue as well. He does very good work and will build to youre spec.'s.
He also has his own webb site its (Bench talk.com) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
I am going to recommend a fellow by the name of George Vais. He is 100% old world craftsman (and he looks it too) as he immigrated to the US from Greece when he was young man. His speciality is making rifles that punch tiny little groups. I met some benchrest shooters at the range before I ever used him and they all swore by George's work. I had him build me my one and only custom gun, and any gun that I have built in the future will be built by him you can bet.

Give him a call, he has a rather thick accent but not that difficult to understand. His shop # is 208 3237674.
 
Call Remington, they have a custom shop that will be able to replace the barrel square the action and replace the old trigger. I am not sure, but I think the new Remington X Marlk pro trigger will work as a replacement. I have one on my new ADL 30-06 it is great for a factory trigger. And it is adjustable. Why pay some smith you don't know when you can get custom work done by the manufacturer?
 
The stock will have to be altered to fit the new trigger.
Been there.......

If your just looking for minute of Coyote one good choice is E R Shaw. They aren't a Schillen or Lilja but the don't cost near as much either.
The two that I've actually shot with Shaw Barrels were very accurate. You can send them the barreled action and they will install one of their blued Remington sporter contours for around 400.00. You shouldn't have to do anything to the stock. They don't do triggers but just buy a Timney or Rifle Basix for about 100.00 and you can install and ajust either in about 30 minutes.
You would have a brand new rifle for about 5 bills.
Or There's Greg Tannel or Weaver Rifles that do great work but they aint cheap.
I've had Pac-Nor rebarrel a couple of 700's for me and they are tack drivers.
There's lots of good smiths out there but get and check references before you commit.
Good Luck, and let us know how it turns out.
 
I had Pac-Nor rebarrel my Rem 600, I Think they do great work, it is my best shooting rifle.

AWS
 
My suggestion would be to go buy a brand new Tikka T3 Lite in .223 or .204. Super light weight, Super Accurate, Slickest action on the market, great trigger (user adjustable to about 2.5 Lbs. And the best part. $479.99 at sportsmans warehouse.

Dave
 
I want to know, how do you shoot your headspace out?

But if you are wanting to be practical, then sell your old rifle. You can get $300 or more for the barreled action, then add about $150 more and get a brand new rifle, maybe one of those ugly Tikka's Mousedipper is always preaching about.

Cabela's just had a sale here on a new Rem 700sps for $489 after rebate. And they are selling the Weatherby Vanguard for $389.

I have sent a few to Pacnor and they will shoot. A lot of well know gunsmiths mentioned above. Just be prepared to wait amy months.
 
Quote:
Call Remington, they have a custom shop that will be able to replace the barrel square the action and replace the old trigger. I am not sure, but I think the new Remington X Marlk pro trigger will work as a replacement. I have one on my new ADL 30-06 it is great for a factory trigger. And it is adjustable. Why pay some smith you don't know when you can get custom work done by the manufacturer?



The Remington Custom shop will NOT rebarrel the action, and they will NOT do any work on, or "true" the action.

They only work on rifles that originated IN the custom shop.

The rifle you have is better than the one that comes as a SPS... DON'T sell yours and get an SPS.

Go to a decent smith and have them do the work.

As for the safety... it is a simple job. There is an arm that comes up from the safety at ~2 o'clock that locks the bolt - cut it off with a Dremel tool, cold blue the edge and put it back.

Any gunsmith can do it - if they can't, grab your rifle and RUN. I have done 30 or 40 of these safeties.

To adjust the trigger... go here:

http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/RemingtonTriggers.asp

If you are going to do it, PM me because there is a correction that they haven't put in yet.

There is nothing wrong with the old trigger - they can go to 24 oz easily, and be reliable.


.
 
1. See if you can get your hands on a takeoff barrel from another Remington 700. After the action work is done it is a simple screw in operation and should (famous last words) just drop into your stock.

2. Have a Remington authorized gunsmith fix the safety. Last I knew it cost $20. He can also adjust the trigger as long as what you want is somewhere within Remington specifiacations.

3. Ask your old gunsmith if he can recomend someone to do the work. With the length of time he has been at it he should know who, locally, does the best work as well as the worst work and the just plain scary. 80 years old and still working, my fear on the project would be that he would go to sleep one night (with job half done) and just not wake up.

Chris112
 
For what ever it's worth, read Catshooter's advise and then read it again.

If you are on a budget and want the best bang for your buck, then got to http://www.pac-nor.com/

They will chamber your 700 with their super match barrel with the round that you supply (seating depth), and true your action for $490...you pick the barrel countour.

I have got 3/8" out of all the pacnor barrels that I have ever had or smaller groups.

If/when you build a custom rifle, 1/2" groups really stink!

The pac nor barrels are way better than some of the other crap barrels mentioned!

 
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+2 on what Catshooter said!! The safety is a very easy fix as Catshooter described. I've done a baker's dozen or so, myself. I prefer a "tuned" M700 trigger to a RB or Timney any day. The exception would be a Jewell, but he said he wouldn't be going that light, so the Jewell wouldn't be needed.
There are some very talented riflesmiths out there that could cobble together an excellent shooting rifle. Some don't even have bad turnaround times, relatively speaking.
I'll put a plug in for Dan Carey, right here on PM! I know he can build a BR bolt rifle, so he could surely build a good shooting sporter....if you could pry him away from doing AR's, that is!
F1
 
Pacnor will rebarrel your rifle, but don't count on them truing up the action, not unless your deffinition of truing up the action is just facing the front of the reciever, because that is all they did to mine.

They lie.

Or maybe they just skipped all the other stuff like the locking lugs, bolt face, and barrel threads, little things like that on my rifle.
 
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Quote:
The pac nor barrels are way better than some of the other crap barrels mentioned!



I just reread all of the posts and I only see the name brand barrels that I mentioned.
So which one of the "crap" barrels should I eliminate from my choices? The Lilja? The Shilen? Let me guess,,,, The Shaw barrels.
I agree that a take off Remmy barrel probably wouldn't be that great of an Idea but I can tell you that Shaw barrels are a bargain IMO.
I doubt that you have ever shot one but I have and the two that I shot were under MOA and cleaned up very well. One was brand new. I was breaking it in and dialing in the scope for an old friend of mine who has replacement shoulders so he couldnt take the recoil. It was an old Herters in 243 that he wanted to pass on to his grandson. It shot well under an inch and started to clean up easily after only about 30 rounds.
The reason I suggested Shaw is (1) they offer a Remmy sporter contour and (2) they will blue the barrel which Pac-Nor doesn't offer, and therefore very little if any work would have to be done on the stock. It sounded to me like the original poster kinda wanted to restore a rifle that he is pretty fond of and this would be a very economical (not cheap) way of doing so. Maybe I missed something.

While I agree with Catshooter on the fact that his BDL is superior to any SPS I've seen, and that the older Remmy triggers are very servicable, I was just making a suggestion reguarding the after market triggers. Between Shaw (or Pac-Nor) and a replacement trigger he wouldn't need a gunsmith at all.
If I read the post correctly that was an issue.

Thanks for your sage wisdom reguarding Lilja and Shilen barrels. I'll stay away from them. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I swear,,, every time I post on this forum I wish I wouldn't have.
Maybe someday I'll learn.

JCL,,,,,,,,Good luck with the project. Sounds like you have had that rifle for a while.
With a little TLC she should be shooting fine in no time.

I'm Out
 
Lilja,Shaw,Douglas, ect. they are all good barrels.
They are made by man and a machine so its possable to get a badd one from any barrel maker. At the moument i have not gotten a badd barrel so i can't say who's is better than who's... I do like the Lilja's the most for a 17 cal barrel..
 
JCL...

Don't worry about having the action trued (to whatever level some do it), unless you are building a benchrest gun. The internet is filled with guys that can spend YOUR money like it's water. Truing is a very overrated service, especially on a calling varmint rifle.

You can throw money at an action forever until it becomes an obsession... and see little if any difference at the target.

Just get the trigger done and get it rebarreled by a decent smith using any decent aftermarket barrel - Shaw, Douglas, Pac-Nor, Lilja, Shilen... all of them will be 10 times better than the $18 barrel that you will be taking off.

Don't let the anal compulsives get to you.



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Thanks guys for all the suggestions. I have decided to check around first locally for a take off barrel. I will start calling around next week and see if anybody has a new Rem 22.250 barrel ADL or BDL lying around. If I don't have any luck I will give the old internet a shot and maybe contact a couple of posters who offered to help. Maybe a Shaw Rem barrel they sound like a good deal at $160. If a take off is $100 then Shaw it is. After several suggestions to keep my current trigger and just readjust it thats exactly what I plan to do. And thanks for the tip on how to fix the bolt issue it will be done also.

This is an old rifle that I have used for the last 34 years. I don't want to totally custom it out I have a couple of custom guns that are so pretty I cringe when thinking about throwing them in the old pickup or my saddle scabbard. The last 4 inches of barrel doesn't have any blueing from saddle scabbard wear. This is my using gun and yes I want it to be accurate at least 3/4 inch at 100 yards maybe 1/2 inch on a good day with a three shot group. Its already glassed bedded but its time for some cleaning up and a long needed barrel upgrade. I decided to stick with the same tapered barrel to avoid having to do a lot of stock work. I like the old stock with all of it pits and scratches. Lots of memories in this old gun of some impossible shots and of days of shooting way too many shots way to fast at prairie dogs. Its taken badgers, coyotes, fox, bobcats and even a wild hog in Texas! So once again thanks for all the suggestions its given me a lot to think about and helped me decide what to do. Thanks
 
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I just had my old 700 22-250 done 2 yrs ago.
New Shilen Match SS barrel and action trued.
New Jewell trigger.
Then I done the bedding in a new fiberglass stock myself.

It's now a great shooter for sure!!.

Note: I also have a like new 700 in 22-250 which was made close to the same time as your's - 1976 But I am leaving this one as is.
 


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