remington 700 classic .221 fireball

M

mkeller72

New member
Are these about impossible to find these days? I had a chance a couple of years ago to buy one pretty reasonable but was short on cash at the time. Would you rather have the remington classic or the cz in .221 fireball? I used to have a cz varminter in .204, sure liked the set trigger.
 
The Remington Classic's were only made for one year per caliber, so finding one could be pretty hard.
The CZ is a good choice as well. That Micro action is a natural for the fireball. I have one that shot very good.
I had it rebarreled to a 17FB and it's even more accurate (and fun) now.

If you do get lucky to find a Classic in 221 I'd grab it if I were you.
Remington also made a 700LS in 221 that is pretty sweet.
I believe CrapShoot and SledDog on this site have/had one that they both seemed to like.

Watch the auction sites for the Remmy's, or Whittakers has CZ527's at good prices.
 
I have a 700 classic in 221FB I bought new the year they came out. I bedded the action to float the barrel, adjusted trigger, & mounted a Leupold 4.5x14 scope. I did all this before I even fired a shot. I was not disappointed. Its a tack driver, no recoil, small report, perfect varmint rig for shots out to about 250 yards max. I love it! I wish I had bought 2 & turned one into a 17mach4.

I use 40gr Vmax or Nosler bal-tips with RL7 powder. Its not finicky & will shoot the 50gr pills well also. A pound of powder goes a long way with this cartridge. The 221 case is so cute, you can't help but fall in love with it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Makes a good walking varmint rig, but I tend to use it when calling predators mostly.
Only thing I would like to change is maybe have barrel cut down to 20 - 21" & get a lightweight stock. If it was a pound or two lighter, it would be a perfect calling rig for me. As I get older, it seems weight is a factor now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif

Long Live the Fireball! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

Take care,
HS
 
If you do find a Classic in .221, inspect it carefully before buying. I've heard about a lot of them having some fairly major flaws in the machining of the chamber area.

I ordered two of them when they were announced, myself. One, I pulled the barrel without even firing, and had rebarreled as a .17 Mach IV. The other I kept as a .221, but it turned out to have issues in the chamber. Fired cases came out looking disfigured, and had to be FL sized and/or indexed before they would go back in the same chamber they were fired in. Accuracy with unfired brass was decent, but reloads were horrible. I had the barrel set back and rechambered, and that rifle is now the most accurate factory rifle I have ever owned (if you consider a floated barrel, pillar bedded, trigger job done, re-chamber to still be "factory").

But, anyway... I did hear lots of stories just like mine, back when the .221 Classics were first hitting the street. So be careful when buying one.

- DAA
 
Dang DAA! You lucky dog, you did what I wish I had done by having a Mach4 barrel installed. How does the mach4 shoot? I must have got one with a good chamber. In fact I bought one near the end of the run. Last one shop had & they had just received last 2 from supplier.

Take care,
HS
 
They are around but you may have to look a little bit. Usually one on Gun Broker every so often and some of the other gun auctions. Just look twice a week or so and you will find one. I have seen a few in the last 6 months or so.
 
HS, I had a .17 Lilja #4 with a 10 twist installed, action blueprinted and the whole nine yards. That .17 Mach IV shoots "real good". I've used it a lot, too - prairie dogs, 'chucks, jack rabbits, a whole bunch of coyotes and even a couple of bobcats. It's one of my favorites.

Here's my Son shooting p-dogs with the one that I kept the factory barrel (rechambered):

IMG_1415.jpg


And me with the one I had turned into a Mach IV with a couple of coyots:

44-1.jpg


- DAA
 
Nice looking setup DAA! I would like to lighten mine up some by shortening barrel & finding a real lightweight stock, but hate to mess up a good thing. I'll probably just leave it as is. I like a nice walnut stock though. I shot a friends mach4 & killed 3 groundhogs with it. I thought the recoil was funny with the 221 until I shot those tiny .17 caliber needles. You wonder if anything came out of the barrel or not. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

take care,
HS
 
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I have only seen one new Rem 700 classic at the gun shows. I should have got it. I ended up with a Rem 700 LS 221 FB .The LS model was a special order rifle that was available in limited quantities per the Remington website. After reducing the trigger pull from seven pounds down to three pounds, glass bedding the action, free floating the barrel, and haveing a gunsmith lapp the bolt locking lugs I got some 1/2 inch 100 yard groups with 50 Gr bullets and Re 7 powder. The Laminated sporter Stock rifle has a 24 inch barrel w/ 1-14 inch rifleing and weighs about 7 1/4 pounds.
 
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