Tweet
I have worked on old 700's and new 700's.
There really is not a lot of difference.
The primary difference is that the old ones were all polished and blued so they feel smoother when you run the bolt.
Dimensionally, the old ones were more wanky then the new ones.
CNC machining has actually improved the consistency in the new guns.
Unfortunately, most people start with the SPS series guns because they are $500.
The SPS guns all have a sand blasted metal finish with black oxide.
It literally feels like 240grit sandpaper when you run your finger over it.
However, if you are going to paint the gun anyways, like most custom builds do, the paint sticks really nice and smooths out the feel.
If you go with one of the current production stainless actions such as you find in the $1100 5R models, you get a much smoother glass bead finish.
These guns are truly nice to run right out of the box.
They also shoot lights-out groups, 1/3moa being commonly attained with the stock stainless 5R barrel.
Both the 6.5x55 and 6.5x284 are going to be custom built rifles.
There are not any factory heavy barreled 700's in those calibers.
Those are both long-action cartridges.
I will warn you to go try getting behind a long-action and running the bolt to find out if it taps your nose or not.
People are all built differently.
I can't shoot a long action without being scared of the bolt shroud tapping me on the nose when I run the bolt fast.
This tends to make me lift my face off the stock which is a bad thing if you are trying to keep a consistent cheekweld.
Short actions solve this issue for me, but then you are limited to shorter cartridge lengths like the 308 or any of the variety of cartridges based on the 308 case.
Any short/long 700 action can be re-chambered to almost any appropriate length cartridge.
I built a charity raffle gun last week in 300 win mag that started out as a 70's made remington 700 in 30-06.
We used an aftermarket bolt to change to the larger case head and to tighten up the fit of the bolt in the receiver.
If you are not a reloader, the ammo availability will be an issue.
6.5 Creedmore is a very good option in this regard.
It has factory ammo available that is appropriate to 800-1000yd shooting.
It's a short action cartridge.
If you want to read a lot more good posts I have made on choosing a precision rifle and ammo, go read the stickied threads on the caprc.com forums.
You will probably have to register there to read the good threads as I think only a few of the forums are visible to quests.
Savage vs. Remington really is a Ford vs. Chevy argument.
I'll warn you right now that the savage fanbois will be here shortly to explain all their reasons why Savages are superior.
Remington 700 has more aftermarket parts choices than ALL other makes and models of rifles COMBINED.
It's like using a small block Chevy 350 as compared to a 302 Ford.
Sure, there are some Ford parts, but not nearly as much as a Chevy 350.
Most will label me a 700 fanboi because of my recommendations to go with a 700.
I work on ALL different types of actions, whatever the customer walks through my door with.
Even though the savage guys will tell you they are changing barrels themselves, a surprising number of those savage owners are also having me work on their rifles for them...
There really is not a lot of difference.
The primary difference is that the old ones were all polished and blued so they feel smoother when you run the bolt.
Dimensionally, the old ones were more wanky then the new ones.
CNC machining has actually improved the consistency in the new guns.
Unfortunately, most people start with the SPS series guns because they are $500.
The SPS guns all have a sand blasted metal finish with black oxide.
It literally feels like 240grit sandpaper when you run your finger over it.
However, if you are going to paint the gun anyways, like most custom builds do, the paint sticks really nice and smooths out the feel.
If you go with one of the current production stainless actions such as you find in the $1100 5R models, you get a much smoother glass bead finish.
These guns are truly nice to run right out of the box.
They also shoot lights-out groups, 1/3moa being commonly attained with the stock stainless 5R barrel.
Both the 6.5x55 and 6.5x284 are going to be custom built rifles.
There are not any factory heavy barreled 700's in those calibers.
Those are both long-action cartridges.
I will warn you to go try getting behind a long-action and running the bolt to find out if it taps your nose or not.
People are all built differently.
I can't shoot a long action without being scared of the bolt shroud tapping me on the nose when I run the bolt fast.
This tends to make me lift my face off the stock which is a bad thing if you are trying to keep a consistent cheekweld.
Short actions solve this issue for me, but then you are limited to shorter cartridge lengths like the 308 or any of the variety of cartridges based on the 308 case.
Any short/long 700 action can be re-chambered to almost any appropriate length cartridge.
I built a charity raffle gun last week in 300 win mag that started out as a 70's made remington 700 in 30-06.
We used an aftermarket bolt to change to the larger case head and to tighten up the fit of the bolt in the receiver.
If you are not a reloader, the ammo availability will be an issue.
6.5 Creedmore is a very good option in this regard.
It has factory ammo available that is appropriate to 800-1000yd shooting.
It's a short action cartridge.
If you want to read a lot more good posts I have made on choosing a precision rifle and ammo, go read the stickied threads on the caprc.com forums.
You will probably have to register there to read the good threads as I think only a few of the forums are visible to quests.
Savage vs. Remington really is a Ford vs. Chevy argument.
I'll warn you right now that the savage fanbois will be here shortly to explain all their reasons why Savages are superior.
Remington 700 has more aftermarket parts choices than ALL other makes and models of rifles COMBINED.
It's like using a small block Chevy 350 as compared to a 302 Ford.
Sure, there are some Ford parts, but not nearly as much as a Chevy 350.
Most will label me a 700 fanboi because of my recommendations to go with a 700.
I work on ALL different types of actions, whatever the customer walks through my door with.
Even though the savage guys will tell you they are changing barrels themselves, a surprising number of those savage owners are also having me work on their rifles for them...
Plus I heard the MVPs are hit or miss on QC...
Comment