Truing/working over a Rem700 LA

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.
 
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.
 
Last edited:
shedhunt said:
Good morning,

I've posted a couple threads over the past month or so and I've got another one for you all!! I'm looking to build a new rifle and am looking to utilize my current Rem700 LA for the build. I've been reading a lot on the pro's and con's of custom actions but I haven't been able to find much on having a Rem700 action completely worked over to make it a silky smooth and butter action.

So I'm looking for input from those who have done this exact thing. What would you have done differently or not done at all and what should one look at having done to make the action exactly what I mentioned?

Thank you for you time!!
Click to expand...
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. ;)
 
shedhunt said:
I've seen that most custom action manufacturers offer southpaw options, but I've been noticing lately, they don't have anything or are all sold out. Guess that's a good thing if they are sold out, but since I'm ready to start purchasing parts, I may still need to move forward with my 700 action or look at a different factory actions that's available or I can get a prefit barrel for. Appreciate your info you passed along.
Click to expand...
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
 
Roughrice said:
If you don't want to spend too much money for now and don't mind the barrel nut configuration...
why not try a good Rem/Age barrel in your choice of caliber and contour and give it a whirl.
You might be pleasantly surprised!
Click to expand...
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.
 

Attachments

  • .50 cal ML.JPG
    .50 cal ML.JPG
    606.4 KB · Views: 30
  • Remington 700 22-250 Buris 6X24 009.JPG
    Remington 700 22-250 Buris 6X24 009.JPG
    464.3 KB · Views: 28
Last edited:
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.
 
haisardao said:
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.
Click to expand...
Do you know of any carbon fiber barrel makers that make the remage barrels for 700 actions?
 
Roughrice said:
Southern Precision Rifles, Crown Ridge Barrel Works and Straitjacket 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
Click to expand...
Great, thank you for the info.
 

Similar threads

G
5000 miles and still working
2
Replies
15
Views
4K
goodgrouper
G
L
Why a brake over a can or vice versa
Replies
1
Views
1K
tackb
T
R
my waits over
2
Replies
17
Views
2K
SBBW
S
T
Is painting over stainless only for a professional?
Replies
8
Views
2K
tscott
T
S
How to tell a rem700 from the cust shop
Replies
2
Views
1K
sniper1911
S

Recent Posts

Top