Remington 700
Your best first rifle purchase?
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| There are a great many rifles on the market but only a few really good ones. In our Long Range Precision Rifle Course, we see a lot of different rifles: Savages, Winchesters, Weatherbys, Howas, Brownings and the occasional off brand. Most all perform very well for their owners. Savages are particularly known for their precision. There is one rifle however that we see frequently - both on the line in our Long Range Precision Rifle Courses and in our personal gun safes: The Remington 700 series rifle.
The Remington 700 was first introduced in 1962 and was designed by Mike Walker. Since 1962 the total sales numbers are upwards of 4.3 million units with over 70 variants. It is of a deceptively simple design which reduces the cost of manufacture. The bolt is of a two-lug design with a recessed bolt face that fully supports the rear of the cartridge. When chambered the bolt lugs solidly and securely lock into the rear of the chamber. The action, which by the way has not changed in its basic design since 1962, is solidly built. The Remington 700 is available in over 40 calibers. The Remington factory produces about 70 guns an hour! | 
| In 1966 The US Marine Corps ordered their first Remington 700s for use as a Sniper Weapons System (SWS) designated M40. They quickly upgraded the design from wood stocks to the plastic McMillan stock and designated it the M40A1. Other than that, it was the same basic design as off the shelf Remington 700s you could buy at your local gun store. By the late 1980s however, with the incredible popularity of this gun, many aftermarket accuracy enhancements had become available. The Marine Corp again, let out a contract for an upgrade to this design with match grade components. This latest design is designated the M40A3.
In 1988 the US military (US Army) let a contract to Remington to develop a Sniper Weapons System based on the Remington 700 design and carries the designation: M24. Differences from civilian models (at the time) were primarily in the stock (HS Precision Stock # PST-011) and the rifling specifications. The M24 and the M40 feature a 5 land rifling design found to be superior in its precision. This type of rifling design is called "5R" and is now available in several civilian models of the Remington 700. Today differences from the civilian model include a heavier barrel.
Requirements for the design specified an accuracy of 0.35 MOA (Minutes of Angle) from a machine rest. The specifications also required the rifle to hold this accuracy to 10,000 rounds. Some rifles held this accuracy to 20,000 rounds. All M24 and M40 rifles are chambered for the .308 / 7.62 sniper round specifying a 175 gr bullet and an accurized cartridge. The technological developments resulting from this specification have filtered their way into the civilian market. | 
| The final major versions of the Remington 700s are the police versions: the Remington 700 LTR and the Remington 700 PSS. These rifles are heavily influenced by the military SWS and feature HS Precision stocks which free float the barrels, and a heavier barrel than most hunting rifles, (fluted in the LTR to reduce weight).
Shown to the left and below are my personal LTRs, one in .223 and one in .308. As you can see, all police versions are all black. |
| So How Do They Shoot? | 
| On the left you can see me with my personal Remington 700 "5R" in .308. This particular model is a limited production run rifle - Remington only manufactures 1000 of them each year for sale. These are basically civilian versions of the orignal M24 rifle, but with a lighter barrel and featuring HS Precison Stocks which free-float the barrel and the military spec "5R" rifling. The scope is a Leupold Mark 4 / 4 x 14 tactical scope. The bipod is Harris, BRM-S.
During my load workup, using the Sierra Match King 168 gr bullet, with Federal brass and Federal match primers, one load produced this group: Five shots spanning 0.6 inches at 200 yds. That is 0.25 MOA - much better than military spec. Not bad for a stock production rifle with no modifications! This is a good example of how handloading can significantly increase your rifle's precision. (With factory ammo, this rifle is a .75 MOA rifle). | 
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| On the right find my personal Remington LTR, also in .308. As of the summer of 2012 this was a new rifle for me. Initial testing found it to be a .75 MOA rifle. I took it to American Precision Arms in Jefferson GA to have the action bedded and their proprietary muzzle brake installed. The scope is Nightforce, a 3.5 x15 F1 NXS. Other than that, its a stock rifle.
Right after receiving the rifle back from APA, I only had time on one day this fall to re-zero, the rifle at 100 yds with factory Federal 168gr Match King cartridges. Once zeroed, I moved to the 200 yd line and shot three, three shot groups - the last of the ammo I had that day. Of those three, the group to the left was the best at 1.1 inches - about 0.5 MOA. Pretty awesome for factory loads. I suspect when I have time to work up a custom handload, that group size will shrink by at least 30%.
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| Some Remington 700 Models Worth Looking At | Remington SPS Tactical
The Model 700 SPS Tactical comes with a 20" heavy-contour tactical-style barrel and dual-point pillar bedding in its black synthetic stock. Chambering includes 223 Remington and 308 Win. The heavy barrel produces superior barrel harmonics resulting in a tight shooting rifle. We have had several of these come through our course and they shoot very well.
The stock is in our opinion its only potential weak point. It is a Hogue overmolded, rubber coated stock. It features pillar bedding so the barrel is nominally free floated (doesn't touch the stock), a feature very important to accuracy. In our experience however a few of these stocks have a forearm that will bend enough when a bipod is mounted to touch the stock. Check for this by taking the rifle barrel at the front of the stock between your thumb and index finger and squeezing it gently. If you can feel the stock bend and touch the barrel, look for another SPS Tactical unit. This can be remedied by replacing the stock with an HS Precision stock like the ones which come on the more expensive 700s but if you are going to do this, might |  |
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| Remington SPS Varmit
Basically a longer barreled version of their SPS Tactical, this rifle features a heavy contour 26" barrel. Chamberings include .17 Fireball, .204 Ruger, .22 Remington, 22-250 Remington, .243 Winchester, and .308 Winchester. These rifles shoot very well as is right out of the box. We have had these rifles come through our course also and they have preformed very well. Potential weak spots are the synthetic plastic stock. It appears to free-float the barrel but we have some concerns that the bedding for the stock could in some cases allow the action to shift slightly in recoil with resultant sub-optimal groups. With the rifles we review here, these criticisms are splitting hairs for the most part and you will be very pleased with its out of the box performance. |
| Remington 700 XCR Long Range
Specifically built for long range work, the XCR features a heavy barrel of 26 inches featuring a proprietary external coating providing superior protection against the elements. The Bell and Carson stock free-floats the barrel and features a full-length bedding block to stiffen the forearm and ensure it does not touch the barrel in recoil.
The trigger is their higher end 40X trigger which is externally adjustable for weight of pull, providing a smooth trigger press and crisp release. | 
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| Summary: If you are in the market for a long gun, definitely consider the Remington 700. It has a long pedigree of development and technological advances arising from Remington's military work has rendered the civilian models, with equivalent stocks, nearly as good as the custom US Marine M40 Sniper Weapons System. With over 4.5 million units produced since 1962, there is a plethora of after market products available for you to enhance your Remington 700 with. With regards to out of the box accuracy, as you can see, it is quite excellent.
On a second note, if you are looking for increased accuracy out of your current system, definitely consider American Precision Arms in Jefferson GA. They bedded the action and installed a muzzle brake on my .308 LTR. As you can see from the above, the design and installation of the muzzle brake did not affect the inherent accuracy of the rifle - a testament to their superb design and installation. I have visted their shop and was very impressed with their shop set-up, knowledge and technological capability. They are currently rebuilding my LTR .223 with action truing and bedding, blueprinting the bolt and action, and a match grade heavy barrel. Once I get it back, I will post a review on its performance also. If you are a past student, please feel free to call or email us with questions about Remington 700 rifles. | |
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