Remington Question?

[chains1240]

I was in Dick's Sporting Goods today and they had a Remington Model 700 on the shelf that had a cheap scope on it as a package. I have heard many times over that Remington's quality is slipping. The bolt felt smooth and tha laminate stock was beautiful. The barrel was shot peened and blued. And it had a premium feeling recoil pad, R3? Priced at $617 for 30-06 and .270. Is this a good price for a laminated stock version with X-Mark Pro trigger and premium pad or are Remington's to be avoided right now? The only other rifle I am looking at is a Howa Hogue 1500 in .308 for $450. I was not looking for a 30-06 but that was because of the recoil of my friend's rifle with a brick hard rubber recoil pad. In this rifle I would opt for the .270. Thank you everyone for your opinion.

 

[heeler]

Although Remington isn't putting out the quality it did in the 60's and 70's they are hardly in the ditch.
On the other hand you could easily find a clean used Remington made when they were at the top of their game for a couple of hundred dollars less.
GunBroker is full of 700's in those two common calibers alone from that time era.

 

[springfield30-06]

I was not looking for a 30-06 but that was because of the recoil of my friend's rifle with a brick hard rubber recoil pad. In this rifle I would opt for the .270.

It probably has a SuperCell recoil pad on it and they work great! I'm not sure how recoil shy you may be but I shot about 50 180 grain .30-06 rounds in my Remington 700 with SuperCell pad in only a t-shirt and it was pleasant.

I'm not trying to talk you into a certain caliber or rifle but the ones you are looking at are .30-06, .308 & .270... I personally haven't noticed any difference in recoil between .308 and .30-06 when comparing similar actions and weight to each other. All three are good cartridges in common use so finding commercial ammo shouldn't be a problem.

I would buy another Remington 700 if I was looking for another rifle, I have no complaints from the ones I own and most of them are newer.

 

[chains1240]

Does the $617 price of this particular model sound about right for a brand spanking new one, laminate stock, X-Mark Pro Trigger and Super Cell recoil pad?

 

[Murphys Law]

Which model 700 is it? The only model shown in on their website thats laminated, and not varmint spec, is the 700 mountain rifle. The price seems very fair if thats the model your talking about. Whats the scope that they are throwing in?

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Remingtons may not be what they were several years ago, but they're still fine rifles, as long as you get the 700, and not the cheaper lines. The scope is probably not very good, but the price seems fair nonetheless.
The Howa is a good rifle too, if it has the 1500 action. I have a Weatherby Vangaurd which has a Howa action and I love it. It's in .30-06 and recoil isn't that bad. It is a heavy rifle though, so that helps. My dad has a custom .308 built on an old mauser action and it kicks worse than my '06.
As for caliber, any of the ones you mentioned are great. Pick the one you like best.

 

[chains1240]

Which model 700 is it? The only model shown in on their website thats laminated, and not varmint spec, is the 700 mountain rifle. The price seems very fair if thats the model your talking about. Whats the scope that they are throwing in?

I do not think it is the Mountain Rifle. IIRC the mountain rifle is LSS. This rifle had a blued barrel that was shot peened. And it did not feel overly light. It may be a Dick's Sporting goods package put together by Remington just for their stores?

 

[chains1240]

The Howa is a good rifle too, if it has the 1500 action. I have a Weatherby Vangaurd which has a Howa action and I love it. It's in .30-06 and recoil isn't that bad. It is a heavy rifle though, so that helps.

One of the reasons I like the Howa 1500 in .308. Not a light rifle but not overly heavy either. I figured it would help a little with the recoil of the .308. After pouring over the velocity, energy, and bullet drop out to 300 yards I did not see that big of a difference between .308, .270, and 30-06. This would be a Deer only rifle until that day that I can hunt elk with my dad in Colorado. If that day ever comes.

 

[jmr40]

I've seen those rifles at Dick's. Not in the catalog and probably a special run just for Dick's. It is basically a BDL with laminated stock. I've handled them and they are not bad if you want a laminated stock. The scope is a throw away and I think the laminated stocks are too heavy for my tastes. I would cruise pawnshops looking for a good used one for around $400 and put a McMillian stock on it. You would end up having around $800 in it and have a much better rifle and a much better stock.

 

[Uncle Mike]

It boils down to the fact the Remington was once THE firearms manufacturer! When Savage and later, Winchester took the proverbial dive into the netherworld of shoddily produced product, the world shuddered.
What are we to do now, they(Remington) was the only manufacturer that was producing decent enough sporting firearms for the time! Oh my!

Like all companies, at one time or another, Remington has hit a low spot in the quality of product they produce currently, does this mean that the company known as Remington Arms is poo poo, not at all, what it does mean, is that right now,they are not offering the quality that we all have grown to expect from them. This may or may not be from their new owners directives concerning the way the company is doing business, employee moral, material quality and so on.....

Those rifles are a special run for the (name withheld) group that Dick's buys from, the price is steep for that particular model, you could do better.

 

[chains1240]

Thanks for the advise JMR40. I have been looking around here at a local gun store that sells a lot of used guns. Unfortunately they have about a quarter of the inventory they used to have. We do have a pawn shop around here too but I have never been inside of it. I have a conflict of interests. A gun is a tool, why spend $170 more for something that does the same thing, but it was so purty.

 

[SwampWolf]

You have to wonder just how much cheaper Remington could sell the rifle sans the tagged on scope. Saving even twenty bucks would be fine with me because, personally, I hate the whole "package" concept. I prefer deciding for myself which scope to buy; not just the brand but also the type in terms of variable vs fixed, power range, reticle style, finish, etc.

 

[chains1240]

I completely agree. I was interested in the gun only. Not even the mounts or rings. My LGS cannot locate a Howa Hogue in .308 except for the youth model. May just buy an off the shelf 30-06 even though I refused to consider that caliber in the beginning.