Upgrade 700 BDL in 7MM Rem Mag, or start out with new rifle?

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TallkingBull

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I started reloading pistol cases for my dad as a teenager, and I reloaded for my 7mm Rem Mag when I got out of school. Most of my equipment is 30 years old (700 BDL in 7mm RM w original walnut stock, Leupold 2.5x8 Vari-X III with duplex reticle, RCBS rock chucker, chronagraph, ~140 Remington cases, misc bullets, primers and powder). I have been overseas for most of the last 20 years, and I put all my equipment into storage. I’m now retired and want to get back into shooting and reloading.


My goal is to build a load and system capable of hitting ~12” targets at 1000 yards. I have no plans to compete, just want to be able to guess the range, dial in the scope, and try to make hits. I enjoy the technical aspects of reloading, don’t mind spending time at the bench. I might use this gun for long range varmint or hogs. I think I would never shoot more than 20-30 rounds in a day, about once a week. I quit hunting deer years ago, but there is a small chance I would want to use the gun for hunting deer/elk.


My goal is not to have a ELD hunting gun, I want a ELD target gun that could double as a 100-300 yard hunting gun. I don’t have to have a 7mm RM, it’s just that it is what I already have.


My initial thoughts were to:

Replace the wood stock with an aluminum chassis, maybe a MDT product.
Purchase the Arken SH4 Gen 2 6x24-50 scope.
Replace the stock trigger.
Work up loads with H4831 and CCI 250 and high BC Berger 180 gr bullets.
Make decision later if I need to replace the stock barrel (my 700 BDL has had ~200 rounds fired).


Questions:
Is my plan reasonable? Will this gun be able to shoot 0.5 MOA?
Am I wasting my time and money on this 700 BDL in 7mm RM?
Should I just go out and buy a whole new rifle?
Is the 7mm RM going to beat me up, make me wish I had a 243 or a 6mm Dasher or similar 6mm?
Can I use the 30 year old Remington cases, or start with new cases?
Safe to use the old powder and primers to practice shooting, and get used to the new scope?


Thanks for any feedback.
 
My Rem 700 BDL in 7 mm Mag is 40+ yrs old and shoot sub MOA if I do my part. I would suggest try it as it is before going out spending a lot of money. You may be surprised at what it can do. You will need to allow the barrel to cool between shots. Your leads are probably where you can reach them, unlike the newer ones.

I have a bad back and the 7mm hurts every time I pull the trigger unless I put it my lead sled to absorb the recoil. So it's something you will have to decide on. 7mm Mags are hard on barrels, 1500 max and most are shot out, something else to keep in mind.
 
My 1980 700BDL in 7mm mag shoots 3/4" groups at 100 yards with 160s; heavier bullet increases recoil if that is a concern
 
Many remington 700 can do that sub MOA.

Many cant. I have some pretty valuable 700s that I wouldn't bet against a cheap Axis. Lol. Just depends on the rifle. Any 700 can be made to shoot great. But buying a new rifle would often be cheaper and you may just end up with your receiver and bolt.

Again. Depends on your rifle
 
I put a heavy 40X barrel on a Remington 700, McMillan stock, with nightforce scope in 7mm Magnum. I attended a long range class in Virginia where we shot out to 1,200 yards. I used the 175 gr. Serra match kings. You should have no problem reaching that goal.
 
Blue68f100 said:
My Rem 700 BDL in 7 mm Mag is 40+ yrs old and shoot sub MOA if I do my part. I would suggest try it as it is before going out spending a lot of money. You may be surprised at what it can do. You will need to allow the barrel to cool between shots. Your leads are probably where you can reach them, unlike the newer ones.
Click to expand...
You have the Remington 700 so I have to agree with the above. See what you can do starting with loads. Then I would worry about things like truing the action, lapping the lugs and bolt face and all the other improvements in search of accuracy. Point being the action you have is already a good action to work with. My own 7mm Remington Magnum is about 35 years old, a Ruger left hand in walnut. I no longer even shoot it because at my age it has become punishing. The 7mm Remington Magnum will definitely reach out. If I were to go with a new rifle I would likely consider the 284 Winchester chambering. Never had one and never shot one but when it looked to be doomed it's enjoying a resurgence thanks to mostly the F Class guys shooting it at 1,000 yards. I guess when you start looking at 1,000 yards one trick is finding something that will stay super sonic at that range.

Anyway my first choice would be stay with what you have. There is no reason with the right loads and tweaking and peaking you can't get where you want to go.

Ron
 
The 7 mag is a great hunting cartridge and will do what you want to do. The downside is that it burns lots of powder and generates a lot of recoil. The best way to develop the skills to hit at long range is lots of trigger time. And you'll get a lot more trigger time with something cheaper to shoot and with less recoil.

Something like 7-08, 308, or 6.5 cm will generate roughly 1/2 the recoil while burning almost 1/2 the powder for each shot. Any of those will get you to 1000 yards at the range and kill anything in the lower 48 at 400+ yards. Where the 7 mag outshines the others is on bigger game like elk at ranges beyond 600 yards.

Whether or not it is worth it to you is a personal decision. But I'd go with another rifle.
 
My experience is heavy kickers don’t bother me to shoot some. Go to the range and spend the day shooting and you will know if you mind it or not. I can shoot my 300 win mag at almost 4000 fpe 30 times and I’ve had enough. It’s a custom rifle with good weight and balance and an excellent recoil pad. I had a buddy who wanted big boom and he bought a plastic stock 30-06 and shot it three times and was done lol he hasn’t shot it since. I can shoot 308 6.5 243 223 all day long and enjoy it. Your gun is definitely capable and would make an excellent long range shooter. I’d accurize what you have and see how it does. Then you’ll know if it’s worth the chassis
 
George P said:
How about the 6.5 x 284?
Click to expand...
I am assuming 6.5 284 Norma? I really don't know since I have never shot either let alone loaded for either.

6.5%20284%20Norma.png 284%20Winchester%20(2).png

The 284 Winchester seems to be enjoying a new resurgence with the long range shooters. My longest range around me here in the Cleveland, Ohio suburbs was 500 yards and now I am down to 200 yards. Much as I would like to try 1,000 yard shots I don't see it happening in my lifetime. Without looking at load data and bullet possibilities it looks to me like the 6.5 284 Norma would be a good contender but again neither cartridge is anything I am familiar with enough or experienced enough with. I also like the 7mm-08 Remington but no clue how well it would do at 1,000 yards. Hunting? Deer and Elk would not be a problem for any of the mentioned cartridges. Hunting at reasonable distances.

Ron
 
Keep the action, throw everything else away was my first thought. Then I thought, throw out everything, keep the action somewhere safe, and go buy a rifle and think that may be closer to the fact.

There are a bunch of variables here especially to get .5 MOA. If you want a rifle that doubles for hunting, decide on a cartridge by looking at retained kinetic energy at whatever yardage you might want to hunt and for the species. 6mm is a maybe a bit light.

How much weight are you willing to haul around? What's your max dollar point?

If you have a gunsmith or custom company build a long-range rifle, you're in the bucks, no pun intended. If you want to roll-your-own, then that's another investment of time and money for the parameters you've listed.

Take the 7mm in to visit a good gunsmith, ideally one that knows long-range, and have him look at the barrel. Have a discussion about what and how much it would take to get it to 1 moa or less. Start your research from there.
 
Thanks for all of the posts and comments.

I think I'll buy the trigger and scope, and see how accurate the gun is with the original barrel and wood stock.
This will also tell me if I will be willing to put up with the recoil of firing 20-30 7MM RM shots on an outing.

Then I can decide on chassis and barrel, etc.

Now, if only I could find powder and primers LOL...
 
TallkingBull said:
BTW, I retired in November 2020, have lots of time on my hands (I hope). I can wait out the supply shortages I think.
Click to expand...

So, there are a lot of things you can do to tune what you have. And, I'm sure we'll get into that. But, first, understanding that handloading for precision accuracy can be quite a process, and you have to decide if the gun is worth it. Let me suggest some steps, and I'd imaging we'll get other contributions:
  • OCW Overview - Dan Newberry's OCW Load Development System (embarqspace.com) Read this. There are other such sites 10 Round Load Development Ladder Test (65guys.com) which uses Scott Scatterlee's system. Most come from the original work as related by Creighton Auddett, but maybe try one of the others to start.
  • Go on SAAMI site and Rifle specifications and run off several of the 7mm Rem page. If you're not already, become very familiar with the information on that page.
  • Buy some brass that has adequate consistency built-in. That'd be Lapua or Hornady. Decide on a powder as Newberry describes. I would recommend that whatever you use will fill the cartridge case at least 75% if not more. This is load density. Research on this will help you.
  • Decide on a bullet based on what Newberry says and what you might want to hunt. High BC is good.
  • If you don't have a chronometer, you're going to need one right off the get-go. And, some precision measuring tools such as a headspace gauge set and a good pair of calipers at a minimum. You should have a good scale.
  • Go to work.
Go on Brownell's and look up pillar bedding and action bedding in their learn section. Neither of these is hard if you have some basic tools, and do your research. Preparation is key.

Let us know how you get along and if you have problems on the way.

Good luck.
 
Save the 700 for hunting, and buy a rifle aimed at that market in something like 6.5 Creedmoore, 6MM Creedmoor, or since you reload, 6MM GT etc.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/long-range-rifle-scope-prs-question-s.845206/

You can buy something for around $1200 that can get you there easily, or you can step it up to 2K/2.5K and get a really nice long range rifle, just add optics.

Price goes up from there.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/thompson-center-performance-center-lrr-bolt-action-rifle

https://badrockrifles.com/#!/Intro

https://www.americanrifle.com/shop/...-20-6-5cm-nucleus-gen2-rifle-1200?category=26

https://www.gaprecision.net/pinnacle-production-rifle-ppr.html#

https://huntslongrange.com/product/hlr-6-5-creedmoor-long-range-ready/?v=7516fd43adaa

https://masterpiecearms.com/shop/mpa-ba-pmr-competition-rifle/

Plenty of companies targeting the entry level PRS gun market, great guns around 2/2.5K that will shoot well under 1 MOA. I bought the 1999 version of MPAs $2K competition ready rifle I linked above and it shoots great. They have a "Pro" version which is a small step up at 2.5K.
MagnetoSpeed & Loads # 8, # 9, & # 10 Pic 2.jpg
 
I'll agree that 7mm Mag in a hunting taper barrel can be a beast to shoot a bunch (but then I always thought an 06 was brutal). Triggers nearly always improve groups, seriously. Muzzle brakes and downloading cost you velocity.

Walkalong makes a good point. If you're thinking about PRS, then the $2.5k range works for me, and you don't need a 7mm for that. 6 or 6.5 won't beat you up nearly as bad. I would not push either too far in hunting.

I've read some in passing on the Arken, but I can't comment on them. It's not a lot of money to risk, however, I went on their site just for giggles, and they're 16 weeks+ back-ordered. Glass is expensive no doubt, but good glass is a real pleasure. You may want to kick in up to another thou for reloading gear to take advantage of such a rifle.

If you've got, oh, $5k ratholed, then you can go pretty much first class!
 
Lots of information here some good, some having nothing to do with the original post. Put a decent scope mount and glass on your rifle, load/buy some march grade ammo, and shoot it. It's either going to shoot or not depending on many factors. None of which are the caliber.
 
Thanks again for all of the insights. I have been watching/reading a lot about 10 shot ladders and OCW, optimizing seating depth, etc.

If I end up buying low cost precision equipment I will invest about $2000 either way. I've already bought my scope.

I'm struggling with decision to spend ~$2000 and end up with one accurate LR 7MM gun that will do everything, or spend ~$2000 and have an old beater to hunt with, and a new 6MM target rifle.

Option 1 Upgrade Old 7MM RM: $1940
New Shilen Barrel $400
Trigger $190
XLR Element Chassis $710
Redding Elite Dies $340
Initial powder, primers, bullets $300

Option 2 Start Over w 6MM or 6.5MM Barreled Action: $2150
HOWA Barreled Action $600
Trigger $200
XLR Element Chassis $710
Redding Elite Dies $340
Initial powder, primers, bullets $300
 
Put your money in a new 6 or 6.5 Creedmoor. You'll get where you want to be much more efficiently.

Then tinker with the 700. Float the barrel and bed the action. Adjust the factory trigger down to 3#. Experiment with loads. You can probably get it shooting very well, too, for not a lot of money.
 
Nobody into 7STW? I got one off a trade years ago, that and 45-70 got me into reloading.

Ruger #1 7STW stainless on Synthetic with a Minox 2-10x ... shot it at 500 yards and it dents steel hard!
 
The MPA and Badrock (linked above) rifles look pretty good, same price as what I think it will cost to build. Hmmm.
 
If building a long range rig out of your M700 7mm will bring you a great deal of joy then do that.
Personally I would clean up and fine tune your 700 & build a long range rig in addition.

A fast twist 7mm Rem Mag may be the ticket:thumbup:

Enjoy your retirement! I have been for 14 months. Can someone tell me how long before I get a day off :D
 
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