Why does Remington shun .308?

[eldon519]

Why doesn't Remington chamber the 700 BDL, the 700 CDL, or many of their variants in .308? I consider it to be a staple cartridge, but it seems like they reserve it for the budget-minded 700 SPS, the Model 7, and some of the target/tactical variants rather than their flagship rifles.

Does anyone else find that strange?

 

[Brian Williams]

308 Winchester

I wonder if this has anything to do with it?Winchester

 

[Float Pilot]

They chamber 308 Winchester in all of their overpriced Law Enforcement rifles and all of their very expensive Military rifles.
The bean counters always have their own agendas....

 

[dstorm1911]

they could just chamber em for the 7.62x51NATO SHORT instead

 

[eldon519]

308 Winchester

I wonder if this has anything to do with it?Winchester

I doubt it, cause they sure have an affinity for .270 Winchester and .243 Winchester.

 

[Walkalong]

If they are not chambering the .308 in very many offerings I can only surmise that they are morons, which, of course, is not true, so who knows.

 

[Ash]

Forget I mentioned it.

Ash

 

[El Tejon]

When did they stop carrying it in .308?

 

[eldon519]

I'm pretty sure they make both long and short action 700s because if you look at the overall lengths of the rifles with equivalent barrel lengths, the ones chambered for .308-based cartridges are about an inch shorter than ones chambered for .30-06-based cartridges.

 

[Il Duca]

My brother just bought a 700 BDL in .308. Did they stop making them or something?

 

[Flfiremedic]

This year's M700 Classic is the 308 (2007), and on a related note, I can't find one.

 

[brasskeeper]

They make the 700 in both long actions and short actions. The model seven is different rifle. If they are not chambering a 700 in 308 its a new thing because I have one in the safe and I know a few other people who have one.

Its not a winchester thing or remington wouldnt be chambering rifles in 270 winchester either.

 

[Snarlingiron]

I have a 700 BDL in .308 in my safe. It shot Bambi last year, and is going out hunting day after tomorrow.

 

[Andrewsky]

I was in a gun shop today and got to play around with a few 700s. Do their actions smooth up over time?

 

[BobMcG]

Not always been the case. I guess I'll be holding onto mine.



Believe me, the picture doesn't do it justice.

 

[boilingleadbath]

Remington chambers lots of their 700s in .308 winchester. Indeed, the lines in which they don't offer that option are all either:
1) Small bore varmint rifles
2) Rifles marketed to hunters available in a limited number of cartridges. These lines are generally available in 30-06.

My guess is that the .308 chambering wasn't selling so well in the hunter-oriented lines. Not surprising; it's not touted as "the best" by the gun rag, nor is it a new and novel cartridge, nor (AFAIK) has it achieved the fame of the 30-06.

Plus, it doesn't really do anything that the 30-06 doesn't. In a rifle line that only offers 5-6 chamberings, redundancy isn't desirable.

 

[glockman19]

Teh SPF & VLF models are chambered in .308

 

[USSR]

...I can only surmise that they are morons, which, of course, is not true...

I'm not so sure about that. These are the same people who introduced the Etronix, the model 710, and that stupid model 7615.

Don

 

[taliv]

hey, don't knock the etronx! them's fightin words


i bought a rem700 vss in 308win maybe 5 years ago. some 2 years ago i went looking for another and discovered they'd stopped selling that chambering in that line. i was looking for a vssf and iirc, the only gun they offered in 308 win was pretty much their entire po-po line.

it does sort of make sense as 308win is generally associated with combat rifles and not so much with hunting/varmints/non-military competition.

and it also makes some sense because as was previously mentioned, if you want your product on the front cover of gun rags, you need a sexy new caliber, not a 100 yr old caliber.

 

[GreenMtnTac]

Perhaps a more interesting question is, why doesn't Remington offer any of their varmit rifles in .416 Rigby?

 

[Wes Janson]

And gord help you if you're a leftie and want a .308 in something other than a 37-pound varmint rifle. I recall asking them at SHOT why they didn't make a left-handed .308 SPS, and basically being told that no one else wanted one but me. Lessee, 10%+ of the market, with one of the most popular chamberings ever made, particularly for LE/.mil? No interest at all? Riiight.

 

[George Hill]

They used to make them... but not now? Sounds like regular Remington production cycles to me.

 

[Orr89rocz]

they only make like 2 versions of the model 7 now. my dad just picked up a 7mm-08 REMINGTON in the model 7. its a shame they dont make alot of variants of the model 7, its a very nice rifle. great handling and lightweight. They do like the short mags tho

 

[W.E.G.]

And gord help you if you're a leftie

http://www.savagearms.com/11fl.htm

 

[Outlaws]

Very simply, the 700 is a long-action and the 7 is a short action.

That isn't even close to true.

Why doesn't Remington chamber the 700 BDL, the 700 CDL, or many of their variants in .308?

Beats me. Maybe its just not selling so good right now so they are taking a break. But really, the 308 doesn't offer anything in a deer hunting rifle that the 30-06 cannot do better. Remington still offers the 308 in most of the other 700 variants.