Thread: First Year Remington Model 7 (1983)

It was this forum that made me aware of the Remington Model 7, so I thought it apt to post my latest rifle acquisition on here!

A suspiciously cheap online ad on Guntrader for a Remington Model 7 in .243 Winchester caught my eye, and the single low resolution photo didn't reveal much other than it being a wooden stock, blued rifle with it's original iron sights present. A rarity in the UK considering how many have been chopped by the local 'gunsmith' with the iron sights landing up in their parts draw or worse still, the bin!

Making a visit to the Mother's house (on the wrong side of the wall) conveniently saw me being within a 90 minute drive of the gunshop which was selling this rifle, so naturally we ended up going for a visit!

You can imagine my surprise, delight and elation to see the man behind the counter produce this when I asked to see the 'cheap .243' ...



After a quick peruse to confirm my suspicions of what it was, (I also found 3 lbs of RL26 in their powder section for £50 a tub... Aladdin's cave for sure!), I slapped the plastic down the second he had written me up!

Cue a very very very long wait to actually get my hands on this thing, due to the archaic Firearms Licensing system we have in the UK which involves sending a bit of paper and £20 to the cop shop in the hopes they'll let you have another rifle...

Well, I finally got my grubby paws on this thing!

More pics and detail below

Unique bottom metal, which is a steel 3 piece design, only featured for the first few years before Remington went to the two piece 'pot metal' aluminum type which is a far simpler design.

Benefit of this design is that it is steel, and will not open easily. Needs a bullet end pushed into the latch outside the trigger guard to release it.



Original irons, but missing the actual barrel mounted front sight. Not a huge deal for me.





Note the smooth bolt handle, contrasted with the more textured 'football' seen on later models.



Also see the notch for a saftey which locks the bolt. Whilst Remington had deleted this feature on their triggers, the notch remained into the early 2000's.

Comparison to a later Rem Mod 7 bolt:

Some more details, note barrel stamps showing this was made in January 1983:

1983 Catalog with details can be found here: https://cartridgecollectors.org/ammu...logs/Remington

Note the .243 and 6mm Rem have 9 1/4 twist rates.

You can see the decline of Remington as their catalogs went from scenes bordering on fine art from the 80's-90's into computer generated garbage into the late 2000's!

Nice, I convinced my daughter to buy a Model 7 .243, but a more recent stainless one. Shoots ok, not a tack driver but will do to 200-250yds.

She's a 'minter' How much did you fork out ?

Originally Posted by caberslash

1983 Catalog with details can be found here: https://cartridgecollectors.org/ammu...logs/Remington

Note the .243 and 6mm Rem have 9 1/4 twist rates.

You can see the decline of Remington as their catalogs went from scenes bordering on fine art from the 80's-90's into computer generated garbage into the late 2000's!

nice one. that twist rate should all but guarantee good results with 100gr projectiles.

Greeting,
I recently worked with a friends Remington 660 in .222 Rem. This was a very accurate rifle with a 20" barrel made in around 1970. My son has a Model 673 in .350 Rem Mag which also shoots well (it does boot a bit). Both are close relatives of the Model 7. I don't know if Rem Arms has started up Model 7 production yet but I certainly hope that they will.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

She's a 'minter' How much did you fork out ?

£150 which is approx 300 NZD?

You lucky bugger! Thats what I would like as my go to carry hunting rifle.

See if you are ever down in D&G make a point of finding Roy Jacobs place...he trades from home but always has interesting rifles and shotguns in stock and reasonably priced too...also loved going through to Glenluce to see Stu at the Gunroom but thats another story....

That’s fantastic mate I really like that

Well done , looks great

Thanks team, hoping to do the McCervus soon (Roe, Red and Sika) with one rifle, close do doing it with my 7mm08 M7 KS, have done it with a crappy 270 Tikka but will get a load sorted with the 243 soon and update.

All you need in a hunting rifle!

Slightly different stock too, or are my old eyes playing up again .