Thread: The Glory Days of Big Green (Old Remington)

Hi all,

Thought I would start a thread to discuss what an innovative and passionate company Remington used to be, way before the Wall Street buyout and subsequent dismantling of their legacy.

Upon joining this forum, I was surprised to see how passionate you lot were about the Remington Model 7, so much so that I decided to get one myself to see what the fuss was about.

Really lucked into a Remington Model 7 KS in 7mm08 (which still needs some work, thanks to the previous owner...) but really appreciated the fact that Remington managed to cram a short action cartridge into a receiver which is about the size of a Sako Vixen!

The recommendations of Nathan Foster would also lead me to buying a Rem 700 Sendero Gen1 in 7mm Rem Mag as well. Truly a behemoth of a rifle and the polar opposite to the wee M7!

Remington were quite the bastion of innovation, coming out with cartridges such as the SAUM's which have experienced a renaissance of late, electronic ignition firearms (thankfully that never caught on!) and even a carbon fiber barrel in their Sendero and Varmint models!

Remington Catalog Archive





I think it's telling that the quality of their catalogs take a nose-dive around 2007, gone are the meticulously detailed game scenes and 'rec room' photo's which are steeped in nostalgia, here come the cheap looking images and alarming reduction in detail which seems to mirror their decline in product quality too...

Would be keen to hear about the NZ experience with Remington as they seem to be a commonly chosen hunting rifle, and rightly so!

@Mohawk .308 I still have the Remington 600 Mohawk .308 Win l brought myself in 1982, as my 21st Birthday reward for my first good $$ season shearing,it is currently in the waiting in line to have a long planned & Walnut blank saved Manlicker type stock made as my retirement present to myself .

Did you see this listing on Tard Me ?




https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketpl...6?bof=hJHc81gC


Here is a article that may be of interest l have kept for years on them ,showing old catalogues/advertising etc

https://www.hwsportsman.net/RemModel600.html

@Mohawk .308 My Mowhawk still goes hunting on the regular,l use it on a local property for Fallow & l still like it for my Sika hunts,l run a old Loopy 1x4 on it . Allan Carr re-barreled/bedded it & trued the action & gave the trigger a slick up around 8 yrs ago when the wife moved up from her Mod 7 243 to my Sako 7/08 Finnlight .

I took a Whitetail with it 2yrs ago on one of our trips to Stewart Island before the Lock Downs as l wanted the old stock to get one last run down there .I only sent it off for the long wait for the stock maker as Allan Carr was wrapping up my long awaited 284W build ,l am looking forward to taking the old Mowhawk in its Manlicker disguise Tahr & Chammy hunting.

I do not get on Tard Me much ,a mate sent me that as it was originally down at $3000 so must have been a mistake .If you do watch it & get a chance let us know what it went for

Caberslash, sadly the days of quality Remington products are gone unless some real engineer or gunsmith buys the business and starts production without the input of accountants and corporate raiders. Basically most of their products have great potential subject to being manufactured by proper tradesmen rather than the shoddy crap turned out by their semi-skilled cheap labour. One of the worst things I have seen in recent M700's is chambers cut with unpiloted reamers that are so far off centre that the leed is only cut on one side of the bore!

I have a Remington 700 mountain rifle in 7mm Mauser from 1990. It is very accurate rifle.

Greetings All,
I have 3 M700 rifles here and none of them are going anywhere. All shoot well and have given no trouble. The first, a .308 ADL arrived in about 1977, my fists new centre fire rifle. Later in 2004 and 2005 more disposable income allowed a Sendero 7mm Rem SAUM and .223 VSSFII to join the ranks. I would have liked a faster than 12 inch twist but the only other option was the Ruger Target model which did not appeal. I do wish that this rifle had a faster twist but Remington was slow to react to demand. They probably found it hard to dump the outdated ideas about fast twist barrels. US rifle makers tend to pander to ignorance of the buying public rather than educate. I think that this and declining quality has been the kiss of death for Remington. Just the other day I saw an add for a Winchester .223 touting its 11 inch twist as being compatible with 55 grain projectiles. What crap, the 55 grain projectile shoot great in my 8 inch twist.
2011 rolled around and I was looking for a lighter hunting rifle. My old .308 had gained weight and the hills become steeper for some reason. I had a long standing yen for something 6.5mm. Remington did not offer anything that appealed and when I found out that Tikka offered their T3 Lite in 6.5 x 55 the deal was done. In 2016 I was thinking about what my grandson could use when he came over from OZ. The answer was obvious Tikka T3* in .223 with an 8 inch twist. He shot it and was most impressed. Covid has delayed his next trip and he will be 16 by the time I see him again. I expect I will have to hand him the 6.5. Good thing I still have the M700 .308.
Regards Grandpamac.

I've had , I think, precisely 3 Remington 700's and 2 shotguns

I currently have one 700 and one shotgun
My 1990 BDL shot so well i turned it into a 6.5 06 but also kept the 30 06 chambered barrel
I bought the last of the once a year classic that were made in one calibre each year since 1981, starting with he 7x57 , that was in 2005 and was made in 308.
Beautiful rifle that I never fired and when our bathroom flooded sold to my Neighbour for building funds
I have photos somewhere of both in their original state

The two shotguns were a 870 bought off Lindsay Duncan that arrived on the eve of an Easter trip to Poolburn for rabbit disposal in 1992, by the end of the weekend It had a slab of shells through without a misfire , a proper slab of 500 not a ,later on hunting and fishing coined slab of half that, never gave me any trouble and regrettably now traded in against a Beretta 391 Urika at another store some years later for the same money I paid
The other shotgun is of course the V3 lifetime warranty semi from the previous company that I've previously mentioned, but to be fair it hasn't given me a skerit of trouble and came with 4 chokes.

The third 700 was one of the first Sps's that I bought as it had just come out and was in the shop the same time I was
It probably lasted all of a month , maybe a month and a half and was chambered in the unfortunate 270.

Love the m7,have 2 one a modern stainless 260 and a 300 saum wood, the 260 may go 1 day but I will go to the grave with the saum, silly old fart some may say

Had a few mod 7,s all gone now not even sure why still have 1968 Remington in 6mm.

Got 2 700 actions in tube guns. Do they count?

I had a play with a Remington Model 7 .223, but settled on a (blued) Howa Mini. The only reason was the price difference because I was really strapped for cash. The (stainless) Model 7 just felt nice, an handled better, but it was also $700 dearer.... And, that made all the difference because I reckoned it wouldn't kill a goat/deer $700 "dead-er"! As it was I had to put the Mini on laybuy

I love the little Mini, but if money was no object; the Model 7 it would be. But I have to say; the "Toyota Corolla of rifles" (Howa) consistently keeps the freezer filled.... When I was a youngster I would have chopped my right arm off if it could have got me a Remington Mohawk..........

I've got a 700BDL stainless in 7mmRM which I purchased in '95 and a mowhawk in 7-08 that I rebuilt from parts in '98.

Unfortunately the only Remington I have ever owned was a 597 semi .22
I brought a gun safe, rifle, ammo and cleaning kit off trademe cheap and only kept the ammo.....

Pretty hard to do worse than a 597.

Originally Posted by JohnDuxbury

I have a Remington 700 mountain rifle in 7mm Mauser from 1990. It is very accurate rifle.

Welcome to the forum @JohnDuxbury!

Back when I got into shooting as a young fella I lusted after that exact rifle and chambering. If you're ever of a mind to sell it I would be keen to know about it.

Originally Posted by mimms2

10/22

I dunno.... I have not pulled a 10/22 apart. But I have a 597, pretty cheap and nasty in there.