Tips to rebuilding an old Remington 700 ADL into a LR rig

Well I have an old (1993) Remington 700 ADL in 308 with a heavy weight 'varmint' style blued barrel, basic synthetic stock, blind mag that the barrel has seen better days. In its day it had a LOT of mil surplus ammo through it at the range, and lots of 125 gn NBT through it at Sika. But it was used as a workhorse, and developed a few small spots of rust midway down the barrel from camping out under a fly a lot and staying wet, etc etc:o

It'll still do inch - inch and a half groups at 100, but my other wee rifle will do half inch when fed the right stuff, so I am looking at throwing some $ at it to get it up to hitting gongs, and reachout out beyond my self imposed 3 hundy for my other wee rifle.

So....the action itself should be fine to use...but are those new fandangled skeleton stocks the business or are they mostly for looks???

I'll get it rebarreled with a decent length stainless barrel, and I guess pay more for the action to be trued to the new barrel, bolt to the action etc etc. Trigger job or replacement trigger???

And then there will be the better bit of glass on top. Its currently sporting a 1990 Tasco Titan, which has not let me down...but looking through my new Loupy VX3hd is a bit of a wakeup call.

Thoughts from the guys who have gone through this process would be invaluable. Or is it cheaper to just go out and buy a new 308 that will already do 80% of what I want it to do???

Cheers guys...

I guess it depends. Do you like the current platform? I guess you are used to it now and it’s function and handling are well ingrained in your muscle memory. From that perspective, it is well worth rebarreling. It will get you back to the glory days of when it was shooting well, and likely give you some more performance to boot. And lower maintenance.
I personally like the Remington platform, and your old school action is likely to be a good one. So unless you really want something different, I’d stick with it.
Regards to trueing up the action, have a talk to the lads at True Flite. They’ll let you know if it’s worth the extra cash. I hear talk from some areas that for a lot of applications, not to bother. I trued an action once, and the reality wasI couldn’t shoot as good as the difference in accuracy the action work was possibly delivering.

Have at it

When you say "LR rig" how far do you want to shoot ? and do you want to stick with 308 ? or are you willing to consider other options ? Have a think about 284 would be my suggestion as that will get you to 800-900+ yards on game. Probably better starting off with an old LA REM700 than SA if you went 284.
Truing the action - probably not needed, especially if the action has proven accurate in past. Talk to TF. If you want to stick with 308 then probably they can get you a new or near new SS factory barrel. I did this with Truflite a few years back. Had an older, well used REM700 Tactical with heavy profile bbl. Grant had a standard SS sporter profile 308 that had been taken off another rifle. Chopped to 20in, shoots like laser & good to 500 yds with 168AMAX or NBT's. Cost swfa.
Then you can save $$ for some good optics.

If you like the remmy platform go out and buy a bergara and call it done. A remmy action with all the flaws ironed out and will cost a lot less than doodling around with your current action.

Throw it away and buy a tikka

That age of action will be an awesome start to a custom they were made to a lot higher tolerances to new actions. And accuracy potential will be better than a T3 action. I have a similar age blued SA rem action and it shoots like a laser.

Well thanks guys, sounds like its a keeper then.

Yeah, would like to be able to reach out and touch 600 or so metres, so will stay with the 308. Why??? Well I have about 3 lifetimes supply of 308 stuff, so its plain economics to stay with the calibre. And I do like knowing that the action will not benefit massively from having more machine work done to it, given its pedigree.

Chainsaws mention of then being able to put more $$$ into quality glass makes sense.

Will update when stuff starts happening:thumbsup:

buy a KRG Bravo and shoot it as is. Possibly you could get a new prefit barrel (criterion) and then for minimal outlay you should have a good shooter.

Or...............................
You could just use it as an excuse for a new gun and buy something like this

https://www.springfield-armory.com/m...ypoint-rifles/

And invest a few $$ in a good stock

@XR500 if you go with True Flite, ask them about the option of the M-852 Match reamer. It’s a reamer designed by Dave Manson and apparently gives great results with factory and hand loaded ammo.

for the $$$$ its going to cost you to rebarrel...wait and snap up something off the forum that is already to go...like the 7mm mag I sold recently....numerous rifles Mr Songhurst has onsold....not to mention all the others .
keep your old rifle as back up...or list it as it is full disclosure....seems quite a few folks after something roughish to butcher for short bush rifle.... even if you only sell it for say $400 and poke another $600 into new rifle you would still be on par with new barrel if you were lucky to get one cheap and gunsmith in good mood.

I would buy a really good quality match grade barrel like a Shilen, Lilja, Bartlein. Have it fitted by someone who laps the Tenon threads and bed the action with Nathans Fosters kit.

If the bolt lugs BOTH have good contact you're wasting money truing the action for a hunting rifle. You may go from half moa to quarter moa at best if you can shoot that well. A good tube with well adjusted walker trigger bedded into a good stable stock will have you up and away. But its $1000 for a match tube fitted, plus the stock, plus bedding and what ever trigger work is needed if you are buying all services. Other wise sell it and buy a good used tikka, etc.

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Originally Posted by Dicko

If the bolt lugs BOTH have good contact you're wasting money truing the action for a hunting rifle. You may go from half moa to quarter moa at best if you can shoot that well. A good tube with well adjusted walker trigger bedded into a good stable stock will have you up and away. But its $1000 for a match tube fitted, plus the stock, plus bedding and what ever trigger work is needed if you are buying all services. Other wise sell it and buy a good used tikka, etc.

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You may also end up with the action being worse than it was before you started depending on who did the work!

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Originally Posted by Longrun

Throw it away and buy a tikka

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Mr Longrun scores the second troll point for the day :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by 6x47

Mr Longrun scores the second troll point for the day :thumbsup:

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it's just a light quip there. Don't be so sensitive. Stop reading cancel culture material and breathe

Mate, just get a 700 take off and swap barrels, job done at bugger all cost, bedding, trigger control and seating depth are the most important considerations, not a thousand dollars worth of barrel, have used take off's lots of times and I would only go "special" brand names barrels to get a twist rate.

@XR500 Here is my advice based on what you have posted: you would like to keep the rifle and make it a project as opposed to selling it.

Start by keeping the barrel and determining the twist rate, then do some handloads with a 168-175gr bullet, the SMK is a good start.

If you can get it grouping within and inch and keep the quality of your hand loads within an SD of 10 and ES under 20 you will be good to at least 800m which is pretty good for the 308 / 7.62.

If your accuracy is not within 1" to start with but ammunition data is consistent (as above) then consider glass bedding the recoil lug at a minimum and torqueing the action screws consistently (you can group test at 30,40,50 inlb and see what it likes).

I'd spend your money on a decent rail and or rings with some cant in them, 20 MOA at least. Make sure the rail is epoxied to the action and your rings are correctly torqued.

Buy a decent scope (clear glass for your eyes) and make sure it tracks true (do a tall target test) or understand the error in the adjustment. Consistent adjustment is more important than the brand.

I'd then purchase a decent trigger: Timney are good, but Trigger Tech are my favourite as you can 'click adjust them'(if you don't know what I mean then google it).

Depending on the ergonomics of your scope size and cheek weld you can then look at spending money on a stock (KRG Bravo and MDT XRS are both great value for $$).

If you are recoil sensitive or shoot alone or you want to spot your own shots then look at a brake or suppressor. Brakes are more efficient at mitigating recoil, but are far less appealing to those shooting with and around you.

LR shooting is a deep rabbit hole and at the end of the day what matters to me is scope adjustment, trigger pull and consistency of the ammunition.

With time you will quickly find that the 308 suffers in the wind but is a great cartridge to learn how to shoot in the wind. The 6.5 and 6mm eat it for breakfast but get lost in the grass when you miss.

Good Luck!

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Originally Posted by Longrun

it's just a light quip there. Don't be so sensitive. Stop reading cancel culture material and breathe

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Both your posts were rather weak windup comments. Maybe try for some useful or more witty content next time.

You've completely misread my persona. Anyone who knows me is aware of my good sense of humour and -hate- of cancel culture.

Sorry there boss:thumbsup:

@300_BLK has hit the nail on the head i think. Do that. Literally just do what he has written down haha

I got a 308 Varmint barreled action with a timney for cheap. Step one, I sent it off to TrueFlite and got it rebarreled to something with a bit more legs than 308 (though 308 is fine for 600-800 with the right ammo/handloads). Got the action trued up at the same time. Worked out not that much more expensive than getting a criterion pre-fit.

Step two is the stock. The cheap plastic jobbies aren't really up to the task if you want a proper LR/competition rig imo. Needs to be stiff so it can be loaded without flexing and heavier to soak up a bit more recoil for help spotting impacts/misses.

Lighten the trigger bed it and shoot it again after a thorough clean and see what it can do as is
Finding a heavy take off barrel might be difficult to find in the same finish as the old Remington blued


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Originally Posted by XR500

Well I have an old (1993) Remington 700 ADL in 308 with a heavy weight 'varmint' style blued barrel, basic synthetic stock, blind mag that the barrel has seen better days. In its day it had a LOT of mil surplus ammo through it at the range, and lots of 125 gn NBT through it at Sika. But it was used as a workhorse, and developed a few small spots of rust midway down the barrel from camping out under a fly a lot and staying wet, etc etc:o

It'll still do inch - inch and a half groups at 100, but my other wee rifle will do half inch when fed the right stuff, so I am looking at throwing some $ at it to get it up to hitting gongs, and reachout out beyond my self imposed 3 hundy for my other wee rifle.

So....the action itself should be fine to use...but are those new fandangled skeleton stocks the business or are they mostly for looks???

I'll get it rebarreled with a decent length stainless barrel, and I guess pay more for the action to be trued to the new barrel, bolt to the action etc etc. Trigger job or replacement trigger???

And then there will be the better bit of glass on top. Its currently sporting a 1990 Tasco Titan, which has not let me down...but looking through my new Loupy VX3hd is a bit of a wakeup call.

Thoughts from the guys who have gone through this process would be invaluable. Or is it cheaper to just go out and buy a new 308 that will already do 80% of what I want it to do???

Cheers guys...

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Greetings @XR500,
You now have a pot full of opinions, some helpful and others not so much. At the end of the day it is your decision as it will be your rifle. Take your time. I find it helpful to sit down with a sheet of paper and write down what you want the rifle for. Be honest. Next what calibre would do what I need. Do I want my old .308 updated or do I want a new rifle. And so on. By the time you get to the bottom of your second sheet of paper you will know much more and an idea of what you want will be starting to emerge. Enjoy the process.
Regards Grandpamac.

Thanks again everyone for throwing their experience into the mix. Lots to think about, but it has certainly assisted in knowing where to spend the $$ initially.

Here she is when almost new: sporting a Gunworks suppressor that was #6 off the lathe when suppressors were very new (1996?). Very heavy, all 13 baffles are SS and VERY quiet:cool:

Attachment 193831

awesome...and it begs the question...have you considered spending $60-80-100 and getting simple recrown/rethread done and seeing if accuracy comes back somewhat???

it seems you like rifle you have got....wait a bit if the above doesnt work,rem 700 barrels keep popping up at reasonable prices.... a trigger upgrade could be just the ticket but if you happy with one in it now..why change?? just dont try one with the likes of a jewel trigger if you into precision shooting or will NEED ONE NOW!!!!!
my old model 70 .270 had 30 hard years of abuse and was still sub moa.....rifling didnt look flash,bore was oversized from get go but it still shot well,the addition of suppressor gave it a recrown which must have helped,why I suggested you try another crowning on yours,just to see.

The suggestion of using a rem 700 take off barrel is a good one i reckon.

Ive recently finished off a similar project.

I had an old Rem M7 in 260 rem, it had done alot of work when i brought it 2nd hand, and i gave it a fair bit of work too.

It was an older sliw twist 260 barrel and just wouldnt shoot anything heavier than 123gr well.

I grabbed a rem 700 takeoff barrel off the forum. 8 twist 6.5CM 24" long.

We spun the old barrel off ourselves and screwed the new 6.5CM barrel on, tighrened it up and checked the headspace, absolutely perfect. Too easy.

The 700 barrel was a slightly heavier profile than a M7, which was cool.

The factory plastic M7 stocks are super flexi (700's are too).

So i fitred a much stiffer B&C stock (another cheap 2nd hand forum purchase)

My barreled action dropped into the bedding perfectly.

My factory M7 trigger got a tickle up by forum member 7mmSaum a few years back and is well up to the task.

I threw an spare Weaver SuperSlam 3-15x42 ontop of it and loaded up some rounds with 143gr eldx (seated to fit the mag) in front of some go-go dust (Re26)

I got out yesterday to sight it in and shoot some test rounds.

I found some acceptable accuracy well under .5 moa and great velocity at 2910 fps with a low Sd.

Im really happy with how its come up, and It's cost me sweet bugger all.

A 143gr at that speed holds 1800+ fps and 1000+ ftlbs to 780 yards, so no slouch for a non mag SA case.

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I havnt fine tuned the seating depth yet, so hoping to get it shooting better yet.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d7d6562095.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...72eb52190b.jpg

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Please don’t discount the possibility of stiffening up the standard injection moulded stock with Fosters compound, that and a bedding job can be done reasonably easily for far less outlay than a new stock. Done it a number of times myself with great success.

Over the years I’ve done 3 different rifles (REM700 actions) with take off barrels, every one has been a shooter 0.5moa or better.

I should add I purposely sought out older REM700 actions as donor actions.