14 replies to this topic

[oz_fox_hunter]

Hi folks,Recently purchased a new Remmy 700 in 204 ruger. Nice rifle and i really like the fit an feel but the extractor began to malfunction after just a few shots and the gun had to be returned under warranty.Remingtons aren't as common in Oz as in the USA so I'm asking if anybody else knows of this sort of problem with the 700? Is it common failure? Was I just unlucky? I did find some reports of extractors breaking but that was on ultra magnums. Mine didn't break.. it just fails to retract into the bolt, damaging the brass and causing the rifle to be inaccurate.Any info/experiences from Remington owners would be appreciated..

[OrneryOlMofo357]

As of latley there have been numerous reports of Remmington extractor probs. Remmi fans hate to admit it, but its true. I just purchased an SPS in .243 and have had no probs as yet. Id Google the prob and do some research. There has been more than just a few reports. Good luck.

[homemade]

some people are converting them and installing a sako extractor.

[Mick17]

Unfortunately Remington 700's aren't going through the quality control that they used to go through. My 700 in .223 is finally working O.K. after having to be sent to a gunsmith at Reminton's expense. It should have never left the factory in the first place with the way it wasn't working. Sad but true. Keep after Remington until they fix the problems.

[Frank]

Remmi fans hate to admit it, but its true

HEY... I resemble that remark (as some of you know). LOL... Just kidding; even though it does hurt. Yep, very true indeed... AND, another problem with Remington's 223 can be in their "feeding" or cycling of rounds. It can jam in other words. I believe it is due to that stupid block they put in the magazine. I do not know why they do that. Other short actions do not have that, such as the 22-250, which performs flawlessly.Friends and I have owned literraly dozens of Remingtons over the decades and have never had an "extractor" problem. HOWEVER, two of our (model 700) rifles did have feeding problems, one of my friend's 204 and my 223 that I still have & love; but can drive me nuts, becoming a SINGLE shot sometimes. It has cost me at least one coyote btw. UGH! Anyway, I would assume the extractor problem can be easily fixed. homemade makes a good suggestion IMO. Good Luck

[oz_fox_hunter]

One month later and finally got the 204 back all fixed from Remington. Put a few rounds down range tonight to see how she flies and considering light was getting low and the crap Nikko 3-9x40 scope that's temporarily sitting atop the rifle, it doesn't shoot too bad with factory 40gr. vmax.With four rounds left, I was able to shoot a 0.82" group, so hoping some hand loaded sierra blitzkings will go a little better once I find a recipe the gun likes.One thing about those cheap Nikko scopes, it took the best part of a box of ammo to discover the 1/4" clicks are more like 3/4" but I managed to get it in the ball park before shooting the last 4 rounds in the box. Thank goodness new glass is on the way.

[Frank]

Hey oz, glad to hear you received your 204 back... and so soon. That was fast service!Replacing that Nikko scope will make a BIG difference. That company should be embarrassed making such junk.A couple friends and I own/ed 204's, 2 of them being Remington. One load that worked great is with the Sierra 39 gr Blitz King bullet and 25grs of RL10X powder. Another was 27grs of Benchmark with same bullet. Win Brass & Fed 205 match primers were used. Both loads were very accurate with Benchmark producing a little higher velocity @ around 3744 fps from a 26" barrel.None of our rifles shot the 40gr bullets very well and from what I hear many, if not most rifles do not do as well with the 40gr bullets. Of course proof is in the pudding and yours might like them? However, I will be very surprised if your rifle does not like one of the two loads I mentioned above.... give or take a 1/2gr or there abouts.Good Luck & keep us postedFrank

[oz_fox_hunter]

A few people have mentioned the 40gr. bullets don't fly so well.. thanks for the info Frank.Also found a minor problem with the brass being gouged by a sharp lip along the magazine edge, but nothing that wasn't able to be fixed with some fine emery paper. To be fair my other two rifles needed similar fine tuning so I was surprised.

[oz_fox_hunter]

Hey oz, glad to hear you received your 204 back... and so soon. That was fast service!Replacing that Nikko scope will make a BIG difference. That company should be embarrassed making such junk.A couple friends and I own/ed 204's, 2 of them being Remington. One load that worked great is with the Sierra 39 gr Blitz King bullet and 25grs of RL10X powder. Another was 27grs of Benchmark with same bullet. Win Brass & Fed 205 match primers were used. Both loads were very accurate with Benchmark producing a little higher velocity @ around 3744 fps from a 26" barrel.None of our rifles shot the 40gr bullets very well and from what I hear many, if not most rifles do not do as well with the 40gr bullets. Of course proof is in the pudding and yours might like them? However, I will be very surprised if your rifle does not like one of the two loads I mentioned above.... give or take a 1/2gr or there abouts.Good Luck & keep us postedFrank

Like you were saying Frank, the remmy won't stabilize the heavier vmax bullets. Just when you think it's about to group it throws one into oblivion, so no point flogging a dead horse on that one.Did some work on the stock with a die grinder, removing the two little stops that contact the barrel and ensuring the barrel floated properly, then adjusted the trigger down to 1.5 lbs and boy what a difference! Don't have enough brass to do any real load development yet but the 39 gr BKs are showing some promise and to be fair my shooting yesterday wasn't the best and I rekon that group could have been much tighter, but for the loose nut behind the trigger. Some development and better shooting should see the BKs shooting much tighter, but as they are, a fox or cat at 300 yards should be no problem.But the real surprise was today. Picked up a couple of boxes of Factory loaded 32 gr. vmax just to see how the gun shoots it and build up the supply of brass. Today was perfect conditions, not even the slightest breeze. The factory 32 gr vmax shoots well. in fact, the gun loves it.. That last 3 shot group to check the zero almost went through the same hole!. It's about 1.2" high at 100 yards which is about a 250 yard zero. Then I flipped the target upside down and fired my last round of the hand loaded 39 gr. BKs and hit right on the vertical line about 0.8" high, so as it stands I can swap between factory and hand loads with just a slight adjustment in elevation.

[OrneryOlMofo357]

OZ, looking good ! Is your Remmi an SPS? I have not free floated the barrel yet on mine, but if it makes that big of a difference, I may need to !

[ratassassin]

Nice shooting, Oz! And yes, very glad to read your Remington was repaired and returned to you. When I got my VLSS, I noticed the barrel isn't completely free floated as well. It's free most of the way from the receiver towards the muzzle, but makes contact near the fore end of the laminate stock. I decided to shoot it as is for awhile to see how accurate it is before dinking with it. But I'm very tempted to sand out the barrel channel with a dowel to completely free float it and I'm glad to see that accuracy improved in your rifle when you did it. Good luck and let us know how those 39 grain SBK's shoot for you.

[oz_fox_hunter]

Ratassasin, the two dowels seemed to be the problem with my rifle. The barrel rests on them. The SPS has a fair bit of flex in the stock so by pushing forward and down on the bipod slightly, the forend would flex away from the barrel, pulling the dowels out of contact with the barrel and not only did the groups tighten up, the POI dropped several inches! Take the pressure off, the dowels would come back into contact with the barrel and the gun would shoot high again and groups opened up.Once I sanded off the dowels which allowed the barrel to float along the entire length, the rifle began to shoot consistently better. It was a very simple fix.Ornery, yes, the rifle is an SPS stainless with sporter profile barrel. The stock is very cheap and nasty, but as I was thinking of replacing the stock anyway I thought may as well have a go at floating the barrel first. You only need to remove the two dowels that RA mentioned and sand out the channel a little.

[OrneryOlMofo357]

Oz, thanks for the info. Im gonna give it a try!

[ratassassin]

Well done, Oz. Actually, I was referring to wrapping sandpaper around a wooden dowel that is roughly the diameter of the barrel and using it to sand out the barrel channel. But interesting to hear that there are two points of contact in the SPS stock that the barrel was resting on. Glad you got it fixed.

[oz_fox_hunter]

Ahh thanks.. I was confusing dowels with the two stoppers molded into the forend of the SPS forend. My bad! In hindsight some before and after pics would have been the best way to explain it.