Grades of Remington actions?

S

Stryker60

Guest
I saw a post on a gunsmithing list by a gentleman who claimed to have worked on over 2000 Remington 700 actions. He stated that Remington has different grades of 700 actions, that the BDL and Tactical rifles have better, higher quality actions, marked with a "B" on the bottom of the action, and that the ADL and "loss leader" rifles (I assumed he meant the Walmart specials) have lesser quality actions, with sharp edges, burrs in the bolt raceways, receiver threads which are misaligned, etc.

I only have had experience with 6 or 7 Remington 700s, but this runs contrary to what I have seen and what I have read on this and other forums.

Have you gunsmiths noticed anything of this nature?

Stryker60
 
A 'smith who has "trued" a pile of Remingtons told me that some of the matte-finished actions from the matte, blued barreled, synthetic stock Remington actions were cast. He gave me reasons why he concluded that. Most (of few) had to do with tell-tale signs inside the actions, but I didn't give him my full attention and so can't recount them here.
I'm not suggesting you should believe what the 'smith said is true.
 
Been to the factory, it ain't true!! No casting....no sorting or grading. Fit & finish may have fluctuated over time but there is no such program. The only different stuff is from the custom shop. Peter.
 
Pinto-- Can you elaborate on the Custom Shop actions?

The reason I ask is that I have a 700 Custom in 300 RUM, circa ~1999, that had several quality issues such as sharp edges around receiver port (gouged cases upon ejection) unreliable mag feeding, poor roll-marking,dinged crown, etc. I, nor my smith ,did not see any attempt to hold closer tolerances, or enhanced metal finish.
The Mcmillian stock is nice though, and it is accurate.
 
Btw

Speaking of Remington actions, I noticed where on June 5, Remington bought certain asserts of Dakota, Nesika Bay Precision, Miller Arms and Dan Walter brands.
 
I have heard that actions with a 'F' in the serial numbers are in fact cast actions. As for the BDL and tacticals being a better action, I'm not seeing it. I have a circa '88 ADL action that is heads and shoulders smoother than than a circa 2005 LTR I own. The ADL action also shows no cratering in the primers where the LTR does. Lastly, timing on the ADL shows to be better than the timing on the LTR where a burr has been created on the bolt handle from being improperly timed.

Lastly, seeing all of these issues on the LTR has made me create a line in the sand not to purchase any more Remingtons. If they need this much work to be fixed, I might as well buy a Stiller, Pierce, Borden, Surgeon, etc.
 
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