Rem 700 SPS worth buying anymore?

[thinhorn_AK]

My first “precision” rifle was an SPS tactical 308, I put it in an he precision stock (take off from a friends 700 5r), pit a trigger on it, bedded it, it ended up being a sweet shooter. I havnt shot it in a long long time though at this point.

 

[Jimbob]

Bought a .308 sps on closeout and had the barrel chopped to 18.5". Shoots Hornady interlock 180's touching but doesn't shoot other factory ammo very well at all (fusion, winchester, nosler accubonds etc).

I am going to work up some handloads with Barnes and see if they match the Harnady accuracy. Overall, it was worth the closeout price and when it likes the ammo it shoots great.

 

[FLAK]

I have the SPS in .243, 25-06, and .300WM.
Actually tried to find one in .375 H&H but ended
up with a .375 Ruger Alaskan. I love em all.

 

[westsloper]

This thread is a bummer for me. I've been on the fence about buying a 700 for a while now, mostly because I hear that the reports of poor quality are for the most part overblown and that actually Remingtons can be made into sweet shooters without much modification. I haven't heard about the rust issue - I was thinking blued, just because I haven't had any trouble in the past with blued rifles (Howa and Weatherby). These threads keep coming up, and the negative comments make it really hard to pull the trigger on a 700.

 

[OneShot]

I bought mine back in 2011 and haven’t had any rust issues. The gun shot good out of the box, but after a few modifications, it’s a great shooting gun. It shoots both Hornady and federal under MOA. My cousin has the same gun and bought his in 2013. He hasn’t had any rust issues either. Only modification he’s done is threaded the barrel. He shoots his out to 1000 with a hand load.

Here is one of the targets from the day I was playing with different ammo. All are 3 shot groups. The top one is Hornady match. The bottom two are SMK.
Here is my SPS with a swapped out stock and trigger

 

[skywalkr]

This thread is a bummer for me. I've been on the fence about buying a 700 for a while now, mostly because I hear that the reports of poor quality are for the most part overblown and that actually Remingtons can be made into sweet shooters without much modification. I haven't heard about the rust issue - I was thinking blued, just because I haven't had any trouble in the past with blued rifles (Howa and Weatherby). These threads keep coming up, and the negative comments make it really hard to pull the trigger on a 700.

Just get a Bergara, it’s basically a 700 done the right way

 

[TreGrizz]

I bought a rem 700 SPS in 308 last year. If I had the choice again, I would have gone with a different brand. The rem action is sloppy / stiff, its not particularly accurate, the stock is garbage so i had to upgrade. kind of meh.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Never a wrong choice to go with a M700.

 

[Dirt Wagon]

Never a wrong choice to go with a M700.

Ha, so you're saying all the bad results that the people here have had with Remington is just a fluke?

Old Remington & new Remington aren't the same. There are much better options out there where you don't have to replace the stock, trigger, barrel, or true the action. After all that you might as well say you wanted a custom gun and not a factory one. They are just a money pit for all the nostalgic 700 fans.

I recall back 20 years ago everybody said to buy a Remington 700 for a good rifle....the said to have the action trued, stock replaced, trigger fixed & call it done. Seemed like a lot of work back then to make it work, but I still bought an ADL to see what was so great about them. Last time Remington ever got my business. Waste of effort & ammo on a gun that needed to be refinished just so it wouldn't rust.

The 700 action rifle was ruined by Remington and improved by other manufactures. I still say to buy a Bergara, much better quality than what Remington is producing now a days. They are run by accountants & lawyers & will nickle and dime the build quality to make a profit rather than produce a quality firearm to be proud of.

I know many people used to say they used 700's in the military, but that doesn't make it the best. Those guns were worked over so much into a custom gun & resembled nothing of what Remington produces.

Long winded, I know. But the continued spouting of Remington being great is over inflated by people who can't see a fault in their most treasured gun.

 

[Sled]

These threads keep coming up, and the negative comments make it really hard to pull the trigger on a 700.

read a little more and you'll see that some remington rifles you don't even have to pull the trigger on. they do it themselves.

 

[wildwilderness]

I’ve had good luck with rem 700s. I have a 300wsm, 22-250, and a 243 win. The 300 is in a B&C stock and has been trued and new trigger, and Nitride- no rust issues. The 22-250 is an old rifle blued bull barrel in a SPS stock to protect the original wood one. It’s what quality used to be. The 243 is a stainless ADL in a Short lop Boyd’s laminate stock and cut barrel to 19” for my kids. No other mods. Like mentioned I think it’s a good action to customize. I’m building a left hand one for my daughter.

All shoot 0.5” moa with handloads.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

This thread is a bummer for me. I've been on the fence about buying a 700 for a while now, mostly because I hear that the reports of poor quality are for the most part overblown and that actually Remingtons can be made into sweet shooters without much modification. I haven't heard about the rust issue - I was thinking blued, just because I haven't had any trouble in the past with blued rifles (Howa and Weatherby). These threads keep coming up, and the negative comments make it really hard to pull the trigger on a 700.

i’ll tel you what, I grew up with remingtons, never would have considered anything else. I stopped using them awhile back because of all the complaints etc. I recently scored a Remington 700 xcr 375HH and I’ve been really loving it, i see none of the issues people complain about granted it’s a 2010 rifle but I’m absolutely loving using a 700 again for the first time in ~13 years.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Ha, so you're saying all the bad results that the people here have had with Remington is just a fluke?

Old Remington & new Remington aren't the same. There are much better options out there where you don't have to replace the stock, trigger, barrel, or true the action. After all that you might as well say you wanted a custom gun and not a factory one. They are just a money pit for all the nostalgic 700 fans.

I recall back 20 years ago everybody said to buy a Remington 700 for a good rifle....the said to have the action trued, stock replaced, trigger fixed & call it done. Seemed like a lot of work back then to make it work, but I still bought an ADL to see what was so great about them. Last time Remington ever got my business. Waste of effort & ammo on a gun that needed to be refinished just so it wouldn't rust.

The 700 action rifle was ruined by Remington and improved by other manufactures. I still say to buy a Bergara, much better quality than what Remington is producing now a days. They are run by accountants & lawyers & will nickle and dime the build quality to make a profit rather than produce a quality firearm to be proud of.

I know many people used to say they used 700's in the military, but that doesn't make it the best. Those guns were worked over so much into a custom gun & resembled nothing of what Remington produces.

Long winded, I know. But the continued spouting of Remington being great is over inflated by people who can't see a fault in their most treasured gun.

I’m saying I’ve got old and new Remingtons and haven’t experience any of the issues everyone else seems to have.

 

[3sdad]

Too many good options out there to consider a Remington today IMO. I have had 2. The first was a 22-250. Shot great, didn't like the weight and got rid of it. 2nd was a 223 that I re barreled to a 204 with a pac-nor remage. $300 would be my max for a used sps.

 

[Fogalo]

Stumbled on this thread - as a SPS owner I can identify. 300 WM replaced stock, Timney trigger, and had to have someone buff the chamber, otherwise extraction would become really difficult about 15 shots after cleaning. Oh yeah it shoots barnes vortx 180s at .6 moa or so...

Federal match 190s - 2.5 moa AT BEST
Barnes LRX 190s - 2.5 moa AT BEST
Power shock, Corelok, or winchester 180s - Good luck hitting a paper plate at 100 yards

 

[Maw7989]

Used SPS, trued action, replace trigger, bed and reinforce stock, or replace stock, and for a LH shooter your still cheaper than a Bergara or any of the high end brands. All of my 700's shoot .5 MOA or better with the right ammo. When you can find deals on new ones for around 550 I wouldn't pay more than 400 for a used one