Remington Arms Company originated from the gunmaking of Eliphalet Remington II (1793 – 1861) of New York. Remington’s father was a blacksmith and refused Eliphalet funds to replace a shot-out rifle. Eliphalet promptly proceeded to build his own rifle in 1816. He could not do the rifling himself so he went to a nearby gunsmith who was sufficiently impressed to offer Eliphalet a gunmaking apprenticeship, which he turned down.

He designed his own rifling machine and soon began building rifles. The fame of his rifles enabled Remington to acquire a farm on the banks of the Erie channel during 1828. This farm in due course developed into the city presently known as Illion. The Remington works are still situated there. Remington’s sons Philo, Samuel and Eliphalet III joined the business in due course and in 1856 the firm became a partnership under the style of ‘E. Remington & Sons’. Remington passed away on 12 August 1861. In 1865 Remington’s sons incorporated the business. In March 1888 a New York firm by the name of Hartley & Graham acquired a large percentage of the Remington shares. This step resulted in the Remington company coming under the guidance of one Marcellus Hartley, a very astute businessman. The rest is history as they say.

After WW-I Remington introduced the M-30 rifle, which was a civilian version of the Enfield P-14/M-1917. This was followed by the M-721/722 Remingtons in 1948, which for all practical purposes, were almost identical to the present M-700 series introduced in 1962.

 

Design

The Remington action design can be summarized as follows:

  • Round receiver
  • Clamped recoil lug
  • Large load port
  • Several magazine configurations
  • Tang mounted 2-position safety
  • Drilled for scope mounts
  • Composite bolt shaft
  • Protruding forward dual opposed locking lugs
  • Non-rotating extractor
  • Plunger ejector
  • Adjustable trigger

 

Remington bolt action rifles are offered in three action lengths plus the lightweight Model Seven. Although the .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge was available, it was the only large bore cartridge except the .416 Remington Magnum offered by the company at one stage. The Model 700 action simply is not sufficiently well-girthed to handle bottlenecked cartridges larger than the basic .416 Remington Magnum configuration. Theoretically it is able to handle the .458 Lott, but it seems that Remington has realized that their strength lies in plains game rifles and chamberings as neither the .416 Remington or the .458 Win Mag are offered any longer.

The round receiver profile delivers reasonably constant flexing in all directions and the design has acquired a reputation for good accuracy. Remington rifles therefore generally are fine out-of-the-box choices for savannah and plains range hunting. They are however not more accurate than can be achieved with less concentric designs. The ejection and loading port is conveniently large, although it is not that much of a consideration on non-dangerous game rifles.

The rifles are offered in a bewildering array of magazine configurations and chamberings. Some rifles have blind magazines (no floorplate), others have traditional swing-open floorplates and other models are available with removable magazines. This provides the hunter with the ability to make a selection along his lines of preference.

The side mounted two-position safety is very similar to that of the well-known Brno ZKK and CZ-550 rifles, even though it works in opposite directions. This is however different from the bolt sleeve three position safeties found on Winchester, Kimber and modified Mauser rifles, so hunters are advised to properly acquaint themselves with these differences before going afield.

The absence of controlled feed, the history of trigger problems in dusty conditions and the recessed circular extractor riveted to the bolt are objections raised against Remington rifles from a dangerous game hunting perspective. Hunters coming to Africa where dust and dirt are abundant, are advised to have their Remingtons retrofitted with the X-Mark trigger system prior to coming.

 

Cartridge Model 7 M-700 Short M-700 Std M-700 Long
.17 Rem Fireball 26”
.204 Ruger 22”∆ / 26”
.223 Rem 20” 20” / 22”∆ / 24” / 26”
.22-250 Rem 22”∆ / 24” / 26”
.220 Swift 26”
.243 Win 18” / 20” 20” / 22” / 24” / 26”
.25-06 Rem 22” / 24”
.257 Wby Mag 26”
.260 Rem 20”
.270 Win 22” / 24”
.270 WSM 24”
7mm-08 Rem 18” / 20” 20” / 22” / 24”
.280 Rem 22”
7mm Rem Mag 22” / 24” / 26”
7mm RUM 26”
.308 Win 20” 20” / 22” / 26”
.30-06 Spfld 22” / 24”
.300 WSM 24”
.300 Win Mag 24” / 26”
.300 RUM 26”
.338 Win Mag 26”
.338 RUM 26”
.35 Whelen 24”
.375 H&H Mag 22” / 24”
.375 RUM 24”
* The ∆ symbol indicates a VTR triangular barrel only.