Old Remington 700 BDL in 7mm Mag

[Gary]

I went pawn shopping yesterday. I bought an Remington 700 BDL in 7mm Mag with a Redfield 1-4x scope. According to the date code it was made in March 1970. The rifle has about 90% of its original bluing left. The stock has a lot of scratches. It looks to have been fairly well cared for but shows its 40 years of hunting. It is mechanically sound with a bright bore. I will likely refinish the stock with Tru-oil and replace the recoil pad with a fresh one. The scope has a Redfield mount with low rings. The choice of scope is interesting. I would have expected a scope with more magnification to be used on a 7mm Mag. It is in pretty good shape though so I may keep using it. It was a pretty good buy. I gave $275 for it. I really enjoy gun projects and this will give me something to work on for awhile.

 

[kewpie]

IMO you got one of the better 700's. There was talk about Rem changing something (the barrel broaching system?) sometime after 71 or 72. (IIRC Savage started creeping up on Rem in the late 70's early 80's.) I do know I was given one from the late 60's that was dropped off a mountain in Colorado and the bolt handle broken off. (It had been fired prior to being dropped.) When I sent it to Rem for a new bolt, the bolt they replaced the original with was slightly different. I don't remember the nuances, but perhaps someone here can tell.

Re: scope - 4 power magnifies the target 4 times. That should allow the rifleman to realize his safe maximum for hitting where he aims w/o magnifying the motion of a non-rock-steady off hand hold so often caused by higher magnifications in hunting conditions.

(7mm Magnum - another Remington coup thanks to the Winchester .264 Mag