First Year Remington Model 7 (1983)

It was this forum that made me aware of the Remington Model 7, so I thought it apt to post my latest rifle acquisition on here!

A suspiciously cheap online ad on Guntrader for a Remington Model 7 in .243 Winchester caught my eye, and the single low resolution photo didn't reveal much other than it being a wooden stock, blued rifle with it's original iron sights present. A rarity in the UK considering how many have been chopped by the local 'gunsmith' with the iron sights landing up in their parts draw or worse still, the bin!

Making a visit to the Mother's house (on the wrong side of the wall) conveniently saw me being within a 90 minute drive of the gunshop which was selling this rifle, so naturally we ended up going for a visit! :ORLY:

You can imagine my surprise, delight and elation to see the man behind the counter produce this when I asked to see the 'cheap .243' ... :o :yuush:

Attachment 207633

After a quick peruse to confirm my suspicions of what it was, (I also found 3 lbs of RL26 in their powder section for £50 a tub... Aladdin's cave for sure!), I slapped the plastic down the second he had written me up!

Cue a very very very long wait to actually get my hands on this thing, due to the archaic Firearms Licensing system we have in the UK which involves sending a bit of paper and £20 to the cop shop in the hopes they'll let you have another rifle... :wtfsmilie:

Well, I finally got my grubby paws on this thing!

More pics and detail below

Unique bottom metal, which is a steel 3 piece design, only featured for the first few years before Remington went to the two piece 'pot metal' aluminum type which is a far simpler design.

Benefit of this design is that it is steel, and will not open easily. Needs a bullet end pushed into the latch outside the trigger guard to release it.

Attachment 207634

Original irons, but missing the actual barrel mounted front sight. Not a huge deal for me.

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Note the smooth bolt handle, contrasted with the more textured 'football' seen on later models.

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Also see the notch for a saftey which locks the bolt. Whilst Remington had deleted this feature on their triggers, the notch remained into the early 2000's.

Comparison to a later Rem Mod 7 bolt:

Attachment 207642

Some more details, note barrel stamps showing this was made in January 1983:

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1983 Catalog with details can be found here: https://cartridgecollectors.org/ammu...logs/Remington

Note the .243 and 6mm Rem have 9 1/4 twist rates.

You can see the decline of Remington as their catalogs went from scenes bordering on fine art from the 80's-90's into computer generated garbage into the late 2000's!

Nice, I convinced my daughter to buy a Model 7 .243, but a more recent stainless one. Shoots ok, not a tack driver but will do to 200-250yds.

She's a 'minter' How much did you fork out ?

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Originally Posted by caberslash

1983 Catalog with details can be found here: https://cartridgecollectors.org/ammu...logs/Remington

Note the .243 and 6mm Rem have 9 1/4 twist rates.

You can see the decline of Remington as their catalogs went from scenes bordering on fine art from the 80's-90's into computer generated garbage into the late 2000's!

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nice one. that twist rate should all but guarantee good results with 100gr projectiles.

Greeting,
I recently worked with a friends Remington 660 in .222 Rem. This was a very accurate rifle with a 20" barrel made in around 1970. My son has a Model 673 in .350 Rem Mag which also shoots well (it does boot a bit). Both are close relatives of the Model 7. I don't know if Rem Arms has started up Model 7 production yet but I certainly hope that they will.
Regards Grandpamac.

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Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

She's a 'minter' How much did you fork out ?

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£150 which is approx 300 NZD?

You lucky bugger! Thats what I would like as my go to carry hunting rifle.

See if you are ever down in D&G make a point of finding Roy Jacobs place...he trades from home but always has interesting rifles and shotguns in stock and reasonably priced too...also loved going through to Glenluce to see Stu at the Gunroom but thats another story....

That’s fantastic mate I really like that

Well done , looks great

Thanks team, hoping to do the McCervus soon (Roe, Red and Sika) with one rifle, close do doing it with my 7mm08 M7 KS, have done it with a crappy 270 Tikka but will get a load sorted with the 243 soon and update.

All you need in a hunting rifle!

Slightly different stock too, or are my old eyes playing up again .

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Originally Posted by Pengy

Slightly different stock too, or are my old eyes playing up again .

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Same stock but a bit special as it seems most were equipped with irons from factory according to catalogs.

What chambering is the barrel @mohawk.308 ?

Quick update regarding the rifle;

Added an EGW 3-hole picatinny rail and epoxy bedded the rail for good measure. Did this on my other M7 and have got good results from it.

Copped some flak for 'ruining the lines' off a mate but truth be told, a picatinny rail is just like any other base and is much more secure and versatile.

I have a NECG picatinny ghost ring rear sight which I will probably use in conjunction with the original front sight. Have removed the original barrel mounted rear sight as seen above with @Mowhawk .308 's rifle above.

Tip is to use some 6/48 screws (same size as what the reciever is drilled for) to 'blank' these holes. These screws should be readily available from your LGS for free, seeing as they remove them from a new rifle when mounting scopes for people.

Anyway, found a Bushell Elite 4200 1.5-6x36 for £70 on FaceBay, a real steal! Also got a TriggerTech Primary and Sphur Hunting 1 inch rings (not so cheap).

Rifle as it looks now:
Attachment 210918

Tested 3 different makes of 100 grain ammo, RWS, GECO and PPU. Happily, the PPU (Highland) grouped tight and was more than sufficient for my needs.

Something to note was that my ears were ringing even with moulded in ear plugs (not electronic). Muzzle blast was noticable but not significant. Definately takes effort to shoot a light, unmoderated rifle accurately. Grip on stock and follow through on trigger are important.

A benefit of going 'mod-less' is the lack of fouling after shooting being noticably less. Also the balance of the rifle is supreme and I don't think a sling is required when a rifle is so light and easy to carry in hand.

To release the floorplate, use the end of a bullet to press the retaining latch of the floorplate to open it.

Sad Remington does not make them like they used to (M7 is no longer in production). It fed, fired, extracted and ejected perfectly.

Why would anyone buy a Tikka when you could have such a rifle? :ORLY:

Nice find.

What year might this .223 be?
Purchased a few months ago. Don't have it yet. Have to pick up in the SI.

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@Tahr nice one. Was thinking about these just last night
I had the web page for looking up the date from the serial numbers a while back for the 416


https://oldguns.net/sn_php/remdates.php

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Originally Posted by Mohawk .308

Should have it stamped on the barrel Tahr

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OK ta. Haven't got it yet.