Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

Me again.....
Getting VERY close to getting my all around deer/hog rifle.
I asked for opinions on whether a Rem. 700 or Ruger M77 would be more accurate out of the box......the opinions seemed to lean HEAVILY towards the Remington 700.
But, I did have several folks suggest the Browning A-Bolt as another option.

So, anyone have any experience with the Rem. 700 and Browning A-Bolt "side by side" as far as out of the box accuracy goes?

I'm looking at the Rem. 700 CDL and the Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker both in left handed models.

Any input would be appreciated.


Schoolcraft

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

I was a long time fan of Remington up until their quality started dropping off. I know they still have their following. And I still own a few that are good shooters. But these rifles are at least 25 or more years old. I also have 2 Browning A bolts. Both are good shooters but both of them also need some tweeking. My 7-08 needed a bedding job to increase its potential and my 325WSM needed a trigger job. But both will now shoot sub MOA if I do my part. Frankly if I had to choose one rifle manufacturer for consistant out of the box accuracy it would be Savage. And from what I hear, Tikka and CZ are also getting a good reputation in this department. As for the new Remingtons, they just don't appeal to me anymore.

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

Lefty here too. I have a LH A-Bolt and an older LH Rem700 and they both shoot well. I wouldn't rule out Savage either. I have 3 LH Savages and they shoot very well.

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

Thats weird, considering the A-Bolts are glass bedded from the factory...

The Remington CDL would be the only new Remington I would consider buying these days.

I have 2 A-Bolts that shoot really well, and I have a Savage that shoots really well. The stocks on the Savages leave alot to be desired, and by the time you upgrade the factory "tupperware" stock you just as well bought a better gun, like an A-Bolt.

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

Have you thought about Tikkas? Theres some on GunBroker right now for great deals ($379) for synthetic leftys.

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

wow.....I'm a little let down about what I continue to hear about Remington's quality dropping off. Kinda' makes me lean towards the Browning.

Keep the opinions coming PLEASE!

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

I have astainless stalker a-bolt and like it alot. Shoots at or under 1" with its preferred ammo($40 box[:@]). That said, if I could do it again, I would have got a CZ.

I have only seen a couple cz's, but they have been exceptional shooters and were not nearly as picky about the ammo as my abolt(non BOSS).

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

You can't go wrong with any of the 3 choices.
Every gun manufacturer has their lemons for whatever reasons.
Example: I had a friend that got a nice Weatherbee as a present from his Dad and that gun could not group better than 4" @ 100 yards.
Same friend traded it in, for a Winchester and 3" groups.
Now he has a Remington 7600 and it shots 1 1/2" groups.
FYI - Many of us tried his gun and with many diferent ammo selections with the same results.
Sometimes you just get a lemon, all the guns mentioned are good.
For a referance... I happen to hunt with either with a 700 mtn. (.270) rifle or BAR (.30-06).
However my best grouping gun is my muzzleloader @ 100 yards, strange hah?

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

I own Brownings and I own Remingtons.....

I would go with the Browning.

MET

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

Ditto

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

Had good luck with my Remington model 700xcr in 270wsm out of the box. Has been very accurate for me.

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

Rammer, abolts come glass bedded at the recoil lug and in front of the receiver. I assume bronko2200 had the action bedded. I did this with my medallion, my partner has done all 3 of his medallions as well...wood stock.

Iagree the tupperware savage leaves a lotto be desired. Howeverthe browning stalker IMHO isn't the mark of perfection either. I am really not a fan ofplastic stocks, however not my rifle. Abolts are a fine rifle and the ones i've been around have been plenty accurate. I don't consider trigger work to be a big deal as the 700, Abolt or M77I have owned all required some tweaking to get them tomy likes. My advice is the same as it was in the ruger vs rem post, buy the one that fits and feel the best.

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

Out of the box a Browning Abolt will beat most Remington 700's in accuracy. They are built a lot better and a lot of attention is paid to the crown and chambering as well asthe recoil lug bedding. Run a cleaning patch thru a remington bore and browning bore and see how much smoother the browning is. I have had/have 2 Aboltsand they are not a perfect rifle but aremuch better then a 700 from the factory. If remington had the same attention paid to detail they would be pretty much unbeatable value. Re mingtons as they leave the factory are a work in progress and usually in a lot of cases end up at a gunmiths for further tweaking or complete reconstruction. They keep a lot of gunsmiths in business.The only thing I have done to my Brownings has been the Timney Trigger spring and that is it.

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

I have several of both.

Most all of my Remingtons either are or soon will be customized. The Abolts I own are mostly stock/ as they came from the factory. You can't beat a remington if you intend to spend money on customization. There are more aftermarket parts for remington 700's than any other. Also, all Benchrest actions are basically clones of the 700. they are milled to tighter specs obviously. The 700 has tremendous accuracy potential. The problem I see with factory rifles is that the barrels are quite rough. they foul like crazy and accuracy is inconsistant.

If you plan to leave the rifle as is I would probably lean towards the Browning

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

I bought a Remington 700 XCR last year in 30-06 in it shoots clover leaf groups with off the shelf Federal Power shock ammo. I also hear good things about the A-Bolt. Best thing to do is shoulder both of them, and go with the on that feels more comfortable to you. I was in the same boat as you and was debating between the same two rifles. I went with the Rem 700 because of the fit, and comfort of the stock Limbsaver recoil pad.

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

In response to Rammer. Yes you are correct. The A-bolts are glass bedded. But that doesn't mean it wasdone right. The factory bedding left a bit of 'play' in the action and a bit more bedding was needed to have it lay in the stock correctly. Once that was done, the rifle shot great.
Like my original posts stated. I own Remingtons, Brownings and Savages. And for consistant 'out of the box' accuracy - even with the less than ideal stocks, the Savages win. Now the Brownings, after the work, shoot on par with them. My one Remington, a 700 BDL in 270 which I bought in the early 70's will out shoot all of them. This rifle has shot 3/8" 5 shot groups.

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

LOL In spite of the high cost of the Remmy's now and an obvious drop off in exterior quality control all 6 of my 700'S are some shooting sob's!!! Trigger jobs done on all 6 are the extent of the mods. All will easily group under 1.5 all day any day... I dont know if I could afford one now but I usually buy used guns anyways..lol.

RE: Rem. 700 or Browning A-Bolt
 

I have a Browning A-bolt Hunter in the .243 with a Leupold scope and 2 nice 8-Point Bucks on my wall....my vote is for any Browning A-bolt you decide to get! ;)