LH Model 700 30-06 - opinions?

[huntinlever]

My son is left handed, and is looking to purchase a bolt action, likely in 30-06. He's also looking at the 300 WM but for now he's come across a LH Rem 700 in 30-06 he's interested in.

He's a fireplug, built like a tank (rugby), but on the shorter side (his mom's side - all Estonians, built close to the earth but strong as oxen). I don't know much of anything about stock fit and so forth, though I've learned more in my own purchase of a recent .338 Ruger Hawkeye. Any thoughts on the 700?

[405grain]

To quote Townsend Whelan: "The 30-06 is never a mistake". The 30-06 cartridge was a military development during the early part of the 1900"s At that time both cavalry soldiers and horse drawn supply trains were still an active part of the Army. The bulk of intelligence gathering was done by mounted scouts. A scout could monitor the movements of enemy forces, and report their positions, strengths, and dispositions back to their own commands days before they came close enough for engagement. Just like today, deigning your enemy intelligence is a crucial factor in military operations. While a mounted scout could cover terrain faster than an opposing army could advance, a man on foot could only barely arrive in time for the information they were carrying to be acted upon before the enemy would arrive.

Though it seems rather cruel today (because every normal person likes horses), back when the trials were taking place for the adoption of the 30-03/30-06, one of the requirements was that it had to be able to kill a horse with one shot at 1000 yards. Shots were fired, horses died, but the 30-06 was proven to be able to accomplish this requirement. If you are contemplating purchasing a hunting rifle in 30-06, and are worried that it might not be enough gun for the game you're hunting, remember that through military trials it has been shown to repeatedly be able to dispatch animals the size of a horse with a single shot at ranges out to 1000 yards. IMHO cartridges more powerful that the 30-06 are better suited as "dangerous game" cartridges, where lions & tigers & bears are involved.

[huntinlever]

To quote Townsend Whelan: "The 30-06 is never a mistake". The 30-06 cartridge was a military development during the early part of the 1900"s At that time both cavalry soldiers and horse drawn supply trains were still an active part of the Army. The bulk of intelligence gathering was done by mounted scouts. A scout could monitor the movements of enemy forces, and report their positions, strengths, and dispositions back to their own commands days before they came close enough for engagement. Just like today, deigning your enemy intelligence is a crucial factor in military operations. While a mounted scout could cover terrain faster than an opposing army could advance, a man on foot could only barely arrive in time for the information they were carrying to be acted upon before the enemy would arrive.

Though it seems rather cruel today (because every normal person likes horses), back when the trials were taking place for the adoption of the 30-03/30-06, one of the requirements was that it had to be able to kill a horse with one shot at 1000 yards. Shots were fired, horses died, but the 30-06 was proven to be able to accomplish this requirement. If you are contemplating purchasing a hunting rifle in 30-06, and are worried that it might not be enough gun for the game you're hunting, remember that through military trials it has been shown to repeatedly be able to dispatch animals the size of a horse with a single shot at ranges out to 1000 yards. IMHO cartridges more powerful that the 30-06 are better suited as "dangerous game" cartridges, where lions & tigers & bears are involved.

Thank you for that, 405. I hear you. I do love the 338 but I also know not only will he be getting the '06, but one is in my future as a solid workhorse.

Any thoughts on the 700 itself? I know it's an American classic and I even had an '06 in composite, but to be honest I am not a fan too much of the composite stock. Thing shot beautifully but it just didn't feel right to me.

That said, he actually likes composite stocks. We intend on going mountain hunting together, western elk hunting, so this rifle for him is with this in mind. The rifle he's looking at is LH and has a Leu Rifleman 3-9 x 40 on board.

[Cast10]

700 and 30/06 will punch the ticket every time!

Now, on a 700, if it were me, I’d be checking how old it is. Walmart era and new were not as good as the 80’s and before. Also, BDL/ADL, which one. Also, same time period on early guns had a safety/trigger recall. You’ll want to put a three-way Timney in it anyway and take care of the recall.

Best of luck to him!

[Harter66]

A good friend has had a lefty 700 BDL for 30 yr . It looks great and shoots as well .

I'm partial to the old 110LH . Although my example remains fussy about cases despite it being upscaled from 06' to 275 Rigby .

[TurnipEaterDown]

Rem 700s were the small block Chevy of the rifle world. If you can think of a modification you want, someone sold parts for that.
They are also very strong, and cheap (only relatively now I suppose...).

There were some examples I have seen that "escaped quality control" so to speak, and what I have seen as repeat offenses:
(1) scope base mounting holes out of line w/ receiver/barrel axis, (2) rifling initiation at throat that makes you want to say '...what???...', i.e. things like lands on one side for an inch of the leade and not the other side of the bore, etc. (3) high runout on the chamber - bore alignment (really, this is probably tied to #2, just don't know proven association).

#1, above: fix w/ Burris signature rings.
Barrels can be inspected for obvious issues like the rifling in leade, and there is always the fallback of a new barrel. You can now get a Savage style barrel nut on pre-fit custom Rem 700 barrels. Swap at home w/ a couple tools.

Lots of people carp about the extractor (riveted spring really, inside of bolt nose), but just keep it cleaned of brass debris, and ensure it doesn't get rusty or attacked w/ chemicals.
Extractor can be changed to M16 or Sako design style, and it seems to be a 'hot rodders thing to do', but don't know how necessary that is really.

[TNsailorman]

I bought my first MOdel 700 in 30-06 in 1962 a month or so after they were first announced. My serial number was 32xx? and had a 20" barrel. I have owned at least 2 since then and I have never had a problem with my rifles. I actually prefer the 700 action over the mausers I have owned. All my rifles had wood stocks or I wouldn't have bought them. I am not a "plastic" guy but the world is changing and the day of wood stocks is about gone. I have sent about all my rifles down the road as I am getting too old to do much shooting. I still have the one Model 721 in 30-06. The 700 is just a version of the 721 with a hinged floorplate and a shiney plastic finished checkered wood stock. I could have had a Winchester but settled on a Remington and have never regretted it. Of course Ruger was not making centerfire rifles at the time. All my 700's were more accurate than 99% of the shooting public could use. I never had one that would not go an inch or under at 100 yards off a bench. I don't have a feel for the later Remingtons as I never bought one of them. My brother bought a .270 700 after he came back from VN but it would not shoot anything like my 30-06's and he sold it. my experience, james

[Snakeoil]

I shoot a longarm left handed. I no longer hunt, but when I did it was with either an auto-loader or a lever action. My Dad was the same. Now that I'm shooting only in competition, a RH bolt action is actually much more convenient for me than it is for a RH shooter. To that point, they make custom actions with the bolt handle on the left, but the loading port on the right for LH shooters.

Regarding a stock, if there is a chance that is build wants a shorter length of pull, a wood stock can always be cut. Not so sure about production plastic stocks.

[JSnover]

I bought a used Lefty BDL 30-06 in the early 90s and I love it. The previous owner added a Bell & Carlson stock, bedded the action and floated the barrel. I mounted a Leupold 3-9 scope and with the factory trigger it averaged 3/4" groups. I installed a Timney trigger a little while ago but haven't had a chance to shoot it since then.

[huntinlever]

Thanks for all the generous input, guys. I've learned quite a bit just in reading this.

So, as it stands, he's focusing on two Savage 110s in 30-06. Both Storms. One is the 110 Apex Storm XP, with a Vortex Crossfire II, and the other is the 110 Storm, with the accustock. As far as I can tell the only difference between the two is that the Apex is a package deal, and the stock is "standard" and doesn't have the accustock. I don't know whether the Accustock warrants the higher price but I've counseled him better to buy shooting components of a better quality and gather when time and/or money allows, over any "package" with lesser elements. In this case, I really don't know how "lesser" the Apex is, if at all.

So - is the Storm with accustock worth the price bump, from the "Apex" storm?

[Winger Ed.]

I've been a Rem700 guy since the early 80s.

It's a great platform. That may be partly why the military has adopted it as a sniper rifle all those years ago.
And just about any 'speed equipment' you could ever want is always on the shelf at the gunsmith supply places.

I have one I ruined a long time ago. The only part I didn't trash out was the receiver.
Everything to to rebuild it better than new shipped the day after I order the parts.

Hot rod laminated stock, heavy varmint barrel, trigger guts, speed lock firing pin, scope mounts, all of it.
Oh,,, and it is proudly chambered in .30-06

[redhawk0]

I am a south-paw as well....I have a Ruger MK-II LH in 30-06 and it's still my gold standard for deer hunting. You can find ammo in any general store, mart store, online shop....since it's a staple (like the 30-30). It will kill anything in North America...and it's been around for over 100 years.

I'm 6'1" and 275...so I'm not a small guy...the 30-06 will be mild to him compared to the 300WM. My SIL has a 700 in 300WM....it's a beast for him...he's 5'6" and 140 soaking wet...for me...even that 300WM is mild at the bench.

Your son would find either to be a good caliber...but I personally like the 30-06 since ammo is so plentiful in comparison.

redhawk

[Texas by God]

I am severely right handed but I would gladly hunt with a LH Remington 700 any day.
A late friend had a 700 BDL LH .270 when we were young, and it shot great either way. More comfortable from the left side, though
No worries about the 700! It’s legendary for good reason.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[charlie b]

If I ever got another rifle it would be a 700 action. And, probably .30-06 with a longish heavy barrel and 'slow' twist (1:12).

As to the OP's son, the only thing I would look for is a stock that could be shortened to match his arm length. Since it will be used for hunting I'd check the length of pull with cold weather clothing. If also used in warm weather a pad or spacer for the butt plate could be used. Some of the 'plastic' stocks can be a bit more difficult to shorten, but, can be done.

[Rich/WIS]

My son is a lefty and got him a LH 700 when he was 13, he's in his forties now and still loves the rifle. Think the LH models only came as the BDL models, but not sure. Rifle is accurate and the only mod was a replacement Timney trigger, although we never had an issue with the factory trigger. Figured we would err on the side of safety by replacing the factory trigger.

Facing the same issue with my grandson, also a lefty. He will turn eight next week and don't know if he will be a shooter and hunter so have some time. Did luck into a Rem 581 LH so he will have a rifle to learn on and shoot even if he never hunts and needs something for deer size animals. Didn't have this issue with my son, he "adopted" my Marlin 39A when he started into shooting.

[nekshot]

mine are all from late 60,s to late 70’s. All are excellent triggers and they shoot moa or a little better if I do my part. Love those lefties!

[Bigslug]

The 700 is a cheaply made bolt action that had a lot of commercial success because (A.) it was initially cheaper than the "classically built" early Winchester M70, (B.), for the most part, they shoot very well out of the box, and (C.) it's an easy (and therefore popular) action for gunsmiths to build up into target and tactical rifles.

The safety does not lock the bolt closed. It did on the early ones, but since the trigger mechanism developed a reputation for firing when the safety was disengaged (usually due to amateur adjustments to too light a pull and/or dried up lubricants inhibiting proper movement of the parts), that feature was done away with - in the early 1980's IIRC. The safety also does not lock the firing pin rearward - all it does is prevent the trigger being pressed.

The magazine bottom metal is cast aluminum. Nothing wrong with it

It's a push-feed, plunger ejector system. Nothing wrong with that either. It's preferred if you just want to toss single rounds into the chamber.

It's got a lot of scope mounting options.

I've shot a lot of matches with 700's and killed three deer with one. In the case of my hunting .30-06, I lucked into a long magazine, long throat combination that allowed long-seating of the Barnes 168gr TTSX which granted me a safe, but off-the-charts 1/2MOA load that approaches 3000 fps but truthfully, my engineering principles lie closer to our Ruger Hawkeyes:

Controlled feed that ideally chambers only from the magazine and a fixed bladed ejector that gives manual control of ejection force.

Three position safety that locks the bolt closed and grabs and blocks the firing pin. The middle position allows the chamber to be cleared while keeping the firing pin blocked.

Steel magazine floorplate.

As to the .30-06. . .I'd only recommend the belted magnums if a lot of high-country, long range elk work is on the docket. The .30-06 will do anything the .300 Win Mag will - just not quite as far - and it has a wider range of bullet weights that it will operate comfortably with. It also has the advantage of comparatively cheaper plinking ammo. There IS no cheap .300 or .338.

[LeonardC]

I grew up with Winchesters RH. I had to change shooting rifles LH. I picked up a used Rem 700 LH '06 with a Leupold 4X around '80. It's done me well and I've killed plenty of deer and a few speed goats with it. I've had it out hunting in the rain while water poured out the bottom of the magazine.

I picked up a Winchester LH .338 and really like it. Bang dead elk! I picked up a Win. LH action from a shooting buddy; still not sure when/what I will make it into (.270?).

I lucked into a Ruger FTW LH .375Ruger. SS. I like SS! and big holes. The gun is fun to shoot.

I have no experience with the Savage LH guns.

Good luck!

[405grain]

I shoot a pre-64 Winchester model 70 in 30-06 (made in 1951). It is the smoothest bolt action that I've ever seen, even smoother to cycle than a Krag. It's both accurate and powerful. My daughters boyfriend has a Remington model 700 in 30-06 that he inherited from his grandfather. His 700 was made in the late 1970's. The craftsmanship on his rifle is top notch. We were both target shooting together last month. As far as quality and accuracy, both rifles were about the same. The only real difference was push feed on the Remington and control feed on the Winchester. I can't speak for the quality of the newer production rifles, but if you see a model 700 that was made in the 1980's or before, it is likely a fine rifle.