Remington
Mountain Rifle
John Haviland
W
hat can be written about a
rifle that has been in contin-
ual production since 1962?
The Remington Model 700
is certainly the most successful cen-
terfire bolt-action rifle of all time, with
more than 5 million sold and counting.
Remington currently chambers the 700
in 23 cartridges from the .204 Ruger
to the .338 Lapua Magnum, and a
.50-caliber muzzleloader. Over the
years the 700 has housed nearly 20
other cartridges from the .222 Reming-
ton and .250 Savage to the .35 Whelen
and .375 Remington Ultra Magnum.
Remington currently lists 30 variations
of its Model 700.
I shot my first deer in 1966 with a Model 700 BDL
.30-06. My dad bought the used rifle north of town at
a truck stop with a back corner stocked with rifles,
ammunition and hunting gear. The rifle’s recoil beat
me up, but I learned to shoot it. I headed up a foothill
ridge one cold morning and shot a mule deer doe. My
four brothers and I shared that rifle for years, and my
youngest brother now calls the rifle “his.”Field-Testing a .270 Winchester
July-August 2019 http://www.riflemagazine.com 27