Rifle Magazine – July-August 2019

28 http://www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 305

I’ve been shooting Model 700s ever since. If mem-
ory serves correctly, I‘ve shot 700s in .204, .223,
.22-250, .250 Savage, .257 Roberts, .25-06, .257 Weath-
erby Magnum, .260 Remington, .270 Winchester, 7mm-
08, .280 Remington, 7mm Remington Magnum, 7mm
STW, 7mm Weatherby Magnum, 7mm Remington
Ultra Magnum, .308 Winchester, .30-06, .300 Rem-
ington Ultra Magnum, .35 Whelen and a .50-caliber
muzzleloader.
A Mountain Rifle from 25 years ago was one of the
Model 700s I remember best. It was chambered in
7mm-08 Remington and had a walnut stock and blued
steel. The rifle was fairly light with a thin 22-inch bar-

rel, slim forearm and slender grip, and my young sons

eagerly carried it when hunting deer, antelope and elk.

In 2012, Remington introduced its current Mountain

Rifle with a Bell & Carlson synthetic stock, nearly all

metal constructed of stainless steel and a thin 22-

inch barrel. Remington states the rifle weighs an av-

erage of 6.5 pounds chambered in .25-06 Remington,

.270 Winchester, .280 Remington or .30-06 in a stan-

dard-length action, and 7mm-08 Remington and .308

Winchester in a short action. The Mountain Rifle I’ve

been shooting is chambered in .270 Winchester.

It’s no secret Remington endured major litigation

with its Model 700’s original trigger over the years,

but the company put most of that trouble behind with

the introduction of its X-Mark Pro trigger system in

2009. Remington states the X-Mark Pro is set at the
      factory with a pull weight of 3.5 pounds. Trigger pull
      was 4 pounds on the Mountain Rifle tested. It var-
      ied only 2 ounces over five pulls. The trigger is ex-
      ternally adjustable for a pull weight of 3 to 5 pounds
      by turning a screw in the trigger. The trigger was ad-
      justed to a heavier pull weight by turning the adjust-
      ment screw inward, but turning the screw out did not
      set the trigger lighter than 4 pounds. With the screw
      mostly turned out, it protruded enough to interfere
      with the trigger finger.
      I never really noticed it before, but the Model 700
      is a “cock-on-closing” action. Its bolt handle must be
      raised, the bolt slightly drawn back and then pushed
      forward for its firing pin to cock.
      Mountain Rifles feature what Remington calls a
      “Mountain Contour” barrel. The barrel is thin with a
      .565-inch diameter at the muzzle. In comparison, the
      muzzle diameter is .652 inch on the barrel of a Model
      700 BDL.
      A look at the Mountain Rifle’s bore with a Lyman
      Borecam digital borescope showed a few shallow tool
      marks perpendicular to the bore. Mostly, though, the
      surface of the lands and grooves was smooth. Streaks
      of copper-fouling covered the rifling lands here and
      there after firing about 50 .270 cartridges. The foul-
      ing was easily removed by pushing a few patches wet
      with Montana X-Treme bore solvent through the bore
      and leaving the solvent to soak for a couple of hours
      before wiping it out.
      Remington’s original Mountain Rifle had a walnut
      stock. Next came a laminated wood stock that was
      strong although heavy for its size. A Bell & Carlson
      aramid fiber-reinforced stock is the current version.

An aluminum bedding frame extends from the tang to the

front of the receiver.

The rifle’s stainless barrel has

a “Mountain Contour” that is

not much larger in diameter

at the muzzle than a

.270 Winchester case.

The Remington Mountain Rifle SS .270 Winchester provided

this 100-yard group with Federal Non-Typical Whitetail

ammunition loaded with 150-grain softpoint bullets.

Remington

Mountain Rifle