Early 7mm Mag BDL? Pics added

[Recoil Rob]

I have an older M700, must be one of the earlier 7mm as the s/n is 82916 and the barrel code is ADK (1963?).

The barrel is blued but is marked STAINLESS STEEL, it has a floorplate and Remington ventilated pad but no checkering.

Is this one of the early BDL's?


thanks,

Rob

[600RemGuy]

Well, '63 is correct. Do you mean no checkering at all?? The early stainless barrels were treated to except a blueing process. If its got a floorplate, its a BDL.

[Recoil Rob]

That's correct, no checkering at all but it does have a floorplate. I thought all BDL's were checkered but apparently not.

thanks, Rob

[Wulfman]

Is it a "hinged" floorplate? Also, does it have a black fore-end tip and grip cap?
I'm sure that all of the Mdl. 700 BDLs from 1962 (when it was introduced) on, had all three of those AND impressed checkering AND a cheek piece with a Monte Carlo stock (recoil pads came on magnum calibers).

If not all of the above, it's quite possible that it's been refinished, modified or re-stocked since then.


Den

[Recoil Rob]

It has a hinged floorplate but no forend and grip cap, it has a Remington ventilated pad with white line spacer and a nice fiddleback Monte Carlo stock, the forend is a bit square in cross section. Original or restock?

[Wulfman]

I'm going to vote for "restock".

No black grip cap or fore-end tip (and the fore-end is too long for it to have been removed and re-shaped) and there's more figure in that wood (all the way through) than would have been found in a factory-stocked Remington 700.
And, the finish isn't what would have been found on the 700's of the '60's. They used the hard, RKW (bowling pin) finish on just about everything back then.


Den

[Recoil Rob]

Maybe, but the pad is a Remington pad, I suppose they could have reused it or gotten another from the factory. Was there a custom shop in 1963?

[Wulfman]

Yeah, Remington has probably had a "Custom Shop" in some form or another for as long as they've been in existence. The guy that ran it back in that era was Mike Walker.

That rifle doesn't look like "Custom Shop" work to me. (No checkering and the grade of wood is below what would have come out of the Custom Shop.)


Den

[Rem725]

That's a Fajen type stock. Nicely done. But see that edge of wood in front of the recoil pad. That darker line of wood is a highly suspect rounded edge sanded with the pad off.