[John]

Mike and I stopped by Gunmasters, a local gun store in Plano, TX yesterday and got a chance to fondle Remington's model 798 in .308. It's a very fine looking rifle with nicely finished wood and deep blued finish.

The lure of this rifle is the action and it's similarity to the much touted Model 98 Mauser. The only one they had in stock was the 798, which is the heavier calibers like 243, 308, 30-06, etc. The model 799 includes the 22 Hornet, 222, 22-250, 223 and 7.62x39.

While the appearance and feel is excellent, the bolt dragged a bit, even though there was a liberal amount of grease on it. Having zero experience with an actual Mauser action I don't know if this is normal or not. The similarity of the Ruger action to the Mauser however is significant and the Ruger is much smoother to work than the 798. (Perhaps because I'm comparing a 223 Ruger to a 798 action in 308 .)

I look forward to hearing about the real world accuracy and performance of this line of rifles.

You can read the details on this rifle on Remingtons Web Site.

 

[Sonny Pruitt]

Held one yesterday

I held one here at Green Top Sporting Goods in Richmond VA. Yes, you are right about the action, drag wasn't the right word to describe this one, "STIFF" and nearly locked up would be better terms. This one was the Model 799 in 223 caliber and the bolt head was so tiny, I was afraid I was gonna break it trying to operate the action.

They are pretty and a real apple to the eye. Wish I had one in 222, but gotta do something about that action first.

 

[Terry N.]

I have two of the Whitworth rifles, which were imported by Interarms before the recent troubles in the Balkans; one is a .308 Mannlicher carbine and the other started out life as a .30-06 and I had it rebarreled to .35 Whelen.

Both are very nice hunting rigs, and the Whelen is scary accurate with it's Shilen barrel. I call it my 'bang-plop' gun! The .308 Mannlicher is much older - probably dating to the '50s, and isn't quite as accurate as the Whelen. The Mannlicher came with an external adjustment Bausch & Lomb scope and mount! It's still one of my favorite deer rifles.

 

[Ole]

I bought a 799 in.222 awhile back and the bolt travel sucked, trigger pull was also very heavy. But, I played around with things, I won't say what because I wanna stay outta trouble, but I got the bolt travel to where it ain't bad at all and the trigger pull came way down to. I like the rifle, pretty stock, nicely finished barreled action, kinda feels like a toy, put Warne rings and bases on it plus a V16 Weaver. Now I just have to wait for warmer weather up here.....Tom

 

[Bayou City Boy]

Zastava Mauser 98 actions....

The actions are actually the same as the old Interarms Mark X Mauser imported from Yugoslavia, and later the Charles Daly imports following the lifting of the US State Department arms embargo on Yugoslavia as a result of the Bosnian War of the late 1980's early 1990's. Apparently Remington recently gave ZCZ (no relationship to CZ) a better deal than Charles Daly was giving them.

They are made in the Zastava Arsenal (Zavodi Crventa Zastava) in old Yugo., and the actions have "sloppy" bolt travel by design. Peter Paul Mauser built the 98 action with additonal clearances so they would operate well in dirty, muddy, military battlefield conditions. Many parts interchange between the commercial action and the original military 98 Mauser actions.

If you operate the actions fairly briskly, they work pretty well and will smooth up after use - just like PP Mauser wanted them to function.

My first CF bolt action rifle was one of the Interarms Mark X Mauser rifles in 7MM Rem Mag that I bought in the early 1970's. It was a very good shooter, and I wish at times that I still owned it.

HTH - BCB

 

[LanceInOregon]

John, why would you consider this rifle over a CZ?

I did some checking, and these guns are priced right about what it would cost for you to get a comparable rifle from CZ . CZ offers a great controlled feed action, and they have an excellent reputation for both quality and accuracy. I cannot imagine that these Yugo imported Remington's can look better than a CZ, either. I have seen some really handsome CZ rifles in stores.

Anyway, my advice for you is to start looking at CZ's, if this type of action intrigues you. There is a reason why they have developed such a strong following here in the USA in recent years.

If you want to buy a Remington, then buy a real American made Model 700. A 700 SPS would certainly cost no more. Spend another $200 and you could even get a 700 LV SF, and have a really great varmint rifle.

Anyway, that is my feelings on these rifles. I doubt Remington will continue to offer them for very long.

Lance in Orygun

 

[LanceInOregon]

Talk about nice looking guns

Look at this Deluxe grade .223 CZ 527 currently for sale on Gunbroker.com:

Lance in Orygun

 

[LanceInOregon]

Has anyone ever heard of a CZ 527 Royal Varmint Rifle?

I've never heard of this CZ model before. It looks absolutely awesome!

Here is a link to one on sale on gunbroker.com:

http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=63185589

It sure looks like one fine firearm for $599

Alas, though, I already own THREE .223 rifles! So I will have to pass --

Lance in Oregon

 

[C Miller]

Push feed?

Did I read it right that the small actions are going to be actually push feeds with a M16 type extractor? Frankly I can't wait to see one of their Hornets for a 17AH project without having to pay someone to cut the mag down on the 527. I own a couple of 527's and to this day I still don't like clip fed centerfires, especially ones that hang down. I hope the Hornet version works as good as it looks.

 

[John]

Mike and I hit the range with CZ's today...

He brought his CZ American in 223 and I had my 221 Fireball. We each fired a few rounds from each and came to the same conclusion. While the CZ is a really accurate and great rifle and neither of us would part with ours, the action is rough. Although not as bad as the Rem 798 we tried, they are still not as smooth as the Ruger much less a Rem 700. That may not bother some folks but in a target rich environment with the adrenalin running high, I don't have time to wrestle a cartridge into a chamber.

While I can't speak for Mike on what he wants next, I'm pretty sure mine won't be either a CZ or 798/799. At the moment I'm leaning towards a Lilja barreled 700 in either 22-250 or some variant of the 17 family. Then again, Alex Clarke can be blamed for leaving this gnawing bug about Coopers in the back of my head.

 

[LanceInOregon]

Wel, if either of you guys want something with a really slick action

then I would recommend checking out Browning's Varmint Stalker. The Browning A-Bolt action is about as smooth and slick as can be. Its short 60 degree bolt lift allows for real fast operation of the action. They are so reliable in feeding, too.

It is not hard to tweak A-Bolt triggers down to a nice pull, too. And the Varmint Stalker model only weighs 7 lbs 13 oz in .223 or .204, making for a nice compromise in weight between a walking varminter and a full blown bull barrel model. The .22-250 model Varmint Stalker weighs 8 lbs 3 oz, because it has a 26 in barrel, instead of 24 inch.

I shopped around and was a able to pick one up locally in .204 Ruger a few moths ago for only $675

Here is one on Gun Broker for even less:

http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=63083720

The A-Bolt action is really hard to beat, in my opinion. Maybe one could argue that the Sako model 75 or 85 actions are superior. But then you are looking at prices up close to a Cooper.

Lance

 

[Ole]

Had one of those, weird feeling stock. I like the Rem XR-100 in .204.

 

[LanceInOregon]

Yes, but this was about actions

Had one of those, weird feeling stock. I like the Rem XR-100 in .204.

Except the discussion here focused on having a fast, slick, action, that would allow for rapid fire in a varmint rich environment.

A single shot rifle hardly would fit that. And the X-100 is even more heavy than a 700 VSSF to carry into the field.

Lance in Orygun

 

[Bruce Herndon]

The slickest action I have ever seen on a factory production rifle has to be the old Colt Sauer's. You could open the bolt on any of those, hold the rifle by the butt and the forearm, tilt it down and up or sling it back and forth and the bolt would glide effortlessly.

 

[Ole]

Except the discussion here focused on having a fast, slick, action, that would allow for rapid fire in a varmint rich environment.

A single shot rifle hardly would fit that. And the X-100 is even more heavy than a 700 VSSF to carry into the field.

Lance in Orygun

"Rapid fire in a varmint rich enviroment" with a light barreled rifle?? Single shot is a good idea, takes a little time to reload, save the barrel. If your hell-bent or rapid fire then an AR is the rifle to get, why would you waste your time with a bolt action, doesn't make sense, at least to me.

 

[1badshee]

What's everyones opinions on the tikka's? Ive been looking at them for a new rifle.

 

[willbird]

Does anybody have a picture of the 799 bolt from the front end ??

One neat thing about them over the CZ is that they do a 22-250 on the mini mauser action which CZ does not appear to do ?? I want to know what type of EJECTOR the 799 uses, is it a typical mauser type ?? Or is a rem 700 type plunger ??

Bill

 

[bcp]

From:
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/featured_rifles/rem798_091406/index1.html

798 is left bolt, 799 is right bolt. Looks like they both use the classic Mauser slotted-lug blade ejector.

Bruce

 

[Larry Scott]

But John,

I dont have a JEWELL trigger to fit a Cooper !!!!

 

[Bigrock]

Smooth

He brought his CZ American in 223 and I had my 221 Fireball. We each fired a few rounds from each and came to the same conclusion. While the CZ is a really accurate and great rifle and neither of us would part with ours, the action is rough. Although not as bad as the Rem 798 we tried, they are still not as smooth as the Ruger much less a Rem 700. That may not bother some folks but in a target rich environment with the adrenalin running high, I don't have time to wrestle a cartridge into a chamber.

While I can't speak for Mike on what he wants next, I'm pretty sure mine won't be either a CZ or 798/799. At the moment I'm leaning towards a Lilja barreled 700 in either 22-250 or some variant of the 17 family. Then again, Alex Clarke can be blamed for leaving this gnawing bug about Coopers in the back of my head.

John if you like a smooth action try a Sako L 579 I just got one in 22-250 smooth as glass.
Try a older Mauser action.I have 3 98's and a Swede I think you will see the differance in them and the Remington imports

Good shooting
Kenny