News from Remington country

Guns Magazine, June, 2004 by Charles E. Petty

This year's Remington New Products Seminar was held at the posh Glade Springs Resort in Daniels, West Virginia. In all my years of attending these events it was the first time members of the state's tourism and natural resources departments met us at the airport and sponsored a dinner. In fact it was my pleasure to share the dinner table with Ed Hamrick, director of natural resources.

What a pleasure to talk with someone in government who is very much interested in preserving the heritage of hunting and fishing that is evermore threatened and who is an active participant in our sport. It goes without saying that West Virginia has outstanding hunting and fishing opportunities.

Most of Remington's announcements this year were additions to existing product lines with new finishes, calibers of dimensions. Their new (and quite nice) over/under shotgun, the Model 322, got a facelift with bright blue and stock finishes and improvements on the engraving. Only cosmetic changes were made and the basic shotgun was not altered.

They've also brought back Model 1100 shotguns in 28-gauge and .410 bore. The small guns now have Rem Choke tubes so they can be at home on the skeet field, for upland birds and, if you're really sharp, at sporting clays.

Every year Remington announces a limited edition "Classic" rifle. This has been a fixture of the line since 1981. The guns always have a classic stock design and finish and vary only by caliber. They are popular both with shooters and collectors. This year's Classic is chambered for the 8mm Mauser.

The real news is on two diverse fronts, and somewhat paradoxically I might add. In terms of ammunition development Remington has brought us the various Ultra Mag cartridges which are characterized by large cases that burn heaps of powder and kick a lot. Now they are taking another approach with a set of rifle cartridges under the "Recoil Management" label.

To start, the line will have the .270 Winchester, .30-'06 Springfield and 7mm Remington Magnum loaded with bullets that are considerably lighter than customary and also at velocities that are a bit lower.

When we think about the effectiveness of a hunting cartridge we always talk about bullet weight and velocity and ignore the third, but equally vital component, bullet construction. We could very easily reduce recoil by just lowering velocity but bullet expansion of penetration is going to change too, probably for the worse.

So when Remington decided to bring "Recoil Management" to the table the first thing they had to do was develop a bullet that would perform well at the intended velocities. To do this they began to apply lessons from their new Core Lokt Ultra bullet and fit that into the smaller package needed. They decided on bullet weights of 115 grains at 2,710 fps for the .270 Winchester, 125 grains at 2,660 for the .30'-06 Springfield and 140 grains for the 7mm Remington Magnum at 2,710 fps.

The 7 was a "gimmie" for they already had an excellent 140-grain bullet used in the 7mm-08. One of the design goals was to keep shifts in point of impact to about two inches so re-zeroing would not be required. In terms of hunting accuracy a change of two inches simply isn't a big deal at normal hunting ranges of 200 yards or less.

I was able to shoot these side-by-side with conventional loads and the difference is dramatic. Remington says it's a 50 percent reduction in recoil and that may be conservative. We will do a much more thorough evaluation for a future story.

On other ammunition news, Remington continues to upgrade and expand the "Buckhammer" shotgun slug loads with a new 20-gauge load featuring a full one-ounce slug and an even heavier 12 gauge projectile at 1 3/8 ounce. These have proven to be highly effective and remarkably accurate when used with rifled barrels of the rifled choke tubes now available.

The centerfire rifle line also expands with numerous additions to their "Accu-Tip" and "Core-Lokt Ultra" offerings.

The star of the firearms offerings is the new Model 504 which marks Remington's return to the rimfire bolt action rifle market with a premium quality piece.

This is not a re-hash of the discontinued Model 541 series but a new design that originated at their Elizabethown Ky., R&D facility and will be made down the road at the new Mayville, Ky., plant. Remington says it will be, "...the Model 700 of boll-action rimfire rifles." That's saying a bunch because their Model 700 has become the centerfire action by which all others are judged.

Maybe the best way to describe the Model 504 is forward thinking. The action is obviously designed to facilitate adaptation to other calibers such as magnum rimfires or for that matter small centerfires such as the .22 Hornet. The barrel is held in place by a simple clamp and setscrew arrangement. The forward ring of the receiver is slit and then threaded for a fairly large allen screw which effectively clamps the barrel.

One of the key design elements coming out of Remington's R&D shop is ease of manufacture with modern technology and this is a great example. The trigger (Remington calls it the "fire control" unit) is similar mechanically to the one used on the Model 700 and is adjustable for weight and engagement. The magazine is similar to that of the Model 597 with a capacity of six rounds. It fits flush with the floorplate, but a spring gives a gentle push when the magazine release is pressed. One of the hangups with many flush-fitting magazines is difficult removal but that isn't an issue here.