Remington to unveil electronic ignition Model 700

Shooting Industry, Dec, 1998 by Jon Sundra

From the Rumor Mill: Word has it that in addition to the new beltless .300 Magnum from Remington, we might very well be seeing an electronic ignition Model 700 rifle for 1999.

For those of you not familiar with this exciting new development, we'll be seeing a special version of the Model 700 that from the outside looks like the same basic rifle we've known since 1962 when it replaced the old 721-722 series. However, this rifle has no mechanical trigger, sear, cocking piece, mainspring or firing pin. Instead, what looks like a normal trigger from the outside is actually a micro switch. In place of a conventional striker assembly is a simple electrode that protrudes slightly from the center of the bolt face and engages a slight detent in what otherwise looks like a conventional large rifle primer. The electricity needed for ignition is provided by an ordinary replaceable radio battery concealed within the butt-stock that furnishes enough juice for at least 1,000 shots.

As for the ammunition required, the only difference is in the primer itself, and it fits the standard primer pocket. All other components - case, propellent and bullet - are no different from what we're all familiar with. The big plus here is that ammo will be reloadable with the same dies and other equipment we already have, and in the same calibers.

The foregoing description is based upon an opportunity I had to examine and shoot just such a rifle three years ago at what was then Remington's brand new R&D facility in Elizabethtown, Ky. The rifle was a Model 700-VSSF (Varmint Synthetic Stainless Fluted) in .22-250. The rifle shot just fine, despite numbing cold weather, gusting winds, and a makeshift shooting bench that had to be set up for the occasion because the formal shooting range was still under construction.

When I got wind that the electronic ignition Model 700 would he introduced at the 1999 SHOT Show, I called Remington's firearms product manager Jay Bunting, and asked him if any substantial changes had been made in the system since I saw it three years ago. He said not to any extent, so what I've described here is pretty much what we'll see, hopefully, come February. And, if not then, at SHOT 2000.

In case you're wondering, "Why electronic ignition? What's wrong with the mechanical systems we've been using right along?" In a word, the answer is accuracy. I don't mean the clinical kind of accuracy we get when shooting under perfect conditions from a sandbag rest atop a concrete bench. Rather, it's the kind we can expect under field conditions and position shooting when the most important factor in the accuracy equation is the shooter himself rather than the equipment.

No matter how good a conventional trigger may be, it has to transfer energy and movement through a series of components. As that is being done, there is both a time lag and a physical reaction to the action of accelerating a striker assembly from a dead stop. It obviously doesn't take a lot of time for all this to happen - only a few milliseconds - but with electronic ignition it takes place much faster. Indeed, with an electrical charge detonating the primer, we have virtual instantaneous ignition.

As to what that all means, recall how when shooting a rifle from any position - prone, sitting, kneeling or standing offhand - the gun (or the scope reticle) would wander back and forth all over the target while you were taking aim. A good shot consisted of simply timing ignition to the moment that the gun had wandered over the right place on the target. Remember, too, how you thought, "I'd be a lot better shot if only the gun would go off when I wished it to go off, because in between the time it takes to squeeze the trigger and the bullet to exit the muzzle, the gun has moved."

Bottom line: Electronic ignition won't make a given rifle more accurate, but it will allow that rifle to be shot more accurately.

I don't look for electronic ignition to be of great interest to your customers who are primarily big-game hunters. They prefer the perceived reliability of mechanical ignition over what they will assume to be a delicate, temperature-sensitive and complicated method of cartridge ignition. But for the varmint hunter and competitive shooter, look out! This 21st century concept is going to have a lot of appeal.

Jon Sundra Shooting Industry Magazine 591 Camino de la Reina, Suite 200 San Diego, CA 92108 Fax: (619) 297-5353 e-Mail: FMGNews@aol.com