What's the deal with Remington?

I've been looking at the Remington 30-06's with the heavy 26" barrel but I'm down right skeeeered to buy one. :eek:

Buds has a few nasty reviews on that one.
 
James, I agree that the actual injuries to people could have been prevented by safe handling procedures. However, anytime a mechanical defect sends a round downrange without a deliberate trigger pull it's a bad thing. Remington knew its design was bad (its own engineer told them). That doesn't do a lot to enhance confidence in them.
 
Please don't get into a debate about the Remington trigger issues here.

That's 50 dozen cans of worms that few people want to open again.
 
My 700 BDL (1980 man date) is awesome.

My 700 SPS (1997 man date) is so so. It is a cheaper gun and isn't as nice as the BDL. It is accurate and works, but isn't as nice.

No complaints from me, but mine are 19 and 36 years old too.
 
After seeing some of the prices of the older Rem 700 rifles I was wishing I had some of mine back to sell, currently only have one in .280 left. I never had any problems with any of them. some I liked better than others, due to chambering choice, or ADL/BDL etc. Remington has gone through some growing/changing pains, some of their line has suffered and some haven't as much. Essentially they had to be able to compete with the budget priced rifles such as Savage Axis and Ruger Americans. I have always been a Remington Fanboy I guess, even bought a Remington R-15 when I decided to get an ARM, BTW the way it is a very good shooting rifle as well. From reports I have heard, (not into the buying of rifles much anymore) the quality is coming back up on the Marlins etc. I do think the upper end of the Remington bolt gun line is over priced but honestly I haven't paid attention to compare it to other brands on the upper end rifles.
 
People still want to compare their $350 Remington 700 to the $1200 models.
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Scorch is spot on. I don't see Remington's quality as having gone down. I just see they started producing cheaper guns than they used to. So, yeah.. the quality on those aren't as good as the nicer ones we grew up with.

You know why the started producing it? Because that's what the market has asked for. Savage (my guess on the specific company) started producing really accurate cheap guns which the average gun buyer jumped all over. I would say overall the gun buying public has decided they would rather have cheap and ugly over expensive and pretty. Nothing wrong with either option.. just don't blame Remington for giving you (ie, the average gun buyer) what you want.

And don't forget that every manufacturer is going to put out a lemon now and again. Its the unhappy customers that are usually quick to go out and leave a bad rating (myself included!). There's no telling how many happy customers never thought twice about leaving a good rating.
 
Im starting to want to go foreign with the types of guns I get. These big commercialized American companies aren't like some of the really good foreign companies. Remington has had its issues and Winchester is a good brand too but Winchester and even Browning is not in the same league as the Austrian company Steyr Mannlicher which makes some of the best rifles you can find. Austria does make good guns, aside from Steyr Mannlicher they also make the very popular worldwide brand Glock and I've got a Glock so I know they're good. In recent days lots of these American companies don't seem to be holding their own. Along with Remington, Colt has had problems and they no longer supply the Army. Smith & Wesson is alright but not super spectacular. Yes there still is some really outstanding American gun companies such as Ruger, Wilson Combat, and Coonan but as of recently lots of foreign guns have become popular. Aside from Glock, the Turkey gun company Canik has really been taking off in the USA so some of these foreign companies really have it made and those are the companies I am looking to buy guns from.
 
ND King and Scorch are echoing a conversation my buddy and I had just last week-people bash Remington based on the inexpensive models IMO.
Of course a lemon gets out occaisionally but they sell a crap load of product.

My buddy bought a 700 SPS a few months ago knowing he'd change out the stock that is often criticized....cheap stock, yes, but even then it shot very well.

I bought 2 700 5R's that are EXCELLENT shooters 4 and 6 weeks ago-have shot 1/2" groups with both of them, the fit and finish are excellent.

I have 6 other Remington products as well as 2 I sold a few months ago-of those total of 10, they have all been exactly what I hoped for when I bought each and every one of them-all but 1 have been purchased new in the last 5 years. The 2 that were sold went to friends of mine and surprise surprise, they too have been happy with them.

I have many different brands of guns, so not a "fanboy", just have had excellent results with mine and are among my favorites in their respective categories.
 
Someone mentioned their 1980s BDL and said it was miles beyond a current SPR. Well, Duh! As others have mentioned, Remington sells $300 guns and they sell $1200 guns. People want the $1200 gun for $300 and /or think the Remington they bought thirty years ago should have the same price tag today.
As to the whole Remlin thing. I bought an 1895 built in 2010 after the buyout but before the move to Illion and it's as well put together as any Marlin from the last twenty years. Last week at my LGS I inspected a new 1894 44 mag and it was excellent in all regards. Remington stepped on their wankers in how they handled the Marlin move and setup, but they heard the complaints, and from what I am seeing on LGS shelves, their new Marlins are up to snuff.
Compare a Sendero to a Savage 12 LRP in quality of build and performance. The Savage price tag is right on the heels of the Sendero.
Do you hear people whining about $800-$900 dollar FN/Winchester model 70s? So why whine when a BDL costs the same?
 
I think you have to look at the transition of Remington's manufacturing over the last couple of decades. The Illion facility is really old that used to employ generations of firearm craftsman. Every piece was hand fitted. An issue in quality could be traced to the guy that fitted and passed the gun along. The Illion facility is being phased out in favor of newer facilities in more "southern" gun friendly states. The state of the art CNC can do amazing things but you still need someone that knows how it should be. I think that part is lacking. Off the CNC, through quality (they only check the output of the CNC), in the box and out the door.
 
Remington, Colt and Winchester. The names linger, but they're just not what they used to be imo. Ownership changes, manufacturing technologies and processes change; the economy, politics, society changes. It seems any company can fall to any number of issues related transition. Really, if you think about, it's pretty amazing companies like Remington are still around in any form. Many others are completely extinct. Adapt and overcome or die.
 
Since Remington's acquisition by Freedom Group which it seems is the point heavy Remington bashing began, i have purchased two R1 .45 ACP pistols and a RM 380. In each case the pistol has been a flawless performer and i cannot find fault in the machining or finish (well the RM has a strange finish) nor in the performance of the pistols. The RM is a deep pocket kind of a pistol and is hard to compare with my full sized 1911's that have devoured thousands of rounds but in all fairness it ( the RM 380) has gone through several hundred trouble free shots. I feel Remington or any other company that is thought to produce inferior products should entertain a campaign to assure the consumer they will get the best product they can produce by making that product and showing the public what corrections have been completed. So it takes both the producer and consumer to make the product great or they can both work in their own way to put it in the trash.
 
Remington, Colt and Winchester. The names linger, but they're just not what they used to be imo. Ownership changes, manufacturing technologies and processes change; the economy, politics, society changes. It seems any company can fall to any number of issues related transition. Really, if you think about, it's pretty amazing companies like Remington are still around in any form. Many others are completely extinct. Adapt and overcome or die.
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Excellent post, excellent point. I recall those top dollar Uberti's branded by Colt. Lesson learned, Uberti was a quality builder and Colt was the $$$ name.

I look at the current Winchester better guns than ever made in my lifetime. I dont know what to call Winchester now. Browning, Miruko, who are they? I dont know but they are great again.

It is time to stop saying Remington, Marlin or Bushmaster and start saying Freedom Group. That is the name. And if you want a low quality cheap substitute for the import guns banned from China, Freedom Group is ready to fill that void. This is a perfectly valid business model. Any body can make a 1 moa barrel these days, chicom or remlin, not a problem.

We need the politically correct police, the one who jump down the poor fellow's back side for saying "assault rifle" to enforce with equal enthusiasm that we call the company by the proper name: "FREEDOM GROUP" . Not really, just exaggeration for effect. Freedom group, freedom group, freedom group, say it a few times. It has a nice ring to it.

Yes, something happened to Remington. Something else happened to Winchester. Colt seems to be a work in progress, still struggling to survive in Hartford (they hate guns) Conn.
 
I'm no expert, but a few months ago I was checking out a bunch of Marlins at a Sportsman, and a Cabelas. Ever thing looked good, fit, action, finish etc., however compared to my pre Remington Marlin the checkering was not as nice. I liked the 1895 45/70 with octagonal barrel and no checkering the best.
 
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