Winchester 670 or Remington 721?

M

moosemike

New member
I have a perfectly good Winchester 670 in .270 caliber. Someone wants to trade me even up a Remington 721 .30-06 because he really wants a .270. Now I like the .270 just fine but I would like to have a backup 30-06 because when I go on hunts I take my '06. I would then have two '06s and could take the same ammo when I go out of state. Both guns shoot very well. I just don't know how good those 721's were. Am I better off just staying with what I have or should I make the trade?
 
Logically makes sense.

But I don't think I would do it. Not sure about the 721. I like 700 Remingtons a lot but 721 I just don't know enough about it.
 
721's are good rifles the precursor of the 700 action. The M670 is just Winchesters version of the Remington 700 ADL, just the 670 has a better safety IMO. There isn't anything you can kill with a .30-06 that the .270 can't. I'd keep the .270 and give it a chance on your next hunt. What are the chances your .30-06 and his shoot your hunting ammunition the same. So if you are going to take two rifles on your hunt why not have two different calibers?

A .270 running 150 grain premium bullets is just as good as a .30-06 running 180 grain premiums. You give up a little frontal diameter but have nearly the same BC and SD and gain a little in velocity to help out the energy.

Nosler Partition

.308 180 gr, BC .474, SD .271
.277 150 gr, BC .465, SD .279

Federal Premium NP ammunition

.30-06 MV 2700 fps, ME 2913 ft/lbs, @ 500 yds 1837 fps, 1348 ft/lbs
.270 MV 2830 fps, ME 2667 ft/lbs, @ 500 yds 1928 fps, 1238 ft/lbs

Seems to me to pretty much be a wash as far as performance goes.
 
Suggest that the 721 owner...

consider rebarreling to .270. It uses the same case head and headspacing as the 30-06.

Usually for a back-up rifle, try to keep the same model.
 
A couple of things to consider:
You can buy parts for the Winchester 670 lots of places. Not so with the Rem 721.

The 670 is worth about $400, the 721 is worth about $300.

Now, do you still want to trade?
 
I have a 670 in .270, and a 722, in .222, which I think is just a short action 721. They are both excellent guns and perform flawlessly. I prefer the quality and the feel of the Remington over the Winchester. The Winchester was bought new in the late 60's, and the Remington was bought used in the early 70's. Neither has ever needed service or repair, so I couldn't tell you about parts availability. I think its a pretty fair trade value wise. Since he wants to trade, I would ask for a little cash, but thats just me. lol. In my opinion the Remington is a better built gun, in a caliber you prefer.
 
Thanks for your responses. I'm still not sure what to do. I was surprised to hear that the Winchester is worth more than the Remington though. Oh, and Taylorforce1 I agree with you about the 270 150 grain being as useful as the 30-06 180 grain.
 
Do the trade for the rifle and 2 boxes of ammo, or if you handload the rifle and a hundred bullets of your choice.
 
The 721 was well made; just cheaper in the stock and floorplate. No big deal, insofar as quality for shooting. It was the first general-production push-feed, SFAIK, and at the time was the strongest action made. The ultimate proof test from Remington in .30-'06 was a case full of 4064 and four--yeah, 4--220-grain bullets. It didn't blow up. They splashed their press release to every gunshop and gunzine on the planet. :)

As a backup rifle, and for deer-huntng use, I really, really doubt it would be shot often enough to justify worrying about parts. Otherwise, nobody would ever buy a milsurp...
 
I'm kind of nervous now that I see that if the 721's extractor fails the gun is pretty much a wallhanger. It seems it costs a couple hundred dollars to have a Sako extractor installed and these have failed and embedded in people's arms.:eek:
 
I went ahead and made the swap anyway. I got 100 rounds of ammo in the deal so I'm happy. Thanks for your input everyone.
 
You made a killer trade and got 5 boxes of ammo? I bet you've never shot pool before either huh???? Nice trade. I think you will be happy with the 721.
 
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