Need info for Remington 721, .30-06

TankerSki · October 18, 2007, 08:26 PM

In last Sundays paper, in the classified, a Remington model 721, bolt action .30-06 Sprg. single shot. was listed. I had never heard of a 721, my old 2004 Remington brochure did not show one. So I went on-line to Remington, and found the Rifle Library and archives, there it was !! Model 721, made from 1948 thru 1962. ( I think when I was 17, I want one ! )

And some other info on the rifle, but not much detail........ So I called the guy and made arraingments to look at it around 3:00 pm. I drove over to his place on the east side of town, about 3 1/2 miles off the main highway, out in the boonies.
He was waiting in the garage, Rifle in its new soft case on the shop table, he took it out and I had all I could do to contain myself. This .30-06 was one fine piece. It's low rise Monte Carlo, satin Walnut stock with nice grain looked brand new, the bluing was pristine, he handed it to me and I opened the bolt, it felt good and the chamber was clear and clean. I stuck my thumb in the reciever and looked down the barrel, (Man! I thought was this rifle ever fired ! ) it was clean and crisp, I put my specks on and had to look again, yup it's a good one, I thought to myself. But I kept a stern face, like a Marine General during CG Inspection.
A sweet looking Tasco 3.5 x 9 40 mm. was mounted on see through Weaver bases and rings, even it looked new. The glass was spotless, it had see through caps, but the crosshairs were canted a little. The cross checking on the stock was well defined, (same as the 700 ADL) It held a 24" barrel and a 3" long muzzle brake, was mounted. It had steel sights, ramp front, flat top buck horn type, dovetailed mounted on a raised boss on the barrel well under the scope. And had quite a few stamping and numbers; the bolt and frame #'s matched, inside the receiver #24149. On the left side in front of the serial #, was E B8

E, being the month of production, from Remington method of noting the months, ie, BLACKPOWDERX B being JAN. and X being DEC.

the next letter B is the year of production, from another Remington Chart,
B, being the year, 1955 it was made.

The 8 is for Assembly, but could not find a Chart to de-code it. (?)

On the opposite side of the frame and barrel, were the letters F. E. P. inscribed in an oval or an oval around these letters. Just in front of it were test/proof marks, which only the top half of the stamp, marked the barrel with two marks that looked like the top half of Maltese crosses. The only other stamping were the normal roll Mfg. and patent stamps, and larger Remington 721 on the left outside of the receiver, above the stock.

A nylon belt sling on Uncle Mikes quick loop rings, and factory installed foam rubber rifle butt pad. Everything else checked out, safety, ejector, bolt, etc.
He wrote out a sales slip, I gave him a check for what he was asking for the Rifle, $ 375.00, and he gave me a box of 17 rounds of Sprg .30-06 165 gr. Accutip boat tails, and a rifle cleaning kit. I drove home with a grin on my mug.
It's one damm nice Rem. 721, and being a single shot, I won't mind at all, being I've been a muzzleload deer hunter, for quite some time. But the first thing is take it to the rifle range, and check out scope zero. Before it goes afield.

Jim Watson · October 18, 2007, 10:41 PM

Only 721s I have ever seen were repeaters.

Muzzle brake and stock checkering on a normally plain Jane 721 are surely aftermarket.

James K · October 18, 2007, 11:10 PM

Jim is correct; if it is single shot, someone made it that way. The "F.E.P." is actually "R.E.P." for Remington English Proof. Remington adopted that term simply to add a little cache to their product; their proof practices use SAAMI specs the same as everyone else.

The history of those rifles is interesting. From 1921 up to WWII, Remington made sporting rifles (the Model 30 and variations) using Model 1917 receivers and parts left over from WWI production. They made only such parts as they had to. At the end of WWII, they decided that the M1917 ploy had about run its course. Even though they used some tricks to disguise the origin of the rifles, customers were aware that they were buying what was essentially a warmed over military rifle.

So they turned their engineers and designers, including the famous Mike Walker, loose with blank sheets of paper. The result was not one, but two rifles, the standard length 721 and the short action 722. The 722 was released with a brand new cartridge, the famous "triple deuce", the .222 Remington, from which came a whole slew of cartridges, including the military 5.56mm, aka the .223 Remington.

The 721/722 rifles were made to be affordable, a contrast to the Winchester 70, famed as the "Rifleman's Rifle" but quite expensive. The result of the desire to keep the price down was that the rifles were plain. While special treatment, even engraving and inlay, was available, the standard rifles had no checkering, trigger guards were stamped steel, and so on.

But they shot and shot well. A lot of owners wanted to upgrade, and for a while gun shops had bins full of take off stocks, replaced by better grade custom stocks. Eventually, Remington got the word and, using the same basic action, produced the Model 700, now I believe the best selling CF sporting rifle in the world.

There is a sad sidelight to the Remington success story. Winchester (Olin) was unable to admit that it was losing sales to Remington and began to focus on military surplus rifles as the source of their economic woes. So they persuaded Senator Tom Dodd, of CT, father of the current CT senator Chris Dodd, to include a ban on military surplus imports in his Gun Control Act of 1968, not hard to do after JFK was killed with a surplus rifle. In a nasty example of special interest lobbying, Winchester's attorneys even wrote that part of the law. There were hints that Dodd received more than thanks and campaign support, but nothing was ever proven.

Jim

johnbt · October 20, 2007, 09:36 AM

Sounds like a very nice rifle. The magazine loads from the top, unless it's been altered from a 4-shot to a singleshot. The checkered stock could be original, they made deluxe versions.

Click on the link and scroll down to 721. You'll see the 721, 721ADL and 721BDL, (and Magnums) with the notes that the ADL & BDL don't appear on the gun. The BDL model has a hinged floorplate magazine, not the blind mag of the others.

http://books.google.com/books?id=dtX...KusG2_TaZPngzE

October 18, 2007, 08:26 PM	#1
TankerSki Junior Member Join Date: October 18, 2007 Location: N. Olympic Peninsula, WA. Posts: 7	Need info for Remington 721, .30-06 In last Sundays paper, in the classified, a Remington model 721, bolt action .30-06 Sprg. single shot. was listed. I had never heard of a 721, my old 2004 Remington brochure did not show one. So I went on-line to Remington, and found the Rifle Library and archives, there it was !! Model 721, made from 1948 thru 1962. ( I think when I was 17, I want one ! ) And some other info on the rifle, but not much detail........ So I called the guy and made arraingments to look at it around 3:00 pm. I drove over to his place on the east side of town, about 3 1/2 miles off the main highway, out in the boonies. He was waiting in the garage, Rifle in its new soft case on the shop table, he took it out and I had all I could do to contain myself. This .30-06 was one fine piece. It's low rise Monte Carlo, satin Walnut stock with nice grain looked brand new, the bluing was pristine, he handed it to me and I opened the bolt, it felt good and the chamber was clear and clean. I stuck my thumb in the reciever and looked down the barrel, (Man! I thought was this rifle ever fired ! ) it was clean and crisp, I put my specks on and had to look again, yup it's a good one, I thought to myself. But I kept a stern face, like a Marine General during CG Inspection. A sweet looking Tasco 3.5 x 9 40 mm. was mounted on see through Weaver bases and rings, even it looked new. The glass was spotless, it had see through caps, but the crosshairs were canted a little. The cross checking on the stock was well defined, (same as the 700 ADL) It held a 24" barrel and a 3" long muzzle brake, was mounted. It had steel sights, ramp front, flat top buck horn type, dovetailed mounted on a raised boss on the barrel well under the scope. And had quite a few stamping and numbers; the bolt and frame #'s matched, inside the receiver #24149. On the left side in front of the serial #, was E B8 E, being the month of production, from Remington method of noting the months, ie, BLACKPOWDERX B being JAN. and X being DEC. the next letter B is the year of production, from another Remington Chart, B, being the year, 1955 it was made. The 8 is for Assembly, but could not find a Chart to de-code it. (?) On the opposite side of the frame and barrel, were the letters F. E. P. inscribed in an oval or an oval around these letters. Just in front of it were test/proof marks, which only the top half of the stamp, marked the barrel with two marks that looked like the top half of Maltese crosses. The only other stamping were the normal roll Mfg. and patent stamps, and larger Remington 721 on the left outside of the receiver, above the stock. A nylon belt sling on Uncle Mikes quick loop rings, and factory installed foam rubber rifle butt pad. Everything else checked out, safety, ejector, bolt, etc. He wrote out a sales slip, I gave him a check for what he was asking for the Rifle, $ 375.00, and he gave me a box of 17 rounds of Sprg .30-06 165 gr. Accutip boat tails, and a rifle cleaning kit. I drove home with a grin on my mug. It's one damm nice Rem. 721, and being a single shot, I won't mind at all, being I've been a muzzleload deer hunter, for quite some time. But the first thing is take it to the rifle range, and check out scope zero. Before it goes afield.

October 18, 2007, 10:41 PM	#2
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 18,535	Only 721s I have ever seen were repeaters. Muzzle brake and stock checkering on a normally plain Jane 721 are surely aftermarket.

October 18, 2007, 11:10 PM	#3
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	Jim is correct; if it is single shot, someone made it that way. The "F.E.P." is actually "R.E.P." for Remington English Proof. Remington adopted that term simply to add a little cache to their product; their proof practices use SAAMI specs the same as everyone else. The history of those rifles is interesting. From 1921 up to WWII, Remington made sporting rifles (the Model 30 and variations) using Model 1917 receivers and parts left over from WWI production. They made only such parts as they had to. At the end of WWII, they decided that the M1917 ploy had about run its course. Even though they used some tricks to disguise the origin of the rifles, customers were aware that they were buying what was essentially a warmed over military rifle. So they turned their engineers and designers, including the famous Mike Walker, loose with blank sheets of paper. The result was not one, but two rifles, the standard length 721 and the short action 722. The 722 was released with a brand new cartridge, the famous "triple deuce", the .222 Remington, from which came a whole slew of cartridges, including the military 5.56mm, aka the .223 Remington. The 721/722 rifles were made to be affordable, a contrast to the Winchester 70, famed as the "Rifleman's Rifle" but quite expensive. The result of the desire to keep the price down was that the rifles were plain. While special treatment, even engraving and inlay, was available, the standard rifles had no checkering, trigger guards were stamped steel, and so on. But they shot and shot well. A lot of owners wanted to upgrade, and for a while gun shops had bins full of take off stocks, replaced by better grade custom stocks. Eventually, Remington got the word and, using the same basic action, produced the Model 700, now I believe the best selling CF sporting rifle in the world. There is a sad sidelight to the Remington success story. Winchester (Olin) was unable to admit that it was losing sales to Remington and began to focus on military surplus rifles as the source of their economic woes. So they persuaded Senator Tom Dodd, of CT, father of the current CT senator Chris Dodd, to include a ban on military surplus imports in his Gun Control Act of 1968, not hard to do after JFK was killed with a surplus rifle. In a nasty example of special interest lobbying, Winchester's attorneys even wrote that part of the law. There were hints that Dodd received more than thanks and campaign support, but nothing was ever proven. Jim

October 20, 2007, 09:36 AM	#4
johnbt Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 1999 Location: Richmond, Virginia USA Posts: 6,004	Sounds like a very nice rifle. The magazine loads from the top, unless it's been altered from a 4-shot to a singleshot. The checkered stock could be original, they made deluxe versions. Click on the link and scroll down to 721. You'll see the 721, 721ADL and 721BDL, (and Magnums) with the notes that the ADL & BDL don't appear on the gun. The BDL model has a hinged floorplate magazine, not the blind mag of the others. http://books.google.com/books?id=dtX...KusG2_TaZPngzE