My Minty H&R 700 .22 mag is now just a Shooter

wachtelhund1 · January 14, 2012, 03:21 AM

Here is a sad story with a fairly good ending. In November, I purchased a H&R 700 .22 mag semi-auto in near mint condition. This gun was shot very little and had never had the stock removed from the barrel and receiver in 30 plus years. Here is a picture of it.

I planned on using this for coyotes to cut down the wear and tear on my H&K 300 .22 mag. Anyways, I removed the Tasco scope that came with it, and and replaced it with a Leuopld 2.8X8 38 VARX-III, I again began shooting it. The trigger was terrible, alot of take up, creepy and about seven pounds. So before it was even sighted in I went to work on the trigger. Take up and creep are gone and it is down to 4 pounds. I can live with that. Back to the shooting bench. It would not group under 4 or 5 inches at 100 yards. Now I know why it had been a closet queen. So I bought about 8 boxes of different .22 mag ammo, brands and bullet weights.

While shooting one brand, I had a core and jacket separation. On the shot, I didn't see the bullet hit the paper which was then normal; and unknowing to me, the jacket remained lodged in the barrel. The next shot was considerbility louder and caused a big flash to come out the breech as the bolt cycled, and a lot of smoke came out of the breech and stock. I sat there and waited a minute or two, then cleared the action. Initialy, I thought a round had been slam fired before the bolt had closed and expected to see brass case in the breech. But the breech was clear and a fresh round had been chambered. I cleared that and looked at the gun, it seemed fine a I reloaded and went to shoot. I then noticed the barrel had a bulge in it about 6 inches from the end.

With out thinking I went to my gunsmith, into his shop measured and marked the barrel at 16 inches, right in the middle of the bulge. Into the back I went, turned on the band saw and choped 6 inches of barrel off it. Then we recrowned it. The barrel was now exactly 16" and there was still part of the bulge present. The bore diammeter was about 7mm. The next day I tried shooting it again, no grouping.

While eating lunch the light came on and I called the ammo manufacture customer service. Explained what had happened. I half expected to be put off. To my surprise, I was told to have it repaired, mail the remaining rounds from the box, the barrel and receipts for parts and labor to the company. They would pay to have the gun rebarreled. The customer service was so nice, I was shocked.

The only tappered and blued .22 mag barrel that I could find was a 22" Green Mountain 77/22 mag flutted barrel. It came a week after I ordered it. Back to my gunsmith, while he cut the ruger stub off, turned, threaded and chambered the new barrel, I worked on the receiver. The receiver and barrel had 22TPI and we had a difficult time getting the old barrel off. In the process the receiver was sligthly crushed. I worked on straightening and trueing up the receiver, making sure the bolt sled freely in the receiver.

The new barrel was slimmer and there was a lot of space in the barrel chanel. So I had to grind out the bedding and wood to get the receiver and barrel to sit lower in the stock. I bedded the complete barrel channel. I'm still breaking the barrel in. The last two groups fired were right at an inch at 100 yards, with Federal Game Shock 50gr JHP

wachtelhund1 · March 14, 2012, 05:23 AM

Here is an update on my H&R 700 .22 mag.

This gun was in mint condition when I purchased, but with the new barrel on it was no longer orginal. So I thought what the heck lets go all the way. I didn't like the contour of the orginal stock, so I took a rasp and belt sander to it, completely reshaping it. Then checkered the stock and put a nice oil finish, 5 coats of Casey's stock oil. My first attempt at checkering.

I've polished all the trigger parts and have it a 4 pounds with zero creep. The barrel is still not broken in but is shooting 1" groups with Federal Gameshock 50 gr.

Here is how it looks today.

hoytinak · March 14, 2012, 05:30 AM

Personally, I think it's a huge improvement...good job!

January 14, 2012, 03:21 AM	#1
wachtelhund1 Senior Member Join Date: January 4, 2007 Location: pelican lake, WI Posts: 413	My Minty H&R 700 .22 mag is now just a Shooter Here is a sad story with a fairly good ending. In November, I purchased a H&R 700 .22 mag semi-auto in near mint condition. This gun was shot very little and had never had the stock removed from the barrel and receiver in 30 plus years. Here is a picture of it. I planned on using this for coyotes to cut down the wear and tear on my H&K 300 .22 mag. Anyways, I removed the Tasco scope that came with it, and and replaced it with a Leuopld 2.8X8 38 VARX-III, I again began shooting it. The trigger was terrible, alot of take up, creepy and about seven pounds. So before it was even sighted in I went to work on the trigger. Take up and creep are gone and it is down to 4 pounds. I can live with that. Back to the shooting bench. It would not group under 4 or 5 inches at 100 yards. Now I know why it had been a closet queen. So I bought about 8 boxes of different .22 mag ammo, brands and bullet weights. While shooting one brand, I had a core and jacket separation. On the shot, I didn't see the bullet hit the paper which was then normal; and unknowing to me, the jacket remained lodged in the barrel. The next shot was considerbility louder and caused a big flash to come out the breech as the bolt cycled, and a lot of smoke came out of the breech and stock. I sat there and waited a minute or two, then cleared the action. Initialy, I thought a round had been slam fired before the bolt had closed and expected to see brass case in the breech. But the breech was clear and a fresh round had been chambered. I cleared that and looked at the gun, it seemed fine a I reloaded and went to shoot. I then noticed the barrel had a bulge in it about 6 inches from the end. With out thinking I went to my gunsmith, into his shop measured and marked the barrel at 16 inches, right in the middle of the bulge. Into the back I went, turned on the band saw and choped 6 inches of barrel off it. Then we recrowned it. The barrel was now exactly 16" and there was still part of the bulge present. The bore diammeter was about 7mm. The next day I tried shooting it again, no grouping. While eating lunch the light came on and I called the ammo manufacture customer service. Explained what had happened. I half expected to be put off. To my surprise, I was told to have it repaired, mail the remaining rounds from the box, the barrel and receipts for parts and labor to the company. They would pay to have the gun rebarreled. The customer service was so nice, I was shocked. The only tappered and blued .22 mag barrel that I could find was a 22" Green Mountain 77/22 mag flutted barrel. It came a week after I ordered it. Back to my gunsmith, while he cut the ruger stub off, turned, threaded and chambered the new barrel, I worked on the receiver. The receiver and barrel had 22TPI and we had a difficult time getting the old barrel off. In the process the receiver was sligthly crushed. I worked on straightening and trueing up the receiver, making sure the bolt sled freely in the receiver. The new barrel was slimmer and there was a lot of space in the barrel chanel. So I had to grind out the bedding and wood to get the receiver and barrel to sit lower in the stock. I bedded the complete barrel channel. I'm still breaking the barrel in. The last two groups fired were right at an inch at 100 yards, with Federal Game Shock 50gr JHP

March 14, 2012, 05:23 AM	#2
wachtelhund1 Senior Member Join Date: January 4, 2007 Location: pelican lake, WI Posts: 413	H&R 700 .22 mag Here is an update on my H&R 700 .22 mag. This gun was in mint condition when I purchased, but with the new barrel on it was no longer orginal. So I thought what the heck lets go all the way. I didn't like the contour of the orginal stock, so I took a rasp and belt sander to it, completely reshaping it. Then checkered the stock and put a nice oil finish, 5 coats of Casey's stock oil. My first attempt at checkering. I've polished all the trigger parts and have it a 4 pounds with zero creep. The barrel is still not broken in but is shooting 1" groups with Federal Gameshock 50 gr. Here is how it looks today.

March 14, 2012, 05:30 AM	#3
hoytinak Senior Member Join Date: July 5, 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 5,721	Personally, I think it's a huge improvement...good job!