Remington 721 for a custom gun

[doeroller]

I have an old 721 in .270 and would like to rebarrel to another caliber as a summer project. Is this a suitable action to use or is it "too much sugar for a dime". I plan on changing the stock and the trigger. Can this be done cost effectively.  Chuck

[Siskiyou]

It is a good action.  A very good project action.

[kyelkhunter3006]

It should be a fine custom action, as long as it's in serviceable condition.  I think that the 721 is close enough to the modern 700 to use those stocks, but I'm not sure.  Timney probably makes an aftermarket trigger for it.  Any good gunsmith can rebarrel it without much trouble.  What caliber are you planning on rebarreling to?

[gunnut69]

I rebarreled a 721 in 30-06 to 270 and converted to DBM. The bottom metal came from a M700 BDL and was bought on EBay. The 721's and M700 long actions are identical actions with different bottom metal. The differences in the bottom metal might preclude swapping stocks but they can usually be made to fit with a bit of work.. The M700 short action is likewise identical to the M722.. The 725 is a different animal more akin to the M30S than a M700

[Catfish]

Excellant action. The lock time on it is faster than on the 700 Rem. action. Rumor is that Rem. dropped the 721 action, which was their cheap action, because bench rest shooters were building their guns on the 721 action instead of the 700 action, because of the faster lock time.

[doeroller]

The closest gunsmith to me has 2 chambering reamers that have my attention: 338-06 Ackley and 6.5-06 Ackley. What do you think? To keep with the nostalgia a 300 H&H? Would it work? With the magnum case?

[NONYA]

pics?

[kyelkhunter3006]

For the magnum, you'd have to have the smith open the bolt face, or get a new bolt with a magnum face.  That might cost more $$$ than it's worth for the trouble.  If you want classic, how about a 7x57?