Remington's Model 700 Chassis Pistol Part 1

Remington 700 Chassis Pistol
Company	Remington Arms Company
Point of Origin	Ilion, New York
Order No.	96814
Type of Action	Bolt Action
Caliber	300 AAC Blk
Magazine Capacity	10
Barrel Length	10.5″ 5/8-24 Threaded Muzzle
Barrel Material	Carbon Steel
Barrel Finish	Cerakote
Rifling Twist	1:7″ RH
Receiver Material	Carbon Steel
Receiver Finish	CeraKote
Chassis Material	Aluminum
Chassis Finish	Hard Anodized
Mechanical Sights	None
Scope Mounting	Picatinny Rail
Weight of Firearm	5.95 Lbs
Adjustable Trigger Pull Range	3.0 – 5.0 Lbs
Overall Length	20.81″
Overall Height	7.93″
Safety	Two Position
MSRP	$1,020

My wife and I had a terrific weekend. Funny how the substance of that comment has changed over the years. Even ten years ago that would have meant weeks of business travel, culminating in business objectives met and celebrating with a few free hours on the weekend before heading out and doing it all over again. Now, my wife and I spend our time together and we work on a lot of home projects.

This past weekend, we got a wood chipper running that has been silent for the past three years and we recharged the air conditioner in our kick around vehicle, restoring its status as an oasis in 90°F weather. With a little effort, and $16 worth of parts, we were spared the $900 cost of a new chipper and a $20 canister of R-134a fixed the A/C and and saved a $150 visit to a local shop to have it serviced. 

We finished up with tending vegetable and flower gardens, finished sharpening a bunch of blades for the table saw amd got the pulleys on the band saw sorted so I no longer have to dodge spirals of spinning death every time I make a step stool. I’m old, my tool sets and machines are old, but hopefully, we all still serve with purpose. Firearms are an essential to self reliance and independence and the Remington 700 CP, as a practical matter, fits well into that scheme of things.

What is the Remington 700 Chassis Pistol?

The 700 CP marks Remington’s resumption of bolt action handguns manufacturing, something they did quite effectively between 1964 and 1994 with the XP-100. Chambered for centerfire rifle cartridges, the Remington 700 CP is intended for the handgun hunter, as well as for competitive and purely recreational shooting. What differentiates the Remington 700 CP from the earlier XP-100 is a significant degree of materials and mechanical evolution, but the similarities with the XP-100R pistol are unmistakable.

Below, the Remington 700 CP uses a Model 700 short action, complete with an X Mark Pro adjustable trigger, removable Picatinny rail, steel recoil lug sandwiched between the receiver and barrel, and a slender contoured hammer forged barrel that terminates in 5/8-24 threads. The M-Lock compatible handguard is secured to the chassis with two fastener and is not secured to the barrel or to a barrel nut; the barrel fully floats beyond the receiver.

The chassis mounts a Magpul MAID pistol grip that is compatible with all MAID accessories. The chassis utilizes the cross brand standard AICS magazine system, in this case a 10 round MDT poly magazine. The large can’t-miss-it tab forward of the trigger guard releases the magazine when desired and is well shielded from accidental release. Two graded fasteners locate the receiver to the chassis.

A look at the bedding side of the chassis. The receiver is supported at the contact areas surrounding the chassis toreceiver fasteners (A) with no other contact. The relieved area at the end of the receiver (B) locates the barreled action’s recoil lug. Fasteners secure the handguard at (c). The support pad (D) is for the handguard. All aluminum pieces are hard coat Anodized, all steel piece are black Cerakote finished. Essentially, all of the changes from the old XP-100 series pistol represent upgrades to accuracy, strength, longevity, versatility and ease of shooting.

The Remington 700 CP compared to other early standards…

This is a very typical hunting handgun that is chambered for rifle type cartridges. In the case of this Contender, it is chambered for the 30-30 WCF. Limitations are a pressure ceiling of approximately 45,000 psi, the need to break the action to eject, load and cock and to manually thumb the hammer before taking each shot. Aftermarket barrels or custom work is required to mount a brake or silencer. The standard Remington 700 CP has none of these limitations as shipped from the factory.

“The bolt handle should be on the left”. Yeah… not really

After a good deal of time carrying and shooting the Remington 700 CP in surrounding woodland and at the range, I can’t believe anyone other than a lefty… anatomically, not politically, would want the bolt handle on the left side. I suspect the criticism may be coming from people mimicking comments they read about the mid grip XP-100 and did not considering the 700 CP’s rear grip location. I don’t know. Just spitballing here. The center of balance for the 700 CP is approximately where, below, my left hand is placed. The position is even more suitable with the full mag and silencer in place. Grasping the pistol by the grip with the right hand, while attempting to work the bolt with the left, would extend six pounds of dead weight forward, supported only by the wrist.

I carried the 700 CP as pictured. No, not with my arm sticking out, but using the left hand to carry the weight and the right hand only for secondary support and to operate  the safety, changing mags and cycling the bolt. This worked particularly well even shooting off hand with a red dot sight mounted. With the scope mounted, particularly at higher magnification, I rested the pistol anywhere along the handguard, secured the pistol with my left hand as pictured, then operated the firearm with the right.

It took fifteen minutes to set up the Remington 700 to my preferences; install and boresight a long eye relief 2x-7x handgun scope and screw on an Accurate Arms Jaeger 30 hunting silencer. The red dot setup for deer hunting would have easily been good for 100 yards, but the pistol’s accuracy was to be tested and I wanted to evaluate the pistol, not my eyesight.

If I was going to add anything beyond a sight system and silencer it would be a sling, and the 700 CP provides lots of locations for affixing a sling. A bipod is also an easy install, but they are not for me. I’ve flopped down in a prone position with a bipod mounted, only to find an obstructed view of the target. Shooting stick again, for me, are like a wobbly camera tripod and a waste of time. I’d rather rest pm a backpack, tree limb, convenient rock, or the side of an extended leg as a rest when necessary.

Shooting personality

The Remington 700 CP is built around a twin lug, 90° lift Model 700 short action, which makes for a longer bolt throw than a tri lobe 60° action. For me, the difference is academic unless you’re participating in an “I can cycle my bolt faster than you” contest as I have never looked back at a missed shot at a deer and thought, “If only I had a rifle with a tri lobe bolt head and 60° lift”. The magazine centers and queues each round for the push feed bolt. Chambering is smooth and with little resistance and once the bolt is closed, the cartridge casehead is encased in three concentric rings of steel; bolt head, barrel and receiver.

Shooting my Contender with even a 10″ 222 Remington barrel installed is always a treat.The muzzle blast and brilliant muzzle flash are… invigorating. I can almost hear Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries with every trigger pull. With 45-70 barrel in place I am always stuck at the intersection of “I hope I didn’t spring the frame with that handload” and “Ow!… Ow! Damn”. Not so with the Remington 700 CP in 300 AAC Blackout. A little muzzle rise, a little push back and moderate report. With the Jaeger 30 silencer in place, moderate becomes modest and subsonic is quiet enough not to disturb nap time.

For the sake of being repetitive… I ran a fair representation of 300 AAC Blackout ammo through the Remington, both factory and handloads, light to heavy bullet and supersonic and subsonic.

The AAC Jaeger 30 hunting silencer stayed put and actually ran quite cool. Noise reduction was significant, even with supersonic loads. Accuracy was essentially the same, excellent, suppressed or not. Subjectively, I don’t believe the Jaeger 30 reduced sound levels as effectively as my AAC SR-7, but the Jaeger 30 is half the price and it is rated for use with a 24″ barrel 300 Winchester Magnum. As a hunting silencer, it is a good one.