Remington’s Model 700 Chassis Pistol Part 2

With nasty politics permeating virtually public channels of communication, and political discourse falling to a new low, I decided to drop out and find a healthier endeavor, but only until election day. There is much greater satisfaction in cutting up a tomato from the garden for a dinner salad, than there ever was sparing with some jug head on social media. The tomatoes are almost there, peppers are on the way, onions are being actively consumed, and potatoes are on the way. Fresh picked herbs are used on a regular basis. My wife and I aren’t much in the way of farmers, but we can read instructions and experiment and it all seems to work out OK.

Exiting corporate life, I’d imagine, is a lot like getting out of prison. You leave behind all of those people you had to coexist with, all the constraints are gone, no competing for an easy job in the library or laundry, and no need to get a nifty face tattoo as initiation for the social circle of choice. You walk through that last door from inside to outside and all you can see is sunshine and unicorns.

Now? I can turn off my computer and make annoying people disappear and I feel productive. I can grow food for the table, fix machines and equipment, build things I used to pay others to build, and work on firearms and handload whenever I want. Hopefully, I can beat the resident opossums, raccoons, fox, and deer to harvesting the garden. Why am I saying all of this? Because I can.

Switching to a black silencer for more formal attire…

Generally, an Advanced Armament SR-7 silencer is used for 308 Winchester class cartridge and smaller, but I wanted to take a look at the lower cost AAC Jaeger 30. Checking with AAC tech support, I was told that the SR-7 would be the correct choice with a 10.5″ barrel as the Jaeger 30 is not rated for a short barrel. Actually, the Jaeger is rated down to a 9″ barrel for the 300 Blackout, down to 16″ for 7.62x39mm through 30-06 Springfield, and  down to 24″ for the 7mm Rem Mag and 300 Win Mag. Below, AAC SR-7 top, Jaeger 30 bottom.

There are a number of features that separate the Jaeger 30 Hunting silencer from the company’s SR-7. The jaeger 30 has an MSRP of $449.99. The Jaeger is 1.7″ longer than the SR-7 and about the same in diameter. The Jaeger’s monolithic core and outer tube are made of Type 3 hard coat anodized 7075 T6 aluminum, the mount is Grade 9 Titanium. The SR-7 has an MSRP of $949, its core is is made of Inconel® 718 a precipitation-hardening nickel-chromium alloy; high strength and corrosion resistance with good ductility up to 1300°F. The Jaeger is classified as a hunting silencer, meaning slow fire application with few rounds fired before cooling. The SR-7 is full auto fire rated.

The Jaeger 30 was used during data collection in Part 1, the SR-7 was used for Part 2. Subjectively, meaning I did not have the equipment in place to measure objectively, the Jaeger 30 did an excellent job, however, the SR-7 was perceived to be quieter. The Jaeger will be carried over to a 300 Win Mag project, which would be beyond the capacity of the SR-7, so both good products, each in their own place.

The starting line up

The cartridge created for the Remington XP-100 pistol is the Remington 221 Fireball. JD Jones created the 300 Whisper by opening the 221 Fireball case to accept a 0.308″ bullet. The 300 Blackout is a 0.015″ longer SAAMI standard version of the Whisper. So if the 300 Blackout seems perfectly at home in Remington’s upgraded/updated version of the XP-100, the Remington 700 Chassis Pistol, that would be expected.

The eleven bullets pictured were selected because I have handloaded them in concert with the 300 Blackout, and other cartridges, with good results. Weight may be a little misleading in regard to application. As an example, on the far left the Barnes TAC-TX FB 110 grain bullet is light for larger 30 calibers, but loaded as a 300 Blackout Barnes lists it for deer, hogs and personal defense. Immediately to the left of the Barnes bullet is a Speer TNT jacketed hollow point 125 grain is designed to do maximum damage to thin skinned varmints.

The 125 grain Hornady SST, distinguished by its red poly tip, is labeled for the deer hunter, the 130 grain Hornady soft point is strictly for thin skinned varmint. Adjacent is the 150 grain Hornady Interlock boat tail soft point. Hornady rates the latter for deer or elk and lists it for the AR-15 300 Blackout with a 16″ barrel at velocities that can be attained with the bolt action Remington CP and the Winchester 150 grain bullet next in line performs about the same.

Heavier bullet, at least in the three boat tails that follow work well at 165 grain, 168 grain and 175 grains. As an example, the Sierra 165 grain Boat Tail Soft Point is recommended for application where the muzzle velocity is 2500 fps, but no game is shot at muzzle velocity. The design of this bullet is for long range hunting and Sierra indicates that this bullet is made to reliable expand even at reduced velocity at a long distance. I see the 700 CP with these bullet weights shot closer in, although I know there are a good number of people who can hit consistently a long ways off.

The last two bullets are best reserved for subsonic loads in suppressed applications, but they can also be pushed to 1400 fps which, compared to another handgun loads is 100 fps faster than a high performance 41 Rem Mag 210 grain load and 300 fps faster than a high performance 200 grain 10mm Auto load. No expectation of full expansion, but a lot of penetration and near full weight retention.

Handloads that worked out well…

Warning: Bullet selections are specific, and loads are not valid with substitutions of different bullets of the same weight. Variations in bullet length will alter net case capacity,  pressure and velocity. Primer selection is specific and primer types are not interchangeable. These are maximum loads in my firearms and may be excessive in others. All loads should be reduced by 5% as a starting point for development where cartridges have greater than 40 grains in capacity and 10% for cartridges with less than 40 grain capacity following safe handloading practices as represented in established mainstream reloading manuals. Presentation of these loads does not constitute a solicitation for their use, nor a recommendation.

What is a silencer doing on a bolt action pistol?

My early exposure to the 300 Whisper came with a single shot pistol and exposure to the 300 Blackout came in a packaged short barrel bolt action rifle AAC used to offer, which was essentially a Remington Model Seven with a 16″ barrel and the SR-7 silencer.

Silencers on semi-autos do a good job of taking the edge off of report with supersonic ammunition and are relatively quiet with the exception of the action clanking and clacking with each shot. Then there is the fickle function aspect of low gas pressure and volume for carbine and pistol length gas systems. Bolt actions are near Hollywood movie silent with no other sounds to follow, they are accurate and they don’t need a very long barrel for these small capacity cartridges.

For a mature guy like myself, the Remington 700 CP means an improvement in accuracy over most rifles detined for woodland hunting, a reduction in weight in a package that can handle environmental extremes… Maine weather. I’m not a tree stand hunter, but I’d bet a firearm with this reach and power would be a good fit and of course for anyone backpacking into wilderness areas.

For folks who would like more of a varmint cartridge, the 700 CP is also available in 223 Remington and for those who want a bit more, there is the 308 Winchester version. The 308 Winchester version is supplied with a 12.5″ barrel. Terrific pistol for the hunter, made in the U.S.A. and yet another way to enjoy firearms.