The .308 Win is the final chambering for the M700 Classic. |
By Greg Rodriguez
I hunted hard for the ancient axis buck, stalking him in the searing summer heat, but he was always a step ahead. I eased through the cedar thicket for one last stalk. I had just about given up when Toby McCloud startled me back to life.
"There he is! Shoot!"
I looked up and saw the herd begin to charge through the cedars. The rifle came up instinctively, and I tracked the buck in my scope, praying for an opening in the brush. My prayer was answered when the buck passed through a small clearing. I swung ahead of him and touched the trigger.
Remington introduced the Limited Edition Series Model 700 Classic in 1981. Sporting a straight-combed walnut stock with a satin finish and crisp checkering, the Model 700 Classic looks like a "classic" rifle should. A thin rubber recoil pad and a polished blued barrel and action complete the classic look.
The rifle caught on fast. Shooters and hunters alike appreciated its clean lines. Collectors liked the fact that it was produced in limited quantities and often in odd calibers ranging from the diminutive .17 Remington to the hard-thumping .375 H&H. I've always regretted not purchasing one in .35 Whelen (1988) or .257 Roberts (1982). But when I learned that 2005 would mark the final year of production of this rifle, and that it would be chambered for the .308 Winchester, I just had to have one.
While not a tack driver with the three loads the author tested, the Model 700 Classic was plenty accurate for real-world hunting conditions. |
While all the Classics I've seen in the past were attractive, the rifle I received is exceptionally so. While not highly figured, its wood is very dark, which complements the blued steel. I topped the rifle with a Leupold 3-9x Compact riflescope in a set of Leupold QRW rings and bases. This scope was a perfect match for the trim rifle. I was so pleased with the good looks and lively feel of my new gun that I rushed out to sight it in so I could use it the following week on an exotic hunt.
I only had time to test three loads before my hunt. None shot great, but all were well under "minute of buck." While I was quite pleased with this rifle, there were a couple of things I would change.
First, the rifle needs a proper recoil pad. The thin rubber pad it comes with does nothing to tame recoil. I was also disappointed with the 8-pound trigger pull, which is not conducive to shooting tight groups. Fortunately, both are easily remedied. A gunsmith can tune the trigger and add the recoil pad you want.
These small points aside, the 700 Classic is a fine rifle. I was confident as I motored west on I-10 in pursuit of exotic game at the Serengeti Ranch.
Situated in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, the ranch offers world-class hunting for whitetails and exotics. Ranch manager Toby McCloud, an old friend, had just taken over at the Serengeti. He called to invite me out for a visit, to which I readily agreed. "Oh yeah," he added as I was about to hang up, "Be sure to bring a rifle."
Toby gave my son, Cole, and me a quick tour of the lodge, and then we headed out for the evening hunt. Just a few hundred yards from the lodge, we saw a pair of aoudad ewes sneaking through the brush. Toby wanted to reduce their numbers, so he asked me to take one. I dropped to a knee, raised the Model 700 Classic and sent a 165-grain Hornady through the aoudad's shoulders. It ran, but not far, piling up at the base of a tree.
An hour later, a fine blackbuck ram fell to another 165-grain Hornady as it walked toward an oak motte. With two animals down in two hours, I was optimistic when Toby said we were going to another part of the ranch to hunt an old axis buck he had been trying to take.
The author (left) and guide Toby McCloud with a nice blackbuck ram the author felled with the 700 Classic. |
We saw the buck several times that evening, but never long enough to get a shot. We were optimistic when we started out early the next morning. But as happens often with old axis bucks, he proved very elusive. We blew stalk after stalk, and with less than an hour of daylight left, we hadn't seen him since midafternoon. I had just about given up when Toby saw the herd running through the brush well ahead of us. I raised the little .308, tracked the buck and pressed the trigger when he broke into the opening.
"Did you get him?"
I wasn't sure how to answer Toby's question. The shot felt good, but running shots always make me nervous.
I walked toward the spot with my tracking dog, Tuffy. I didn't see any blood, but Tuffy surely smelled it. He pulled with all his might toward a tangle of cedars on the clearing's edge. I followed him into the brush and found the buck piled up at the base of a tree, not 10 yards from where he'd been when I'd pulled the trigger.
The buck was even bigger and older than we thought. His long, heavy horns would have made him a trophy in anyone's book, but I was taken with his massive body and grizzled, battle-scarred face. He was an ancient warrior, and like my Model 700, a classic that had reached the end of the line.
I was proud to have claimed him before the winter did, and even more proud to have outsmarted such a wily buck. But classics never truly die. That old axis buck will live on in my trophy room, and hopefully the Model 700 Classic will accompany my son and me in the deer woods for many years to come.
For more information on the Serengeti Ranch, visit www.serengetihuntingranch.com.
25 Years of Model 700 Classics
1981 7x57 Mauser
1982 .257 Roberts
1983 .300 H&H mag
1984 .250-3000 Savage
1985 .350 Rem Mag
1986 .264 Win Mag
1987 .338 Win Mag
1988 .35 Whelen
1989 .300 Weatherby
1990 .25-06 Rem
1991 7mm Weatherby Mag
1992 .220 Swift
1993 .222 Rem
1994 6.5x55 Swedish
1995 .300 Win Mag
1996 .375 H&H Mag
1997 .280 Rem
1998 8mm Rem Mag
1999 .17 Rem
2000 .223 Rem
2001 7MM-08 Rem
2002 .221 Rem Fireball
2003 .300 Savage
2004 8mm Mauser
2005 .308 Win
Greg Rodriguez
GunHunter Magazine - November 2005