Soon I will come into possession of a 721 in .30-06 that belonged to my father-in-law. It has been used only intermittently since his death in 1995 and hasn't been shot at all in about 10 years. I've promised that I will restore it, something I will gladly do as it will be a work of love for me and a great privilege.

Are there any areas I should be aware of that can be problem spots? From everything I've been able to read these are some pretty darned solid rifles. In over 40 years of firearms experience I don't recall ever having handled or shot one. Plenty of Model 700s, just never the predecessors.

I'm considering putting the original stock aside for safe keeping and putting it in a Boyd's Featherweight Thumbhole of something similar. It would also help me with the recoil. Not that I'm recoil sensitive, more that I have sustained injuries to my back and spine that make me cautious of stressing it more than I can avoid.

I'll post photos once I have the rifle in hand.

Sounds like a plan...

Here's a photo of the rifle that was sent to me earlier.

Just picked the rifle up today. From the barrel code it was manufactured in June of 1948. The metal is nearly pristine, with 90%+ bluing. The only discoloration is on the bolt handle, a very light patina from years of handling. The original owner (my wife's dad) reshaped the comb area by narrowing it to make it easier for him to get behind the scope - he was a big, burly guy so that makes total sense. It needs a replacement recoil pad as the one that was on it had hardened then met its demise at the hands of a puppy. I'll probably be refinishing the wood as well as installing a new pad.

This is a gorgeous rifle, one I'm proud to be able to work on. Restoring it is going to be a work of love.

Well, I just finished pulling the action from the stock and giving everything a good cleaning. As I stated above everything is in near-new condition, absolutely amazing shape for a rifle made nearly 70 years ago! That includes the trigger mechanism.

The original, two sear, connector equipped, folded stamped steel trigger mechanism.

Everything is working perfectly as far as I can tell. I disassembled it and cleaned out the fossilized grease (sure looked like factory original to me) and relubed the parts. After reassembly everything worked smoothly with no hint of any issues. Nothing I can do will make it malfunction, nor can I make the firing pin drop when the safety is taken off. As far as I am able to determine the trigger mechanism is working 100% correctly.

My quandary is do I leave it as-is, replace the two-piece sear with a later single piece, or replace the entire trigger assembly with a newer one such as a Timney? Suggestions or advice?

Tough call. Don't know if the 721 has any collector status but a Timney trigger should improve groups. Wonder how many lb. trigger ya got there now? Friend likes the timney on his but I thought the stock trigger on my 84 made 700 is pretty decent with no creep. Does break very well. Best $340 I ever spent. Afraid to look at what a BDL goes for now.

Before I cleaned it I'd estimate the pull at 8 or 9 pounds. After cleaning and reassembly it's closer to 4 or 5. Not going to go any lower than that on it. There is a tiny bit of creep but nothing to lose any sleep over.

Tarasdad,

I have a 721 made in 1947, similar condition as to how you describe yours. Mine has the original trigger group and breaks at around 4.5 lbs. As a hunting rifle it is more than adequate. 1.5 MOA with handloads at 100 yds. As they say if this gun could talk. Purchased by my Uncle, passed down to my father and then to me. It has taken many white tails since coming into the family. I would be hard pressed to put a number to the total but certainly more than 35. I would leave the trigger as is and use her for hunting or casual shooter. You have a great original firearm. Good Luck.

Zg

I do plan to take it out to the range as-is. Well, as-is once there's a new recoil pad installed. Not to thrilled to find out what the recoil is like with a sharp-edged wood stock all on its lonesome.

Please post a pic or 2 when you get the new pad install and don't forget to provide a range report.

Zg

I was finally able to get the proper cleaning gear for this rifle. Just spent the past 45 minutes cleaning it - 3 wet and 15 dry patches, plus scrubbing with a bronze brush to get it totally clean. I have the feeling it hasn't been properly cleaned since my father-in-law passed away.

Still haven't been able to do anything about the pad yet. I may just end up putting a slip-on pad on it for now, until I can afford to have my local gunsmith put a proper pad on. I don't have the tools or experience to do it myself. At least a slip-on pad will allow me to shoot it. I'm also still considering a Boyd's stock and pillar bedding. That may wait until after I put a Timney trigger on it though.

I also need to do something about the scope it came with. It's a Simmons Pro 50 2.5-10x50 WA, but the eye relief is so short that you really have to crawl up the stock to get a full field of view, and that's without a pad in place! I've been looking at possible replacements but the more I look the more confused I get! I need something that either has a longer section of tube between the turrets and front bell or longer eye relief. Being on fixed income due to disability doesn't help, as my max budget for a new scope is $200 - and that 's stretching it. I'd thought about using an offset front ring but am concerned that it could cause ejection issues, as the front base already overhangs the ejection port by about 1/4" or so. What do you folks think? Would the offset ring be a problem? Any suggestions for a scope I might look at?

As far as a scope The Redfield Revenge 3x9-40 is priced around $170 and sometimes a bit less in my area. Nikon also has a line of under $200 models. If that trigger is around 4 lbs now that is not bad at all in my opinion. See what ya mean by eye relief. I would check with the LGS you are familiar with as far as proper mounting of base-scope. Hopefully they will have the correct suggestions. Nice looking rifle.

Question regarding the stock. I know Boyd's makes a few styles to fit but I was thinking about using a synthetic stock until I can get the original refinished and a pad installed. None of the affordable synthetics are made for the 721, but all have models for the 700. I'm pretty sure modifying the inletting for the 721 would be simple enough, but there is one thing that I can't for the life of me figure out...

Would I use a stock for the ADL or the BDL? As many Remington 700 rifles that I sold over the years working at a major gun store I simply can't remember what the bottom inletting differences were! Now if it were a Winchester Model 70 I'd be set since those were my preferred bolt-action rifles. But as many Remingtons as I handled over the years I never owned one, aside from my Nylon 66.

So, which do I choose? ADL or BDL?

Tarasdad wrote:I was finally able to get the proper cleaning gear for this rifle. Just spent the past 45 minutes cleaning it - 3 wet and 15 dry patches, plus scrubbing with a bronze brush to get it totally clean. I have the feeling it hasn't been properly cleaned since my father-in-law passed away.

Still haven't been able to do anything about the pad yet. I may just end up putting a slip-on pad on it for now, until I can afford to have my local gunsmith put a proper pad on. I don't have the tools or experience to do it myself. At least a slip-on pad will allow me to shoot it. I'm also still considering a Boyd's stock and pillar bedding. That may wait until after I put a Timney trigger on it though.

I also need to do something about the scope it came with. It's a Simmons Pro 50 2.5-10x50 WA, but the eye relief is so short that you really have to crawl up the stock to get a full field of view, and that's without a pad in place! I've been looking at possible replacements but the more I look the more confused I get! I need something that either has a longer section of tube between the turrets and front bell or longer eye relief. Being on fixed income due to disability doesn't help, as my max budget for a new scope is $200 - and that 's stretching it. I'd thought about using an offset front ring but am concerned that it could cause ejection issues, as the front base already overhangs the ejection port by about 1/4" or so. What do you folks think? Would the offset ring be a problem? Any suggestions for a scope I might look at?

I recently got a 721 in a .270 Winchester made in '52.... It had a ventilated ribbed recoil pad that was dry rotted... so I found a checkered aluminum plate on ebay....it took some doing to contour the butt to form to the plate. Polyurethaned it and it looks good. Urethaned it on bare wood and it comes out looking original as far as fiinsh. As far as the trigger.... I messed with it trying to increase the creep. Didn't feel comfortable hunting with it. After playing with it for awhile I came to the conclusion that the creep had to stay where it originally was... and the adjustment screws were sealed, but I was able to increase the pull from 3-1/2 to 5 pounds. If anyone here can give me some advice on how to increase creep with out having trouble with the bolt being stiff to open... I'm all ears.