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Remington 700 LTR

Coming from a precision shooting background I tend to get a fair amount of questions from people about what kind of rifle they should buy to get started in this particular discipline of shooting, and typically, I recommend a Remington 700.  If this conversation takes place at my local shooting range, then invariably some guy pretending to be a “former military sniper” or some other expert in the field jumps in and recommends some other rifle. 

Now let me start off by saying that I do not claim to know everything there is to know about precision shooting and really don’t consider myself an expert in it either.  However, I do have a fair amount of training and a lot of trigger time behind scoped rifles of various manufacturers and calibers. About 90% of that training and trigger time is behind a Remington 700 action of some kind and the model that I currently prefer is the Light Tactical Rifle or LTR.

Remington 700 LTR

Specifications

Caliber .308 WIN (7.62 x 51 NATO)
Overall Length 40.5″
Barrel Length 20″
Rifling 1/12
Magazine Capacity 4
Weight (without scope, etc) 7.5 lbs
MSRP $1230 (Street $950-$1100)

Features

Remington designed the 700-LTR as a more compact and lighter weight version of the popular 700-P that has been the standard precision rifle for most law enforcement agencies in the US since the late 80’s, with variations of it in use by the US Military for just as long.  It is built on the standard Remington 700 series action and features a 20″ fluted heavy barrel and is fitted in a “trimmed down” HS Precision stock that is unique to the LTR model.  The LTR features shave approximately 1.5 lbs off the weight of the gun from the 700-P model.

While 1.5 lbs might not seem like a huge weight savings it is noticeable when you do a side by side comparison to the larger 700-P, and the shorter 20″ barrel makes carrying the rifle on a sling much easier, especially for the vertically challenged folks like myself.

The trigger in the 700-LTR can vary based on the age of the gun.  The earlier models featured the adjustable X-Mark Pro trigger while the newer versions have the 40X model trigger out of the Remington Custom Shop.  My rifle features the 40X trigger and it has a very crisp break with no noticeable over travel.  There pull weight can be adjusted on both triggers and on my particular rifle it was set at 3.5 lbs from the factory and has not been changed.  I do have experience with the X-Mark Pro trigger in a 700-SPS Tactical that I own and it is still a decent trigger but is not nearly as crisp as the 40X trigger in my LTR.

As I mentioned earlier the stock on the 700-LTR is a trimmed down version of the stock on the 700-P and is made by HS Precision.  It features a full-length aluminum bedding block and has two forward mounted sling studs for mounting a bi-pod and sling. Length of pull and comb height are all fixed and non-adjustable on the LTR stock.  Overall the stock is a great design that keeps the weight down and when combined with the action makes for a well-balanced rifle.  The only area I wish they had left alone is in the palm swell area.  I prefer the larger palm swell of the full size 700-P stock over the LTR stock.

Function and Reliability

Since we are discussing a Remington 700 series bolt-action rifle there is not a lot to report in this department other than the gun is 100% reliable.  The action is smooth, it feeds from the factory BDL magazine without issue, and goes bang each and every time I pull the trigger.  Ejection and extraction has also been flawless. Honestly I wouldn’t expect anything less from a Remington 700.

Accuracy

Remington 700 LTR

Remington 700 LTR

A precision rifle review is not complete without talking accuracy, and the LTR will definitely hold it’s own with some high end custom bolt rifles given the right ammo and shooter. The factory paperwork that came with my LTR claims sub MOA accuracy out of the box and that is a claim that the LTR will back up over and over with just about any ammo you feed it.  My gun mostly ingests 168gr Remington Premier Match and has always shot .5 MOA or under with this ammo in both 3 shot and 5 shot groups.

Knowing that someone who purchases this rifle might decide to use it for more than target shooting I decided to see how it would perform with a non-match round geared more towards hunting medium sized game such as the ever popular white tail deer we have roaming the mountains where I live.  For this test I picked a box of Federal Power-Shok ammo with a 150 gr soft point bullet.  After adjusting for a slight change in the zero from the 168 gr to the 150 gr round I shot three 5 shot groups at 100 yards and was surprised that the gun is still a sub MOA gun, with my best group coming in around ¾ MOA and my worst being just a hair over 1 MOA with a called flyer that was all on me and not the gun.

Wrapping Up

The Remington 700 LTR is one of the best entry-level bolt action precision rifles you can buy for the money.  It’s lightweight and compact enough to fill multiple roles including varmint hunting and medium sized game hunting while still capable of precision target shooting with sub MOA accuracy. There is also a huge aftermarket for the rifle allowing you to modify it to fit your needs as your pocketbook and skills allow. Again I do not consider myself to be at the expert level in this field but the Remington 700 platform is a solid, proven platform that should serve you well.

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7 Responses to Remington 700 LTR

  1. Rumblestrip January 7, 2014 at 2:28 pm #

    Can it be called “Tactical” if it doesn’t have a threaded barrel for a suppressor? For the same money I think I’d still go for the FN TSR XP, even knowing the FN is 1lb heavier

    • Robbie January 7, 2014 at 3:33 pm #

      I like the FN rifles. They are based off the Winchester Mod 70 and it is a very nice action. A friend of mine has one and it is a excellent shooting gun. If you are set on the FN get the SPR. The Hogue OverMolded stock on the TSR XP is junk. I have a Remington 700 SPS-T that came with that stock and it is terrible.

      • Butch Baumgarner February 7, 2015 at 7:34 pm #

        You are in error to say hogue stock is same as hogue stock on your remington. Hogue stock on fn tsr has full length aluminum bedding block that takes most of the flex out of the stock. MY fn-tsr 308 shoots consistant .4 to .5 moa at 200 yds and have no issue with flex when shooting with harris bi-pod.I also have a 700 ltr-dm in 308 and love them both. Handload 155gr hornady amax with 44grs imr 8208 xbr. Good review, thank you!

    • Jordan January 9, 2014 at 10:01 pm #

      Can anything be called tactical from climbing pants to backpacks becuase they have molle straps? I think the tactical appendage should be relaxed in its application as more what the actual use is of the object in question.

  2. Nathan Gilbert February 28, 2014 at 11:35 am #

    I owned a 700 P in .308 for a few years a while back. It was one of the only bolt action rifles I’ve ever owned and I thought it was really nice. Downsides to it are the weight, it was seriously hefty, I don’t remember exact lbs but enough to make it difficult to handle off-hand or hike with. Other con was the 26″ barrel which was just to long. That said, after getting rid of it I’ve missed it ever since and will replace it at some point with another 700 when I get the chance.

  3. danny June 19, 2014 at 6:03 pm #

    Hey, I own a remmy 700 LTR and since your an armorer maybe you can answer me a question. I am looking to convert the stock “magazine” to a detachable magazine. Are you aware of any drop in replacement trigger guard/magazine wells for this gun? I see one made by remington for the 700 on brownells, but not clear if it fits this stock? do you know, or know anyone else I can ask?

    • Steve July 24, 2014 at 4:57 pm #

      Danny, I have a Remington 700 LTR and installed a detachable magazine. Since the rifle came with the HS Precision Stock, I went with HS Precision detachable magazine set-up.
      Went online to HS Precision’s website, ordered replacement trigger/ magazine. Unit arrived and took out the two stock trigger screws. Pulled out old and replaced with new and put both screws back in. There was no fitting or removing of any material to get new unit to fit. Everything went in and unit has worked flawlessly with over 400 rounds down range since! No sense in going with another brand stay with HS Precision. Unit did cost about $300. That comes with new detachable trigger unit and one five round magazine. I purchased another five and ten round magazine.