Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter, Tested and Reviewed

The Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter was introduced again in August of 2022, to a gaggle of high-profile gun writers on the FTW Ranch in Texas. A flurry of post-bankruptcy enthusiasm whirled round this sharp-looking new Remington that promised to be all the things Mannequin 700 shooters wished it to be. It represented new power and a modernized rifle for a reborn firm, climbing out of the ashes of the defunct Remington Arms. This spark of power by no means actually took to flame although, and months of anticipation turned years. I by no means noticed a single further assessment or proof that the Alpha 1 ever shipped.

Ultimately, I forgot in regards to the 700 Alpha 1. That was, till I began wanting via among the new manufacturing Remington rifles on native retailer cabinets. I started researching on-line and noticed the rifle listed on web sites in all cartridge choices, however in out-of-stock or coming-soon standing. It appeared that the existence of the Alpha 1 was nonetheless an anticipatory facade. Then I discovered some. I ordered one in 6.5 Creedmoor, and it arrived a couple of days later. I had my very own Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter to check. 

Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter Specs

See It

• Motion: Two-lug M700
• Inventory: AG Composites, gray speckled
• Cartridge: 6.5 CM (examined), .223 Rem., .22/250 Rem., .243 Win., 7mm-08, .308 Win., .270 Win., .30/06 Springfield, 7mm Rem. Magazine., 7mm PRC, and .300 Win. Magazine.
• Capability: 4+1 (in 6.5 CM)
• Weight: 7 kilos, 3 ounces (measured)
• Set off: Timney Elite Hunter, straight shoe, 2 kilos, 9 ounces (measured)
• Barrel: 1:8 twist, 22-inch metal, fluted, black Cerakote end, threaded ⅝-24
• Size: 41.75 inches
• Worth: $2,035

Key Options

• High quality composite inventory
• Toolless bolt takedown
• Aluminum backside metallic with BDL-style journal
• Lengthy journal field
• Bolt launch on left facet of receiver

Assessment Highlights

• Good accuracy, however explicit about ammo choice
• Good ergonomics and appears
• Bolt launch and takedown are improved over normal M700
• Bolt may be very sticky and lug engagement is just too tight
• Journal doesn’t feed effectively
• We’re undecided these rifles are literally being produced at present

Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter Accuracy

When contemplating any rifle, accuracy is without doubt one of the most extremely valued efficiency traits. Anybody anticipating manufacturing fashions of this new pinnacle M700 desires to know the way it shoots. My 700 Alpha 1 is an attention-grabbing case, and I might qualify its accuracy pretty much as good, however inconsistent. If that sounds oxymoronic, I’ll clarify. 

I examined 11 various kinds of ammo within the rifle, which averaged 1.37 inches total for 20-shot group sizes. For a searching rifle, that’s good accuracy. The attention-grabbing half is that it shot some ammunition extraordinarily effectively and different stuff poorly. Over the tens of 1000’s of rounds we’ve fired for accuracy testing up to now couple years specializing in bigger pattern sizes, we’ve got noticed that barrels that are actually nice shooters are fairly constant. They’ll shoot all the things effectively and choose hundreds fantastically. 

This Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter printed among the tightest teams I’ve seen from a searching rifle with each Hornady– and Federal-loaded 143-grain ELD-X bullets, and in addition carried out effectively with Sierra 140-grain MatchKing and GameKing ammo. But it surely printed middling two-inch 20-shot aggregates (1.91 to 2.09 inches to be precise) with 140-grain Hornady Match, Federal Centerstrike, Fusion Tipped, and Freedom Munitions match ammunition — all of which shoot precisely in our management rifles.

Right here’s a extra granular take a look at the Remington 700 Alpha 1 100-yard accuracy information:

A Notice On Outside Life’s Accuracy Testing Protocol

It’s possible you’ll discover that, whereas we embrace five-shot group sizes in our accuracy information, we concentrate on 20-shot group measurement and imply radius as major accuracy values. It is because we’ve discovered five-shot group sizes to be undependable and to not precisely characterize a rifle’s true degree of precision. For a deeper dive and clarification of this, take a look at the podcast episode Your Groups are Too Small from Hornady. You’ll additionally see us utilizing mean radius as an accuracy metric. Imply radius is a extra helpful worth than group measurement for evaluating accuracy information as a result of it’s the common distance by which pictures miss the group middle — and takes each shot under consideration. It doesn’t simply measure the worst two impacts and ignore all the things else.

Options of the Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter

As I hoped, the 700 Alpha 1 that arrived at my native FFL is a sharp-looking rig. It’s actually a reduce above an ordinary Remington 700 BDL. However is it all the things a Remington 700 shooter desires it to be? In any case, through the years that Remington has floundered into chapter 11 and been reborn, the market of M700 clone rifles and actions has blossomed. Rifles from Christensen, Bergara, Springfield, and Weatherby all have a powerful presence with high quality rifles within the area. Moreover, builder actions from Zermatt Arms, Defiance, Aero Precision, Bat Machine, and others could be user-assembled with pre-fit barrels and are simpler to get than ever. 

The Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter isn’t a light-weight gun, but it surely has good ergonomics and balances effectively. It has a cylindrical motion with an enlarged ejection port and comes topped with a Picatinny rail. An enchancment over conventional M700 rifles is the bolt launch on the left rear of the receiver — a function that has grow to be roughly normal on M700-pattern rifles. Older fashions had a bolt launch positioned contained in the set off guard, simply in entrance of the set off shoe. The Alpha 1 has a sliding claw extractor in the fitting bolt lug, and the bolt physique is fluted. The bolt is definitely disassembled with out instruments, the bolt deal with is replaceable, and the motion is capped up entrance with a precision-ground recoil lug — we assume to scale back stress and create higher bolt-to-bore alignment.

Set off 

The Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter comes with an adjustable Timney Elite Hunter set off which has a flat shoe, and is surrounded by an aluminum set off guard, backside metallic, and BDL-style hinged floorplate. Flat set off footwear have grow to be common amongst precision rifle shooters and might enable a extra constant, crisp set off pull — significantly when put in on a rifle that makes use of a vertical pistol grip. In a inventory with a extra historically styled grip, that benefit doesn’t translate. Like we noticed a pair years again on Christensen’s Ridgeline Scout, the set off shoe geometry on the M700 Alpha 1 is a bit awkward. Set off pull itself is okay, however a curved shoe would work higher with the angled grip on its inventory.

Inventory and Backside metallic

The 700 Alpha 1 has a good-looking gray speckled inventory from AG Composites. It seems just like the AG Sportsman, or no less than an OEM model of it. RemArms specifies it as carbon fiber however, at 32 ounces, it’s a lot nearer in weight to AG’s fiberglass variant. With the coatings, I can’t inform for certain.

The inventory has a deep, flat-bottomed fore-end and sling swivel studs fore and aft. The 700 Alpha 1 has a lengthened journal field — in comparison with the usual short-action M700 — to accommodate longer cartridge total lengths, and it’s capped with what seems to be AG aluminum BDL backside metallic. All elements are of excellent high quality and on-par for the worth level of the rifle. The one actual flaw I seen is that the rear bedding pillar isn’t centered within the inletting for the underside metallic. Different issues I’d prefer to see improved are a smoother mix from recoil pad to butt inventory and to have the barrel sit extra evenly within the barrel channel. 

Barrel

My Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor sports activities a 22-inch sporter barrel that’s fluted, threaded ⅝-24 on the muzzle, and Cerakoted a satin black to match the receiver. It’s unspecified, however prone to be a button-rifled barrel, and mine is stamped with markings from the Ilion, NY manufacturing unit, which RemArms shuttered early in 2024. 

The Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter within the Wild

My coveted pattern of the 700 Alpha 1 proved to be correct, and I hoped it could be the optimum general-purpose searching rifle — ushering RemArms and the Remington 700 in the direction of a bountiful future. It has good ergonomics, high quality elements, and an improved function set, however I used to be disillusioned with the rifle’s dealing with and performance. Even contemporary out of hibernation from its brown and inexperienced field, the bolt was disappointingly sticky within the raceways, and it requires an extreme quantity of pressure to shut — even on an empty chamber. There are clearly some tolerance points, which was one of many causes the previous Remington Arms floundered within the fashionable period. 

When the journal is loaded with 4 rounds, the bolt drags closely on the highest cartridge case, and it typically has bother feeding. Additionally regarding, the final spherical within the journal tends to get caught nostril down and gained’t feed. I did quite a lot of testing within the chilly, making an attempt completely different lubricants and couldn’t ever get the rifle to function easily. In colder temperatures, near zero levels fahrenheit, the bolt turned even stickier and empty circumstances wouldn’t eject. The plunger ejector gave the impression to be functioning, however case rims would stick underneath the Sako-style extractor, angling out of the ejection port and wanted to be plucked by hand. 

The Alpha 1 Hunter’s good ergonomics and stability when fired from completely different positions, particularly on a game changer and tripod, couldn’t make up for its lack of ability to run easily and feed reliably. Contemplating that it is a premium-priced rifle, I felt a bit like a man who’s making an attempt to face up for actor Danny McBride’s character Kenny Powers within the present Eastbound and Down. It, and he, are simply not defensible. 

The Thriller of the Alpha 1

When the Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter was introduced, my keen inquiry to our capturing editor John Snow was met with a deflating “We’ll see.” His skepticism about this new gem was based mostly partly on some inside baseball, but additionally on the overall timeline and logistics of the brand new RemArms operations. He astutely theorized that the rifles that each gun author was swooning over had been possible put collectively from remnants from the previous Remington customized store moderately than real new manufacturing arms. The query was when, or if, RemArms would be capable to roll out the Alpha 1 to customers.

Although retailer web sites like Sportsman’s Warehouse record the complete array of Alpha 1 Hunters in all cartridge choices, they’re out of inventory. It wasn’t till I discovered mine on clearance for $1,450 on Brownells that I had affirmation of their existence. I obtained my rifle late in 2024, and it confirmed indicators of being saved in its field for a very long time. Slight bits of spot rust on the muzzle threads and screw heads — and a barrel from a manufacturing unit that had been closed for months — indicated that this hadn’t simply rolled off the road.

With additional investigation, I discovered Alpha 1 rifles accessible on Halfway and Gunbroker, ranging between $1,700 and $2,100. Apparently, the one chamberings I’ve been capable of finding are 6.5mm Creedmoor, .243 Win., 7mm-08, and .308. No non-standard bolt faces and no lengthy actions. This most likely implies that a manufacturing run was made, however that the rifles aren’t at present rolling out.

Will We See Extra Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter Rifles Quickly?

Although we’d like to see this rifle functioning effectively and rolled out en masse, we aren’t holding our breath. RemArms has been radio silent in regards to the standing of the Alpha 1, and even marketed cartridge choices aren’t monitoring with the market. The 7mm PRC is essentially the most fashionable chambering listed, and that cartridge was rolled out only a couple months earlier than the massive 700 Alpha 1 introduction of 2022. New Remington 783 and 700 rifles on retailer cabinets do have Georgia-marked barrels, however I’m seeing lots of these marked down on clearance too. It seems that the one firm constructing fewer of their flagship rifles is Kimber.

Last Ideas on the Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter

It’s unhappy to contemplate the world of American searching rifles and not using a wholesome Remington and the Remington 700, however I doubt the Alpha 1 will probably be what saves it. It’s a pleasant rifle with an up to date function set, however that’s not sufficient. Even when each chambering had been in inventory tomorrow, it has critical competitors. The steel-barreled Springfield Armory 2020 Boundary is basically the identical rifle, with the identical inventory, on the similar worth, besides it has QD sling cups, and M-Lok fore finish, a curved set off shoe, and smoother motion. In the interim, the Remington 700 clone market has surpassed what RemArms is producing — or not producing.

Even when the conclusion is probably going disappointing, it’s fascinating and thrilling to get ahold of a Remington 700 Alpha 1 Hunter. Somewhat than a brand new normal, it should possible find yourself a Remington fanatic’s sticky-bolted collector’s merchandise.

 

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