27-02-2009, 01:52 AM
The 40-x series of rifles have been with us for about 40 years. The 40-x was the brainchild of Mike walker, one of "BIG GUNS" of remington in the 1960`s and avid benchrest shooter.
He wanted remington to have a Factory "Target" rifle that would beat anything in the field, including the famed Winchester M70/Target-Match.
Started in the early 60s The 40-x line has expanded over the years to include rifles well suited to Long range target varmintshooting, millitary sniping, and benchrest shooting.
There are now two series of 40-X : varmint/match rifles and benchrest rifles, and contrary to popular belief, there ARE distinct diffrences between the two.
Each 40-x series comes from the factory with a testtarget of two groups. The average of thiese two groups must meet the specifications requiret ....About .75" for 30 cal rifles and about .45" for the smaller calibers. keep in mind that these groups are just" proof groups" and no indication of what the rifles are capeble of. nor is the load written on the target, a special load for that gun. Remington has standard loads used for each caliber that they use to test the gun. These are NOT the best loads for the gun. So dont be dissapointet if your new 308 40x has two groups of 3/4".... it is capeble of under .20" all day long .
All of the Match/ Varmint grade 40-XBs regardlees whether single shoot or repeater are Marked (stamped) 40-X on the left side of the reciever, opposite of the ejection port. The "B" part of the designation is the last digit of the serial number"xxxxxxxB"
There are no Match rifles marked "40-XB"
The first 40-X rifles had carbon-steel recievers and cro-moly Barrels these date in from the early 60s . By 1965, the barrels were stainless, some years back the remington switched to stainless recievers for the 40XB match/varmint rifles, but not for the benchrest rifles.
All 40X series are made on the short action, There never was a long Action 40X.
In the early years there were two barrels weight, both 27,5" a medium ( similar contour to the varmint special but longer) called the H-1 and a straight heavy barrel called the H-2 The Current barrel. now there are only one contour, the straight heavy barrel.
The 40X rifles are available in single shot or repeater configurations. of the repeaters only the 308 are clip slotted at the factory, if you order a repeater in another caliber, like 223 or 22-250 it is not clip slottet.
The recievers use the same barrel threads and same dimensions as the standard actions, BUT the 40X series recievers are NOT taken from the standard production line and "trued" they are made (and serial numbered) in a differend facility.
The actions are NOT "blueprinted" ( There are no such thing as a blueprinted action, no matter what your local gunsmith says)
They are simply made true and square to spec, from the start. All the 40X rifles I have owned had both lugs mated, all screw holes were true and in line, and they were impeccable.
My secund 40XB a 308 40XBR ® for repeater was born in 1966 and has a serial number of 0466xxb... a 40XBBR I bought last year had a number of 0631xxb. that is 16.400-ish rifle in the 40X series made in 35 years , for an average of 470 a year or 9 a week. and you want to know why there is a 10 month wait.?
The standard barrel lenght for the 40X is 27,5" but they can be special ordered with shorter barrel, I have seen some 26" and 24" from the factory, the early cowns were flat-faced, with very small 45 degree counter sink type crown(but done on a lathe) the curent crown is full faced, a concave dish crown. boyh are equally accurate.
As to weight ...10.25 pounds .. HA (as pat would say). the barreled action alone weights 8.5 pounds(9 pounds for single shoots) add 3 ponds for a stock and you are up to 11,5 to 12 pounds.
By the time you have scoped it, you are in the 13 plus pounds.
The benchrest rifles are 40-XBBR, and they are marked as follows : the serial number XXXXXXB and the notation of "remington Model 40XBR is electro etched on the let side of the reciever, opposite of the ejection port, The electro etching for the model number was specified ( tominimize the metal stress) from the very first BR actions, and has been that way ever since, all 40XXBR actions were and still are carbon steel, NOT stainless and they are all single shots.
The early 40-XBBR were very heavy 26" barrels( my 222 Mag 40-XBBR is a brute. The the benchrest association changed there weight clasifications, so remington went to shorter barrels to drop a lot of weight, for a while 20" barrels were in vogue, but now they are 24" unless ordered shorter.
The stocks for the 40-XBBR are made by mc millan, and are a special completely foam filled shell stock(to cut down weight) so the BR guns come in at 10.5 pounds, but if you re-stock them with a "real" stock they go up to 12-13 pounds.
Both the single shot match and the BR can be had with a very good triple lever 2 oz trigger (it has no safety) . The repeaters come with a very good double lever( ajustable from the outside) target trigger with safety, wich looks like the standard 700 trigger but is diffrend.
In 66, about twenty 40X s in 6mm-international were made for the AMU to compete in the olympics. These had a special 2 oz trigger that had ajustible LOP hand build into them, but all the rest of the triggers over the years have been the same.
That is pretty much the story of the 40X rifles... They are exelent rifles ... better then most "custom build" rifles and even though going for 2000 dollers (2001 prices) They are cheaper then many cusom rifles , because of the 10 months wait, the resale is wery high, if you get one you wont be disapointed.
Sniper Country Article
who dares wins
He wanted remington to have a Factory "Target" rifle that would beat anything in the field, including the famed Winchester M70/Target-Match.
Started in the early 60s The 40-x line has expanded over the years to include rifles well suited to Long range target varmintshooting, millitary sniping, and benchrest shooting.
There are now two series of 40-X : varmint/match rifles and benchrest rifles, and contrary to popular belief, there ARE distinct diffrences between the two.
Each 40-x series comes from the factory with a testtarget of two groups. The average of thiese two groups must meet the specifications requiret ....About .75" for 30 cal rifles and about .45" for the smaller calibers. keep in mind that these groups are just" proof groups" and no indication of what the rifles are capeble of. nor is the load written on the target, a special load for that gun. Remington has standard loads used for each caliber that they use to test the gun. These are NOT the best loads for the gun. So dont be dissapointet if your new 308 40x has two groups of 3/4".... it is capeble of under .20" all day long .
All of the Match/ Varmint grade 40-XBs regardlees whether single shoot or repeater are Marked (stamped) 40-X on the left side of the reciever, opposite of the ejection port. The "B" part of the designation is the last digit of the serial number"xxxxxxxB"
There are no Match rifles marked "40-XB"
The first 40-X rifles had carbon-steel recievers and cro-moly Barrels these date in from the early 60s . By 1965, the barrels were stainless, some years back the remington switched to stainless recievers for the 40XB match/varmint rifles, but not for the benchrest rifles.
All 40X series are made on the short action, There never was a long Action 40X.
In the early years there were two barrels weight, both 27,5" a medium ( similar contour to the varmint special but longer) called the H-1 and a straight heavy barrel called the H-2 The Current barrel. now there are only one contour, the straight heavy barrel.
The 40X rifles are available in single shot or repeater configurations. of the repeaters only the 308 are clip slotted at the factory, if you order a repeater in another caliber, like 223 or 22-250 it is not clip slottet.
The recievers use the same barrel threads and same dimensions as the standard actions, BUT the 40X series recievers are NOT taken from the standard production line and "trued" they are made (and serial numbered) in a differend facility.
The actions are NOT "blueprinted" ( There are no such thing as a blueprinted action, no matter what your local gunsmith says)
They are simply made true and square to spec, from the start. All the 40X rifles I have owned had both lugs mated, all screw holes were true and in line, and they were impeccable.
My secund 40XB a 308 40XBR ® for repeater was born in 1966 and has a serial number of 0466xxb... a 40XBBR I bought last year had a number of 0631xxb. that is 16.400-ish rifle in the 40X series made in 35 years , for an average of 470 a year or 9 a week. and you want to know why there is a 10 month wait.?
The standard barrel lenght for the 40X is 27,5" but they can be special ordered with shorter barrel, I have seen some 26" and 24" from the factory, the early cowns were flat-faced, with very small 45 degree counter sink type crown(but done on a lathe) the curent crown is full faced, a concave dish crown. boyh are equally accurate.
As to weight ...10.25 pounds .. HA (as pat would say). the barreled action alone weights 8.5 pounds(9 pounds for single shoots) add 3 ponds for a stock and you are up to 11,5 to 12 pounds.
By the time you have scoped it, you are in the 13 plus pounds.
The benchrest rifles are 40-XBBR, and they are marked as follows : the serial number XXXXXXB and the notation of "remington Model 40XBR is electro etched on the let side of the reciever, opposite of the ejection port, The electro etching for the model number was specified ( tominimize the metal stress) from the very first BR actions, and has been that way ever since, all 40XXBR actions were and still are carbon steel, NOT stainless and they are all single shots.
The early 40-XBBR were very heavy 26" barrels( my 222 Mag 40-XBBR is a brute. The the benchrest association changed there weight clasifications, so remington went to shorter barrels to drop a lot of weight, for a while 20" barrels were in vogue, but now they are 24" unless ordered shorter.
The stocks for the 40-XBBR are made by mc millan, and are a special completely foam filled shell stock(to cut down weight) so the BR guns come in at 10.5 pounds, but if you re-stock them with a "real" stock they go up to 12-13 pounds.
Both the single shot match and the BR can be had with a very good triple lever 2 oz trigger (it has no safety) . The repeaters come with a very good double lever( ajustable from the outside) target trigger with safety, wich looks like the standard 700 trigger but is diffrend.
In 66, about twenty 40X s in 6mm-international were made for the AMU to compete in the olympics. These had a special 2 oz trigger that had ajustible LOP hand build into them, but all the rest of the triggers over the years have been the same.
That is pretty much the story of the 40X rifles... They are exelent rifles ... better then most "custom build" rifles and even though going for 2000 dollers (2001 prices) They are cheaper then many cusom rifles , because of the 10 months wait, the resale is wery high, if you get one you wont be disapointed.
Sniper Country Article
who dares wins
who dares wins