Remington 700 With Impossible Date?

[SiGraybeard]

Hi, All,


I just registered today, and have a question that I can't seem to get an answer to anywhere else.

In early July, I bought a used Remington 700 BDL in .30-06. The rifle seems to be in quite good shape, and looked almost new. I've put about 10 rounds of Federal Powershok soft points through it, and it seems excellent. The problem is that I can't figure out when it was made. The code on it appears impossible.

I've found the web page that shows how to interpret the number on the barrel, but what I have isn't in that table. The number on my barrel is E47, after the "anchor" symbol. As I read that page, there is never a number in the second position, only letters show up, so I can't figure out when it was made.

The serial number starts with B6569 if that's helpful.

I've been researching online for a few weeks, and never found anything that covers this, so I'm hoping someone here might have some idea how to interpret the E47.

BTW, email to Remington in early July went unanswered.


Thanks,
Graybeard

[Wulfman]

Hi, All,


I just registered today, and have a question that I can't seem to get an answer to anywhere else.

In early July, I bought a used Remington 700 BDL in .30-06. The rifle seems to be in quite good shape, and looked almost new. I've put about 10 rounds of Federal Powershok soft points through it, and it seems excellent. The problem is that I can't figure out when it was made. The code on it appears impossible.

I've found the web page that shows how to interpret the number on the barrel, but what I have isn't in that table. The number on my barrel is E47, after the "anchor" symbol. As I read that page, there is never a number in the second position, only letters show up, so I can't figure out when it was made.

The serial number starts with B6569 if that's helpful.

I've been researching online for a few weeks, and never found anything that covers this, so I'm hoping someone here might have some idea how to interpret the E47.

BTW, email to Remington in early July went unanswered.


Thanks,
Graybeard

That serial number with the "B" prefix would put it in the first half of the 1980's.
If you can find a letter to the left of the "E", it might be the month......and the "E" might indicate it was made in 1984. With regard to the "47", I have a late 70's 700 that also has a two-digit number to the right of the year letter, too......so, that number is not helpful.


Den

[SiGraybeard]

That serial number with the "B" prefix would put it in the first half of the 1980's.
If you can find a letter to the left of the "E", it might be the month......and the "E" might indicate it was made in 1984. With regard to the "47", I have a late 70's 700 that also has a two-digit number to the right of the year letter, too......so, that number is not helpful.


Den

Thanks for the help, Den.

There is nothing to the left of the E except for the symbol they use that looks like a small anchor. Clear as day.

I have been coming to the conclusion that it must be from the late 70s to mid-80s at the latest. It's always interesting to know the history of a firearm you've bought, but in this case, I got more interested because I bought a Remington Supercell recoil pad for it and it won't fit. The box/ad said "for all 700 BDL/CDL with wood stocks", but it has 2 screws and the butt plate on this gun has 4. The pad is also smaller than the back of the stock. Everything I see on Brownell's or Midway, for example, has 2 holes. So I need to find something that says it fits the older versions.


Graybeard

[600RemGuy]

47 would/should be the assembler; possible there are two if the rifle needed tweaking. Are there ANY single markings ahead of/to the left of the "E"? Your rifle should have been assembled in March or April of 1984.

[SiGraybeard]

47 would/should be the assembler; possible there are two if the rifle needed tweaking. Are there ANY single markings ahead of/to the left of the "E"? Your rifle should have been assembled in March or April of 1984.

The only mark to the left of the E is what I think is that final inspection stamp, which looks like an anchor in the picture (on the barrel codes page). I have a pretty good photograph of it that I can put up on Pbase or someplace like that, if you'd like to see it.

How did you narrow it down so closely? Either one of those dates is close enough for me.

[600RemGuy]

Get your self one of these:

http://www.remingtonsociety.com/rsa/books/M700LacyBook

I've got two, one for each hand so I can read in stereo, but the green and red glasses give me a headache .

Some one could have missed a stamping. They are only human too.

[SiGraybeard]

Well, I emailed John Lacy to see if there were copies available. That page links to Amazon which says one copy is available for $210, which I would pass on.

By itself, the leading E would indicate October. If the E is right, perhaps this is October of 1984. If they stamped a 4 instead of the usual letter for the year, this makes sense. E is both October and 1984 as a year code, so it's hard to say.

Thanks for your help, 600RemGuy.

[600RemGuy]

Sorry. What I really should have said was watch eBay for this book. That's where mine came from for about $60 total for two, one signed, one not.