Magpul Hunter 700 Stock
By: Tony Duncan
Photo Credits: Chad McBroom and Bill Bahmer Photography
Concept:
The concept for the Magpul Hunter 700 is to provide a drop-in, tactical replacement stock for the Remington 700 rifle in short action. The word tactical is often used by manufacturers in recent days to describe everything from socks to writing pens. Most times this word is just a promotional gimmick to attract members of the tactical crowd, willing to pay more for a “tactical” item. For the Magpul Hunter 700, however, this term seems appropriate: the stock adds adjustability to both the length of pull, and the comb rise. It also adds the ability to use removable box magazines, instead of just an internal magazine. And lastly, it utilizes Magpul’s M-LOK system allowing quick attachment of an array of accessories directly to the stock. This firmly puts this replacement stock into the “tactical” category, not just in name, but in functionality.
Product Details:
Made from reinforced polymer and an anodized aluminum bedding block, the Magpul Remington 700 Hunter Stock offers users a cost effective replacement featuring fully adjustable length of pull, comb height, and enhanced ergonomics.
- Weight: 3.0 lbs without action and bottom metal (w/two Spacers installed)
- LOP Adjustment Range: ~13-15 in.
- Width of Forend, Max: 2.3 in.
- Width of Butt, Max: 1.5 in.
- Butt Pad Dimensions: 1.5×5.0 in.
Installation:
The Hunter 700 is designed to be a direct drop-in replacement to the standard Hogue stock that comes equipped on the Remington 700. In my case it was a Hogue overmold stock as I own a Remington SPS Tactical rifle.
The directions included with the Hunter 700 are clear and make the installation look like a quick and easy job, even for someone with very limited skills. I personally have almost no skills when it comes to gunsmithing, and was able to install the new stock in about 15 minutes. This included reading the instructions, finding my torque wrench, and dialing in the recommended specs. There are two screws that need to be removed and the entire rifle is separated into the barreled receiver, and the stock. Place the barreled receiver into the new stock, torque down the two screws, and it’s ready to go. It really couldn’t be much simpler. Whether or not you install the optional removable magazine baseplate barely changes the installation process; there is a small plastic adapter that is inserted if you opt to not use the magazine adapter.
Fit and Feel:
After the quick install of the new Hunter 700 stock, you can immediately feel a difference in balance and control from the previous stock. The angle of the grip is more vertical, and allows for more positive control against your shoulder. The texture of the Magpul polymer and the overall firmness gives the whole package a tighter, more solid feel. The new stock promotes more confidence when you grab and shoulder the rifle, it feels indestructible.
Tactical Advantage:
The Hunter 700 allows for adjustable comb rise and length of pull. Based on my preferences and scope rings, the comb rise was perfect right out of the box. I did find the length of pull a little long for my body frame. After consulting the instructions, I found that length of pull adjustment was a simple process of removing a screw on the butt-stock. When this screw is removed, the end of the butt-stock slides out. You find that the butt-stock has a series of stacked sections that can be added or removed to your preference. There is plenty of adjustment options that should easily accommodate everyone from big and tall, to short and small. Just these two options alone would be enough to satisfy most end users that this stock has converted your Remington 700 into the tactical realm, but there’s more.
The capability to use removable magazines in your Remington 700 is huge. Reloading a bolt action rifle from the top is not only slow and inconvenient, it can be next to impossible while wearing gloves. You have to store spare ammo in either factory cardboard boxes, or loose in pouches; either way is not very practical. The ability to store extra ammo in box magazines, safely secured, and ready to insert into your rifle when needed, is a real game changer. The Hunter 700 allows you to use any AICS-SPEC magazines in 7.62, which allows many options including Magpul’s own magazines.
Lastly, the compatibility with Magpul’s M-LOK accessories allows a lot of flexibility with how you want to set up your rifle. You can add sling mounts, bi-pod mounts, or whatever mission essential tools you could ever want. With the M-LOK rail mounts, options are limitless as you could attach any standard rail mounted accessory to the stock.
At the Range:
Putting the Hunter 700 through its paces at the range will produce no surprises; and that’s a good thing. The standard Remington 700 is already a reliable, no-frills platform; the Hunter 700 stock does not change that. It does, however, add confidence and convenience to your shooting. I found the rifle felt more stable and secure in my hands as I was carrying it, and was able to more quickly shoulder and aim when it was time to acquire a site picture. The positive control of the grip, the well positioned comb, and the nice fore-end all worked together to ease the rifle up to your body and into position. Resting your face against the stock while you stare through the scope was a comfortable and effortless process.
My favorite feature continues to be the ability to drop the magazine after five rounds, and just insert a fresh mag. All this can be done while wearing either tactical gloves, or heavier winter gloves. The magazine release is large enough to access with gloves, but very secure to avoid accidental release. The spring is tight, so I never felt that I needed to be careful as not to unintentionally drop a magazine. It is very well designed and integrated; it feels like it is part of the rifle, not an add-on.
The only area where the original stock performed better, in my experience, was in recoil absorption. The Hunter 700 is very rigid, and transferred more impulse to my shoulder than the Hogue stock. This is due to the Hogue stock having a soft rubber butt-pad, while the Hunter 700 did not. I did find, through a quick search of Magpul’s website, that a rubber butt-pad can be purchased for the Hunter 700 for very little cost. This would completely negate the recoil issue, I just haven’t had a chance yet to try. Regardless, the issue is small, and only became noticeable after repeated shooting from the prone position. Even without the rubber butt-pad, it still feels great.
Conclusion:
The Hunter 700 stock from Magpul totally transforms your Remington 700 from a very basic bolt action rifle, to a tactical rifle adaptable to any mission or purpose you could imagine. It is so customizable that you can take the platform and make it a lightweight hunting rifle, or design a feature packed long range tactical rifle with every bell and whistle. It does all of this while keeping the price very low, which was the original intent of the Remington 700 in the first place. The fifteen minutes it took to install the new stock made me feel like I had a completely different rifle, it made me excited again to shoot it. I highly recommend this stock for any owner of the Remington 700 in short action, you will not be disappointed.
Update:
Since drafting this review, Magpul has released the Remington 700 Long Action as well as the Magpul Pro 700 Chassis available here at our sister site. version as well as expanded the color options. You can read about the new PMAG 10 round magazine here.
Special thanks to Bill Bahmer Photography as well as Chad McBroom of Comprehensive Fighting Systems for providing the supporting imagery for this review.
Where to buy it:
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