Garminator

Dway, like most here have already said, it's not exactly a quality rifle bit if it was a gift & it's funcional, by all means put it to work. Personally, I think that the Savage is a much better value for the money. Happy Trails buddy.

dway87

Yes and if I was the one to pick it out I would of gotten the Remington 7400 or 7600 semi-auto .243.

North Texan

dway87, there's nothing wrong with the 710. You just can't do as much tinkering and modifying to squeeze out that extra little bit of accuracy. It will hunt just as good as most other rifles, so by all means take it out and use it.

And I'd never complain about somebody giving me a gun. Wouldn't want to discourage them from getting me another one on down the road.

TUK101

If the .270 and 30.06 are semi reliable in the 710 then I would imagine that the .243 would be even more reliable since it puts considerably less load on the components. Only a percentage of the people out there that own the 710's have had problems with them and most of them where the ones who bought the gun in its first couple of years. It is not a gun that you would want to buy if you shoot several rounds every day, but for the guy who only shoots a box of shells a year it is a great gun. One of the reasons that I bought mine that I dont think that I mentioned before is that it fits me very well. I have had 2 shoulder surgeries and cannot take the pounding from a rifle like I used to and some guns just dont fit me well at all, but the 710 does and it works for me.

ranger140892

Think about what you're saying. If a rifle is so weak and inferior that you have to choose the lightest recoiling round, is the cheap price worth screwing up a great hunt or risking injury?

TUK101

I think that I am going to just quit chiming in on the 710 threads. I have had great success with my 710 but am aware that it is not a super high end rifle, and I state that fact. But it doesnt matter what is said, people just dont like the gun. I have just tried to let the people know that ask questions about the gun that it is an OK rifle for the occasional shooter but it has had it share of problems in the past. I like mine, it is a great shooter but now that I bought my Winchester it is not the first rifle that I grab for anymore.

xd9x19

You might want to check the other recent thread about the 710. One of the members found a Rem 700 ADL for about $400 with a scope! Remington has discontinued the ADL version of the 700, so if you've got a little extra money, you might want to look into that.

I own a 710 and it shoots great and has held up fine, although I don't shoot it much outside of deer season (that's what my SKS, M1 and 1903 are for!). Haven't really seen much info on longevity or reliability of the 710. Some guys have posted anecdoctal stories of other people's 710s falling apart, but I don't put much stock in them.

Chantecler111

To add my .02 cents worth, I work at a rifle range and have seen 6 model 710's fail during my tenure, 2 had the firing pin break, 1 had the bolt fail to extract, 1 had the stock crack after the heavy recoil of a ,300 Mag, and 2 more had the bolt seal shut to where it would not open, the 2 bolts were later inspected by a gunsmith and were found to have some internal mechanisms just wear out. The 710's are unreliable rifles, unless you shoot under 2 boxes of ammo a year through your rifle i don't recommend the 710 to anyone.

dway87

It's probably true about if you shoot a lot that the 710 would be unreliable. Yesterday I shot a nice 8 pointer with the 710 .243. But as soon as I get my .30-30 set up with a scope, the 710 will have to be a back-up rifle.

elgallo114

I've heard so much trash talk about the 710. I've heard people say they've seen them break all the time. The same ones usually say the savage rifles are much better for the same price.

I've got a 710. Had it for over 3 years. Put maybe 200 or 300 rounds through it a year. Never had a problem with it. Two friends of mine bought them also. We all bought them together when we were low on cash. None of us has had any problems with them.

Are they great? Not really. Durable, dependable, and accurate enough for my hunting habits. It's not always my first choice. But when the weather is crap and I'll be hiking rough terrain, it's the one I take. That way if I fall, drop it, or it gets all wet and muddy for extended periods, I'm not stressing over it. When it comes down to it, I usually take two or three rifles with me and decide which one I want to use for the day based on all sorts of factors, not the least of which is just how I feel.

As for the Savage. The ones I've fired seemed just as good to me. But, coincidently, while shopping for the 710 I came across two (out of about 20) Savages with jammed bolts. Probably the result of customers mistreating them, but interesting given the banter here.

By the way, if I had to choose a rifle in that price range, with what I know now from shooting them, I would pick a Stevens over the 710 or the Savage. Stevens is part of the Savage family, but I like them better for some reason, don't know why.