Last November Remington unveiled their pistol version of the venerable Model 700. They reached out and offered up the 700CP for review and I volunteered. It took them a while but it showed up at my FFL and I have been having a blast shooting this 700CP pistol. I like to call it the “pocket sniper” because it is so tiny. Let’s take a closer look at this modern spin on a niche firearm that almost faded away.

700CP Is A Bolt Action Pistol

The 700CP comes in three calibers: .223 Remington, .300 AAC BLK, and .308 Win. I opted for .300BLK thinking this is a Q Fix pistol for the masses. And when I am outside of CA I can suppress it. Since the 700CP uses the same chassis as the 700 PCR, it uses AICS style magazines. The .223 Remington and .300BLK caliber versions of the 700CP use .223 MDT magazines. I was hoping it would use 5.56 AR PMAGs.

The 700CP is a pistol version of their 700PCR (Precision Chassis Rifle). In fact, the 700CP shares the same chassis as the PCR. The only difference is that it has a shorter MLOK handguard vs the PCR’s longer teardrop style handguard. Also, the 700CP does not have a stock, since it is a pistol.

Rather than a stock, Remington put a buffer tube delete plug that doubles as a QD sling mount. Just use a hex wrench to remove it.

Since the 700CP shares the same chassis as the PCR, once you remove the buffer tube delete plug you can attach a normal buffer tube or pistol buffer tube and put a brace on the 700CP.

The original Remington XP100 were single shot bolt action pistols, however, stabilizing braces for rifle caliber pistols did not exist back in those days. Isn’t technology great?

Just to see what it would be like, I installed my KNS Precision Picatinny adapter to the end of the chassis.

Then I attached my SB Tactical FSB1913 brace.

While it looks cool, this was not an ideal setup for me. Ignore the AR-style optic. I was borrowing it from my friend who used it on his .300BLK rifle. The problem with this setup is that the cheek rest is too low and the arm of the brace is polymer so it flexes under recoil a bit. SB Tactical is coming out with a new one that will be made of metal but at the moment the cheek rest aspect is more of an issue for me so I went with a more traditional stabilizing brace.

I did like the folding nature of the FSB1913 so I used the folding hinge from SB Tactical to go between the buffer tube and chassis.

The second alteration I made to the 700CP was to swap out the Magpul MIAD grip for a more vertical angled pistol grip. The short length of pull of a pistol brace makes it uncomfortable to use regular raked AR pistol grips. My friend Kythe had a spare MPA EVG Grip so I installed it on the 700CP. What a world of difference. This is a more comfortable setup for the 700CP.

One issue I have with the 700CP is the weight. Even though this is a 10.5″ barreled pistol, I was expecting it to be light weight and it is not.

How Does It Shoot?

As I said before, I opted for the .300BLK version of the 700CP. I figured I would only shoot this out to 400 yards and in with an occasional poke out to 600 and 800 yards when the opportunity arises just to push this gun to its limits.

I brought the 700CP out to a night shoot to try and see how well it did with night vision. This was more a test of the Vortex Diamondback Tactical 6-24×50 FFP scope than the gun.

I wanted .300blk solely for the purposes of suppressing it. I had to leave CA to exercise my 2A rights.

 

One thing I recommend is putting some kind of muzzle device on the end of the 700CP. Ideally, a suppressor if you can own them. Otherwise, a muzzle brake or linear comp is great.

Take a look at the photo below. With the Diamondback Tactical moved forward, the muzzle is just below the objective lens. I put the sunshade on to keep muzzle blast from coating the front lens.  Also, I like that the 700CP is small enough to fit in a carbine case. But if I needed to, I can fold the brace over and fit it in a smaller bag.

I tried a number of .30 cal muzzle devices. The best was the VG6 Precision Lambda PRS30. It is self tightening and easy to time. Just screw it on and time it with your eye then hand tighten the outer nut. The slots in the nut will interact with the muzzle blast and tighten itself every time you shoot it.

For the sake of mounting night vision clip-on devices, I was worried about muzzle blast coating the optics so I went with a Spike’s barking spider and Maxim Defense Hate Brake. Both threaded for 5/8×24. They are both linear comps and throw all the muzzle blast forward rather than up into the optic. The compromise is the increase in rearward recoil.

The 700CP did not group well at 100 yards. I was using Hornady American Gunner 124gr .300BLK ammo and got a 1.27″ group. I tried Black Hills 124gr ammo and got a similar group. I shot off a bench with a bipod but no rear bag. The one problem with the pistol brace is that it is not designed to be a stock so trying to use it to make a precise shot is a challenge. I am open to the idea that this poor group could be the result of me being impatient and poor cheek weld since it is a brace and not a stock.

Final Thoughts

Even though the 700CP doesn’t group as well as I would like, it could be me and not the gun. For plinking steel, this gun has me thoroughly entertained. I have been able to ping steel out to 400 yards with confidence even at night. I managed a couple hits at 600 yards but 800 yards eludes me. I should have my PRS friends try it and see what they can manage to do with this tiny pocket sniper gun.

One other issue is that the barrel nor Remington’s website mentions the twist rate for the factory 10.5″ barrel. A little bit annoying when I am trying to use a ballistics calculator.

While Remington does make the 700CP in .223 and..308 I thought .300blk would be more fun and useful if I want to shoot hogs. The 700CP retails for $1,020 MSRP. At the time of this evaluation, it seems the 700CP pistols are a little hard to get. One of my friends has been trying to find a .308 version but no one has it in stock. I have come across one other person who claims they have one as well. I hope Remington makes more of these as they are a lot of fun. The Remington 700CP opens up more options for building a bolt gun pistol or an SBR if you can have NFA in your state. Instead of chopping a Remington 700 barrel down, you just need to file your Form 1 and put a stock on the end of the 700CP.

Another consideration for the 700CP is the fact that it is Cali legal. Yes, in California the 700CP is exempt from the arbitrary CA DOJ approved handgun roster since it is manually operated. I want to say the 700CP may even be 50 state legal but I do not know if other ban states like Connecticut, New York and Hawaii would allow the 700CP.

What’s next for the 700CP? A Black Collar Arms Pork Sword chassis and an even shorter .300BLK barrel. Stay tuned.