This is the Remington 783.
Now, it comes scoped but we do not have it on there right now, which I will talk about later in this review. This is a gun I really wanted to hate-not that I came into the review biased, but I wanted to hate it right when we took it right out of the box. There were just some things about it I did not love.
Before we get into it, I should mention this is our in-depth review of just this gun. But, we also have done a much broader review of the best five guns $350 and under. So after you read this post and you understand this gun, you should go check out that larger review as well.
Remington 783 Chambering
- .22-250 Remington
- .223 Remington
- .243 Winchester
- 7mm-08 Remington
- 7mm Remington Magnum
- .270 Winchester
- .308 Winchester
- .30-06 Springfield
- .300 Winchester Magnum
Build Quality
So we pulled the Remington 783 out of the box and right away, it was at the bottom of our list. I hated the build quality. For a composite stock, it feels like cheap plastic. It feels like a BB gun stock. We own air rifles that are way better than this.
Also, the plastic sling studs should definitely be metal. Please give me a metal sling stud and make it feel like a grown-up gun! We were very frustrated with the quality of the sling studs.
The stock is cruddy and just feels crappy. The magazine seems fine, but we did have some major issues with loading. We also had issues with the bolt. The bolt has a nasty catch that gets better as we shoot it more, but it still catches. We have shot it a lot and it still catches.
The bluing when you take the rail off is nasty chipped. It is honestly as cheap as you get.
This has happened with some of the other guns, but you can get the magazine in and you can get it to clip, but if the back is not all the way clipped in, it struggles to grab the shell, the bullet itself as it moves forward.
We shot some Winchester ammo where we had a round that was dangerous. In the video clip below, you can see that there was a live round in the gun and the bolt was completely frozen. That was a very dangerous situation. It was stiff the whole time and I had to manhandle it to get it. It was completely unacceptable. It was the eighth round through with the gun and I could not get the bolt to open.
At that point, I did not even want to keep shooting the gun because there was such a nasty bolt catch. It was stuck and you cannot get a live round out, which is dangerous. But, what we did learn is it is not Remington’s fault. That was Winchester, the ammo itself. That ammo in this gun is just a bad combo. To be fair, I have tried Winchester shotgun shells and they get stuck in my gun as well. I am not too sure about the Winchester ammo.
Once we started trying different loads, it fed better. It would catch, but it would not get stuck. Eventually, it would probably work out to be okay, but it still bugs us that out of the box it is that bad. It was just at that moment that I was nervous, but it ended up being okay.
The safety on the Remington 783, out of all the guns we bought, ticked Rickey off. It is on black metal. It has a black punched S & F. It is hard to tell if the safety is on or not. We know that it is pretty standard that when it is pulled back it is on safe, but it is easy to get confused. It really feels unsafe compared to other rifles.
The recoil pad is far too stiff and it is going to do nothing to reduce the recoil. This one was chambered in 7mm mag so you want that recoil pad. It is just too stiff.
The gun came with a 4 lb adjustable trigger but it was actually nice quality. You definitely want to adjust it down, but it is okay.
The Remington did redeem itself pretty well and made its way back up the list when you look at the out-of-the-box trigger pull compared to other guns. It would be nice if it came out of the box a little lighter.
Out-of-the-box Trigger Pull
- 2.5 lbs – Mossberg Patriot
- 4 lbs – Remington 783
- 4 lbs – Savage Axis
- 4.5 lbs – Ruger American
- 5.5 lbs – TC Compass
Accuracy
As much as I did not like this gun, we then took it out on the range and my opinion quickly started to change. It shoots. It is a good shooter. The trigger is pretty decent.
We shot eight groups with two different types of ammo from 100 yards, bench rest. The median of our three best groups, because we are going to make mistakes on some of them, was 1.243 inches. That is not bad at all! I was happy with it. In our testing, compared to others it was not the best, but it is a very solid performer on the range. That is what it really comes down to. It did fine.
Median Size of Best Groups at 100 Yards
- .8995” – Ruger American
- 1.035” – Savage Axis
- 1.243” – Remington 783
- 1.3485” – Thompson Center Compass
- 4.785” – Mossberg Patriot
Ricky said that if he had $350 and he was going to buy a hunting rifle, this is not the one he would buy and I completely agree. From an accuracy standpoint, and this is the gun you own, you are going to be fine. But if he has a choice of what he is going to buy, this is not the one he is going to get.
We are also curious to see how the gun will hold up.
The Scope
Another reason I would not pick this gun is that the scope is trash. You may as well throw it away right when you get it. I was very nervous to take the first shot because you have to get really close to the gun to see in the scope. I was about an inch away from the scope and it felt a little dangerous. You can see in the video below how nervous I was.
We measured the eye relief with a tape measure, and on all of the other guns, you had a full view through the scope about 2 ¾ inches away. With the Remington 783, I was only 1 inch away to get a full view. If you have a 7 mag, and one inch from your forehead, you are going to get scoped. Ricky has been scoped and it does not feel good.
Luckily, it did not hit us, but I thought for sure it would. It was too close.
Conclusion
Buy the gun, replace the stock, throw away the scope and you have got a shooter. At that price point, maybe you should just get a different gun.
That is our totally unbiased, we bought this gun with our own money, we do not have a horse in the race review. That is the Remington 783. Now go check out our five gun review of the all the best guns under $350.
