Right, my Sendero is very accurate, and I have other 700s that are solid shooters. I don't think the issue with remington is, or was, that the 700 itself is junk, it is that the QC and recent tooling is crap. The issue I pointed out with the failure to extract a spent casing is very common. Just google remington 700 extraction issues and you could read threads for days on the subject. My problem wasn't with the factory remington extractor, but with the throat I would imagine. Cycled unfired rounds all day. Fire a round and the bolt locked to the point where it took a hammer to pull the casing out. I'm no gunsmith but if I had to guess I would think that the issue was in the reamer they used on my barrel, maybe just wore it down too much prior to using it on my rifle. The factory extractor (which wasn't at fault for my failure to extracts) has plenty of issues as well. Sure you can spend $175 to get LRI to install a m-16 extractor that comes factory on a Howa.
The issues you had are common as well. The bolt IMO is just a weakness from lugs to handles. Timing issues, handles snapping off, etc, etc.
I'm actually not hating on 700s. They are great rifles when you get a good one. But when I spend $1000+ on a factory rifle I would at least expect it to cycle properly. I knew somewhat of the QC issues when I purchased mine, but that was when they were still in business and I knew the warranty would be honored. I have no idea if that is the case still, and it would definitely shy me away from any new 700 purchases. There are just too many less risky options in that $1000-1500 price range now.
