Review: Remington Gamemaster 760

Remington Gamemaster 760

The Model 760
In 1952, Remington introduced the Model 760 GameMaster, a rifle that was to give the company a virtual monopoly on the pump-action, centerfire rifle market. Designed by L.R. Crittendon and William Gail Jr., it used a machined-steel receiver, removable box magazine, and rotating bolt with fourteen interrupted thread-type lugs that locked into an extension of the barrel. The latter feature made for a much stronger lockup while allowing the receiver to be lighter. It was a feature common to a number of Big Green's pump and semiauto rifles and shotguns.

The bolt assembly rode inside a carrier that was attached to twin action bars mounted to the forearm. Lugs on the inside of the bolt carrier matched up with helical grooves on the bolt itself. So when the forearm and carrier moved rearward, they caused the bolt to rotate, unlock, and move rearward with the carrier, extracting and ejecting the spent case and recocking the hammer. Pulling the forearm forward chambered the next round and rotated and locked the bolt. The forearm moved on a separate tube attached to the front of the receiver and did not bear on the barrel.

Gamemaster Action: The Remington Model 760’s bolt locks into an extension of the barrel by means of fourteen interrupted thread-type lugs.

The action proved capable of using cartridges whose length and working pressures had before now limited them to bolt-action rifles. Over its production life, the Model 760 was chambered for such popular cartridges as .223 Remington, .243 Winchester, 6mm Remington, .257 Roberts, .270 Winchester, .280 Remington, .300 Savage, .308 Winchester, .30-06 (the most popular), .35 Remington, and .35 Whelan.

Early-production rifles were fitted with a ribbed, aluminum buttplate that was replaced with plastic in 1968. As was the standard practice at the time, Remington offered various deluxe versions of the rifle: the Model 760B Special Grade, D Peerless Grade, and F Premier Grade. In 1954, Remington introduced a Model 760 ADL and a Model 760 BDL that featured cut and basketweave checkering, respectively.

In 1960, a carbine version with an 18.5-inch barrel, the Model 760C, was introduced in .270, .280, .308, and .30-06, again in both standard and deluxe grades. The carbine introduced the Williams ramp rear sight, which replaced the earlier spring-leaf pattern. To address the increasing popularity of telescopic sights, later Model 760s came from the factory drilled and tapped for scope mounts.

The Model 760 proved very popular with American hunters and, to a limited degree, law enforcement agencies. Beginning in 1965, the FBI purchased Model 760s in .30-06 and .308 to equip its agents. The multi-lug, rotating bolt and free-floating barrel allowed bolt-action-like accuracy. The 760 proved especially popular in those states that did not allow semiauto rifles for big-game hunting, as it gave the speed of a lever-action with the advantage of more powerful cartridges. The 760 remained a steady seller in the Remington line, often being promoted as the natural companion rifle for the Model 870 pump-action shotgun shooter, but times and technology changed, and by the late 1970s, Remington thought the Model 760 design was in need of being updated. Production ended in 1980 after an impressive 971,712 rifles and 67,726 carbines had left the factory.

The Model 760 line was replaced by a pair of new pump-action rifles: the Model Six and the Model 7600 (a plain, economy version of the Model Six). At first glance, there appeared to be little to differentiate them from the earlier Model 760s because most of the changes were internal.

The fourteen interrupted thread-type locking lugs on the bolt were replaced by four more substantial lugs. The bolt carrier and operating bars became a one-piece unit that provided more rigidity and smoothness to the manually operated action. In the late 1980s, the Model Six designation was dropped, and all rifles were thereafter referred to as the Model 7600. Today, it is available chambered for .243, .270, .280 Rem., .308, .30-06, and .35 Whelen.