quote Rule303
Just a few thoughts on some issues raised.

The safety catch. To be on the correct side for a right hander should be on the left to be activated with the thumb of the shooting hand aka SMLE FN SLR M16. Minimal time to disengage and hand does not have to loose the shooting grip.

Safety is so often on the right side that I am very used of finding there. For me it's not a defect

Customized rifles. I see two reasons for the "stay clear". One is they can be a botched job where they do not operate as reliably as they should. 2) they are a top notch job and the tolerances are too tight, so rifle jams with the slightest of dust/crud in the system.

I agree with You, and I think Rich would. I saw a czech PH in Burkina who fought in Aghanistant prior to become a gunsmith and a parttime PH. He had me try his Lott 458 CZ that he has customized. Fist he poured a handful of sand in the breach, shook the rifle, and let me shoot. No trouble even with reloading and shooting again.

It amazes me when people say the Remington is no good. If this was the case then the US Marines and others would not of used it as the base for their sniper rifles. I personally have never experienced any problems with Remington 700. This may be because I was taught on the SMLE where you had to place the round in the magazine and slide it back into position, not just roll it in with the base already at the rear of the mag. Same method as required for any single stack mag that I am aware of. But each to their own. I am using a 22-250 Rem 700 and it works fine. Rich is pointing that reloading is tricky and slower thann with other repeaters. I am not qualified to argue, my 22-250 is for varmint shooting so fast reloading is of no concern. My every day rifles are Sauer rigged with magazines, realoading is faster.