First Remington 700 build. Do nothing at all, true the face or full blueprint?

[tonyben]

I've got a new, unused Remington 700 action with a pre-installed threaded 20" 308 barrel, and a new factory bolt from PTG. Both items are from the bankruptcy sale. I checked the headspace and it's right at 1.630". The bolt handle seems to be in the right place for good primary extraction. There's maybe a 0.005" gap between the front of the bolt handle and the handle cutout when it's fully closed.

This will eventually be a M40 clone and I have a barrel on the way from Bartlein in July. In the meantime, I'd like to bed the action to the stock with the existing barrel, which should be the same barrel contour and see how it shoots before I do any further modifications, like truing. Should I just true the receiver face and call it good?

I don't have the alignment rod or bushings yet, but I'll probably order them this week, as well as the action truing jig.

does anyone know if the quality of those last production receivers is good enough that they're not worth truing or blueprinting? This will be a learning experience for me.

Tony.

 

[GenePoole]

If they are RR prefix actions, quality is usually good. They are made on modern CNC equipment and the only thing I've found is that the RR with no barcode (I believe made in Ilion NY) are possibly machined in two different fixturings compared to the RR with barcode (I believe made in North Carolina or Arkansas). The barcoded actions are apparently made in a single fixturing. Non-barcoded actions seem to have an extra step for the thread-milling of the receiver threads and they may be eccentric compared to the raceway (I've seen them out by as much as 10 thousandths which required close to 15 thousandths to sufficiently clean up the eccentricity).

This is all speculation on my part based on personal experience with several of each kind. In short, RR WITH barcode need no real truing and are good to go as-is while the actions WITHOUT the barcode will probably need truing of the threads which means a greater nominal thread diameter and custom barrel threads to fit without slop. I would love to hear from anyone else who has worked with both and their opinions.

 

[LVLAaron]

RR prefix have been good. RAR have been great.

Should you blueprint it? Measure it and find out.

 

[Walt Krafft]

Good answers above. I have not had to do anything to over 100 late rr or rar actions. I do question your headspace measurement. Should be 0.698 from the front reciever face to the bolt face.

 

[tonyben]

 

[tonyben]

Good answers above. I have not had to do anything to over 100 late rr or rar actions. I do question your headspace measurement. Should be 0.698 from the front reciever face to the bolt face.

I'm talking about chamber headspace with a 308 WIN GO gauge (1.630"). This receiver, barrel and bolt have never been used together before. I have not measured the bolt face to receiver face distance.

Tony.

 

[boltfluter]

Maybe clean up the receiver face and grind the lug parallel and shoot it. Simple operations that certainly won't hurt. Or shoot as is. The target will tell you.
Paul

 

[ELR LVR]

I would face the receiver definitely
Lap the lugs to the receiver
Use a surface ground recoil lug
Going to a .250" or thicker recoil lug is a good idea as I have seen bent .187" lugs
Do all this
Before chambering or doing any barrel work as it will change the relationship of headspace
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I will also get some polishing compound like Flitz and work the bolt back and forth through the raceway to make it operate nice & smooth, basically lapping itself to itself with polish compound.
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The rest is kind of up to you and depends on if you're reselling or keeping it for yourself
And your own accuracy expectations
The above stuff I've mentioned along with a quality cut rifled barrel is all I've ever done to my 700's
and a good bedding job
and they shoot .2's or better
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You might talk to one of the guys posting here about going further if that's of interest to you

 

[SKWERLZ]

Maybe clean up the receiver face and grind the lug parallel and shoot it. Simple operations that certainly won't hurt. Or shoot as is. The target will tell you.
Paul

This is probably what I’d do if it has some primary extraction.

 

[STOMP442]

If you have a barrel coming I wouldn't bother with doing all the extra work until it comes time to put the new barrel on. Shoot it as is in the mean time. Results may surprise you.

 

[tonyben]

I'm doing a run of black oxide finishing of stainless steel parts and barrels and figured it was time to get my barrel cut and crowned so I can put it in with this batch of parts and have it bead blast and black oxide finished. I cut the barrel to length and crowned it this weekend and sent it off for refinishing...

This is a second barrel that I'm doing for a customer. I did it at the same time as mine...

While I'm waiting, I'm going to true up the receiver face and either true the lugs or lap the lugs. Once I get the barrel back, I'll cut the threads and chamber the barrel.

Tony.

 

[DShortt]

RR prefix have been good. RAR have been great.

Should you blueprint it? Measure it and find out.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

THIS is the correct answer.

 

[ELR LVR]

I'm doing a run of black oxide finishing of stainless steel parts and barrels and figured it was time to get my barrel cut and crowned so I can put it in with this batch of parts and have it bead blast and black oxide finished. I cut the barrel to length and crowned it this weekend and sent it off for refinishing...

This is a second barrel that I'm doing for a customer. I did it at the same time as mine...

While I'm waiting, I'm going to true up the receiver face and either true the lugs or lap the lugs. Once I get the barrel back, I'll cut the threads and chamber the barrel.

Tony.

Looking good man
Use a Q-tip to check for burrs on your countersink cut -(Both directions)
if it will catch any little fuzzy at all, you got a burr in the lands/grooves
even with a countersink, they almost always leave a burr somewhere
and since the countersink just sets that measurement back further into the barrel
is why I dont use a countersink on the crown.
Because you already have a burr from facing, then go and cut another burr in with the countersink
---
now some guys might think this is trivial, but if a guy is charging any form of compensation I would not want to give a customer any reason to question my work, if I want further work in the future.
I inspect everything i do with a 30x Jewelers Loupe, and/or an optical comparator

 

[tonyben]

Looking good man
Use a Q-tip to check for burrs on your countersink cut -(Both directions)
if it will catch any little fuzzy at all, you got a burr in the lands/grooves
even with a countersink, they almost always leave a burr somewhere
and since the countersink just sets that measurement back further into the barrel
is why I dont use a countersink on the crown.
Because you already have a burr from facing, then go and cut another burr in with the countersink
---
now some guys might think this is trivial, but if a guy is charging any form of compensation I would not want to give a customer any reason to question my work, if I want further work in the future.
I inspect everything i do with a 30x Jewelers Loupe, and/or an optical comparator

I add the countersink to the bore because that is how the original M40's were done. I hit the face with some 400 grit and finished it off with an abrasive cloth (scotch-brite pad). I ran the lathe in both directions. I did run a Q-tip in there to clean off the debris and it didn't catch any fabric.

Tony.

 

[ELR LVR]

I add the countersink to the bore because that is how the original M40's were done. I hit the face with some 400 grit and finished it off with an abrasive cloth (scotch-brite pad). I ran the lathe in both directions. I did run a Q-tip in there to clean off the debris and it didn't catch any fabric.

Tony.

Copy, understood, good job then, dont mind me

 

[jackieschmidt]

You are doing just fine.

As for truing it, it is easy enough to check. Just machine a dummy barrel tenon in your lathe and screw the action on to it, seating it against the shoulder. Insert a truing rod in the bolt way and see how much it runs out.
I did a RR a while back and while the threads and reciever face were pretty darned true, it lacked sufficient primary extraction.

I traded it to a friend, he took the bolt handle off, and I set it up correctly and bolted it on.

Thread 'Reattaching Remington Bolt Handle, timing.'

Oct 18, 2025

A friend needs a Remington bolt handle reattached and timed to the action. Who is best recommended for this.?

• jackieschmidt
• Replies: 20
• Forum: Gun Project Questions & Gunsmithing

• 

 

[jelenko]

The first question is 'what are you going to use the rifle for'?

Unless it's for benchrest, I don't think there's a need to do anything.

 

[LVLAaron]

M40 Clone, I assume it's for the vintage sniper matches. I think I've built 10 so far, lots of first place tickets. I true the face and pin a recoil lug always.

I've got a couple coming back for a full bolt sleeve. That reminds me. I really need to get into bolt handle work.

 

[tonyben]

The first question is 'what are you going to use the rifle for'?

Unless it's for benchrest, I don't think there's a need to do anything.

It's for me to compete with in the Vintage sniper matches, Like LVLAaron said, and for me to develop my bolt action builder skills so I can service customers that like rifles other than M14's.

The following is a side note, and a little bit about myself for context. It's not a rant or anything meant to be defensive...

If you didn't know, I am a very respected M14/M1A builder and that's my primary target audience. But I want to broaden my customer base so I'm not limited to just M14 work. The cheapest M14 I build runs around $3,500 for a basic build on a hammer forged receiver (Springfield Armory rifles are built on cast receivers). The more expensive builds are $5,000 to $7,000 after build and accessories like chassis systems and optics.

I taught myself how to build and bed M14's with no mentor, aside from older armorers that shared information online. I have taught myself how to run a mill and a lathe with no formal training, using only my research abilities and asking questions on forums. People don't know how much work is involved in building and bedding a M14 and how many nuances there are involved in match conditioning a M14. There's literally only a handful of guys in the country that do it and I'm one of them.

In short, I want to expand my abilities so I can better meet my customer's needs. I want this to be as accurate of a build as possible for marketing. If I'm cleaning targets at 300 and 600 yards and placing in the gold medal award category, and people know I built the rifle, that's good for my reputation and for my future customer base.

I sometimes outshoot guys with M40's with my personal M14 builds. Keeping up with a bolt action using a M14 is harder to do than most people think.

Tony.

 

[jelenko]

It's for me to compete with in the Vintage sniper matches, Like LVLAaron said, and for me to develop my bolt action builder skills so I can service customers that like rifles other than M14's.

If you didn't know, I am a very respected M14/M1A builder and that's my primary target audience. But I want to broaden my customer base so I'm not limited to just M14 work. The cheapest M14 I build runs around $3,500 for a basic build on a hammer forged receiver (Springfield Armory rifles are built on cast receivers). The more expensive builds are $5,000 to $7,000 after build and accessories like chassis systems and optics.

In short, I want to expand my abilities so I can better meet my customer's needs. I want this to be as accurate of a build as possible for marketing. If I'm cleaning targets at 300 and 600 yards and placing in the gold medal award category, and people know I built the rifle, that's good for my reputation and for my future customer base.

I sometimes outshoot guys with M40's with my personal M14 builds. Keeping up with a bolt action using a M14 is harder to do than most people think.

Tony.

Very cool.

To your objective of being able to use the rifle as a 'demo' for potential customers.
I think cleaning the Vintage Sniper target might not be able to sufficiently demo the accuracy of the rifle.
As I understand it, the X ring is 1 MOA and the 10 ring is 2.3 MOA. Even getting all X's would only demo a 1 MOA. I'm thinking potential customers would be looking for something well less than 1 MOA.

PS. When I first started XTC I used an M1A. At the time we looked for 3/4 MOA or better. Assuming Vintage Sniper is shot with a sling, it's more about the shooter than the rifle.