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Best/Most Economical Place To Get An Action Trued and Blueprinted

Say $275 for a blueprint job: truing the bolt face, lugs, action face, lugs and threads. This puts everything in line with the raceway. Other than reaming the raceway and bushing the bolt, what is there? I bought a M700 SA for $275, so I am looking at $550 all in. Where are all these custom actions at that price, I want to buy a truckload and go into business selling them to people for $1000!

PS: what difference does the thread diameter make? when you have a barrel made(unless it is a Remage) it is fit to the action, the gunsmith may save two or three passes cutting the tenon while he is at it.
 
PS: what difference does the thread diameter make? when you have a barrel made(unless it is a Remage) it is fit to the action, the gunsmith may save two or three passes cutting the tenon while he is at it.


That's exactly the difference to which I was referring. To certain buyers (not all) the ability to screw on a barrel themselves is relevant. It is a valid point to consider when deciding whether to true a factory action or buy one that is manufactured to the same or better tolerances.

I'm sure there are guys much faster than me... But there's no way I could dial in and single point an action, and do the rest of the work for $275...
And far as I'm concerned, not reaming the bolt raceway isn't an option. Why would you leave a sloppy raceway that's not perfectly concentric and perpendicular to the chamber/bore when you've made all the other surfaces so?
 
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For what it's worth, the newer RR actions from Remington are pretty straight and consistent in the bolt raceway. All of them I've done have used the same 2 bushing for front and back, either 0.7020 or 0.7025 (mostly the latter) and the lugs and face are spot on in perpendicularity to the raceway. I assume they do all these operations in the same setup. Where they are sorely lacking is in thread concentricity. I've heard that they thread-mill them now; probably on a different machine and/or setup. Also, the scope mount holes are usually not in line with the raceway, probably for the same reason: done in a different machine and/or setup.
 
That's exactly the difference to which I was referring. To certain buyers (not all) the ability to screw on a barrel themselves is relevant. It is a valid point to consider when deciding whether to true a factory action or buy one that is manufactured to the same or better tolerances.

I'm sure there are guys much faster than me... But there's no way I could dial in and single point an action, and do the rest of the work for $275...
And far as I'm concerned, not reaming the bolt raceway isn't an option. Why would you leave a sloppy raceway that's not perfectly concentric and perpendicular to the chamber/bore when you've made all the other surfaces so?
There is more to fitting a barrel than just screwing it into the action. You can buy a used M700 barrel cheap, but good luck just putting it on another 700 and the headspace, bolt clearance and concentricity being right. It can be done with the better customs, but I don't have the money or the pull to call up a gunsmith and tell them to send me a certain chamber barrel right now for a Bat action because I might be shooting in the nationals tomorrow. I can wait and take the action to them and have fitted.

When "all the other surfaces" are made true, they are concentric and perpendicular to the raceway, just like a custom. The Rems might have a taper from front to back, but it is up to the real accuracy aficionados to tell you how much difference that makes when everything else is done.
 
There is more to fitting a barrel than just screwing it into the action. You can buy a used M700 barrel cheap, but good luck just putting it on another 700 and the headspace, bolt clearance and concentricity being right. It can be done with the better customs, but I don't have the money or the pull to call up a gunsmith and tell them to send me a certain chamber barrel right now for a Bat action because I might be shooting in the nationals tomorrow. I can wait and take the action to them and have fitted.

When "all the other surfaces" are made true, they are concentric and perpendicular to the raceway, just like a custom. The Rems might have a taper from front to back, but it is up to the real accuracy aficionados to tell you how much difference that makes when everything else is done.


Two things, first, if you are "blueprinting" a receiver you have to ream the raceway or all your machining will be off a non concentric raceway bore. Your "blueprinting" will be a waste. If you don't bush the OD and firing pin, why waste your money? Oh, add on timing and tig welding your bolt handle or the extra for an aftermarket handle.
Second, last year at the Shilen Swap Meet, SPF had receivers for sale at $600. Be in Ennis, Texas for the Swap Meet on March 23,2019.
 
Two things, first, if you are "blueprinting" a receiver you have to ream the raceway or all your machining will be off a non concentric raceway bore. Your "blueprinting" will be a waste. If you don't bush the OD and firing pin, why waste your money? Oh, add on timing and tig welding your bolt handle or the extra for an aftermarket handle.
Second, last year at the Shilen Swap Meet, SPF had receivers for sale at $600. Be in Ennis, Texas for the Swap Meet on March 23,2019.
Two things, first, if you are blueprinting a receiver you put an action bar down the raceway to center the action for truing. My blueprinting won't be a waste since my bolt will follow the same path that action bar did, which of course was there to make all the machining cuts concentric with the raceway.
Second, If I lived in Ennis, in the great state of Texas, I would buy those SPF actions, but spending a fortune on gas to get there, or buying a plane ticket, I"ll stick to Remington, although I am a Winchester fan myself.
By the way, do I need to bush the firing pin if I am not cratering primers, or would that be a waste of money? Ditto the bolt handle if I am not having extraction or hand off problems?
 
Bubba1, what are you going to use this Blueprinted action for? If you are getting into benchrest, I would have to side with all the friends I have made on this thread and recommend a Bat or Borden. If you are looking for a tack driving huntin' gun, or a long range steel ringer, clean up the rem as much as you can afford and go to town with it!

To your question of who can do it and what will it cost, there are many excellent gunsmiths listed on this site that can do it for the $250-$300 range you are in, as well as all the suggestions you have gotten here
 
Two things, first, if you are blueprinting a receiver you put an action bar down the raceway to center the action for truing. My blueprinting won't be a waste since my bolt will follow the same path that action bar did, which of course was there to make all the machining cuts concentric with the raceway.
Second, If I lived in Ennis, in the great state of Texas, I would buy those SPF actions, but spending a fortune on gas to get there, or buying a plane ticket, I"ll stick to Remington, although I am a Winchester fan myself.
By the way, do I need to bush the firing pin if I am not cratering primers, or would that be a waste of money? Ditto the bolt handle if I am not having extraction or hand off problems?


John, I believe that the factory raceway is not a good place to start with a try at a precision "blueprint". John, some others might visit this, but on most that I have measured the rear raceway is not the same diameter or round as in the front. To me, if I were doing the machine work, I would want to start with a precision machined surface "the raceway". I don't believe in half AZZ.
 
There is more to fitting a barrel than just screwing it into the action. You can buy a used M700 barrel cheap, but good luck just putting it on another 700 and the headspace, bolt clearance and concentricity being right.

to clarify, post was in reference to "screwing on" a Remage barrel...not a takeoff.
 
There is more to fitting a barrel than just screwing it into the action. You can buy a used M700 barrel cheap, but good luck just putting it on another 700 and the headspace, bolt clearance and concentricity being right. It can be done with the better customs, but I don't have the money or the pull to call up a gunsmith and tell them to send me a certain chamber barrel right now for a Bat action because I might be shooting in the nationals tomorrow. I can wait and take the action to them and have fitted.

When "all the other surfaces" are made true, they are concentric and perpendicular to the raceway, just like a custom. The Rems might have a taper from front to back, but it is up to the real accuracy aficionados to tell you how much difference that makes when everything else is done.



John, I'll bet that several of us have screwed another 700 barrel on a different receiver. A lot of them are good to go. They normally have the stamping in the wrong area.
 
John, I'll bet that several of us have screwed another 700 barrel on a different receiver. A lot of them are good to go. They normally have the stamping in the wrong area.
Just a few posts ago you said you never do anything half AZZ, and now you are screwing a takeoff barrel on a different action and calling it good.

As some have said in the past, probably 90% of a rifle's accuracy is the barrel. I propose that 90% of the accuracy of an action is squaring the faces, lugs, and threads. If you want to shoot benchrest, M700's aren't placing in the winners circle very often, so get a custom. For half of that, you can make a M700 shoot pretty good for most everything else.
 
Give me a break young feller. I said "several" folks have screwed on a 700 barrel on another receiver, including me, and they headspaced fine. 30-35 years ago my cousin had a 700 with a shot out barrel and the local smith had a new takeoff in the same caliber. I screwed it on and borrowed his headspace gauges and it was good. What was half AZZ about that? It was his deer rifle and he never missed. The meat was important and he didn't shoot them a 800 yards.
Don't read into my post what your opinion has to be. Reread my post that you quoted. My point was and if you will prove me wrong, let me know. I said that most 700 barrels could be screwed on a different receiver and they would be good to go, not all of them did I say.I will accept your apology for misinterpreting my post.
 
My apologies go to the OP, don't accept something that isn't offered. I am not the only one offering opinions here. If you reread my posts, you might get my real meaning as well, Nuf said.
 
to clarify, post was in reference to "screwing on" a Remage barrel...not a takeoff.
I
to clarify, post was in reference to "screwing on" a Remage barrel...not a takeoff.
my apologies, I took that example to the extreme. However, there are prefit barrel makers that thread oversize just for actions that have had the threads recut. I don.t think it is a standard, but 10 thou over is the usual I have seen
 

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