Bolt diameter when sleeving

[JLDavid]

Hello all. On my way to work I was thinking about sleeving a bolt I have. My bolt measures .695". What diameter to you turn down to when sleeving? I would imagine that if I full length sleeve it diameter would not be super important as long as my sleeve is a tight fit? If I sleeve it front and rear diameter may be more important to have good contact between the bolt and split sleeve. Any suggestions are appreciated and have a great weekend.

 

[LVLAaron]

Here are the notes I've taken on the process.

Turn bolt to .650
Sleeve ID = .675

Rear sleeve = 1 inch long
Front sleeve .450 long

Rear sleeve: .100 from handle

Front sleeve: 12 thou from lugs

 

[JLDavid]

Thanks Aaron. That is what I needed.

 

[JLDavid]

So I took the information from Aaron and looked at my tooling on hand and came up with this. I turned my bolt down to .66855", I made a .730" sleeve out of an old Howa barrel and drilled and reamed it to .670" with a chucking reamer. I shoved it on the bolt till it quit moving then tapped it with a deadblow hammer to seat it up to the shoulder behind the lugs. I set it up in my old bolt tools and dialed it in and turned it to .701". I skim cut the lugs just enough to remove the Sharpie. I will hit the bolt body with some 1000 grit paper to shine it up. For my 1st attempt I am pretty happy so far. Thanks for all the help from forum members here.

 

[tobnpr]

I set it up in my old bolt tools and dialed it in and turned it to .701

What's the smallest diameter of your receiver raceway (or did you ream it)?

 

[LVLAaron]

I've seen as large as .708 - I don't ream them out. You need to measure the front and rear with a pin gauge and make your sleeve a thou or two under that size.

 

[tobnpr]

^^^
Yeah, I was curious because the OP didn't elaborate as to how he arrived at the .701.
I use a .715 Manson reamer, I figure I might as well get a consistent diameter as long as I'm doing it.

 

[JLDavid]

The current bolt in the action is a .701" ptg. The action wasn't reamed to .705" when I barrelled it to 22-243AI. This is a coyote hunting rifle that I am exerimenting with. From the measurements I took when I fit the ptg bolt to it, .701" gave me clearance front and rear with the rear being slightly smaller than the front. Just slid the bolt into the action. Fits nicely.

My thought is that if this doesn't work I can turn the sleeve off, ream the action, re-sleeve the bolt and start all over. This is an old bolt I have had for years waiting for this adventure.

 

[ricco1949]

I lightly scribe the bolt along front and rear bridge and make split sleeves 1.00" in rear centered under rear bridge and lugs to scribe line -.100 in front.

I turn bolt to .650 for sleeves. Sleeves are bored over size to fit snug after splitting with little discernable line. I squeeze them in vise after spitting to achieve near perfect fit. They kinda snap on.

Glue with JB and turn to .002 under .705 reamed bolt raceway. I blend the sleeve edges to assure smooth operation.