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Changing bolt face VS a custom bolt

I am in the process of building a prone rifle based on a Remington M700 and the 6mm RAT cartridge. A friend adviesed me to look into changing the existing .243 bolt face rather than having a custom bolt made. I will of course, be using the 6.5 Grendel case. What is the best way to go in your opinion? I respect my friend's advise but I want to see all the options before I do anything.
John
 
Why not change to a complete custom action? You will have to have the action trued and buy a bolt and when you can buy a remington clone. The cost of tearing up a rifle to just use the action doesn't make sense,if you don't need the gun sell it too off set the action.......jim
 
Jim, I really wish I could buy a special custom receiver but this is a budget decision. The M 700 will cost me $349 and if I sell the .243 barrel and stock I will save a little money. In any event, this will take much of the winter anyway.

This will be strictly a prone rifle and I already have a pillar bedded stock that should work for the time being.
 
The 6.5 Grendel uses a smaller bolt face (0.445) than the 243 (0.473). The easiest thing would be to buy a 223 and have the bolt face opened from 0.378 to 0.445 and change the extractor. You might be able to use the 243 bolt and install a longer extractor to grab the smaller rim.
PTG will sell you a bolt body with the proper face for around $125.00.
Unless you are capable of doing most of the machine work yourself you might find that a custom Rem Clone is a lot more reasonable than you think verses the price of farming out the bolt and truing work.
 
Are you referring to an action that goes for $800? I am not intending to true the action and I know someone who will modify the bolt for me.

Added : A funny thing about high priced equipment. I have a friend who entered a match several times shooting a Winchester 670 receiver, his barrel, Redfield Olympic sights, a hand made laminated stock and he maybe dropped three points out of 1200 over a weekend prone match.
 
If you don't want to true a remington and you can't see your way clear to get a custom and the guy done super with a 670 action that is what i would get. The win.670 has longer and stronger bolt handle,the action is fairly straight , and a better extractor. It also has a built in recoil lug. You are going to 350.00 barrel on it and 200.00 to have it chambered. and a stock, and bedding. What i'm trying say,if you skimp on some thing,don't let it be the action,the stock fits the action and is bedded to it. So if you put a cheap barrel on it that all you have to change, but you decide to change the action, the stock needs rebed if it fit and the barrel won't fit. You lost what you tried to save.........jim
 
forget the rat and build a 6xc ,uses your old bolt face and magazine ,more case cap. proven out to 1000 yds feeds slick ,uses common 22-250 brass as source BWDavis
 
One big reason for using the RAT is that I already have the dies and a lot of formed brass and I already have the reamer. I have nothing against the 6XC, however. The magazine is not an issue since this won't be a repeater. 1000 yard shooting is something I seldom have a chance to ever do anymore. I already have a stock that is pillar bedded and the Remington should drop in. But, your case for the 6XC is well taken.

I really am only building this to launch bullets and not worry too much about something that is way more capable than I am with irons and a sling at 65.
 
john, your are just a kid ,i just turned 71,we have a retread group here in fl. 59,62,65,66,66,71 heck of ateam. BW Davis
 
john , i would go with theptg bolt then you will have the 308 size bolt if you want to have a switch barrel rifle . or there is always chances to sell a 700 bolt. rember the bolt is the only thing between you and all that hot gas, Byron
 
Get the PTG bolt possibly an oversized one if the factory one is sloppy. My smith did one for me on an old rem 722 and its butter smooth with no slop. You can sell the factory one and almost recoup your costs in the PTG.

Lance
 
Thanks everybody for the responses. I am getting a new PTG bolt rather than change the existing bolt which looks like it was never fired (is that possible?) The rifle is in really nice shape and is not all that new. The Krieger barrel is on the way, and today I made the deal of the century - well, for me, anyway. I managed to sell my small Leica M series collection today and that will fund this thing. If anybody has a service rifle rotation RPA Trakker to sell...
Thanks, John
 

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