About a year before Remington's final bankruptcy filing, I ordered a bare M700 receiver from Zanders, and from PTG, one of their custom bolts with 223 boltface, 11* swept and threaded handle, Mini-16 extractor, ejector plunger & spring, with .061" firing pin hole, and a complete striker assembly to match the smaller FP hole. I didn't bother to order small parts for the action, specifically trigger pins and bolt stop/spring at this time, as I figured I had plenty of time to get them before the PTG bolt arrived.
When I finally decided to build a 20 Tactical on this receiver and started looking for factory bolt stop/spring, it was obvious that I'd waited too long, as none of the usual parts suppliers had any M700 parts left. I wound up sending the receiver & PTG bolt up to LRI in Sturgis, S.D. to have it cut for Chad's custom bolt stop installation, then - after watching a youtube video of his CNC 5-axis action truing routine - decided to have them do that work, as well as to fit the PTG bolt, instead of doing that work myself, which I usually do when doing a build on a M700 action. In for a penny, in for a pound - also decided to have them do sprial fluting on the bolt body - besides, their dealer pricing on this work is very reasonable. Got the action back about 2-1/2 weeks after sending it up to them, and was pretty impressed with the quality of the work. I had some 1/8" dia drill rod, so cut trigger pins from that, which worked well when I installed a Trigger Tech Diamond trigger.
I'd bought a couple of Bartlein 1-9tw 20 caliber bbl blanks a few years ago after seeing them on their inventory list (#2 & #3B sporters), and had used the #2 for another 20 Tactical on a Howa Mini action. I was pleased with the way that rifle turned out, so decided to use the heavier #3B blank with this M700 action. Finished the 3B at 25", and threaded the muzzle for a TBAC 9/16-24 flash suppressor. I used armor black CeraKote to finish the bbl'd action, and bedded it into a McMillan Game Scout with molded-in McWoody pattern. I'm using AI 10rd poly mags in Hawkins DBM. I have several Athlon Midas TAC 6-24x50 mil scopes on other rifles and like them quite a bit, so put another one in TPS TSR low rings.
I know that you can buy something like a custom Zermatt Origin action for a bit less than what I've got tied-up in this M700 action, and if I were needing/wanting to built another custom rifle, that's what I'd do. But I had the Remington receiver, and the PTG bolt, and have had good results using several other M700 bare receivers with the PTG bolts in the past, so that's what I wound up with...
When I finally decided to build a 20 Tactical on this receiver and started looking for factory bolt stop/spring, it was obvious that I'd waited too long, as none of the usual parts suppliers had any M700 parts left. I wound up sending the receiver & PTG bolt up to LRI in Sturgis, S.D. to have it cut for Chad's custom bolt stop installation, then - after watching a youtube video of his CNC 5-axis action truing routine - decided to have them do that work, as well as to fit the PTG bolt, instead of doing that work myself, which I usually do when doing a build on a M700 action. In for a penny, in for a pound - also decided to have them do sprial fluting on the bolt body - besides, their dealer pricing on this work is very reasonable. Got the action back about 2-1/2 weeks after sending it up to them, and was pretty impressed with the quality of the work. I had some 1/8" dia drill rod, so cut trigger pins from that, which worked well when I installed a Trigger Tech Diamond trigger.
I'd bought a couple of Bartlein 1-9tw 20 caliber bbl blanks a few years ago after seeing them on their inventory list (#2 & #3B sporters), and had used the #2 for another 20 Tactical on a Howa Mini action. I was pleased with the way that rifle turned out, so decided to use the heavier #3B blank with this M700 action. Finished the 3B at 25", and threaded the muzzle for a TBAC 9/16-24 flash suppressor. I used armor black CeraKote to finish the bbl'd action, and bedded it into a McMillan Game Scout with molded-in McWoody pattern. I'm using AI 10rd poly mags in Hawkins DBM. I have several Athlon Midas TAC 6-24x50 mil scopes on other rifles and like them quite a bit, so put another one in TPS TSR low rings.
I know that you can buy something like a custom Zermatt Origin action for a bit less than what I've got tied-up in this M700 action, and if I were needing/wanting to built another custom rifle, that's what I'd do. But I had the Remington receiver, and the PTG bolt, and have had good results using several other M700 bare receivers with the PTG bolts in the past, so that's what I wound up with...
