Opinions on Tooling Remington 700 Receivers

[STS]

I will be needing the mandrel.

Get yourself a stick of 12L14 .750 diameter and turn your own mandrels. I have 4 or 5 that I've made over the years and they work well.

 

[tclaunch]

Get yourself a stick of 12L14 .750 diameter and turn your own mandrels. I have 4 or 5 that I've made over the years and they work well.

I have been looking into this very option. I don`t know what 12L14 is but I was looking at brass. I see this alloy on E-Bay, in 12" lengths. I was thinking 18" but please tell me if 12" is good. My first time doing this, thanks.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

12" would be fine, I would epect you to need a follower rest for the delection. You dont have a machine shop near by with a centerless grinder? If you rough turned the stock and they only had to take off a few thousandths I bet theyd do it pretty cheap. The other thing to keep in mind is most of the time the front and rear rings are not the same size. .702, .7025, and .703 have been the most common sizes in my experiance. If you decide to get a pre made mandrel call GRE-TAN. They are a little more than PTG (his stuff is made by ptg) but at least they know what you want when you call, and he is knowledgeable on this subject.

 

[STS]

I have been looking into this very option. I don`t know what 12L14 is but I was looking at brass. I see this alloy on E-Bay, in 12" lengths. I was thinking 18" but please tell me if 12" is good. My first time doing this, thanks.

12L14 is leaded steel that is free machining stock. It turns beautifully. Put a good center in one end then turn yourself a mandrel. You don't need to have it precision ground, it simply needs to be straight and without taper. You can hand finish the size to final dimensions without difficulty. It just takes a little time and a good micrometer. I bought a 5 foot long piece and made several mandrels of different configurations for various applications.

 

[tclaunch]

I bought 6, 1' pieces off E-Bay today.

 

[skeetlee]

Manson sells a plain jane mandrel for 90$ I think. with Brownells discount, you may buy it cheaper. Lee

 

[Jonathan Zimmerman]

I can't remember who I bought my bushings from, but I ordered a 0.500" ejector pin 12" long to use as my mandrel for dialing the action. I made a jig like all of those in the above thread. The ejector pin was very inexpensive compared to buying the set from a company. The tapered bushings were not so cheap if I remember correctly.

 

[Rustystud]

12l14 machines nicely, but it is not nearly as rigid 4140 or m-42 tool steel that has been cylindrically ground. The Oregon technology uses .500" mandrel and multiple bushings from .699-.705" in .0005 increments. The Manson technology uses tapered bushings, one going from each direction until bottomed out. Since most Remingtons are .001"- .002" differing in the front and back of the bolt race. Rarely there consistent. The bushing system allows for each end to be centered and supported.

In theory an action turned on a mandrel will turn out at 90 degrees of the bolt race. In the real world it doesn't always turn out that way.

In an eight screw action truing jig there are issues with the action flexing. One of the jigs shown earlier is very similar I design to Mike Bryant's type jig. Using a four leafed collet between the screws and the action gives much more surface area of contact. Reducing slippage and warping due to a single screw contact with the action.

There have been many minds thinking about the best way to skin this cat. In my opinion this debate will continue for many years.
Nat Lambeth