Rem.700 bolt main spring.

[HeavyLoad]

I replaced the main spring in my 700 with stronger Wolff spring.
Now the spring is rubbing on the inside of the bolt. Which in my mind defeats the purpose of the stronger spring,correct? Is their anything I can do besides put the stock spring back in?
Do you think Wolff might have sent the wrong spring?

 

[Preacher]

That spring rubbing will certainly degrade accuracy if nothing else.
Get a spring from Gre-Tan Rifles and be done with it....

 

[CatShooter]

I replaced the main spring in my 700 with stronger Wolff spring.
Now the spring is rubbing on the inside of the bolt. Which in my mind defeats the purpose of the stronger spring,correct? Is their anything I can do besides put the stock spring back in?
Do you think Wolff might have sent the wrong spring?

All firing pin springs rub on something - it is impossible for a long, thing spring to stay straight. Touching the side wall of the bolt, or the pin shaft will effect nothing.

I chased firing pin spring "problems" for two years until I finely gave up when I realized that there were no problems. None of it made any difference.

 

[HeavyLoad]

I do know that the stock spring doesn't rub on the inside of the bolt.
It's like the wolff springs diameter is to big.

 

[CatShooter]

I do know that the stock spring doesn't rub on the inside of the bolt.
It's like the wolff springs diameter is to big.

If it doesn't rub against the bolt body, then it rubs against the pin body - the spring cannot support itself.

 

[BigDMT]

Just get a whole firing pin assembly from Dave at PT&G. Can pick out a custom shroud and even get the firingpin fluted.

 

[HeavyLoad]

The gun shot good enough for me with the stock spring in it. I just figured by putting in a heavier spring it would make the lock time faster which would make it shoot a lil better.
But now that the heavier spring is rubbing I would think its defeating the purpose.
I'm probablly gonna throw the stock spring back in it. I'm not shooting compitition with it. Just playing around.

 

[CatShooter]

The gun shot good enough for me with the stock spring in it. I just figured by putting in a heavier spring it would make the lock time faster which would make it shoot a lil better.
But now that the heavier spring is rubbing I would think its defeating the purpose.
I'm probablly gonna throw the stock spring back in it. I'm not shooting compitition with it. Just playing around.

The lock time on a Rem-700 is ~1.6 thousandths of a second. By going to a heavier spring, you cut that by maybe 1/10,000 of a second - how do you think that helps?? You can't control when the gun goes off in that time, and since it is on a bag, gun movement is not part of it...

... but with heavier spring comes more wear, and more pin impact at the end of the bolt when it comes to a stop... maybe not so good.

Fast lock times (within reason) are good for sling shooters, but have no effect on bag shooters.

 

[HeavyLoad]

I just figured faster would be better & I still believe that. But I'm going back to stock.

 

[BigDMT]

I just figured faster would be better & I still believe that. But I'm going back to stock.

Good follow through when shooting eliminates ever needing faster lock time.

CatShooter,
When did the OP ever state he was shooting off of bags??? Maybe he does, maybe he doesnt. Maybe he IS a sling shoter. Not everyone shoots competition or uses the same rest set-up. Some folks here only own one bolt rifle and only shoot it during hunting season. So lets stop assuming everyone is in the same boat here.

 

[CatShooter]

I just figured faster would be better & I still believe that. But I'm going back to stock.

Good follow through when shooting eliminates ever needing faster lock time.

CatShooter,
When did the OP ever state he was shooting off of bags??? Maybe he does, maybe he doesnt. Maybe he IS a sling shoter. Not everyone shoots competition or uses the same rest set-up. Some folks here only own one bolt rifle and only shoot it during hunting season. So lets stop assuming everyone is in the same boat here.

I did not assume anything...

... the wear and other problems that come with over-weight springs are not worth 1/10,000 of a second.

 

[HeavyLoad]

Hey didn't want to start any arguments.
I basically just wanted to know why the wolff spring had a bigger diameter & if anyone else has run into this problem.
But I will say bags,sling or upside down I believe a faster lock time will make a shooter more accurate.

 

[LHSmith]

Hey didn't want to start any arguments.

But I will say bags,sling or upside down I believe a faster lock time will make a shooter more accurate.

Theoretically ,but only if shooting off-hand. Ask any BR competitor who tried the Speedlok FP ass'y.....they eventually went back to the original spring and pin weight. When your equipment can agg in the 1's and low 2's, these subtle changes in hardware are noticeable. Ignition is the one area that most custom actions can be improved on by fine tuning...it is THAT critical to winning.

 

[HeavyLoad]

I understand how a faster lock time can help shooting off hand but I don't undèrstand how it can not help shooting off the bench.
Can someone direct me to facts in this theory? Some literature to read.

 

[LHSmith]

When Remington designed the 700, they hit on a spring/FP combination that caused the least vibrations to the barrel, yet provided consistent reliable ignition....which is why Kelbly ( use the same spring, dimensionally- but better quality) and a quite few other customs are eerily similar in design. Not sure it is in any books, but there is a few BR competitors/gunsmiths who are tweaking timing and ignition on customs .....and they are not about to write a DIY manual on the subject anytime soon.

 

[LHSmith]

The other obvious answer is that in a good bench rest set-up, there is much smaller movement of the gun as compared to off-hand, with the only movement being from the FP surge and the beginning stage of recoil (as the bullet still being in the barrel for the first ~ 0.2 inches of recoil). So what-ever 1000th's of a second improvement in lock-time is vastly off-set by adversely affecting the barrel harmonics and consistent ignition. I also question if the accuracy improvement is even measurable when using Speedloks off-hand.

 

[LHSmith]

Edit to post 14....books "The Book Of Rifle Accuracy" by Tony Boyer has 9 pages with pics on how to improve ignition in a bolt gun similar to the Rem. 700. You will find this quote: "Whenever I have seen benchrest shooters switch to strong springs and extremely light firing pins (lower lock time), the results were never good for accuracy." If you are not familiar with TB, Google the name.
Tony does not offer much in theories, or explanations why, but sometimes you must accept the advice from those that have BTDT many times over.

 

[Lapua40X]

OP .... The longer the spring, the greater its tendency to lose its linearity (to a greater or lesser degree) under load. That's why, depending on the length of the spring and the load place upon it, these springs are either housed in a cylinder or supported by a center column of some type. To stiffen or lighten a spring the engineer has to make some change in its design. When you installed the new spring in your bolt you may have noticed that it tended to move about along the axis of the firing pin as you worked with it in the spring installation/removal tool. It is possible that your replacement spring is made of a larger gage of wire, has a slightly larger diameter, or some other feature that won't be found in the standard issue spring. You can be certain that a heavier spring is not going to be precisely the same, either in size and/or material, as the stock spring - if it were there would be no difference in performance.

 

[HeavyLoad]

Thanks for all responses. I'm deffinetly putting the stock spring back in.

 

[CatShooter]

"... and the beginning stage of recoil (as the bullet still being in the barrel for the first ~ 0.2 inches of recoil).

The barrel only gets to move a few thousandths of an inch, before the bullet leaves the barrel.