Rem 700 bolt

[Burt]

I sent my barreled action out to have it blued and FedEx some how tore the box open and lost my bolt...as well as my check for payment I might add. I ordered a new bolt from Pacific Tool and Gauge. Now my question. How much work is going to be needed to fit the new bolt? The action and bolt where trued before.

 

[tightneck]

I personally think the lugs will need to be cut to match the headspace of your setup. A PTG bolt as it comes from Dave is quite a bit longer from the back of the lugs to the boltface, something like .020" longer than a standard remmy bolt. The bolt nose on the Kiff bolt may be too long for the current barrel. If the lugs are relieved, that will take care of headspace and the bolt nose. Of course you could always have the barrel set back and rechambered, then nothing would need to be done to the new bolt. If the action was blueprinted properly, then there is no need for lapping the lugs in. I don't care for lapping as it doesn't really do anything for accuracy. A properly blueprinted action with a Kiff bolt should yield 100% locking lug engagement.

 

[Burt]

Thanks for that info...was hoping it would be easier and cheaper. No money coming my way from FedEx...over the 21 day period before submitting claim. Plus I'm just plain tired of arguing with the bastards. I will wait for the bolt to get here and see if it headspaces okay and then go from there. What a shame, it was a darn good shooting rifle. Took me over a year to build it and that was when I had a lathe and a shop to use. 244AI and a heavy Douglas barrel. The rifle weighed close to 13 pounds when I got done and was not for 'carry hunting' by any means. I only took five coyote with it because of my hunting skills, not the rifle.

 

[Dans40X]

Burt,
The PT&G bolt lugs are approximately +.022" longer fwd/aft compared to OEM Rem bolt lugs & will require facing to fit your Bbl'd action.

I've timed,TIG welded a few,thousand)bolt handles.

If you need assistance let me know.

 

[Burt]

Dans40X, thanks for the offer. I'm a wanna-be gunsmith and learned quite a bit helping a friend in his smithing shop. But do to folks around here not wanting to pay for quality work...he shut down. Sooo, I'm sure I will be contacting you and others here for some help. Thanks again. Burt

 

[Stoner25mkiv]

Burt, where are you located? Anywhere near Louisville, Ky. If you need access to a lathe.

 

[Burt]

I'm in northeast Ohio. I'm not so sure that I would trust myself going solo with the bolt and lathe but thanks for that offer.

 

[Burt]

I just got the bolt yesterday and opened the box today. Slight problem...they did not curve the handle back. If I make some sort of heat sink for the bolt body, would I be able to just heat the handle and put a slight curve in it myself? It looks to me that the handle was welded on so I don't think it will melt off of the bolt body.

 

[criver600]

Dan Armstrong DANS40X does great work on remington bolts. Give him a few key measurements and your remington will be extracting and camming like it was designed to do and no danger of losing your bolt handle.

 

[rayjay]

Burt, unfortunately you had no way of knowing that their are a large number of bolt handles available. It might be a bit dodgy heating up the one that is now on the bolt. You would need a heatsink to screw into the threads of the bolt body and bending it without messing up the geometry of all the interrelated surfaces might be an issue.

You may find that the new bolt handle has much better 'handling' characteristics compared to the std Remington handle. I am sure the cutout in the stock would no longer be a close fit and this may make this route unacceptable to you.

 

[Burt]

I was thinking that sending the bolt back would be the right thing to do. I know I mentioned to them that I wanted the bolt swept back like the one pictured on their website. But, here it is and it's not what I need for this rifle if I am going to use the same stock. It took some time to rasp and file the correct curve in the stock. Not to mention the pillars and bedding and then to finish the thing. Sort of ironic, I was going to go with a straight bolt handle when I first started to build this rifle but I wanted to keep within a budget I had placed on myself. I am WAY over what I had expected on spending. I was sitting here thinking of what to do and how much this is all costing me for just one rifle...plus the aggravation. Soooo, I ordered another complete action. Will use that bolt to fit into this action that I have here now. Fit the new bolt from PT&G into the receiver that is on the way and just build another rifle. Hey, if I'm gonna spend money, I might as well have two rifles. Yes...I'm divorced or my thinking and budget would not have worked out the same way. Thanks for all the help you folks have given me, though my plans have changed a bit.

My mistake...are these handles from PTG soldered on? I can't figure out what it is that is holding on the handle.

 

[rayjay]

I know that Dans40x welds them on and it is an obvious weld. Nice tiny fish scales along the back of the joint. I think most smiths solder them on.

 

[Dans40X]

Treat the PT&G/K.Wyatt silver soldered bolt handles with tender loving care.
The TIC TAC TOE pattern on the underside should be a clue.
Ask me how I know!!
Removal is 3X easier than OEM Remington induction brazed handles.

TIG welded/Timed handles come with a Life Time Guarantee if done in ALASKA.

 

[tightneck]

I'm guessing that your bolt came from Dave with the bolt handle attached? Didn't go through Wyatt's, right? Anyhow, Dan's not gonna like to hear this, but Dave is now offering a one piece bolt...integral handle. It's actually not one peice, but rather the handle is fused on by someone other than PT&G. I talked to him a couple months ago about this, but I have forgotten most of the details. If you check out his website, you will see that he is now offering this as an option.

 

[Dans40X]

I haven't had one of the PT&G integral handled bolts in hand.

There are plenty of Remington 700/40X/600/660/Seven/788,BAT,Hall,
McMillan,Stolle,SAKO bolt handles to name a few,that need attaching/timing work.

 

[tightneck]

I haven't had one of the PT&G integral handled bolts in hand.

There are plenty of Remington 700/40X/Seven,BAT,Borden,Hall,
McMillan,SAKO bolt handles to name a few,that need welding/timing work.

I haven't had the pleasure yet either. As far as the others you mentioned needing timing work, you are absolutely correct. I have 5 BAT's in my collection...all of them needed a little tweaking to get them where I want them. By "tweaking", I mean getting the timing just right and getting the bolt to function as smoothly as I can make it. I'm picky. That being said, they are still the best Benchrest action available as far as I'm concerned. It takes a serious amount of elbow grease, and truing to get a Remington anywhere close. And then you still got a Remington.

 

[Burt]

Gee..."And then you still got a Remington"...nice one there Tightneck. You wouldn't happen to work for FedEx would you?

I'm a Moderator on another website that was very good in it's day for the old Mausers. I would see some members come in and poke fun at what another member had and I just can't help but to wonder why another member,or members)would want to do that. I guess being all "picky" about what you do can be upsetting for you, but I have no problem with the Remington action. I'm no benchrest shooter and don't claim to be...nor am I a gunsmith. But I have produced a couple of rifles that suit me okay. If Tightneck has a problem with me coming on here then he can email me at BurtsMSA@neo.rr.com and take it away from this forum.

 

[Dans40X]

Burt,
Depending on the use,a straight bolt handle can be a nice option.

Remington's have a few faults.
Bolt handle timing & firing pin timing being the biggest fault-that is what happens when lawyers get involved,hopefully in the future politicians won't screw up everyone's dreams.

Of the after market actions available in the US,90% are Remington clones in one form or another.

 

[Burt]

I do understand that there are actions out there that are better than the Remington, depending on it's purpose. I've been in Kelbly's to look around after seeing the folks at the benchrest matches. The quality of the actions they had there where really top of the line. But I'm not going to put 180mph speed rated tires on my pick-up truck either. If I was into the competition shooting, as some of you are, I would be going that way too. I did get into some service rifle shoots and had some fun with it. But the fun turned into a chore, my eyes started going down hill and I just backed away.

I see that Tightneck has posted a bunch on these forums and I don't think he would be here if he was into bashing others. Perhaps I took it the wrong way. I apologize for my comment if I was out of line.

 

[tightneck]

I do understand that there are actions out there that are better than the Remington, depending on it's purpose. I've been in Kelbly's to look around after seeing the folks at the benchrest matches. The quality of the actions they had there where really top of the line. But I'm not going to put 180mph speed rated tires on my pick-up truck either. If I was into the competition shooting, as some of you are, I would be going that way too. I did get into some service rifle shoots and had some fun with it. But the fun turned into a chore, my eyes started going down hill and I just backed away.

I see that Tightneck has posted a bunch on these forums and I don't think he would be here if he was into bashing others. Perhaps I took it the wrong way. I apologize for my comment if I was out of line.

The only point I was making is that you can spend a bunch of money making a Reminton into a nice action, but you surely wouldn't be able to recoup that money when you decided to sell it. A custom action retains its value much better. I, as well as many of the posters here and elsewhere will give you the same answer. I am a BR shooter that uses custom actions for his BR rifles. I also use trued Remmy's for Varmint and Hunting rifles. I use Mausers, Springfields, etc. for classic hunting rifles. I believe in using the right action/parts for the job at hand. I've got as much money in a Mauser build right now to pay for all the parts in a BR rifle...and it's not done yet.