Rem. 700 Replacement Bolt. Competitive Edge or Pacific Tool & Gauge?

[Steve Wilson]

I'm trying to decide between a Competitive Edge and a PTG replacement bolt for my chrome moly long, action Remington 700. What I need is the bolt body with the extractor, ejector and handle, I already have the Gre-Tan shroud, titanium firing pin and spring.

The CE bolt is pretty slick looking and comes fluted with a nice long bolt handle. But I have some concern with them placing the extractor inside the locking lug.

PTG's site is down for maintenance right now and you can't get past the home page but I was reading the article about them in the archives here earlier. I noticed that you can order them fatter than the standard .700". That would be nice. You can also get them in fluted with Rem or Sako extractors.

Midway has most all of the PTG bolts on back order, so if I go PTG I might as well get it straight from Dave. Plus I would avoid Midway ganking me on the shipping; no need to help finance Potterfield's next safari.

Edit: Do either of them have smaller firing pin holes than the standard Remington? My Remington has never left pretty marks on the primers and I've wanted to have the hole bushed.

Do you have any experience with either of these bolts or any others that I should consider?

Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

 

[Chuckhunter]

Steve, I'm very happy with my PT&G replacement bolt. They are slightly oversize so your smith can fit it nice and tight. There is virtually no play in mine, so keeping the bolt clean is a must. I think you can tell by the pictures that it has exactly what you're looking for. Hope the pics help.

 

[Steve Wilson]

Chuck Hunter,

That's what I'm looking for. A couple of questions for you:

Did you order it from PT&G?
Was it in stock or have to be made?
Delivery time if made?

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Chuckhunter]

Steve, My friend, Roger Gower (Deadeye1) has a small shooter supply shop in his home. At the time approx 2 years ago, he ordered several bolts directly from Dave. I don't remember the leed time but I know it wasn't very long. If my memory serves me correctly he had them in stock at that time. I used one for my SA 700 to build a 6.5X47 Lapua and he used one for a LA and built a 6.5X284. A call to Dave might be in order, I'm sure he can give you all the particulars that you're looking for. Donovan, also makes a good point.

 

[wapiti25]

go with the M-16 extractor, not the Sako. You can get PTG bolts with the Rem extractor. Talk to PTG on the phone and Dave Kiff if possible. Yes, you can order the size (dia) you need.

 

[25AI260]

l also order from PTG ... V. Happy one pc bolt, i had the sako extractor cut, ordered the the parts at the same an the bolt knob from Dave... i used the ejector an firing pin assemble for my other Rem. bolt everything fit perfect....
came out to be le$s then CE....

 

[Chuckhunter]

Just curious wapiti25, why you prefer the M-16 Extractor to the Sako. Is it just for it's beefiness or a perceived functional difference?

 

[wapiti25]

The M16 extractor has a small amount of safety as it has a cross pin holding it in. Sako extractors have been blown down the lug race ways when a case has ruptured. In the Sako action you have a bolt guide that would deflect the extractor if it should be blown out of the bolt. The Rem extractor is the safest. Talk to Dave for more info.

 

[carlsbad]

Wapiti25 describes the concern with Sako. Sako is actually smoother in that it takes less force to get it over the rim. For a while nobody wanted a sako. Lately requests have been 3 to 1 in favor the Sako. Both are good extractors.

PTG bolts are generally good and if you are thinking of installing either sako or M16 extractor you may be better off buying an entire new bolt and selling your Rem bolt as they are in demand. The downside is a long lead time. PTG does not stock bolts. The other downside is that an extractor can be installed without changing headspace. A ptg bolt install will require headspace adjustment if your don't do it in conjunction with a rebarrel. --Jerry

 

[Ray123]

Pacific Tool& Gauge has mostly good stuff..But not always..and it's not always in-stock. You can get them fluted, in several patterns,or not .. and they come with the small firing pin hole.you can also request the diameter of your bolt, if you can measure accurately for the full length of the bolt race way to within 0.0005". Gauge pins will help.
I'd order the bolt .0015" smaller..or .002" for a hunting rifle. The M16 Extractor works great, but you may have some fitting work...even redrill the pin hole. The M17 extractor body may need a little work or slightly open tbe counter bore in your 700 barrel chamber.
The bolt handle will even come threaded in your 5/16" x24 is common, but you can choose something else.
This is not a drop in AR type Item your headspace will likely be off..
There is absolutely no excuse not to get this right! If you know what you're doing!
Never even thought, to put a new bolt an existing barreled action....you could be lucky, but it could blow your face off... I use the bolt that I rebarrel with for for the life of the action ...and the headspace is set right on to the new bolt when chambering...never consider a bolt just laying around to have correct head space...the action should be trued while its apart. If the bolt body is too big, relive, the Center portion...mark the bolt body and file in your Borden Bumps...for a tight lockup and easy bolt manipulation out of battery. But the bolt body won't be too big if you measured & ordered it correctly. AND M16 works great, in the few I have..takes high pressure well...If in the event that your case head had a massive charge, expanding the primer pocket massively along with the rim the clearance of the M16 Extractor should be forced against the counter bore of the 700 chamber holding it there with high pressure plus the steel pin, then the steel bolt of the bolt in it's recess, as a stop... So it isnt very likely to be a problem if set up correctly....3 local shops advertise as gunsmiths don't really do metal work, one told me he farms it out to a local machinist, I saw it..the lathe in the back room was far from adequate, and no milling machine. When saw it I never went back...even had one preform som shoddy work on my 45-70 when I was a young man of 22 ...not yet a machinist, and no machine tools...it takes about 25 years to get comfortable with all the bills...a few good years, then your health goes to hell...("keep on, a keepin on")..and... "that's all I know about that" ... And I have another new project seriously...do not give me ideas... so im running a 8.6 blackout 3 twist in an AR 10, and there is little love ... someone wrote an AR 10 in 6 Dasher ..
I check the cases of the two side by side they are very close ...and I make range pick up 308, 30-06, etc ino 8.6 Blackout...rather easily. I have a 6 dasher reamer, buy a Bartlein blank 7.5 twist, machine everything required, barrel extension, contour, line up gas port, chamber etc...so a 6 dasher AR 10 to replace the 6.8 blackout, I have the mags that work but cheap plastic ones are working in the 8.6, it slightly longer...and 6 Dasher brass would be free...the expensive brass stopped me at first thought...never learn anything if ya don't experiment with your ideas...soon as I get to feeling better.
Just for fun...but its on the table

 

[JBT47]

Didn’t read all of the posts above…it’s late. My experience - several years ago I decided to build a fast twist .223 and sacrificed a worn out .22-250 and used the R700 short action and thought I’d easily find a bolt for it with .223 sized bolt face. Couldn’t quickly locate one and my gunsmith helped convince me to spend the money on a one piece OS fluted bolt with small firing pin hole from PT&G. Over $400 for said bolt. Smith had to then ream the raceways for the OS bolt. Now I’m into a blueprinted, reamed R700 with a $400 + bolt…and I bet I couldn’t get 1/2 of the money poured into the Rem action back if I sold it. So I won’t sell it. It shoots fine but still a R700 that I threw far too much money at.

So now I’ve got a R700 that I’ve got more money in than my BAT VR or Defiance, etc.
Dumb on my part…doubt if I ever spend any money on trying to turn a factory action into a semi custom again.

If you are set on doing this then it an OS bolt will make the action feel tighter than a factory 700 bolt. Raceways will most likely need some reaming for enough clearance to cycle. Be careful and do not Cerakote, Duracote, etc, the bolt or the inside of action if you go with OS bolt.

Just my experience…YMMV

 

[Ray123]

Didn’t read all of the posts above…it’s late. My experience - several years ago I decided to build a fast twist .223 and sacrificed a worn out .22-250 and used the R700 short action and thought I’d easily find a bolt for it with .223 sized bolt face. Couldn’t quickly locate one and my gunsmith helped convince me to spend the money on a one piece OS fluted bolt with small firing pin hole from PT&G. Over $400 for said bolt. Smith had to then ream the raceways for the OS bolt. Now I’m into a blueprinted, reamed R700 with a $400 + bolt…and I bet I couldn’t get 1/2 of the money poured into the Rem action back if I sold it. So I won’t sell it. It shoots fine but still a R700 that I threw far too much money at.

So now I’ve got a R700 that I’ve got more money in than my BAT VR or Defiance, etc.
Dumb on my part…doubt if I ever spend any money on trying to turn a factory action into a semi custom again.

If you are set on doing this then it an OS bolt will make the action feel tighter than a factory 700 bolt. Raceways will most likely need some reaming for enough clearance to cycle. Be careful and do not Cerakote, Duracote, etc, the bolt or the inside of action if you go with OS bolt.

Just my experience…YMMV

You allowed your gunsmith to lead you astray, and over charge you ... but evething seem unavailable.
So there's that...a correctly true 700 is just as good and true as the best action. But if you choose a long heavy 32" barrel a big burly robust action might be a better choice or barrel block set up. My super precision lathe has the same berings as the newest CNC... during the Vietnam the whole Remington rifles could be purchased for less than $100....my veteran brother killed deer and elk with it til he died.
Did you install a new quality barrel?
I worked with the guy for 5 yrs who programs the CNCs at one of the major rifle action companies...back then he & I worked in computers, robotics, areo space contracts.
I don't know the proprietary proceedures that the new Remington rifle company uses or any other rifle company.....but to say that no one today should be using anything but the latest new CNC equipment....you can't compete...we we using robots 15 yrs ago before I retired. So today any large manufacturer's rifle actions should be as good as any custom action...you can machine the almost perfect action ... no matter, the name on the action... sadly many are not, with burrs, castings, injection molded, powdered metals, plactics, and aluminum, all over the place, tool marks inside...So I machine my free Remington 700 actions long paid for, and with shot out barrels...I have one 308 trued & sleeved old 700 with barrels over 20,000 rds on the action, just kept rebarreling it. Accurate out to 1400yds when I practiced at lot from 800 to 1400 yds...still have it but shoot the 30" heavy plama in a trued 700, long action, aluminum chasis, 8 twist...cause I like the 200 to 230 gr bullets, where the long action allows for long COAL up to 3.4" not 2.810" so I settled on 200 SMK .715 BC at 2850 fps over 3600 ft/lbs of muzzle energy 1700 fps remaining velocity at 1000yds. 7.34 to 7 4 Mils to 1000yds from a 100yd zero ...it was originally for my 300RUM project, 250 ATip 4.020" long at an expected 3100 fps... but it worked do well in 308, and that's where it stays. Most any true action and good barrel are capable of good accuracy....it's the people putting them together...and calling it precision. It's either precise or it isn't. I had to live up to "excellence in manufacturing" for 35 yrs...very few have qualified a new CNC machine tool, before its put into production...our machinst do that...you'd be surprised...and you must know...slight CNC machine inaccuracies are part of the tolerance.
There's a preceedure for that...

 

[flatlander]

I've used several one-pc custom 700 bolts from PTG over the past few years; all were ordered at .700" dia with mini-16 extractors, and most with the .061" dia firing pin hole & matching striker assembly. Going with a bolt of that size puts the emphasis on being careful if using any coating on the bolt body or interior of the action. These bolts typically required that a couple of thou be cut off the backsides of the lugs before they'd close, which of course required the bolt to be dialed in carefully. These bolts worked well for me; even with all the negative things guys say about PTG, I've had really good results with their bolts.

I let the last bare M700 receiver I bought sit around too long; Remington went tits-up before I got around to looking for bolt stop, spring, and pins, and by that time, I wasn't able to find anything at any of the usual parts vendors I checked with. I'd already ordered & received another PGT bolt, a Bartlein 20 cal 1-9tw bbl, and a McMillan Game Scout stock for a 20 tactical project, so needed to get set up to finish the action. After I'd seen Chad Dixon's youtube video on his 5-axis set up for truing 700 actions and seen that they offered a slick custom-style bolt stop & installation, I decided to splurge and have them do the whole schmeer on this action, including tier 1 truing and thread-milling the receiver's tenon threads, making the cut and installing the bolt stop, fitting the PTG bolt (which included diamond honing the bolt raceway), spiral fluting the bolt body, and double-pinning their custom recoil lug - all this mainly because I couldn't find an original bolt stop. But I'd seen & heard so much about LRI that I really wanted to see first hand how good their work really is. Even with my ffl dealer discount on the parts & work, I wound up with a finished action/bolt combo that cost me about as much as a Zermatt Origin custom action. But in the end, I got what I was after - a really nice custom rifle that used a bare action & bolt that I already had in hand, and I got an up-close & personal look at the quality of work that LRI is capable of doing in a very reasonable time frame, and at a very reasonable price-point.

 

[DickE]

I have had a 700 SA bolt on order from PTG since last February. PTG says they have no idea when Remington will supply a part. (Bolt head?)

 

[DirtySteve]

I have had a 700 SA bolt on order from PTG since last February. PTG says they have no idea when Remington will supply a part. (Bolt head?)

You have a Remington bolt on order or one of their custom bolts? Also curious as to what bolt face.?

 

[urbanrifleman]

Mack Bros. All day.

 

[DickE]

Excuse me it was 3/21/22, promise date 4/21/22. 700, 308 bolt face, .062 firing pin hole, no flutes, Remington extractor cut. Bolt only. .700 diameter.

 

[DirtySteve]

700, 308 bolt face, .062 firing pin hole, no flutes, Remington extractor cut. Bolt only. .700 diameter.

PM sent

 

[DaveTooley]

Excuse me it was 3/21/22, promise date 4/21/22. 700, 308 bolt face, .062 firing pin hole, no flutes, Remington extractor cut. Bolt only. .700 diameter.

It's the Remington extractor that is the problem.

 

[DickE]

So, I emailed PTG to change the bolt to .699 dia., spiral fluting, .062 pin hole, coned, M16 extractor. Reply was they are in production now, and can deliver in three weeks. At the same price as the plain jane version, since I have already been charged for that one.
Dave, I think you are spot on.