Sleeving a Rem 700 Bolt Debate

[Longshooter70]

A very good friend and I have an ongoing debate. The debate is over whether boring a Rem 700 receiver and sleeving the bolt really improves a Rem 700 action that much more than just doing a standard blueprint. A standard blueprint to me would mean truing the action, single point cutting the threads, truing the bolt lugs and lug abutments. If I'm missing something, please enlighten me. Thanks for your time and responses.

John

 

[ridgeway]

If you go through all that trouble and $$$ sleeving a Remington, you will simply have another Remington in the end. Put that money in a custom Panda, Bat, Borden etc and you will have something far superior than a sleeved Remington.

 

[clowdis]

My guess is that it depends on your shooting discipline. While everyone wants a .100 MOA rifle in some disciplines like hunting or prone shooting it just doesn't need to be that tight. Benchrest is another matter. Since the front of the bolt just encases the case head some think that the rear might be better bushed to keep the rear of the bolt from riding up when the cocking piece engages the trigger on bolt closing. This rising up or the bolt tilts the bolt face to some small extent making the work you did there now less than perfect. Does this all have any effect on accuracy? I really don't know and I think it would take some serious trial and error on a bench comparing loads, conditions, etc. and averaging of groups to ascertain whether or not bushing helped. If it makes you feel better do it.

 

[Longshooter70]

Thanks for the answers so far. Much appreciated. The rifle in question will be a dedicated F T/R rifle. I'm leaning toward just a standard blueprint job, plumbing on a new premium barrel and calling it good. Again, thanks for the answers so far. Keep em coming.


John

 

[lurcher]

I asked this same question on another forum see here

 

[Taildrag15X]

I would spend the money on a PTG 1-piece Bolt ground to fit the action before sleeving......or should say I have.

 

[CJ6]

Sleeving the bolt will get the bolt centerd with the action ,reduce bolt slop.

 

[LHSmith]

I believe Jim Borden of Borden Rifles was one of the first smiths to sleeve the Remington bolts, AKA "Borden Bumps". My 700 Hunter gun and a 700 HV incorporate bolt sleeves. I believe without you will get those mysterious flyers. I cannot offer proof positive, but my HV in .222 will shoot with my Bat PPC in favorable conditions, and the Hunter shoots extremely well also.

 

[dansig]

I have a Remington 700 Sendero that I was going to put a new Krieger barrel on and sleeve the bolt and everything else possible to make it better.. with a factory barrel it shoots .5" at 300m so it's quite good but I wanted more..

my gun smith advised me to buy a Stiller Tac action and replace the Remington action, at $950 it's only about $250 more than what the work on the Remington would cost, and I can sell the Remington action for at least $450 here in Iceland. so it would actually be cheaper and better to buy a custom action.

 

[clowdis]

You weren't happy with .5" at 300 meters?

 

[dansig]

You weren't happy with .5" at 300 meters?

for a factory rifle I am very happy, but with a custom rifle I want more

 

[markr]

You weren't happy with .5" at 300 meters?

He needs .250 at 300... ;D
By the way...is that rifle for sale before you alter it, with an accuracy guarantee of course?

 

[GermanS1]

John, an important item you didn't mention in your list of Remington modifications is re-timing the bolt. Once you cut the lugs and the lug abutments, the bolt handle (and thus the primary extraction cam) will sit a bit further to the rear. That will reduce primary extraction significantly and result in a hard movement at the top of the bolt stroke as well as rapid wear on the corner of the cam. Ideally, the bolt handle will be removed and repositioned to get the extraction timing just right. Along the same lines, the trigger handoff timing of the cocking piece to the trigger needs to be addressed to avoid a sudden drop of the cocking piece to the trigger as the bolt rotates; that should be a smooth transition.

 

[dansig]

You weren't happy with .5" at 300 meters?

He needs .250 at 300... ;D
By the way...is that rifle for sale before you alter it, with an accuracy guarantee of course?

I would be happy with .3-.4" 3 shot groups.. it's a 300 win mag so I don't do 5 shot groups.
and it's for sale, the price is only $2200 including a new Krieger LV barrel.. but the gun is in Iceland

 

[Longshooter70]

German,
You are completely correct. I'm was having minor problems from the factory action yesterday in a 3 x1000 F Class match I was shooting. I would absolutely wish to address this when the rifle is blueprinted and the new barrel is plumbed on. Thank you for mentioning this. I see how very important the timing is.

John

 

[chino1969]

If you are going to go to the trouble of blueprinting an action, you might as well sleeve the bolt. I have a Rem. 40X single shot and a 700 that have been blueprinted along with sleeved bolts. I also have a Borden Alpine that was right from the very beginning. When you add up the costs associated with getting a Remington action up to custom standards, you are better off with a custom action from the git go.

Understand that many people enter this game in incremental stages, demanding more accurate components as their skill level and knowledge increase. Once you get past making Remington actions as accurate as possible, you'll understand why many say to get a custom action from the beginning.

 

[markr]

Taking into account what I have learned over the past 2 years concerning BR type shooting, I would go ahead and buy a custom action. You don't have to get all the bells and whistles (multiflat, LB/RP/LE.......) even a lighty used one would be fine and save you a little more money. By the time you get a Rem action trued correctly and a new bolt or sleeved and gre-tan bushes it, you've almost spent as much as a custom action anyway.
Remember...you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig!