How important is truing threads on a rem 700 action?

[Schutzprecision]

Bigngreen Alex or anyone else, how important os bolt sleeving or adding borden bumps to minimize the sear induced bot lift while in battery? Do you true the raceway and sleeve/add bumps or just use a larger bolt body?
Thanks in advance

I ream the raceway to .715 and put in a .712 bolt.

 

[Capt RB]

Thank you for the response!

 

[bigngreen]

If I'm wanting a tight bolt I would buy a custom action like a Borden or BAT, I've played just enough with sleeving to know where it fits in my process.
I have yet to see a reamed action bore that is perfect, usually they have a flair till it's gotten supported then the tang usually pushes up just a little since it's loaded on one side so I can't charge for raceway work that really isn't much better. Honing the raceway like Chad Dixon or another very specialized tool are about the only way to perfectly size the whole bore of an action. I've found the replacement bolts need work, you have to make sure all PTG bolts are bored on center, the size you actually ordered and then fit them, take all the sharp edges of and finish, I'd rather work with the original bolt till it becomes a charity project and then a quality custom action should be used.

 

[C S Fever]

I true them up in my Haas mini mill. This is a test run on a piece of brass machined to duplicate a 700 action. I put a nice fitting mandrel in the bore that sticks out about 8" and get that dialed in. Then I cut all the faces true with each other then thread mill the threads .010 - .015 oversize.

View attachment 174508

That's what separates the men from boys is the price of their toys! Nice setup!

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I agree, its hard to ream an interrupted hole like a receiver, I was never happy with the results. Id bet if you start measuring you will find the bores are over sized in the front of a reamed action. Very little material behind the lower lug to oppose the cutting force of the top of the bore, bushings do little to help. A custom hone is the way. Controlling the bolt body with tighter clearance is controlling lug contact. The lugs will still seat, but with more movement and vibration in a loose action. Tight actions need to be perfect though because there is no room for the bolt to pivot and seat the lugs. Unless you can make an action extremely straight, you will be better off with a little more bolt clearance. I dont mess with 700s at all anymore so I no longer fit new bolts or bush them. But when I did, financially a new bolt makes more sense once to add in the other benefits.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Alex, do you have a pic of your setup? I would like to get mine made up and will probably copy yours, if you don't mind

I do not. Just picture a spider with 2 rows of set screws about 1"apart.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Ok, here it is. Its long so I can fit large od actions in it. It mounts directly to the spindle. Many guys have a short one and hold it in a 4 jaw.

 

[Mram10us]

Ok, here it is. Its long so I can fit large od actions in it. I mounts directly to the spindle. Many guys have a short one and hold it in a 4 jaw.

Perfect. Thanks. Thinking of installing camlock studs on the 3" bar stock I have and machining it all from there