I had the handle come off a 700 bolt this weekend. I have looked around and seen some people/gunsmiths are using 3 screws in addition to silver solder to reattach them. I am also going to have them attach an aftermarket (Badger maybe) handle. Who would any of you suggest to do this work? Thanks.

You can try George at GA Precision...but I talked to him the other day and he is real busy. (www.gaprecision.net)

Iron Brigade Armory should also be able to help you out in this area (www.ironbrigagdearmory.com)

Rick

Talk to Jeff Hicks in Del Rio. See his 'Rem 700 bolt mod' page at: HD Rifles

George

Thanks for the link George. I'll give them a try for my LTR project.
JCN

Thanks for the plug George!



We (I) came up with the 3 screw mod I think one other place is doing it, but with two screws.

Our turn time on the mod is less than two weeks. We are very busy, but I have an employeee that does almost nothing but the bolt mods. We do enough to keep him busy all day 3 days a week

Celt

My pleasure, Celt!

I like the looks AND the practicality of the mod. I don't hunt with my 700s much anymore, but if I had a high-dollar hunt in the works, I'd get that mod made to my 700.

George

Welcome Celt!
Will the solder you use stand up to an oven at 400 degress F for an hour and a half? I like to parkerize my rough duty rifles and then bake on the flat Sandstrom Moly coating. Your mod makes way too much sense!
Thanks,
JCN
Also, do you weld the Badger knobs on, or solder?

400F is pushing it, since it is a soft solder on the screws. The handle of course remains silver soldered from the factory.
Included in the job is the coating of the bolt with a ceramic coating, which is super tough and corroision resistant. The testing for corroision stopped at 1700 hrs in a salt spray test tank.
The coating has a pencil scratch hardness of H9, compared to most teflon coating at H5.

Celt

Interesting!,
I kind of thought the heat cycle might make the soft stuff run.
How many microns thick is your coating?
Does it flex or crack if the underlying metal gets dinged?
Does it bond as well to SS as to CM?
Any ceramic equivalent to the galling that can happen to two similar pieces of SS?
Have you seen what happens to say, a pistol slide over time that gets holster wear from a Kydex holster in a dirty, sandy environment?
How do the newer lubricants (TWB-25, Tef-Dri etc.) adhere to the surface?
In cold weather can you run a bolt/firing pin/spring dry?
Can you get this stuff to coat the inside of the bolt, and the lug recesses?
Does the bluing or polished surface need to be blasted to get good adhesion?
If the whole firearm is finished in say, a matte charcol gray color, how well would paints (for different mission profiles/AO's) adhere? I'm thinking Aluma-Hyde II for longer term, and bow camoflauge paint for shorter term.
Thanks for your time. I am very interested. One of my boys gets to take a POW over on his next rotation, so I am putting together the LTR from Hell for him. I'm already having some AR bolts and carrier assemblies done in Ti-Al-N. That stuff really makes the carbon slide off.
Thanks again,
JCN

The stuff is only about 1-2 microns (or thou)
There is no galling at all, in fact the lubricitcy of the stuff makes the old teflon finishes look sick.

The stuff is flexable. When cured to be flexable, you can coat a thin steel plate and bend it over 45DEG.
My rifles see very hard use, harder than most civilian rifles. I have yet to see a chip in this stuff after many time crawling over rocks in the desert here in Texas training.

email your info. I will send you a piece of steel coated with it to test out.
Celt
hdrifles@delrio.com

PM on the way!
The last time I was in beautiful Del Rio "by the sea" was in 1994. Snuck away from Brooks AFB in San Antonio to head over for some turkey hunting. Awesome.
JCN