I'm in the process of putting a factory stainless barrel in 375 H&H on a stainless M700 magnum long action. While the barrel headspaces just fine, I find it unfortunate that the rifle does not come very close to the proper orrientation for the open sights (cants to the right). I don't really care as the rifle will be scoped but this happens a lot on factory barrel M700 swaps. Do you think Remington drills/taps and engraves their barrels after they are installed on the actions? They rarely go on to the point where the sights and the lettering line up where they are supposed to be.

re5513

There are always small manufacturing variances. I can't imagine anyone drilling for sights before the barrel is torqued up in the receiver. I have re-timed a barrel so that the sight holes are underneath and hidden
in the stock. You're right though, it looks kind of tacky to have sight holes that are not lined up even if
they will never be used. Carefully cut the barrel shoulder enough to align the sights and then check your
barrel to bolt face tolerances to see if they are too close. Remember to allow for the amount the barrel turns when you torque the barrel in the reciever. A couple turns of the reamer may be all you need
to re-establish headspace. A lot of work for a cosmetic fix. When you get done think about how Savage does it and you may no longer think that Savage had such a bad idea after all.

quote:

...When you get done think about how Savage does it and you may no longer think that Savage had such a bad idea after all.

I think about that every time I work with a M700. I really like the Savage hardware system. IMHO, very good bang/buck ratio.

re5513

I did the same project last year on a 700 that was a 7 Mag with an eBay SST 375 Barrel. If the sights are canted to the right when looking down them, the fix is a simple one. Increase the cut depth for the recoil lug in .001" steps on the barrel or try a different recoil lug until the sights are at 12 o'clock. Insert the bolt and headspace gauge and see if the bolt closes. If you only reduced the headspace a .001 or two, it's likely the bolt will close. If not, I have a 375H&H reamer I can loan you.

John in Oregon

I would find a gunsmith locally with a 375 reamer, have him time the barrel and finish the headspace, should be about 75-100 bucks for just that part

jeffe

I have always noticed this with Remingtons, and it bugs me. I can't figure it our either. I don't their manufacturing sequence, but I would guess they thread the action, thread the barrel, install and torque(in that order), then attach sights and engrave.

What is puzzling is that when you swap barrels, they are almost always out of register. And not by a little bit. One turn of the barrel is about 60 thousandths in headspace. Rotation due to headspace variation should account for only a few degrees of misalignment (1.8 degrees if off by .003). The barrels when screwed down, are generally always withing headspace spec. Therefore, the only conclusion you can make is that Remington is randomly threading the actions in regards to the starting point. I am sure this is done on automated machinery, so I don't see how this could be possible, but it is. It would seem to make more sense to thread systematically; with the action and cutting tool registered in some constant location at the start.

The last post should have read 18 degrees, but the results are still the same. If you are within this range, you can adjust recoil lug thickness etc and possible still have useable headspace. There should be no way you end up with 90 or 180 deg of rotation.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
I would find a gunsmith locally with a 375 reamer, have him time the barrel and finish the headspace, should be about 75-100 bucks for just that part

jeffe

exactly