Gentlemen,
I've recently purchased 2 FN single shot actions, the "bench rest" version. Anyone had any experience working on these? I would like to make a dedicated varmint rifle, or two. I wonder how well they feed with rimmed cartridges, or how they work with the shorter rounds like 6mm BR. They both have the '06 bolt face. I'm also trying to decide on caliber(s). Your help is appreciated.

No, NO! You don't want to make TWO, you want to make ONE! I want to make the other one!

If those are the genuine article, you are a lucky fellow - I think those are about as scarce as actions get. I'm jealous...and I'm claiming dibs on one if you decide to do some swapping or selling! I have an article about them somewhere; when I get home, I'll dig it up and pass on what it says.

[ 07-15-2003, 10:08: Message edited by: Tumbleweed ]

You have a lot of length available to you in that action since there is no magazine. I'm thinking 240 Gibbs or 6mm-06! The extractor will have to snap over the rim on closing but that should be no problem. (on any cartridge you choose)

25-06.

Tumbleweed, that is darned funny!
I guess I have tossed around the idea of selling one, since they are so rare. But it has taken me years to find just one action, and all of a sudden two showed up.
Yeah, it looks like you have to snap the extractor over the case rim each time. That's strange. Then why did FN leave the undercut in the bolt face?
That article would be great if you have it.

I have an Interarms MkX single shot which was a copy of these. I bought it new and had it barreled in 6/284. It shoots consistent .3" groups, even with the stock trigger. They may be as rare as the FN. I bought this one years after they were introduced, and the serial number is, I believe, in the 2xx range.

Incidentally, the bolt is dead reliable and the extractor obviously snaps over the rim on every shot. As mentioned, the bolt face is a standard Mauser face. Begs the question of why a regular 98 can't single feed. I may have to do a close comparison between two extractors to see what the difference is.

slancey;

I probably won't be home until the weekend, but I will dig up the info on those actions. I'm sure I read something in Frank deHaas book "Bolt Action Rifles". I think it was FNs #5 action. Do they have the low, left-side, bolt sleeve safeties? Safety lever cut straight across the back, and kind of hogged out in the front, with a few little grooves milled across the tip? Are the "C" rings intact, or are they milled through at the front of the left raceway?

The fact that the bellies aren't cut out just makes them stiffer, and that should help accuracy. As far as the undercut bolt face goes, I think that to FN, "a bolt was a bolt was a bolt." It wouldn't be that much of a trick to get the extractor to snap over the rim - I've seen lots of 'normal' actions that would do it all on their own.

One thing I AM curious about - I wonder what they had in mind for escaping gasses, in the event of a blown primer or a case head separation? I never really thought about that one before...

One has a bolt shroud safety, the other has the side safety that acts on the trigger only. One has the long trigger guard strap that extends to the front guard screw, the other has a short trigger guard.
Good question about the escaping gas. It probably would just blow right out the back of the action, instead of venting out the magazine well. Hmmm...
I have read the de Haas article, it's the FN #6 BR action, which he praises very highly.

Oh yeah, they are NOT full "C" ring actions. They are milled out on both sides.
6-284, or 6.5-284 sounds real interesting.

Art
They will single feed.
Just takes a little judicious . . . . JUDICIOUS application of a hone/stone to the angle on the extractor so it will "feed over" the case rim.

LouisB

The smith I am using showed me one of those single shot FN's and when I asked where the gas would be vented too he turned, put it away and changed the subject!

Roy Dunlap used those actions long ago to make up target rifles. I never felt they were as good as the M 70's or Remington 40X's due to the slow locktime.