I just got a Remington 700 back from my gunsmith who trued up the action and bolt. He described a process for the bolt whereby it is chromed to gain diameter then it too is trued to the internal dimensions of the action.

I have only shot 20 rounds through it so far, with factory ammo and got very bad results (2MOA?), but for the moment I won't take that as any indication of the potential of this rifle.

The rifle is a Rem 700 with a Shilen select match barrel, pillar bedded in a McMillan Lazzaroni thumbhole stock TPS base & rings, NF 8-32 scope.

Well, the whole damn thing is so tight if you don't get the pull on the bolt just right it will simply stick and jam, you have to pull or push just the right way to get the rifle to cycle.

The other strange this is that now it won't eject empty cartridges - it will pull them from the chamber and hang on to them as long as you like, but it will not flick the empty shell away. You have to remove the shell by hand from the extractor. Now, I've seen BR rifles that don't flick empties away. This is supposed to be a hunting rifle, and I never asked for such a "feature".

What's the story? I have e-mailed him, but I can assume whatever answer I get it will be one that covers his ass, but I think that something is askew here.

I only have limited knowledge of BR rifles, which for all intended purposes I use as the comparative benchmork of accuracy.

BR rifles have should "slick" actions to allow a shooter to get a group oss while conditions hold, so they are not as tigh and stiff as this is?

The smith said if I took to running the action with some paste to smoothen it up, I would undo all the hard work he did to get it tight.

What has he done?

Thanks.

Chrome is hard and darn near impossible to cut. If you had the bolt chromed you will probably have to have it turned in a cylindrical grinder to get the bolt to work smoothely again. But remember that what is good for a benchrester isn't necessarily good for a hunter. Chrome has another bad feature. It tends to build up on outside corners and not plate at all on inside corners. The chrome will see the ejector hole edges in the Remington bolt as outside edges and build up on them probably preventing the ejector from kicking the case out. Simply redrilling and cleaning up around the exterior of the hole should solve this problem. If you're going to hunt with this action go ahead and run the bolt with some paste to free it up until it runs smooth enough to suit.

Chrome plating does build up a certain amount of material ,but as Clowdis said, on corners even more so.Carefully examine the outside corners of the bolt and stone off excess chrome first. If that doen't help go to lapping compound .

also just to add, blue the bolt with dikem and run it in and out several times that should identify any high spots.
if I were a smith i would not let you have the rifle until it worked.. there should not be any issues with a coustom rifle. tell the guy what you expect!!!! Iknow it huntin season

I'd send it back to the gunsmith and make him fix it. He should have test the action before he let it go out the door. It should function properly before it leaves.

Express, don't take it as an offence, but you seem to be unlucky with your rifles . Would you tell us who is the "gunsmith" that did the job?

Express, DON'T drill, or, lap anything until you talk to the gunsmith. The chrome plating can be removed. There are several way to tighten a bolt without affecting the bolt's travel. See what your gunsmith has to say.

It would take an awful lot of chrome to make a bolt fat enough to remove all the clearance.
Then you would have a problem will cutting the chrome uniformly. In addition you can get hydrogen embrittlement that may cause heat treated steel to crack.

Mario, yes I do seem to be unlucky, I suppose you are recalling the problems I had with the HS Precision rifle and it's barrel coming unscrewed... The smith for this rifle was Martino Baisotti from Grande Armeria Camuna, the same man who builds the .408CheyTac "Big One".

I am waiting on a repyly from Baisotti, who so far has been very helpful and seems to know what he is talking about. I find it very strange that the ejection problem was overlooked.

I'll keep it posted.

I'm Lorenzo and yes, I recall the problem you had with HS Precision and Bignami; how strange, M. Baisotti has a good reputation as gunsmith; good luck.

Sorry, Lorenzo, somehow I think a lot of people mix you two up?

Anyway, I got an e-mail from Baisotti telling me there is no problem with the extraction and to give him a call. Hmm I this doesn't sound good, I thought.

It turns out that he didn't install the spring under the extractor claw. Apparently the idea is that with no sideways pressure on the case as it enters the chamber a more precise fit is achieved and brass is obviously saved from being flung to the ground (in the interests of bench rest shootres)

He said he would put a spring into an envelope for me and mail it to me.

At least that part of the problem is solved, I want to try some moly grease for the binding bolt.

All the best.

quote:

Originally posted by EXPRESS:
It turns out that he didn't install the spring under the extractor claw. Apparently the idea is that with no sideways pressure on the case as it enters the chamber a more precise fit is achieved and brass is obviously saved from being flung to the ground (in the interests of bench rest shootres)

Huh? Never heard such a thing, unless he meant the ejector pin. What type of extractor did he install?

Express,
Most BR shooters use ejectors at this time. If your brass fits your chamber and not oversized, the ejector will not tilt the case.
Butch

Hmmm extractor spring? I think maybe he means ejector spring.

quote:

Originally posted by EXPRESS:
I just got a Remington 700 back from my gunsmith who trued up the action and bolt. He described a process for the bolt whereby it is chromed to gain diameter then it too is trued to the internal dimensions of the action.

.

The rifle is a Rem 700.

Well, the whole damn thing is so tight if you don't get the pull on the bolt just right it will simply stick and jam, you have to pull or push just the right way to get the rifle to cycle.

. This is supposed to be a hunting rifle, and I never asked for such a "feature".

What's the story?



The smith said if I took to running the action with some paste to smoothen it up, I would undo all the hard work he did to get it tight.

What has he done?

Thanks.

I may be completely off-base with this response, and admit I may totally misunderstand the situation, but here it is anyway. I have re-read this thread many times, and the only conclusion I can come up with is: The supposed gunsmith may be foolng himself (and maybe he really knows better and isn't fooling himself), but he certainly seems to me to be trying to fool you.


The whole bolt-chroming thing is a crock, in my opinion. Does he not have any idea how much chrome plating one would have to put on a bolt to make it a tight fit in the sidewalls or front or rear rings of a factory action? Heck, some 'smiths making bench guns DO silver-solder on (or ortherwise attach) additional "collars" on bolts, then machine (grind) them down to a push fit, but I'd bet few ever try to accomplish that by chrome plating.

This reminds me a lot of a few "practitioners" in the medical industry, whose diagnoses may vary according to the financial means of the patient. An individual who shows up replete with primary, secondary, and tertiary insurance may find after a number of visits (and no cure) that his primary illness is one known as CGI Syndrome - "chronic good insurance".

Personally, I would not send it back to the same 'smith again for any purpose, if for no other reason than not wanting to having to sift through the barnyard of used hay to find the small cup of oats.....

IMO ; Real " Gunsmiths " would NEVER have let the gun leave their shop until it was RIGHT !.

That being said along with most everything else posted covers it . 2 MOA ?. How bad did it shoot before you had it " Trued " ?.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong ; Isn't truing a bolt to the chamber and bore for increased accuracy ?. Something is wrong with this picture .
Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

The more I read this post, the more I convince myself to stay away from that "gunsmith"

Hard chroming a bolt body wouldbe a workable way to increase diameter. A .005" layer is easily achieved. The chromed bolt would then be ground to size. The hard chrome should result in a pretty slick action providing tolerances were reasonable.
The caution regarding hydrogen embrittlement is valid for sure. I dont think the bolt head should be chromed at all but would specify treatment to eliminate hydrogen in any event. I have seen the diamonds pop right off a knurled roller after chroming when treatment was omitted. In the final analysis, there is no reason for any of this on a sporting rifle.
This is a good example of the difference between target rifles and field rifles. While there are some aspects of precision building which are applicable to a hunting rifle, many are not. In this particular case, we have a rifle which is too inaccurate to be a target rifle and too unreliable to be a hunting rifle.
I have known a few 'smiths who insisted on chambers which were too tight, triggers which were too light, and scopes which were too bulky because they had the idea this would make a more accurate and, in their minds, better hunting rifle. At best they were a fussy rifle. At worst, a failure at everything. A rifle which doesn't feed, fire, extract, and eject isn't of much value no matter what it's purpose. Regards, Bill

I am not familiar with your scope mount, but did you check to make sure the base screws were not too long, putting pressure on the bolt?