I recently purchased a 416 Taylor on Rem 700 action in a McMillan stock.

While doing my initial cleaning and looksee, I noticed that the front actions screw is only engaging one thread into the bottom of the action.

The previous owner says he fired the rifle 40 or 50 times with no issues, but I will not fire the rifle was such a meager purchase on this screw.

Am I just being a nervous Nellie?

Not in the least, that is not enough thread engagement, even though it worked in the past. Brownells used to carry slightly longer screws for pillar bedding, they probably still do.

Since it's a 1/4 x 28, you can easily find a replacement

Rule of thumb= (3) threads engagement.

I like as much engagement as the diameter of the bolt or screw in any given application with steel.

God Bless, Louis

Which is impossible on a Rem 700.....there is not enough receiver wall thickness to ever get there. Try for at least 3 or 4 threads.

I pick them up at Menards. They have Stainless or Black and there Allen head. You don't even have to cut them down

Good advice; I will remember that; the ones I get from Brownells are 1/4 inch too long. I go to Menards twice a week.

Buy a rear action screw and cut it down so that it is a bit longer than the normal front action screw. It will then fit the front and solve the problem.

Factory 700 rear screw threads are exactly as long as the total length of a factory front screw, so that might not work. Depending on how long you need the front one to be. The ones I have are like that. Some aftermarket screws are fully threaded....

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Factory 700 rear screw threads are exactly as long as the total length of a factory front screw, so that might not work. Depending on how long you need the front one to be. The ones I have are like that. Some aftermarket screws are fully threaded....

I have three front and three rear screws on my desk in front of me. The rear screw has the same unthreaded section but the threaded section is approximately four tenths of an inch longer. A cut down rear screw works quite well as a front screw on a 700.

Ok, I, too, looked at three sets; the rear unthreaded section is exactly the same length as the total front length.
So, if you cut a rear one off the the same length as a front, you would have zero threads remaining. Only if you needed one 3 or 4 threads LONGER than a factory front, would that work. But as factory set up, it wouldn't work.
So, it might work for the OP since he needs a longer front, or it might not.

I seem to remember some older action screws that similar to what you are describing, but the recent ones are not. I am looking at a shipment of Remington action screws that I got last Friday, and took s couple sets out of other 700 rifles that are here. All of these screws are as I described and can easily be cut to fit the fronts. The unthreaded sections are the same, but the rear screws have a much longer threaded section. All of these screws are Remington production, not aftermarket.

And the ones I have are not new but taken from rifles produced at least 5 years ago.

Even B&C recognize the problem, factory stocks have a countersunk ferrel, the aftermarkets don't (or don't have as much). B&C sets are very long (and freee if you bought a stock). Brownells still need trimming too.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
And the ones I have are not new but taken from rifles produced at least 5 years ago.

I just sent you an email with a photo. Please let me know if the photo is too poorly taken to see.

Thanks for the moral support guys.

I purchased a longer set from Midway and shortened the screw by trial and error, leaving it about a half turn short of bottoming out.

I now have about 3.5 turns engagement. I can sleep now.