Since I bought my 416 Rem Post 64 (Controlled Feed) Win 70 Super Express back in 1997 I noticed that the action has about 1 mm (0.040" for you non-metric guys...) of longitudinal play. This play is only noticeable when I move the bolt to and fro in the direction of the barrel when the trigger has been pulled. The play disappears completely when the action is cocked. Two other Win 70 Pre 64 in 3006 that I own do not show this behaviour.

The rifle shoots quite well and I have hunted DG with it on 3 occasions in Africa without any problems.

Is this something I should worry about or is my rifle within tolerances?

Your opinions on this matter (headspace, tolerances, safety, etc.) are greatly appreciated, particularly from owners of similar rifles.

Thanks, Antonio

Antonio,

If I understand correctly, the play you describe is only going to be important during a difficult extraction.

If you have it worked on, the 'smith should weld up and grind down the root of the bolt handle so that it plays only .004 inches or so against the extraction cam on the rear face of the action.

It is important that the weld metal be very hard or that the bolt be case-hardened after the welding and fitting.

I am an amateur, so you should get another opinion.

Don

Antonio,
Do you have a set of headspace guages, to see if the no-go is still a no-go? To my also amateur thinking, a setback of the bolt comes to mind. If this has created excess headspace then the fix would be to set the barrel back a thread and have the locking lugs lapped to bear. If you had uneven contact of the lugs from the factory it might have set back with wear. You might end up with a better than new rifle if you get a gunsmith to fix it if this is the case.

Do any of the recently fired cases have the ring of incipient case head separation?

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RAB

Thanks Don and R.A.:

No, I do not have go, no-go gauges, but I will inspect some cases I fired recently to look for case separation signals.

Antonio