What exactly does this mean and how is it accomplished?

Basically the action is turned in a lathe and material is removed from the front until the front is perpendicular to the rest of it.

It makes the action/barrel shoulder contact more consistent and usually results in a little more accuracy.

If you are referring to Blue-Printing it is done to “square†everything to the linear axis of the bolt raceway.

This would include the receiver face, the receiver threads, the receiver lugs, the bolt face and the bolt locking lugs.

You can do these procedures on a lathe, or in the case of Remington 700’s and Winchester 70’s you can also use Dave Manson tooling which uses tappered bushings inserted in the bolt raceways and piloted hand turned cutting tools that are properly aligned when their pilots are inserted through the bushings.

Then as long as the barrel threads are cut square to the chamber/bore you will theoretically have everything in line and square when the barrel is threaded to the receiver.

on an average just how much does this procedure cost to have done. I took my rem 700 to a guy and he was telling me its a waste of time. I just walked out and didnt ask any more questions

Very well said RICK 0311 wow to the 10 degree !

Any so called Gunsmith who made that statement is an IDIOT ! opening cans is to high a position for him !

So, if you get a blued action "squared" it requires rebluing?

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
So, if you get a blued action "squared" it requires rebluing?

No. The recoil lug covers the face of the receiver, and all the other areas where metal is removed are on the inside.

quote:

Originally posted by PythonWill:
on an average just how much does this procedure cost to have done. I took my rem 700 to a guy and he was telling me its a waste of time. I just walked out and didnt ask any more questions

Normally (not always, but normally) guys trying to eliminate as much of the mechanical portion of accuracy from the equation get their actions Blue Printed.

Would average hunters and shooters notice a difference?...Probably not unless their receivers were really out of whack, which some of them are sometimes.

Average cost can range anywhere from $150.00 to $250.00 depending on who does it.

Once the cartridge is in the chamber and the bolt is closed, does it make a difference if the raceways are exactly square? To take this line of reasoning to the extreme, what difference does any of this procedure make so long as the bolt lugs lock up the same way every time?

I'm asking because I think of accuracy as being a function of consistency and repeatability. I know of one rifle that has an obvious bend in the barrel - looking through the barrel, it looks like a 5/8th moon - and that rifle is a real tack driver. It's not a benchrest performer, but a real 3/4" shooter.

Thanks for helping me ponder this.

It's good and bad at the same time: the folks who stretch performance to the Nth degree need to for winning matches but much of what works for them is wasted on the 99% of equipment built for hunting purposes. If the monies spent truing and squaring hunting actions were invested in feeding and function instead, the hunting community would be better off for it. That said, if you can afford both, more power to you.

Other than opinion is here any real data?. Has anyone ever targeted a rifle, trued it up, and re fired. According to Vaughn commercial chambers are not really aligned with the bore, what are you going to do about thaat?.
Good luck!

A benchrest shooter might (underline the word MIGHT) notice a benefit from "squaring" or "blueprinting" an action but it's very doubtful any hunter would ever notice a difference.

I'd just love to read an article where a man shot a dozen rifles, took them apart and finely blueprinted them and then reassembled them and shot again.....I doubt that the data would be impressive at all.

quote:

Originally posted by hawkins:
Other than opinion is here any real data?. Has anyone ever targeted a rifle, trued it up, and re fired. According to Vaughn commercial chambers are not really aligned with the bore, what are you going to do about thaat?.
Good luck!

We do it on a regular basis. Although the folks who come in for this type of work are not your typical hunters. These are customers who have targeted their own rifles and have decided that they need more consistency in their groups and are willing to explore all options that will get them closer to their goals without breaking the bank. The success rate is pretty good although there are exceptions.

It is generally understood before performing such work, that the success of the job hinges on the condition of their existing barrel. If the barrels threads, chamber and bore are in conflict with each other, then no amount of action truing is going to help, and the job will be rejected on this end.

It is at this point the discussion turns to the topic of a new barrel and the clear benefits of beginning the job with a trued action.

I wouldn't even bother with trying to blueprint an action using the old barrel. It would require cutting off the old threads and rechambering.

This summer I am going to install a barrel on an action with the normal care given a hunting rifle. Squaring the face of the action and bolt face and lapping the lugs. Shoot for groups. Then on the same barrel, I am going to remove the old chamber and rechamber and thread to fit the newly blueprinted action. Shoot more groups. Then sleeve the bolt and shoot more groups. That should give me a ballpark figure of how much each of the preceedures really help on a hunting rifle with a hunting barrel contour.

Squaring an action is when you pay it off and have become square with the guy you bought it from.

Scrollcutter, that seems so logical to me. Unless you have a new or basically new (cut off the threads and rechamber) barrel, blueprinting and action would be moot.

I'll look forward to the results of your work and range work revealing grouping impact of said actions.

Regards--Don

I'm confused (easily done), If the threads and chamber are concentric with the bore, why would it have to be cut off and rethreaded to fit a
"squared" receiver?.
Take Care!

Part of the process of squaring the action is recutting the threads to make sure they are on the common centerline. This leaves the threads in the action oversize, mandating a custom thread size on the barrel.

Roger- the one varible you will be introducing into your test will be a change in harmonics- the barrel will be different after removing the chamber(shorter and stiffer). The best way to do the test would be to take it in steps, one at a time and fire groups after each modification. Of course even those results are still influenced by the barrel and if it is a "shooter" from the start or does it need a 100 rounds to really come alive.
Unless a action is really "out" and/or the rifle is being used for benchrest shooting it will be really hard to get results with a significant difference. I do feel you will find that the rifle will be more user friendly (less fliers).
If the rifle shoots in the low to mid threes before, it will shoot in mid to high twos afterwards. Significant in a target shoot, but not in a prairie dog patch.

I will admit that I've never squared an action to the raceways....I always located on the thread pitch diameter by making an expanding threaded mandrel and then machining the end of the action square to the thread.....and I believe this is what most folks get when they ask to have the action "squared".

Guess I've been doing this wrong all this time.

Has anyone else been of this assumption???

DuaneND,

I don't know how to blueprint the action in steps without screwing up the concentricity. I think it all has to be done in one setup. So my intent is to square action by the method Vapodog is talking about, shoot for groups. Blueprint the action/bolt and remove the previous barrel threads and chamber. Redo the barrel work and shoot for groups. Sleeve the bolt and shoot the final groups. I think you are spot on with regards to harmonics, but I don't know any way around it. Same with a barrel that takes a while to break in.

It sounds like you are speaking with a voice of experience. Have you already tried this little experiment? My guess is that you are probably correct with the outcome, but I need to see it with my own eyes...

I also know that one test doesn't prove much, but it should give me a ballpark idea as to what to expect with each operation.

The shop that I hang around in has done a number of Remington 700 Blueprints with good results. The most recent one was a model 7 243 that was shooting 3-4" groups.
Our metalsmith squared the lugs, boltface, action, moved the barrel back 2 threads and recut with a match grade reamer, surface ground the lug and recrowned. I pillar bedded the stock.
The first load the customer shot with it after reworking was .6" and he was elated (though complained of the expense on a new gun). Our experience has been that Remington factory barrels are pretty good but they aren't well put together.
It might have been that the rebedding and recrowning caused most of the improvement but who knows. Unless you do them one at a time as suggested on a number of guns it will be hard to completely settle the question.
So in conclusion "BluePrinting" has shown major improvements in mediocre shooting 700's that our shop has worked on. It might just help yours.................DJ

I like to do accurizing work one step at the time because then I know what step it was that solved the problem, and it avoids spending the time doing things that didn't need to be done. I have found that about 90% of the time that the crown, bedding, some trigger work and good optics cure the problem. I really don't like trying to cure problems with crooked factory chambers- because sometimes they can't be fixed to the customers satisfaction and that makes for some tension when it comes to the final paperwork ($$$$$).
Roger- what I meant was to put the barrrel on the action first(no other work) shoot , pull the barrel and face the receiver, lap etc. shoot; then pull the barrel and do the "works" and shoot. That way you would see if getting everything perfect is really worth the effort.
One more thing I think you will find is that which caliber you pick could have an influence on the results.

quote:

Originally posted by ForrestB:
Once the cartridge is in the chamber and the bolt is closed, does it make a difference if the raceways are exactly square? To take this line of reasoning to the extreme, what difference does any of this procedure make so long as the bolt lugs lock up the same way every time?

I'm asking because I think of accuracy as being a function of consistency and repeatability. I know of one rifle that has an obvious bend in the barrel - looking through the barrel, it looks like a 5/8th moon - and that rifle is a real tack driver. It's not a benchrest performer, but a real 3/4" shooter.

Thanks for helping me ponder this.

It is not the raceways that you are squaring...it is all the other stuff (that’s a technical term! ) that gets squared TO the raceways.

How much “noticeable†difference does it make? Again, this is a procedure for those who are looking to remove as much of the mechanical portion of the accuracy game as possible from the equation. If that isn’t important to you then it would be a waste of time and money.

Obviously, any rifle action is going to operate better and with less stress if all those parts are in proper alignment so the forces are evenly distributed along the axis of the receiver like the weapon was designed to have happen.

The raceways receive no stress. The stress flows from the bolt lugs, to the locking surfaces, to the recoil lug. Any lack of bearing in the locks would change the response of the receiver to recoil (barrel whip).
Again I refer to Vaughn as the only source I know for factual information on this subject.
Take care!

quote:

Originally posted by hawkins:
The raceways receive no stress. The stress flows from the bolt lugs, to the locking surfaces, to the recoil lug. Any lack of bearing in the locks would change the response of the receiver to recoil (barrel whip).
Again I refer to Vaughn as the only source I know for factual information on this subject.
Take care!

The “stress†I am referring to is that which takes place when the mating surfaces of the bolt / receiver and chamber, that are supposed to be at 90 degrees to the axis of the receiver, are not and therefore the force of recoil is not evenly distributed at the moment of ignition.

If the bolt face and lugs are not square with the receiver lugs and chamber you can also have the round in a slight bind that will try to equalize itself when the case expands on firing.

Again, if you are looking for the upmost in “potential†accuracy from your rifle Blue Printing the action is a logical first step to take as the foundation to build from since few (if any) factory rifles are square as they come out of the box.

I get the action made as straight as possible when I rebarrel. The only factory barrel I have is on my 700 Muzzle loader. The blueprint packages sometimes are a waste of money. The last one I had done was a Rem 700. I had the smith check the squareness of it before barreling. It was only out about a thou. This was corrected by facing the reciver, cleaning up the threads and lapping the lugs. That process was included in the barrel install. Saved me $300 by asking the right questions and having an honest smith. The smith I mostly use will not quote a price on blueprinting. He starts at the front and goes back until it is straight. You do not pay for things that are not needed. Every gun that I have had the action trued shoots remarkable better. That said, a match grade barrel with a tight chamber and proper bedding that also get done are a big part of it. Is it a waste, not with a rebarrel. A few more bucks in ironing things out can not hurt. The only way I would go to that effort and use the Factory tube would be for competition that requires the factory barrel to remain in a certain class.