Over the years I have just let my bolt actions smooth their own operation through wear. I know this can be done otherwise. What is the complete procedure and what are the pitfalls (if any)? Thanks.

There are some good metalsmiths on here that know exactly what to do, but I would just suggest a couple of things that I have done in the past.

first, you need to be careful that you don't remove any metal on any important camming (sp) surfaces or you might change (or even ruin) the working of the gun. Usually those surfaces are super hard anyway, but just be aware of them.

Second, you can get some machinists blue (also comes in red). One brank I know of is called Dykem, I believe. Anyway, put some of that on places you perceive to be rough, and work the bolt a few times. The blue will wear off where there is contact, and those are the areas that you need to polish and smooth over a bit.

Take a look at Jack Belk's web site. He shows a lot of photos of stuff he does to smooth up actions.

I have used a couple of methods over the years. It depends on how much and what I am smoothing up. For a real nasty job, my gunsmith buddy has a grinding/polishing attachment that hooks to a flex shaft. I will have him run that through the action first. When he is done the inside of the action is polished up nice.

Not every gun needs the above, the last action I slicked up was a CZ550. I took a jewelers file and hit the burr marks on the back side of the lugs I also radius this non contact edges a little, ( your not hogging metal here just kncking the sharp edge off ) then I used my knife sharping stone and polished up the bolt. Last I took it out with jewlers compound on my polishing wheel and buffed the whole thing to a high polish. There was some putting the bolt back in the rifle and working it, and I retouched spots that showed after doing this. This works pretty good, its not a much hassle as the other way I have used:

Second method, do all the touch up with the files like I said before, get all the big burrs, then plug your barrel, get valve grinding compound and start working your bolt in and out of the action. This really slicks up an action nice, your going to need to do a couple of hundred strokes usually. THe advantage of this is is gets both the bolt and the reciever. The donwside, is cleanup, You need to clean this up and get all the valve grinding compound out of your action, you should have plugged the bore, but I always clean the bore also. I pull the action out of the stock when I do this and spray and us air to get out all the valve grinding compound. You don't want any left, you want to SUPER clean after you do this, as you don't want this working into your bore, it abrasive and you want it all gone. One last tip try to keep the compond off the contact surface of your locking lugs, your not try to wear this surface.

THe second method when done with the tool from my smith gives the best job, no doubt about it, but it takes a lot longer. If I am going through that amount of effort, on the last two I have done, I take it a step farther, and set up on my mill or drill press and Jewel the bolt after I have all the above polishing done.

The first method you can do in a hour or so and the only power tool needed is a buffing wheel, which itsn't really necessary as it could be done by hand. I should let you know use a very fine sharping stone, I use my hard Arkansas stone, don't use a cheap or course synthetic stone.

The are a couple of differeent compounds and if I was buying something special to do this there is a diamond compound that Brownells sells and it would be my first choice.

It is definately worth the hour or so of fiddling slicking up a rough bolt, and when I buy a new rifle anymore its part of my first tear down, inpect and clean out the factory crud, and oil and wax. This usually takes 3-4 hours total on a new rifle for me, but it has become almost a ritual with any new gun purchase for me, I don't even have one round through them, I just run them through the above drill.

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Second, you can get some machinists blue (also comes in red).

This works well, but isn't neccessary, just locates the spots.

Heed the advice about contact surface of the lugs, don't fiddle with these, especially if you have paid to square and true your action up. Consider this a no touch area.

One last item, after I am all done, I wipe done the oil to almost dry, and I use Moly Coat Z, Mil M/866A (ASG), a little goes a long way, I bought a 10 oz bottle 20 years ago, I still have almost half of the bottle and I use it on all my firearms. This stuff works great and I think you could slick up a pig with it, use it on some semi-autos and you can immediately tell the difference, the bolt actions it isn't as noticable cause of the manual operation, and the extra leverage the design offers but it works great on these also.

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Originally posted by ACRecurve:
Over the years I have just let my bolt actions smooth their own operation through wear. I know this can be done otherwise. What is the complete procedure and what are the pitfalls (if any)? Thanks.

Word to the wise...

You will do yourself a huge favor, and save yourself allot of grief, if you start the entire process by sitting down with a knowledgeable friend or gunsmith and learn the inner workings of your bolt action rifles.

Unless you have a good understanding of what does what and what relationship the parts have to have to one another you can end up with a “beautiful†non-working, or unsafe action when you’re done!

Bolt locking lugs are a perfect example. They not only help guide the bolt on the race ways but they must mate as close to perfect as possible with the receiver locking lugs both for accuracy and safety.

It has been my experience that power tools (especially hand held ones) should only be used for action work by people who have tons of experience with those tools and know exactly what they are trying to accomplish, and why. Those high rpm tools in unskilled hands can bounce, skip, deflect, and gouge the crap out of material before you even know its happening. Even the finer polishing tips can round off a square edge pretty quickly if you aren’t careful.

Just my opinion...and don’t ask me where I gained that “experience†from!

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It has been my experience that power tools (especially hand held ones) should only be used for action work by people who have tons of experience with those tools and know exactly what they are trying to accomplish, and why. Those high rpm tools in unskilled hands can bounce, skip, deflect, and gouge the crap out of material before you even know its happening. Even the finer polishing tips can round off a square edge pretty quickly if you aren’t careful.

I am in agreement with this, DO NOT figure a dremel tool is a short cut. I am very handy with one and there is only a couple of spots I would consider using one, you will notice in my post above that I have my smith do any of that with a special tool and his expertise.

And I agree knowing how a action works before jumping in is a prudent idea. If your in doubt of your abilities stick with the first method, its all by hand, and gentle, even working with the jewelers files takes some effort as the bolt is hardened and your not going to be able to take off much material.

I had the advantage of having friends who were gunsmiths that walked me through my first action, but it isn't rockect science, its fairly easy.

I certainly had no intent to make it sound like smoothing up an action was some mysterious voodoo only to be undertaken by those with a direct line to John Browning or his landlord...only wanted to point out that its a job that is made far safer and easier if you start out with a certain amount of understanding of the how and why of what you are doing.

“Experience†is name we humans give to our mistakes!

Another suggestion I would make, again based on some “experienceâ€, is that whenever you remove even the slightest amount of material from the bolt or receiver locking lugs you should always do a before and after head space check just to make sure you have not altered it beyond what is acceptable and safe. Sometimes it doesn’t take much metal removal to screw up the headspace on an older rifle/barrel combo.

Same for smoothing or squaring bolt faces. Do a before and after firing pin protrusion check to make sure you have not altered that very critical aspect.

Again, all of this goes to starting with a really good understanding of the functions and relationship of all the parts and what dimensions and shapes are critical to the safety and proper functioning of the action.

Rifles are not all that different from any other machine. They are far easier to work on if you have a good understanding of how they work.

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Sometimes it doesn’t take much metal removal to screw up the headspace on an older rifle/barrel combo.

Rick,

You sound like someone who has a bad experience along the way. And your right one on the locking lugs surfaces I repeat DO NOT FIDDLE with them. There is no reason to fiddle with these, it won't slick up anything and the only thing that is going to happen is you will reduce the bearing surface, and yes very possibly screw up the headspace.

Edit: and no I am not a gunsmith or even a wanta be, but I have learned over the years to do some basics, which include stockwork and and metalwork, its just costs too much to take every little thing to a gunsmith.

I buy hones that are 1/2x8" and cut them into 3/4 inch lengths..I use a 8" piece of welding rod with a flattened 3/4 inch area on the end to which I glue one of the pieces of hone..I make 1 each of these in each grit, 180, 220, 360, 400 and 600 or there abouts. Strip the action and plish the raceways and all areas inside the action body...the hone the bolt body includint the feed ramp...these hones quickly take on the shape of the area being honed or you can quickly shape them on a grinder...sometimes I will finish up the job with some 800 or 1000 paper folded to fit the hones...Always use with oil...

Almost forgot, I put a 3/4 inch 3 inch dowel handle on the other end of the welding rod..

Also when I work on the locking lugs I first use lamp black or whatever and see what needs to be done, then I use a very fine grit and work the bolt a little at a time, then check it, the idea is to not remove metal but to polish only...Yes, you can polish metal without changing the specs for all practical purposes. But check headspace, and you have some room to play in that area as for as polishing goes, thats polishing not grinding......

Ray,

I'm a self admitted cheap SOB, what did you pay for the hones? Are these round? My method is pretty much making due with stuff I have around but I could see the benefit of your method if I didn't need to wrap a lot of dollars up in it. Are these a Brownells stock part?

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Originally posted by schromf:

Rick,

You sound like someone who has a bad experience along the way. And your right one on the locking lugs surfaces I repeat DO NOT FIDDLE with them. There is no reason to fiddle with these, it won't slick up anything and the only thing that is going to happen is you will reduce the bearing surface, and yes very possibly screw up the headspace.

You bet I have had screw ups...and if they’ll admit to it so has just about every other guy out there that’s ever worked on a piece of machinery or a firearm. If you haven’t ever screwed something up you haven’t worked on many rifles, or you are an incredibly gifted human being.

Again, I’m am not trying to make the job sound more complicated or difficult than it is. It ain’t that hard to do at all with simple hand tools and a few hours of sweat.

When I Blue Print actions I face and square the bolt locking lugs on my lathe prior to final lapping...but that‘s also prior to ever having a barrel fitted and headspaced to the actions. I’m not set up for, nor do I have the expertise or the desire to barrel and chamber rifles so I don’t mess with that part of the work, and I gladly shop that out whenever I have an action to barrel.

I only enjoy, and only have the tools and equipment to play with actions, scopes and mounts, and an occasional stock for my own use. I‘m pretty fair with stocks but there is no way I could compete with someone like Chic or Jeff in knowledge or ability or the other guys on here that are really good at it and can turn out a product that could grace the cover of a gun magazine.

All I’m trying to do is save someone some grief that doesn’t need to be a part of their learning to work on rifles for fun or for profit.

My words and opinions ain’t etched in stone and they can be taken for whatever a guy thinks they’re worth or not worth as the case may be.

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you are an incredibly gifted human being.

Nope, incrediibly cautious is a better discription, if I don't know what I am working with I do some homework before I get my fat fingers engaged. Screwups I'll show you an old model 70 stock I worked on a few months back, it really started as firewood, but I figured I could save it. About three days later and a couple of pissed off sails across the shop, I walked away. I let it sit for about 6 months and had another try, its a lot better than it was, but I will never be really happy with it, I should have just burned it in my woodstove in retrospect, it would have a least kept me warm while I was working on something else more productive.

Yeah been there done that.

Edit: I never had any formal training on lathes and mills, I just went out and bought them and learned the hard way by screwups, and reading. If you want to see an excerise in frustration watch me cut a thread, on my lathe, I suck I know it, and without a whole lot more effort on my part that isn't about to change. Maybe when I retire ( this stuff is hobby for me ) I will take a machining course over at the community college, and start filling in the knowledge holes. I have a couple of friends that are good smiths and machinists and they are sometimes amazed that I can do some really super complicated stuff on the mill, and something as simple as threads screws me up so bad. I really do want to get this mastered though cause I would jump into a compete barrel job if I had that mastered.

schromf,

Have you ever grabbed small part with a rag and then started working on it with a Foredom or Dremmel tool with a wire brush attachment? Boy, that one can really get your attention quick.

I made it a practice a long time ago to put big red flags on all my power tools and to keep them unplugged when I’m working on rifles. That way I have to make a conscience effort to use them and will hopefully stop and think first!

I also only keep rawhide headed hammers handy on my work bench. Anything with a steel head I have to get out of a locked drawer.

I’m not really that bad...but close!

I have a real soft touch with stuff, I have done electronics my whole life, metal and plastics just came along later cause it was part of the complete job. I am actually pretty fortunate, believe it or not the Army taught me how to use a Dremel tool, I was Micro circiut certified and part of the training was testing out on a Pace station with a flex shaft, same game not quit as clumsy as a dremel though. Then I model trains for years, still do in fact, and used a Dremel a lot, I have three of them on my bench, one I never change always the same tip, a little three chuck drill chuck, another with a cutoff wheel, and a third I use with abrasive stuff. I really want my next to be a flex shaft though, so I am holding off buying another. That just followed with me when I started working on my guns and got my lathe and mill.

I never recommend Dremels though, few people use them well, I have trained a 1/2 dozen people at work and am really only happy with basic stuff when I see the results. They are pretty tough to use properly, and if you have ever had to use them regularly they bring on Carpel Tunnel real quick, use one everyday for 4-6 hrs every day for a couple of weeks, your hands and arms get real sore.

No my biggest fault is my attitude to go throw something on my machines, these I am learning to stack jobs, which tends to make me rethink using them, which means I was looking for a short cut to hand work.

Only leather hammers? I try not to beat on anything, its my last court of appeal usually ( I say this knowing full well I probably have 50 hammers, big ones, little tiny ones, brick hammers, framming hammers, ball peens, brass mallets.......yeah I'm a gentle soul )

Thanks for the replies and advice! I have done just about everything else imaginable to my rifles..this is just one thing that I've either had someone else do or that I have let 'wear' take care of. I will proceed with caution.