Ok long subject title:
I'm thinkin' about getting an aftermarket bolt body for a 700. Have you had your 700 action's bolt bore reamed and how did it turn out?? Share your experience, Many thanks

With the amount of money you'll spend to have the raceway reamed, a custom bolt fitted and the action trued up, you may as well buy a custom action.

If you don't have access to a lathe and know how to do it then the alternate route and tooling to do the job without a lathe is pretty pricy. If you are set up to do it with a lathe, it isn't bad. Who's bolt are you buying and what diameter are you thinking you need? Is this for a hunting rifle?

Westpac,
this is a huntng rifle, and I was going to leave the diameter up to whatever the bore cleaned up to. I'm going to buy pacific tool and gauges' bolt. Also i do not have a lathe,

I would caution you about fitting the bolt to tightly, on a hunting action. It only takes a little debris to bind up a tight fitted bolt.

quote:

Originally posted by Nate D:
Westpac,
this is a huntng rifle, and I was going to leave the diameter up to whatever the bore cleaned up to. I'm going to buy pacific tool and gauges' bolt. Also i do not have a lathe,

Unless there is a specific reason to ream the bolt tunnel, and where the rifle will be used in the field under various conditons from mild to extreme, I would recommend ordering a bolt of the same diameter as your factory bolt.

OK I'll open up the can of worms, Westpac, I don't like all the slop I see while the bolt is fully opened. currently my bolt mics at .6955. What clearance would you like between the new bolt and the oversize bore dimension?? ( I don't have the instrument to measure the bolt bore at this time. I'm working on that)

You can have zero clearance if you sleeve the existing bolt and still have smooth travel. As for the slop when it is opened you have to have a little on a hunting gun otherwise the bolt gets a little sticky. I normaly use .0003 on competition guns with a kiff bolt but I don't reccomend them on a hunting rifle. Check your PM, I do this often and will be glad to answer your questions

quote:

Originally posted by Nate D:
OK I'll open up the can of worms, Westpac, I don't like all the slop I see while the bolt is fully opened.

If you want your rifle to function in under less than ideal conditions then it's got to have some slop. A working gun can get by just fine with a difference of .005 - .010. In reality the slop that is present when the bolt is fully open means little in the scheme of things.

What's important is the amount of play in the bolt when it's in battery. Though in order to fully realize any benefit of a close fitting bolt, you will need to address the remaining issues with the receiver. Remember, hunting rifles need to be dependable in all environments.

when the bolt is open the play does not matter, check out greg tannel's website, he machines YOUR bolt not a new one, and installs elliptical sleeves just behind the lugs and just ahead of the bolt handle, once the handle is pulled down to battery these sleeves cam over and hold the bolt perfectly in the actions bore or so he claims. this prevents the sear and cocking piece from messing with the bolt upon firing. the bolt functions normally as it would from the factory, just cams into place when the bolt is all the way down


sloppy bolts when they are all the way out brings up another thing in my mind, seems like lots of people like to build guns on old mausers, especially vz 24's in particular, these guns where hammered and abused mostly by the turks, every one I have ever seen have felt sloppy and well worn, the tolerances seem less than tight, the husky mausers and the commercial FN's particularly browning safari's have a much better feel to the action than those old beat up military mausers. if I was going to put thousands into a custom mauser it wouldn't be on a military one

I believe it was the Romanians who hammered their vz24's. The Turks only got the 98/22's.

I have used the PTG .705 reamer with a .7025 bolt body from them. Many say that this is too snug(others not tight enough) but it is STRAIGHT! That is the key and it works mighty smooth with those clearances.

two and a half thou. clearance, Got it Gunnr, many thanks for the heads up, and good words on the aftermarket bolt body.