I need some asistance here if anyone can offer some help with my query......

Does anyone know of a gumsmith who supposedly does up Remington 700 actions into CRF w/ a Mauser extractor?

quote:

Originally posted by Gerry:
I need some asistance here if anyone can offer some help with my query......

Does anyone know of a gumsmith who supposedly does up Remington 700 actions into CRF w/ a Mauser extractor?

Why in the world would anyone take the time, effort and money to do that when they could just as easily (and a damn site cheaper) buy any number of good actions that came standard with a Mauser type extractor, if that’s what they wanted.

I've seen them. But only done on lefty's. Haven't got a clue who did them.

Chuck

If you want CRF why not get a Mauser or one of its' derivatives?

Weidmannsheil

quote:

Originally posted by oldun:
If you want CRF why not get a Mauser or one of its' derivatives?

Weidmannsheil

Exactly!

Without getting into the big CFR vs. PF debate...I have never understood this current fascination with buying one particular brand of rifle and then trying to convert into another brand? Why not just buy an action with the basic mechanical features that you desire, and deem necessary, already present.

What possible advantage could be offered by a Remington action with a Mauser extractor that is not offered by any of the other actions that come with that feature as standard...and were designed to make full use of that feature?

I think most of the "research" in this area was done back a few years when there wasn't a new Mauser action being manufactured every week.

Now, I am not sure why Gerry would want to explore this line of thinking but maybe it has to do with being in Germany???

This is sort of an "Area 51" project........

A Kalifornia outfit did this a number of years ago, and they blew up some rifles in the process, quietly abandoning such efforts in sort order.

Such conversions DRASTICALLY compromise the mechanical integrity of the Model 700 action, and take it in a direction that it was never intended to go in the first place.

There is absolutely NO good reason to attempt this to begin with, and the cost of such a conversion is far too high for any possible benefit you might envision as a result of your efforts. It's not only dangerous, but it's an exercise in reverse-ecomony as well.

If you want a controlled-feed action, get one that is already a controlled-feed action by DESIGN, not by misguided efforts at reverse-engineering.

When I was sixteen, one of my friends was always tearing apart his truck, dumping every dime he had into it, and if anything he made it worse than it was the day he bought it. One day I was over at his house and his dad came out and dryly stated, "Ford probably pays the college-trained engineers that designed your truck a hundred grand a year per man. YOU haven't even graduated from high-school yet, but you're going to outsmart, out-figure, and out-engineer 'em, huh?"

A lot of misguided rifle conversions remind me of that episode.........

AD

Area 51..!! That was great!

Thanks!
Dave

Thinking “outside of the box†has been responsible for some incredible solutions to problems over the years...but it is also true that it has, in many cases, been equally responsible for creating allot of problems that didn’t exist in the first place.

Not always...but sometimes... the “best†answer is found “inside the box.â€

For once I have to disagree with all of the speculators around here.

I have a photograph of one and I know exactly who did them.

It was none other than the very highly qualified Butch Searcy, who even advertized them in Rifle Magazine for awhile.

Beautiful Work!!!!!

22WRF

Repectfully, that still doesn't change the fact that, given the current availability of actions, it is a really, really bad idea. A lot of things that were good ideas (possibly) in the past are bad ideas in the present. Not to start a M700 thread, but if you were going to do this, why not start with a quality action such as an older Sako PF instead of a Walmart mass market action? This is akin to doing $3000 worth of action work to a $30 Turkish when you could have started with a commercial FN or a 1909. In the end, you would have less money in the higher quality action.

The "Kalifornia" outfit I mentioned isn't Searcy..........but this new knowlege has given me some badly needed insight and has made a difficult decision much easier.

Thanks!

AD

Dakota 97 anyone?

Terry

quote:

What possible advantage could be offered by a Remington action with a Mauser extractor that is not offered by any of the other actions

Maybe it's for those that want detachbale bolt handles.

Allen,
It so happens that, many years ago, my father was a research engineer at the Ford Motor Company.
In his day they used to purchase every car on the market, take them apart, put them back together and then test them to destruction. It used to give him a pain to destroy them, but much was learned from doing so.

What might you ask is the relevance of telling you this?
Well, in it's day and for the money, my father thought that other German icon the VW was the best engineered car on the market.
This was no faint praise from a man who spent the years 1939-45 building engines for MTB boats.


The Mauser rifle he saw as a wonderful piece of design and engineering. The work of a genious, he said. Unlike me, he did not like Remingtons, I can't put to paper what he thought of them.
My father was a grand old man who knew more about engineering that any one I have met, if he said the Mauser was the best action, then that is more than good enough for me.

To reiterate if you want a CFR buy a Mauser.

quote:

Originally posted by Art S.:
22WRF

Repectfully, that still doesn't change the fact that, given the current availability of actions, it is a really, really bad idea. A lot of things that were good ideas (possibly) in the past are bad ideas in the present. Not to start a M700 thread, but if you were going to do this, why not start with a quality action such as an older Sako PF instead of a Walmart mass market action? This is akin to doing $3000 worth of action work to a $30 Turkish when you could have started with a commercial FN or a 1909. In the end, you would have less money in the higher quality action.

Because the word "quality" means different things to different people. At the time that Searcy was doing these (1985) the pre-64 actions were no longer being made and people wanted a controlled round action. He provided what people wanted. Actually, not only could you get him to do a Remington, but he would also take a post 64 Model 70 and make it a controlled feed action as well!!!!!

I don't know what you guys are talking about there being a lack of actions in the past, if anything there are less mausers floating around these days than before, back in the good ole days you could buy FN, obies, and argies for chump change, those actions have since dryed up turks VZ's and yugos are all that are left nowadays.

If this is for Gerry himself, then one thing he forgot to put in his post is that he is seriously left handed.

That still does not make the M700 -> CRF conversion a good idea, IMHO. But to each his own.

If you want CRF in a LH action, MRC makes a LH, and maybe you can find a LH M70 to use as a donor action?? I guess there are LH Mausers out there, but they tend to be a bit pricey...
- mike

quote:

22WRF


For once I have to disagree with all of the speculators around here.

I have a photograph of one and I know exactly who did them.

It was none other than the very highly qualified Butch Searcy, who even advertized them in Rifle Magazine for awhile.

Beautiful Work!!!!!

I have a complete collection of Rifle magazine and would like to look more into Searcy's work. Can someone point me to the issue number or year of the Searcy conversion articles?

The only mods that I would do to a Rem bolt would be swap it for a Kiff with slider extractor or replace the bolt head with a Savage unit. Or TIG the bolt handle in place or bush the firing pin hole to .060".

Thanks for any info.
jmcmunn@imbris.net

To each his own I say, but.... Anyway, I have a few clients, all brothers, who have post 64 classic model 70's done in custom rifles a number of years ago. Guess what, they all have Mauser bolt stops incorporated into the actions. I ask, what the hell was wrong with the original stop?

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by OMJ:

quote:

22WRF


For once I have to disagree with all of the speculators around here.

I have a photograph of one and I know exactly who did them.

It was none other than the very highly qualified Butch Searcy, who even advertized them in Rifle Magazine for awhile.

Beautiful Work!!!!!

I have a complete collection of Rifle magazine and would like to look more into Searcy's work. Can someone point me to the issue number or year of the Searcy conversion articles?

The only mods that I would do to a Rem bolt would be swap it for a Kiff with slider extractor or replace the bolt head with a Savage unit. Or TIG the bolt handle in place or bush the firing pin hole to .060".

Thanks for any info.
jmcmunn@imbris.net

I don't know whether he actually posted an article. When he advertized them I wrote to him and asked for information. he sent me back black and white photos and a letter. He was advertizing them back in 1985.

rem model 30!
jeffe

Converting a M700 to a Mauser is quite easy. First, take the M700 to a steel smelter and toss it in the post with the red, molten steel. Then route that steel to one of the makers of Mauser actions. About a year later, pick up your Mauser which began life as a M700 (in part).

Allen Day.

Yes the california company stopped production after one of the rifles blew a case head and the M70 extractor headed up up and away. Leaving the company's owner with 8 stiches on his cheek. And this was only a 300 Wby caliber.

22 WRF.

Were do think Old Butch was ordering his newly made bolt bodies from. This was before he moved to california. Butch was also building over under rifles on Ruger Red Labels at the time.

Jim Wisner
Custom Metalsmith

quote:

Originally posted by mho:
If this is for Gerry himself, then one thing he forgot to put in his post is that he is seriously left handed.

That still does not make the M700 -> CRF conversion a good idea, IMHO. But to each his own.

If you want CRF in a LH action, MRC makes a LH, and maybe you can find a LH M70 to use as a donor action?? I guess there are LH Mausers out there, but they tend to be a bit pricey...
- mike

Zastava makes nice LH Mauser actions. Cheep!

BROWN PRECISION RIFLES made CRF remingtons a number of years ago(1989).

WOW! I went away for the weekend and came back to a wealth of responses - a BIG thank you to everyone for the input, very enlightening!

For those who actually provided an answer to my query, I am grateful, this is something useful to go on for the friend who initially asked me to make the inquiry for him. I also remembered reading something about this in a publication years ago, now I know where it was.

For the less specific responses, I appreciate your candid opinions. AR can always be relied upon to provide such with unhesitating promptness!

mho & Bent, thanks guys - I have a great collection of L/H rifles from various manufacturers Remington, Savage, Heym, Keppeler, Anschutz, Ruger, Winchester, Blaser and two L/H Zastavia actions, one made up into a really spiffy 9.3x62 Mauser CRF rifle.