My friend has a Rem 700 BDL SS 30-06 that was blown up /not to a full extent/ by shooting a very hot ammo. The bolt supposedly had a Sako style extractor which was gone when the stuck bolt had been removed from the receiver. Also the floorplate is bolwn away. The bore and chamber looks fine. How I can make this rifle servicable again? What extractor would you suggest and is it possible to be installed without a gunsmith?

That bolt looks pretty haggard. Personally, I wouldn't screw with it. If your friend is serious about salvaging the rifle, I would recommend he send the entire rifle back to Remington to A) have the action checked out, and B) have the bolt replaced.

Personally I wouldn't try to salvage it. The bolt face looks too out of whack. Plus, even if everything does look right, there's still the unseen hazards that could cause it to fail again, such as internal stresses and possible stretching. These little things could cause a even more catastrophic failure. Send her over to Remington and have them give the verdict. Hopefully your friend is alright and this is the last time anyone has this happen again.

the bolts ruined... show some pictures of the BACKside of the lugs, as you have shown the forward sides... ..

I wouldn't take the job, for just about any amount of money

jeffe

There isn't ANYTHING about this possible repair job that should be attempted without the services of a very competent gunsmith. I'd be very suprised if Remington will touch it with a ten foot pole. If some kind of repair/restoration is attempted, by all means have the final product re-proofed prior to use. Having said all that....IMHO this would become a "wall-hanger" before spending anymore time and money on it. The Metalsmith has it exactly right. This rifle has experienced some level of metal stress that obviously exceeds it's capacity. That unknown is what makes this a very "sketchy" repair. Might work, might not. Your friend would be better off starting over with another rifle, and a more realistic approach to handloading.
Don

Hey Davaa, Find a Mechanical Engineer near you at a manufacturing company or in a University and ask them to explain Cumulative Metal Fatigue to you and your buddy.

It is no problem to replace the broken parts, but the unseeable stress results of the Over Load imparted on the Lugs, Barrel and Action "have the potential" to make the rifle UNSAFE.
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He should be VERY thankful he was shooting a Remington.

He can buy a used Remington replacement for less than fixing this will run. Probably has some bolt set-back in the receiver, too.

agreed, the best way to approach this would be a used bolt. Then send both to the smith for re-trueing and squaring of everything. By then, the cost exceeds that of a donor action and trueing.

sell any parts that are still good, and put it to the next rifle.

It looks to me like the bolt has already been sleeved. Or maybe salvaged once already. That broke one of the three rings of safety that Remington is famous for. If it had not been modified it might have survived the overload with less damage. Only needing a clean sweeping out of your friends trousers. Another stike against the Sako extracter. Remingtom made it that way for a reason. It should have been left that way. If you insist on salvaging this fatigued action the next failure could possibly be your friends last. Buy a used Remy for a doner action and start from there. Your friend will thank you for the sound advise. And you'll still have a friend.

There are at least two companies making new Remington 700 bolts, and I believe the cost is less than buying a donor action.

Remingtons are pretty tough, but...

To me the bolt looks like total loss.
the bottom metal about the same.

I wouldn't trust the barrel further than I could throw it.

I'll give him $50 plus shipping for the "remains" And to be honest I consider most of that to be for the stainless steel late style safety arm, bolt release parts and the stainless steel action screws.
Though I wouldn't mind having a "dead" receiver to use to make a fixture I've wanted to make... (for physically testing scope/ring combinations for barrel clearance...)


Basically the rifle is "dead" and you can get another rifle for not much more than what it'd cost to raise it from the dead.

AllanD

It is pretty common to sleeve the bolt head before installing a Sako style extractor. I think we beat that to death a couple of weeks ago. Looks like a decent job but what worries me is what looks like a lot of gas cutting in the rear of the extractor slot.

Pacific tool and ginding makes Remington bolt bodies for $100 or $125 but then what about the lug recesses and chamber? Checking all that out costs more than a used 700 and not a whole lot less than a donor ADL (or whatever the new model is) from Wally World.

Someone is lucky the extractor didn't find a body between it and it's new low-earth orbit.

Where did the Sako extractor go? It has been stated here that "I've never had one blow out". This proves that it is not a save modification to a 700.
Pretty sad job of installing the bushing in the bolt snout. And it had the SMALL Sako extractor instead of the normally used larger one.
Remington will not do anything about the bolt, it has been modified. It is a good candidate for someone that wants to do a Savage bolt head conversion.
Your friend is very lucky that he is right handed. A left-handed shooter would have probably been seriously injured.
Wanna do a trade? The "trashed" action and $$ for a very clean blued 700 action?

Just one suggestion on a way to rebuild a rifle that was apparently way over pressure.
Take the existing stock, add a barreled action, bolt and floor plate!
Just an opinion!
And we all know about opinions.

Remove the barrel and toss the bolt and receiver.

eBay everything else to recoup the loss and start over again.

Make damn sure you hide the hot loads from him because next time he may bloody well blow himself to pieces.

As I have stated on here many times before, I am not a fan of the Sako extractor conversion on Remington 700’s. If that had been a “stock†700 there would probably still be major damage to the bolt nose and the extractor...but I doubt that any parts would have taken off looking for something to smash into.

Having said that, people who reload ammunition in an effort to squeeze every possible amount of pressure and velocity out of a round should have pictures like this displayed right over their loading press/powder scale.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by OMJ:
Where did the Sako extractor go?
[QUOTE]

Probably out through the mag well.

that installation of a Sako extractor would be pointing to about 5 O'clock with the action closed.

I suppose it's better to have a blowout vent into the magazine than into either of the bolt raceways... that could be REALLY ugly...

AllanD

How much of an overcharge does it take to do that?

I have removed the barrel on several 700s that had been shot with serious overloads. All of them were original, "3 rings of steel" in place. The chamber did swell and the primer pocket enlarged as the case filled the bolt face. But the receiver and bolt were servicable.
One round, a 300 Win mag with fast powder, came up to 106,000# chamber pressure per KwikLoad program. Reloader had been loading for his .223 and forgot to change powder.

Looking down the front of a 700 action, toward the bolt, I don't see how the extractor could get around the lug and abutment and into the magazine well. Yes, the gas can go in all directions but I think the extractor went out the right raceway.

First off, your friend is VERY lucky this is all that happened! The price of a replacement rifle is cheap compared to his life. I suggest he buy a new rifle and donate this one (with all the parts he could find) to the local firearms safety intructor as a "what not to do" teaching aid. Just maybe he'll save another life by doing so.

Thank you guys for your comments and suggestions. I agree with you on salvaging the rifle. It is not safe anymore. However it is really sad to throw away a good rifle which costs around US$2500 here in Mongolia. And this location makes it impossible to send to Remington or a gunsmith for repars. Our last resort is a new or different bolt. I did not mention that the tip of the firing pin was bent also. We managed to shoot one round using the bolt from another Remington of same caliber by pulling the trigger with rope and the spent case looks fine without any suspicious things. Would the new bolt cure the gun?

quote:

Originally posted by bja105:
How much of an overcharge does it take to do that?

Just enough to rupture the brass case. Once it gives, the amount of powder overcharge is academic.

as I stated in the other thread (where this got hammered to death) expanding gas is just like water and most people...it heads for the path of least resistance. When you cut into the bolt face of a Remington 700 to install a Sako type extractor that area becomes that path of least resistance and this is one of the things that can happen if a case gives way.

Sako rifles have their gas venting/deflection system designed for that...Remington’s do not.

My personal opinion is that if a guy doesn’t like or trust the Remington extractor he should buy a rifle with the type he likes and trusts.

Don't even think about selling it or any of the parts. It has much more value than you could ever receive.
Hang it two feet in front of the appropriate person's reloading bench one inch less than that person's height. Every time they hit their head it would serve as a reminder.

quote:

Originally posted by Davaa:
Thank you guys for your comments and suggestions. Would the new bolt cure the gun?

Since the case ruptured at the ultimate strength of a thin brass vessel, I doubt if there was severe pressure put on the receiver. Or if the chamber bulged.
A new bolt would probably make the rifle servicable again. And a BDL bottom metal or ADL stock w/trigger guard.
Do you have a contact in the US that can get the parts to you? Maybe APO mail or military contacts? I've got bolts but will not ship out of the US.

I agree with OMJ, the action didn't blow the cartridge case head did. Most probably the strain on the action was not that high. A new bolt could be the fix.
Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by Davaa:
...It is not safe anymore. However it is really sad to throw away a good rifle which costs around US$2500 here in Mongolia. ... Would the new bolt cure the gun?

Hey Davaa, I see your problem is more "costly" than it would be where I am. But, thats the way the cookie crumbles.

Sure you can put another bolt in it and it might be OK or it might not. As long as you all continue to fire it with a "rope" from a SAFE distance you will be fine.

If you can find a place to Magna-Flux the "Load Bearing Portions" of the Receiver/Barrel that would at least tell you if there are any micro-tears, but it still won't give an entire picture of the Cumulative Metal Fatigue.
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By the way, the reason I'm posting again is to mention that your buddy needs to pull the Bullets on ALL the Loads he has and check for Insipient Case Head Separation with a small wire Feeler Gauge.

The problem might not be an overload, if he has reloaded those cases more than two times and has his Full Length Resizing Die set so it it Full Length Resizing. If that is the situation, he can be creating way too much excess Headspace and on each firing the Case stretches at the Pressure Ring creating the Insipient Case Head Separation.

So, your buddy might have a whole bunch of potential "bombs" ready for whatever rifle he puts them in.

Best of luck to you all.

quote:

your buddy needs to pull the Bullets on ALL the Loads he has

I'd sure hope so.....for a lot of reasons.

I didn't notice your location until recently and understand that a new rifle isn't as easy as it is here in the good old USA.

Magnafluxing the action is also a good idea but in the end one must decide what to do and given my personal experience with the Rem 700 I'd be very tempted to analize a lot of dimensions with a micrometer.....if one is available.

Look for slight bulges in the fore of the action and chamber area of the barrel.

Look for case changes with the case you retrieved from firing with the new bolt.

Personally I'd not guess that you had a case head separation but rather a over pressure situation that literally pushed the brass thru the (sako) extractor cut in the bolt.

From the photo I agree with the others that the bolt is lost and gone forever.

I incurred a similar situation with a Rem 700 but with the original bolt in tact and after beating the bolt open and prying the case from the bolt face (it was literally tack welded to the bolt face) all was fine and we resumed shooting prairie dogs.

I won't tell anyone that what I did was smart or correct.....only to say I got away with it.

Further if you can find some good method to measure the case from the new bolt firing and compare it to the old bolt fired cases (measuring at the headspace area and not overall length) and further must be accurte w/n a couple thousandths, then you have some basis to know what the headspace issuea are with the new bolt.

I'm optimistic that the action and barrel are in usable condition and that with a "fitted" new bolt and some careful micrometer measurements you can resume use of the gun.....or decide to scrap it.

Should you decide to scrap it however may I ask you to destroy the barrel and action by cutting it so that no one else can be injured by it should they try not knowing the history.

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:
Hey Davaa, Find a Mechanical Engineer near you at a manufacturing company or in a University and ask them to explain Cumulative Metal Fatigue to you and your buddy.

It is no problem to replace the broken parts, but the unseeable stress results of the Over Load imparted on the Lugs, Barrel and Action "have the potential" to make the rifle UNSAFE.
---

He should be VERY thankful he was shooting a Remington.

All the pieces that can be found of this rifle should be placed on display in a gunshop window with a sign explaining that it was fired with "HOT' handloads......

The right thing to do is to take it to a welding shop and have them melt down the bolt and receiver so that NO ONE can ever use it again. The unknown risks of fixing this rifle are NOT WORTH the risk.

Take the melted parts and make a paper weight that your friend can put on his loading bench to remind him to exercise extreme care in the future. I hope that he wasn't hurt. Remington's aren't my favorite, but I will support the contention that they are STRONG. I have seen two other Remington's that suffered from massive overloads. One was a 25-06 I believe, and it has a full case of 2400 pistol powder shot in it. The lip around the bolt face actually flared out like a soup bowl but the gun stayed
together protecting the shooter. Amazing.