Gunsmithing a little savage bolt knob shadetree gunsmithing

[bodywerks]

Decided to make my own bolt knob for my savage. I know i could have had one done for about $100 and a lot less effort on my part, but there's a feeling of accomplishment in doing shit yourself...
So my dad is the one with the lathe and mill, buy he lives 450 miles away. I'd spend double in diesel driving there than i would just to pay someone else to do it! Lucky for me i work for the airlines and fly darn near free of charge...
Long story sort, i get to my dads house thinking he had exactly the vise i needeto get the job done (something to change the angle of it). Nope! Time for some retrofitting...

 

[bodywerks]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

I wanted my bolt handle to angle back a bit. I like how the Remingtons feel in that respect. So before i cut that gawdawful ball off i took a torch to it and knocked the handle back about 25°. Hard to see in the pic but here it it's after I trued up the cut off face on the mill...

 

[bodywerks]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

With that done, time to tap. I found center and tapped away...

Then insert threaded stud...

 

[bodywerks]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

Time to make the bolt - it's in there somewhere...

 

[bodywerks]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

There it is! Installed and everything! Looks like magic, but truth is i had about 4 hours to get this done so i could get to sleep in time to catch my flight home so i lost track and forgot to take pics of the progress. Anyway, now you can see the angle i built into it. I like it!

 

[bodywerks]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

Now you can see the angle in the handle. Just gotta do some finishing touches on it then ship it to Phoenix custom rifles for a cerakote job with the rest of my rifle they have.

 

[338RUM runner]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

Why does your GF keep looking at me with those nice big eyes. Oh!! the bolt knob is nice.

 

[BenY 2013]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

That looks great! I did something similar to mine; however it doesn't look near that nice!

 

[bodywerks]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

Not enough money to afford that girlfriend !

 

[lead ƒarmer]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

That looks awesome! Well done.

 

[mbrittan]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

That turned out perfect. Did you loctite it on, or use something else to make it permanent?

I see the spacer on the rear screw. Did you use the thrust bearing for bolt lift? How much did that help with the lift?

 

[bodywerks]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

I used stud locker loctite.
Yes i used the thrust bearing. It definitely smoothes out bolt lift, but polishing the cocking pin and cam are equally as important.

 

[Boltfluter]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

Very nice job. The blend looks perfect.

Regards,
Paul

 

[bodywerks]

Re: a little shadetree knob gunsmithing on my savage

Thank you! Means a lot coming from a pro. I have an indexing plate also and was going to mill some lengthwise cuts in it at every 60° kinda like the one in your signature. But i ran out of time and was liking it just fine the way it sat. I'm too slow to be able to make money doing this kinda stuff (probably 5-6 hours invested in this one) but i sure do enjoy it!

 

[bodywerks]

Hers another one i did. I took advantage of the indexing plate this time. This is for my TA338 action.

 

[vaeevictiss]

That turned out nice! I wish i had a mill to do more on. I only have a lathe and turned out this simple knob recently.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[bodywerks]

Looks good! The one on the savage was lathe only. This recent one i obviously used the mill as well, but fluting without the indexing plate would have been less than fun.

 

[Ring]

Now you can see the angle in the handle. Just gotta do some finishing touches on it then ship it to Phoenix custom rifles for a cerakote job with the rest of my rifle they have.

u do all that work your self, but cant airbrush some ceracote?

 

[bodywerks]

u do all that work your self, but cant airbrush some ceracote?

I could, but i was having my savage rebarreled by my gunsmith with a Krieger barrel chambered in 260 Remington since they were doing the cerakote on the whole barreled action i let them do the dirty work.

 

[vaeevictiss]

I do wish i had a way to blend it into the bolt handle better but it is square and too narrow. I'd have to make it shorter and grind down.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[snorules]

Great work! I've been doing quite a few bolt knobs for friends lately, every time someone sees one on one of my rifles, they want one. Savages are the best because you can easily take the bolt apart. I've recently done knob installs on a few Mosin Nagant "sniper" bolts, quite a few Savages, a Lee Enfield, a few various 17 HMR's, and an FN .308 tactical, and even a Beeman pellet rifle. Of all of the jobs, the FN was a pain. I don't know what they make their bolts out of, but it was so hard that I had to anneal if before I could machine the old knob off and thread it, then re heat treat it after all of the machine work was done. Well worth the effort though, as the bolt belonged to a police Sniper, and he absolutely loved it. Y'all keep up the great work out there!

 

[bodywerks]

What's funny is my gunsmith does bolt knobs and they are doing my entire build, except for the knob! Their knob would have run me maybe $75. But i just had to have a part of the rifle that was me. Heck, i spent $75 in tooling just to make this knob! And forget about the 7 hours i spent behind the lathe and mill for this one knob. Yeah, i do it strictly for the love of it. I don't think I'll be looking to sell them any time soon. Although, i don't know of anyone that makes a counter bored knob like mine for this ptg handle. I gotta say, the ptg knob that stiller puts on this custom action is an embarrassment to the rest of the action!