Gunsmithing 700 action play

[flynlow3]

I have several remington 700 rifles. One of my observations were that my lower line SPS rifles have play in the bolt. It jiggles. My 5R's seem very tight. I am thinking about getting my sps trued. Would anyone recommend this or should I just sell it and buy a custom?

If you think it should be trued, who is recommended and how much $.

 

[Chabrone]

Re: 700 action play

First question I always ask is....How does it shoot?

If it's good, shoot the barrel out and then proceed with truing/rebarrel. If it doesn't shoot, skip the shooting part.

 

[Chris@InterstateGuns]

Re: 700 action play

i would love when customer would come into the gun shop i worked at previously, pull the bolt back, give it a wiggle, and handing it back saying it was crap and would never shoot.

when they would do the same thing to a sako, hs, or a cooper i would just giggle.

 

[varmint slayer]

Re: 700 action play

Trueing the action isn't going to tighten up the bolt play. All trueing is going to do is square up the receiver face and threads and then get your bolt lug contact better. The best way to tighten up the slop is to order an oversize PTG bolt and then have it fitted to your gun.

Like others have said, if it shoots good then don't worry about it.

 

[2156SMK]

Re: 700 action play

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: flynlow3</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have several remington 700 rifles. One of my observations were that my lower line SPS rifles have play in the bolt. It jiggles. My 5R's seem very tight. I am thinking about getting my sps trued. Would anyone recommend this or should I just sell it and buy a custom?

If you think it should be trued, who is recommended and how much $.

</div></div>

If the play really bothers you, consider having the bolt sleeved.
Realistically though, you might as well just replace the bolt with an overiszed bolt at the time the action is trued.
Then the receiver can be line-bored for a larger diameter bolt.
Truing is going to necessitate a rebarrel.
All-in, you are looking at $600 to $800 or even more depending on what else you change while it's being rebuilt.

The play really does not matter when the action is unlocked.
What you want is all the play removed when the bolt is closed and the firing pin is hitting the primer.
I do borden bumps to fix that play while keeping the action loose while it's unlocked/cycling...

 

[flynlow3]

Re: 700 action play

Good info! thank you guys. The gun shoots well but I have been able to out shoot it. When I switch rifles, My performance goes up. it's about a 3/4 moa at 100 yrd .223. Kinda itching to make it right so I take it out and shoot it more often. It is cheaper to shoot with less recoil.