Gunsmithing Bushing a Remington 700 firing pin. Is it necessary?

[Alabama556]

I have a gap rifle built on a 700 action. It craters the primers pretty bad. I use this gun as a hunting rifle. Do I have anything to gain by having the pin bushed?

It is not real expensive but before I mailed the bolt off I wanted to get someone’s opinion that knows more than me.

Thanks

 

[Doom]

My 308 craters primers at just about any pressure loading. This is a target gun and it hasn’t been an issue.

 

[Mxridr]

Nope. I have very accurate rem 700 but craters primers

 

[bschneiderheinze]

What caliber is it. I have shot and still shoot a lot of small rifle primer calibers in a 308 bolt face and never had the need to have the been bushed. If it's not piercing them and destroying the bolt I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[LRI]

It's an issue if it bothers you or if they have a habit of popping primers and smearing your bolt face with scorching hot gasses. The "acne" sore that they typically leave with OEM loads is in reality not a big consequence. On high mileage guns I have seen where it appears (not conclusive, just an opinion) as though the pounding the bolt face takes seems to accentuate the issue over time. -Make the gap bigger between striker and hole right at the transition to the bolt face.

I've spent a small fortune solving this problem. Minimal HS change, heat treated parts, predictable outcome, no change in performance. Happy to help should you elect to pursue it.

C.

 

[carlsbad]

Cratering just gets worse. I've never bushed a pin for anyone who was sorry they did. Below are some fired rounds after I bushed. using same load. Can't find the before photos but cratering was bad. Cratering can eventually wear the firing pin hole to cause it to erode and cause hard bolt lift. -Jerry

 

[OLD308]

Never owned a rifle that cratered primers before this one. For about $150 i'm having the issue eliminated. Worth it to me to mitigate the possibility of a punch though, and that atrocious looking primer. Greg Tannel is doing mine, he responded to my email first. Would just as easily sent it to LRI. They do great work and make great stuff.

 

[Diesel65]

Never owned a rifle that cratered primers before this one. For about $150 i'm having the issue eliminated. Worth it to me to mitigate the possibility of a punch though, and that atrocious looking primer. Greg Tannel is doing mine, he responded to my email first. Would just as easily sent it to LRI. They do great work and make great stuff.

+1 for Gre-Tan. Had to have my CA 6.5CM done when I switched to Lapua brass. took him a few months to get it done, but zero cratering now.

 

[Edds]

Does anyone know how Gre-Tan or LRI secure the bushing?

 

[carlsbad]

I do not know what they use. I use a theaded 180 KSI steel bushing. --Jerry

 

[LG65CM]

I do not know what they use. I use a theaded 180 KSI steel bushing. --Jerry

Thanx for sharing that Jerry, lg

 

[flatland1]

I've never built a 6BR or 6 Dasher on a M700 action without either sending the factory bolt out to be bushed, or buying a PTG custom bolt with the .062" fp hole, and a matching striker assembly. As far as that goes, the last several M700 actions I bought were just bare receivers, which required a bolt anyway, so went with the PTG bolts with the small fp hole and a cut for mini 16 extractor.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

It's a symptom of a different problem. Like a short throat et al.

 

[LG65CM]

It's also a possibility that the firing pin itself is protruding further than spec.

 

[cast1]

Carlsbad did my bolt. Fast turnaround. Very good work.

 

[The Busby]

I rebarreled my R700 with 223AI and the new load it loved started penetrating primers. I sent to Gre-Tan (Greg Tannel) and got it back in a couple weeks. The work he performed was flawless and the brass comes out looking perfect. Very happy I did this.