Gunsmithing Cutting half moon in rem 700 action to eject loaded ammo

[Dave Garrett]

I am having a 338 Edge built on

a Remington 700 action with a 4.00 inch wyatts box... Would cutting a small half moon in the action like the Weatherby's have cause enough weakness to worry about... On mine The half moon cut would only be about 1/3 as deep as it is on the Weatherbys..Would like to not have to pull bolt to extract loaded ammo... I am like 1/8 inch short using my preferred bullet the 300 gr Berger OTM...Also this is the 3rd Edge I have had off the same reamer and this is where and what I would like to use for a load

 

[BOLTRIPPER]

have you ever seen a slot cut remmy receiver?

 

[Dave Garrett]

No but will look it up...Dave

 

[BOLTRIPPER]

while your at it savvy a clip slotted winny receiver, me thinks they started in the late 30's and many showed in Viet Nam

 

[Dave Garrett]

By the looks of those cut outs I should be fine... Was just asking in hopes that someone with way more knowledge then me would think it was a problem...Specially at the front of the action where the bolt lugs are ...Thanks for the help.... Dave

 

[RTH1800]

No issue at the back. USGI M40 Clip slot was cut TDC behind the upper lug. Winchester 70 Magnum actions were cut BDC behind the lug. I'm doubting you will have an issue.

 

[Mxridr]

I have done it to short action with 1000’s of rounds. No problems. Taking off very little material

 

[Dave Garrett]

It seems many people were doing this?? I cuss everytime I have had to release the bolt to get a live round out... Guess I just never saw it or never paid attention... With Wyatts Boxes available and the bolt stops cut back why wouldn't everyone have this done... My rifle is over at Kampfields right now getting the action all dolled up... I just never saw a remington 700 with it done and for years have had Weatherbys with it and was always going to see about it...Years ago I did have a Savage Single shot Target action in a 338 Edge that I asked the local gunsmith to do it on and she refused ...Stating safety issues with removing metal anywhere near the bolt lugs.... Thanks for all the answers and info..... Dave

 

[LRI]

An example of clip slotting:

 

[Lynn Jr]

Dave Garrett
It's done all the time on Rimfire actions to help in single feeding rounds with your thumb.
It was also extremely commonplace to cut actions in half shorten them and weld the two halves back together again.
We no longer have these types of gunsmiths around.
If all your doing is elongating the port for ejecting a live round I see no issue at all.
But again I shoot long action chamberings in short actions and hunt with 2 ounce triggers.
There is a poster here from Texas that shoots a 700 drop port action he made but I won't post his name as he doesn't need the grief it would cause.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

An alternative approach would be to trip the bolt release when extracting/ejecting a live round.

This allows a longer bolt stroke, without necessitating any receiver mods.

Greg

 

[Lynn Jr]

He can also put a side bolt release on the gun rather than the trigger. They make one that has a reasonably light spring and a bigger knob for easier use.
Here is a silver one I am using on my test gun.

 

[Dave Garrett]

I am having the half moon cut..With my Remington bolt stop ground back as far as I can and still function properly I am about 1/8 inch short of ejecting the 300 gr berger bullets ( loaded rounds)... If safety and strength of the action are not compromised to unsafe levels this seems to be the logical thing to do for me.... then adding the extra steps of releasing the bolt anytime I want to extract a loaded round... This is a hunting rifle...Easy of use is what I am after... Even with my other Edges I have owned in the past... It has never been a huge problem... I just swore every time I had to do it...I want to thank every one for their post and enlightening me enough to make a more informed decision ..... Thanks Dave

 

[Lynn Jr]

I am having the half moon cut..With my Remington bolt stop ground back as far as I can and still function properly I am about 1/8 inch short of ejecting the 300 gr berger bullets ( loaded rounds)... If safety and strength of the action are not compromised to unsafe levels this seems to be the logical thing to do for me.... then adding the extra steps of releasing the bolt anytime I want to extract a loaded round... This is a hunting rifle...Easy of use is what I am after... Even with my other Edges I have owned in the past... It has never been a huge problem... I just swore every time I had to do it...I want to thank every one for their post and enlightening me enough to make a more informed decision ..... Thanks Dave

Dave
The OTM 300's like to be at or near the lands and shoot extremely well. I use them myself all the time.
You might consider a huge amount of jump along with that cutout.
I shot with one of the testers for Berger bullets for years before he passed away.
We were jumping bullets 0.125-0.220 off of the lands and they were still shooting very well.
It's worth a try.
But do the cutout.

 

[Dave Garrett]

Thanks for the advise.... This is the 3rd 338 Edge I have had built on the same reamer..This gun also was test fired with the already tried and trued load that has worked on the other 2... with this load and OAL this one also seems to like it to....I do use a fairly hot load with reloader 33.. I am at 3008fps at 101.5 grs...and a 30 inch barrel...3.925 OAL and that leaves .15 jump.... If it ever turns to spring I might be able to do a little shooting with it Thank for taking the time to help me.. Dave

 

[Lynn Jr]

For those wondering what are these guys talking about here are a couple pictures.
The green gun is a Stiller Predator with a very small cutout so loaded rounds don't hit.
The black gun was built by poster Skkeeter and is aTac408 showing the much larger cutout.

Dave
I am in northern California and we went from fires to floods. It's time for a little good weather so we can get outdoors and do some shooting.

 

[Dave Garrett]

I am really surprised that everyone isn't having this done ... With the trend of longer and longer bullets this seems like the easiest, best fix.. Everyone goes to the trouble of having wyatts boxes put in and then they don't fix the extraction issue of not being able to eject a loaded round without tripping the bolt stop... I guess I was as guilty as everyone else up till now....... Before this thread I have never seen a remington 700 action with the cutouts. only the customs from the factory... I swear on the very next gun I do I will have a custom action... I swear.... for the 10th time and then I find a remington 700 action and make do with what I have on hand.......Dave..

 

[Oregonmuley]

Karl Feldkamp @ Kampfeld Customs did this one for me. I don't own this rifle anymore, sold it in a moment of insanity Been thinking of having it done on another 700 action.

 

[Dave Garrett]

My rifle is at Kampfield's right now,, I sent a dummy round ... and having all the fluting and skeletonizing done...Yours he did looks nice... Dave

 

[XTREM HTR16]

Karl Feldkamp @ Kampfeld Customs did this one for me. I don't own this rifle anymore, sold it in a moment of insanity Been thinking of having it done on another 700 action.

Was that the “other” 7mm08??

 

[Oregonmuley]

Yup, that was the first one Jon did after Karl did the action work, then he did the full build on the one you have