I thought I'd share this with those that may be interested. I just finished it up today. Sorry, it's kinda long but, theres pictures
Here is a Remington 700 Receiver and the truing process I use. This rifle project will end up being a 300RUM and be used as a Whitetail Rifle. Poor little deer. The first two pics show how the receiver looks as it comes off the barrel. That gunk is some sort of thread lock Remington uses.
The next pics show the receiver, a truing collar I made, bolt raceway bushings and a hardened, ground .500” indicating bar. Also, there are pics showing the receiver installed in the truing collar to give you an idea as to how it’s held. This bar was manufactured for me by Dave Kiff at PTG and is ground, heat treated, stress relieved and ground once more to the final diameter. Now, here’s the first deal. When a receiver is indicated in the lathe we have to use the bolt raceway as the standard. Some smiths will use a tight fitting ground piece of bar stock or small pump shaft to indicate off of. This particular receiver was very straight to start with but, the ID of the front receiver ring was .7015” and the ID of the rear receiver ring was .702”. I’ve seen some receivers that measured .701” in the front ring and .705” at the rear ring. How is a piece of bar stock or small pump shaft going to lock up the same in the bolt raceway if the receiver ring ID’s are not the same. The trick or key in my opinion is to use tight fitting bushings in the raceway with an ID of .500” and use a .500” ground rod to indicate off of. This rod must also be hardened and stress relieved, if not, in time it will start to move around and loose its straightness. This first step will dictate the quality of the truing job. It’s imperative that this first step of the process be taken seriously and indicated as close to zero as possible. The machining that follows will dictate whether or not that the receiver threads are concentric and the lug abutment faces and receiver face are perpendicular to the bolt race way. This is very crucial to accuracy.
The next pics show me indicating the truing collar in and the receiver after it was indicated in to .00005”. That’s right, .00005” not .0005”. Since the collar was made to close tolerances, I have to indicate it in just to get the receiver indicated after it’s installed in the collar. Dial in took less than 10 minutes.
The next pics show the receiver face with a very light (.0005”) facing cut to it. Using either Die Chem. Blue or a Blue Sharpie pen you can see the low spots left after machining. Here, on the receiver face, you can see the low spots left blue and high spots cleaned up. It only took a facing cut of .0015” to get the clean up cut you see. Look close at the first pictures and you may be able to make out the saw marks on the receiver face prior to the facing cuts being made.
![url]](http://[url="http://i41.tinypic.com/2ilfrqc.jpg"]http://i41.tinypic.com/2ilfrqc.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url="http://i39.tinypic.com/20a43zp.jpg"]http://i39.tinypic.com/20a43zp.jpg[/url])
The next pic shows a small boring bar I use to remove taper if any, the crest of the receiver threads and to make a clean up facing cut to the lug abutments. There is a before and after pic showing the cuts made, very light cuts are used. Prior to cutting, I touch off on the lug abutments with the boring bar with the lathe turned off. I set a travel dial to zero after I establish the correct depth and feed by hand very slow until I reach that zero. I then make a facing cut on the lug abutments with a very slow feed.
![url]](http://[url="http://i41.tinypic.com/2qw2dmc.jpg"]http://i41.tinypic.com/2qw2dmc.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url="http://i41.tinypic.com/34j1ves.jpg"]http://i41.tinypic.com/34j1ves.jpg[/url])
The next pics show the threading tool and threads after clean up and a completely trued Remington 700 receiver. In previous pictures you may be able to make out the chatter marks in the threads from the factory threading process. The threads are now smooth and chatter free. I’m starting to cut a small relieve groove in the receiver threads at the front of the receiver, this helps me measure the major thread diameter in the receiver and helps me establish an OD for the barrel tennon prior to threading. The threads in this receiver cleaned up with a major diameter of 1.0735”.
![url]](http://[url="http://i39.tinypic.com/34zgd2s.jpg"]http://i39.tinypic.com/34zgd2s.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url="http://i41.tinypic.com/n48dxz.jpg"]http://i41.tinypic.com/n48dxz.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url="http://i43.tinypic.com/2eqcpwh.jpg"]http://i43.tinypic.com/2eqcpwh.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url="http://i44.tinypic.com/2u7qgyh.jpg"]http://i44.tinypic.com/2u7qgyh.jpg[/url])
Bolt Truing
First, I remove the ejector and firing pin assembly from the bolt body and screw a fixture into the rear of the bolt to hold it in the lathe. I then place a small cat head that I made on the bolt face and line it up in the dead center with grease in the center hole to keep the cat head from galling to the dead center. I also check the center of my tooling to the part after it's indicated in. This is crucial to a good finish on the part being machined. The tooling is adjusted until the machinist scale is leaning out on the top half, this lets you know the tooling is just a tad below center. Perfect.
![url]](http://[url="http://i40.tinypic.com/2s13cx3.jpg"]http://i40.tinypic.com/2s13cx3.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url="http://i40.tinypic.com/35055sg.jpg"]http://i40.tinypic.com/35055sg.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url="http://i40.tinypic.com/33421ko.jpg"]http://i40.tinypic.com/33421ko.jpg[/url])
Next, I set up to make truing cuts to the rear of the bolt lugs. I do so by placing the cutting tip of the tooling against the part to be cut and use a travel dial set to zero. The travel dial is stuck to the bed ways and reads against the carriage. This lets me just touch the part without taking too much material off. You just want a clean up pass.
![url]](http://[url="http://i44.tinypic.com/mc3uvn.jpg"]http://i44.tinypic.com/mc3uvn.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url="http://i42.tinypic.com/15mxno4.jpg"]http://i42.tinypic.com/15mxno4.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url="http://i41.tinypic.com/x5a26r.jpg"]http://i41.tinypic.com/x5a26r.jpg[/url])
Next, I set up to make truing cuts to the front of the bolt lugs, bolt nose and bolt face. The part I hate the most about the entire process is having to use a steady rest but, I guess it's a necessary evil. I adjust the steady rest rollers to just touch the bolt body while it is being held in the first set up. You just wan t enough contact between the rollers and the bolt body so movement is eliminated during the truing process. Again, the travel dial is used so no more metal than needed is removed.
![url]](http://[url="http://i39.tinypic.com/x1k4ci.jpg"]http://i39.tinypic.com/x1k4ci.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url="http://i39.tinypic.com/20gmnoi.jpg"]http://i39.tinypic.com/20gmnoi.jpg[/url])
I then change tooling to cut the bolt face. The tooling is a piece of Rex95 Tool Steel I ground to make these cuts. Very light cuts are made, you just want a clean up pass. It's so tight when making this cut, I couldn’t get my camera into position for a picture.
![url]](http://[url="http://i40.tinypic.com/2lkwj7p.jpg"]http://i40.tinypic.com/2lkwj7p.jpg[/url])
After truing cuts were made to bolt face
![url]](http://[url="http://i42.tinypic.com/33xtw9d.jpg"]http://i42.tinypic.com/33xtw9d.jpg[/url])
This is the completed bolt after truing. I feel so strongly about the benefits of truing a receiver and bolt, I wont even barrel a rifle with out it unless I do it or it's already been performed by someone else.
![url]](http://[url="http://i44.tinypic.com/vzizpu.jpg"]http://i44.tinypic.com/vzizpu.jpg[/url])
![url]](http://[url="http://i42.tinypic.com/t9zitt.jpg"]http://i42.tinypic.com/t9zitt.jpg[/url])
Here is a Remington 700 Receiver and the truing process I use. This rifle project will end up being a 300RUM and be used as a Whitetail Rifle. Poor little deer. The first two pics show how the receiver looks as it comes off the barrel. That gunk is some sort of thread lock Remington uses.
The next pics show the receiver, a truing collar I made, bolt raceway bushings and a hardened, ground .500” indicating bar. Also, there are pics showing the receiver installed in the truing collar to give you an idea as to how it’s held. This bar was manufactured for me by Dave Kiff at PTG and is ground, heat treated, stress relieved and ground once more to the final diameter. Now, here’s the first deal. When a receiver is indicated in the lathe we have to use the bolt raceway as the standard. Some smiths will use a tight fitting ground piece of bar stock or small pump shaft to indicate off of. This particular receiver was very straight to start with but, the ID of the front receiver ring was .7015” and the ID of the rear receiver ring was .702”. I’ve seen some receivers that measured .701” in the front ring and .705” at the rear ring. How is a piece of bar stock or small pump shaft going to lock up the same in the bolt raceway if the receiver ring ID’s are not the same. The trick or key in my opinion is to use tight fitting bushings in the raceway with an ID of .500” and use a .500” ground rod to indicate off of. This rod must also be hardened and stress relieved, if not, in time it will start to move around and loose its straightness. This first step will dictate the quality of the truing job. It’s imperative that this first step of the process be taken seriously and indicated as close to zero as possible. The machining that follows will dictate whether or not that the receiver threads are concentric and the lug abutment faces and receiver face are perpendicular to the bolt race way. This is very crucial to accuracy.
The next pics show me indicating the truing collar in and the receiver after it was indicated in to .00005”. That’s right, .00005” not .0005”. Since the collar was made to close tolerances, I have to indicate it in just to get the receiver indicated after it’s installed in the collar. Dial in took less than 10 minutes.
The next pics show the receiver face with a very light (.0005”) facing cut to it. Using either Die Chem. Blue or a Blue Sharpie pen you can see the low spots left after machining. Here, on the receiver face, you can see the low spots left blue and high spots cleaned up. It only took a facing cut of .0015” to get the clean up cut you see. Look close at the first pictures and you may be able to make out the saw marks on the receiver face prior to the facing cuts being made.
The next pic shows a small boring bar I use to remove taper if any, the crest of the receiver threads and to make a clean up facing cut to the lug abutments. There is a before and after pic showing the cuts made, very light cuts are used. Prior to cutting, I touch off on the lug abutments with the boring bar with the lathe turned off. I set a travel dial to zero after I establish the correct depth and feed by hand very slow until I reach that zero. I then make a facing cut on the lug abutments with a very slow feed.
The next pics show the threading tool and threads after clean up and a completely trued Remington 700 receiver. In previous pictures you may be able to make out the chatter marks in the threads from the factory threading process. The threads are now smooth and chatter free. I’m starting to cut a small relieve groove in the receiver threads at the front of the receiver, this helps me measure the major thread diameter in the receiver and helps me establish an OD for the barrel tennon prior to threading. The threads in this receiver cleaned up with a major diameter of 1.0735”.
Bolt Truing
First, I remove the ejector and firing pin assembly from the bolt body and screw a fixture into the rear of the bolt to hold it in the lathe. I then place a small cat head that I made on the bolt face and line it up in the dead center with grease in the center hole to keep the cat head from galling to the dead center. I also check the center of my tooling to the part after it's indicated in. This is crucial to a good finish on the part being machined. The tooling is adjusted until the machinist scale is leaning out on the top half, this lets you know the tooling is just a tad below center. Perfect.
Next, I set up to make truing cuts to the rear of the bolt lugs. I do so by placing the cutting tip of the tooling against the part to be cut and use a travel dial set to zero. The travel dial is stuck to the bed ways and reads against the carriage. This lets me just touch the part without taking too much material off. You just want a clean up pass.
Next, I set up to make truing cuts to the front of the bolt lugs, bolt nose and bolt face. The part I hate the most about the entire process is having to use a steady rest but, I guess it's a necessary evil. I adjust the steady rest rollers to just touch the bolt body while it is being held in the first set up. You just wan t enough contact between the rollers and the bolt body so movement is eliminated during the truing process. Again, the travel dial is used so no more metal than needed is removed.
I then change tooling to cut the bolt face. The tooling is a piece of Rex95 Tool Steel I ground to make these cuts. Very light cuts are made, you just want a clean up pass. It's so tight when making this cut, I couldn’t get my camera into position for a picture.
After truing cuts were made to bolt face
This is the completed bolt after truing. I feel so strongly about the benefits of truing a receiver and bolt, I wont even barrel a rifle with out it unless I do it or it's already been performed by someone else.
