Remington 700 tolerances

Justinray

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Sep 9, 2013
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What should the bolt and bolt bearing of a 700 mic out to? I have a rifle I want to work into long range but want to see if it's worth the time or if it's wore to a unredeemable point.
 
I think most new reminton m700's have around 0.007" clearance between the bolt body and receiver. As for what it "should" be, I guess that is open for debate. Less usually seems to feel more like a quality machine unless you're in a sand storm, where more clearance may be useful. I have a long action R700 receiver with an oversize PTG bolt that has about 0.0015" clearance and it runs great from a bench. If you think you have a worn out receiver it could probably be made better than new with some truing and a new bolt. Some have sleeved bolts or added "bumps" that are tigged on and turned down to restore or improve bolt alignment in the receiver. Good luck with the project.
 
Well, my bolt mics .699 all the way down and around the bolt. My action mics .706 so it falls into that .007 range. But what do new bolts measure? It sounds like a win but I wanted to make sure before ordering parts.
 
FYI I've never seen an action that had a raceway that big. I don't do lots of Remingtons, but my biggest bushing is .7045 and I've never used it. If you're considering ordering a bolt you might double check your dimensions. If your dimensions are correct than have at it
 
Double checked, it's correct, .699 and .706
I'm not sure what to think of it because it's on the tight side of tolerance, but a 'too big' raceway. Maybe it's been blueprinted? Any advice?
 
FYI I've never seen an action that had a raceway that big. I don't do lots of Remingtons, but my biggest bushing is .7045 and I've never used it. If you're considering ordering a bolt you might double check your dimensions. If your dimensions are correct than have at it

+1

The bolt is usually .699 and the action should be .701 to .702.

It is very hard to measure an action bore with different manderls that goes all the way through the action.
they are normally larger at the very back from being worked with the bolt all the way out (That Is where most of the slack Is) I use different Manderls that are in .001 increments that do a great job and are accurate.

When you get a oversize bolt you also need to buy a raceway reamer for the new bolt.

If it is truly .706 it is ok as long as you have good head space. I have seen Mausers that Had .015 to .020 clearance and they still shot very good.

J E CUSTOM
 
Before you start playing with the bolt I would turn a .704 plug about a 1" long with a 1/4-20 hole tapped into it. Screw a long cap screw or a piece of all thread and run it in the entire length of raceway. It should go in with ease if your figures are correct.
 
Before you start playing with the bolt I would turn a .704 plug about a 1" long with a 1/4-20 hole tapped into it. Screw a long cap screw or a piece of all thread and run it in the entire length of raceway. It should go in with ease if your figures are correct.

+1
I made my self a set of mandrels 8" long with two sizes (half with one size and the other half .001 thousandths larger). starting at .700 and going up to .708 to test the receivers bore.

It is easy to measure the bolt (Take one reading at 12 O'Clock and one at 3, 6, and 9 every 2 inches to find the smallest diameter and the largest Diameter. Most bolts wear more in the front and the receivers wear more at the back end.

I have found many actions (Mostly Mauser's) with .020+ clearance between the bolt and the action and they still shot good because the head space and the squared bolt recoil lugs squared the bolt face.

If it really all that bad and you cant stand it just buy an oversize bolt and the proper bolt raceway reamer.

J E CUSTOM