Another action blueprinting question ? bolt sleveing

[James Jones]

Iw as looking at several differant articals on building actions and saw where some guys when the "sleve" the action some guys ad shims to the bolt and turn it down to fit the bolt race ways and some sleve the action others sleve the action and ream the race to fit the bolt.
I was wondering what some of you guys do and why

Also what do you use to attach the "sleves" to the bolt of action?

and what are your thoughts on sleveing the action for a hunting/tactical rifle?

[308 nate]

JDJones,
I would not recommend sleeving an action and I personally will not sleeve actions.If you are supporting a heavier barrel and want to take the stress off the action, I would suggest either a barrel block or a barrel "V" block bedding system. as far as bolt sleeving I again do not sleeve bolts it is not that I am not capable of doing so....here is what I do in my shop when doing complete acurizing of a Rem.700 action. first,I ream the raceway to .705 then I put the action in my truing jig,dial in to .0001 - .0002 then I single point recut the threads then I true the locking surface. Next I install a PTG custom bolt .7035 which I helical flute prior to instalation. This bolt also comes with the Sako extractor and an oversized bolt handle or handle of your choice. The locking surfaces, action to bolt are also lapped for 99% contact

FWIW,
308nate
P.S there is nothing wrong with bolt sleeving as another alternative,I just feel the straight bolt operates a lot smoother and distributes wear over a larger surface area, with the helical flutes causing less surface tension and gives the dust and dirt a place to move to versus embedding in the steel.

[Mysticplayer]

To me, sleeving came about because shooters wanted to hang long heavy barrels off commercial actions and stop them from bending. With huge custom actions available today, I just don't see sleeving as that popular anymore.

Same goes for bolt sleeving. For all the work involved and cost, a custom action does both at once and probably shoots better to boot.

Would I want that on a hunting/tactical rifle? NOPE even to the custom action. Reason - dirt vs function.

It is unlikely that you will hang a 30"+ no taper barrel on a carry rifle so most any commercial action can handle the weight with proper bedding.

In the field, you have to anticipate some dirt/moisture will contact the rifle. Many custom actions are so tight that a grain of sand will hang them up. If you build in more slop/tolerance, aren't you right back to where the factory action is right now?

For hunting and tact situations, I just can't see when 1/4 to 1/2 MOA is insufficient to accomplish the task. That you can get easily from a commercial action that will function reliably in the field.

In fact, with proper stock bedding and load development, there are no shortage of factory rifles that can shoot that well.

Jerry

[James Jones]

Nate and Jerry , the action sleeving I was talking about was not sleeving the outside of the action but putting the shims inside the bolt raceways of the action , I have seen these and they called them sleeves thats where the misscomunication came in I think

So what I was asking was the differance in adding the oversized shims to the outside of the bolt and turning down to fit OR fitting them to the inside of the action and reaming them to fit the bolt. Either way would do the same thing I was just wondering what the differance would be

[308 nate]

JDJones,
To the best of my understanding, I would definately not sleeve the action inside. I feel it would be easier to build a new action unless you are talking about a split bushing and then epoxying it to the top and bottom of the receiver which I would definately think would be a bad idea.The reason you get away with epoxy on the bolt is that there is more surface area to hold the split bushing to the bolt but on the receiver up front by the locking lugs there would be very little shim length especially on the bottom of the receiver by the loading ramp. I had not heard that anyone was doing this or maybe I am missunderstanding.
FWIW,

308nate.

[Mysticplayer]

JD, The concept is to hold the bolt in rigid alignment with the chamber/bore alignment when the sear falls.

Right now when you close your bolt, the hammer is held back by the trigger sear. This contact also elevates the bolt to some degree. Dry fire any action and you will see that the bolt moves just a smidge when the hammer falls.

BR shooters decided that that movement lead to inconsistent ignition or action harmonics thus reducing accuracy. The shims or Borden Bumps, keep the bolt in the same place before and after firing.

The vast majority of my rifles are rebarreled factory or surplus actions. Almost all would shoot in the 2's with the occasional group in the 1's. By todays short range BR standards, that is absolute crap but for hunters/varminters/plinkers better then most can shoot.

My basic requirement is 5 shots inside 1" at 250yds. Clays at 750yds. Then sub MOA at 1000m. This is a rifle that can be used all year rd in any weather. I have found most actions to easily meet my goals with good bullets/ammo, proper bedding and a reasonable barrel.

Except for competition, I see no need for more accuracy.

So again, back to the orig question and no, I would not put anything to limit reliability in the field in a 'working' rifle. That also applies to speedlock firing pin springs.

There is a reason Mr. Mauser kept the locktime relatively slow... it works.

Jerry