question on wearing out an action?????

[chad44]

My grandpa just gave me a rem 700 7mm mag that is in good shape but is fairly old. He had used it for elk hunting and only shot factory ammo from it. I'm considering using this action for my first build. I have heard that actions are for the most part good forever. is this tue? if not what is a good way to tell.

I've been thinking of sending it to Kreiger barrels since they offer trueing and the whole nine yards. what are the main services that I should have them do on this action to get the best bang for my buck???

THanks

 

[rscott5028]

I would think Krieger would be forthright and tell you if it's not workable. They stand nothing to gain from poor quality results.

The 700 action is pretty durable and can withstand a little abuse. But, it's not impervious either.

That said, you'd be looking for such things as:

- anything that might indicate structural weaknesses such as chips or cracks in the wrong places
- excessive rust or pitting
- gualing of the bolt lugs (a little could be cleaned up)
- ditto for the lugs inside the receiver (once you have the barrel off)
- pitting on the bolt face and signs of gas leaks around the primer
- signs of alterations, such as messing with the sear
- if it's never been rebarreled, then the receiver threads should be fine

Most of these issues can be cleaned up and/or replaced. But, the question at some point becomes whether or not you would just want to keep your grandpa's old 700 in tact and start fresh.

Otherwise...
True/time and reblue the action
Replace whatever bolt parts need replacing e.g. firing pin, springs...
Rebarrel
Pillar bed in a good stock
Aftermarket trigger, setup correctly
20 MOA picatinny base, rings, good optics, sling, bipod, range finder
and a sharp knife

That's my $.02.

--richard

 

[cross]

It's pretty unimaginable that your Grandpa's Model 700 is worn out. If I were sending my rifle to Krieger, I'd choose their Level II truing service. It's only $75 more than their Level 1 truing service and a fairly insignificant percentage of the total bill anyway. As far as having them perform glass bedding or pillar bedding, that depends on what stock you're going to use, etc..

I'm pretty much a synthetic stock guy. Wood stocks are pretty but they can warp and change with temperature, humidity, and time; and laminates are heavy. By the time I get as much barrel and glass on my rifle as I like, I don't need any extra weight. If you do decide to go synthetic on your stock, make sure you get a decent one and not an injection molded plastic one. The injection molded ones can be bedded and will work OK but generally aren't stiff enough to allow the use of a bipod.

An oversize recoil lug never hurts but I don't have one so I'm not versed enough in them to see the need for them with standard calibers.

Good luck!

 

[Coyboy]

I just BP and barreled a 700 in standard bolt face that had over 4000 rounds thru it an extreamly shot out barrel, one of the most well used guns I have seen in factory form.

The lugs were galled, the barrel thread tennon/ action threads were all rusty, and the bolt face had some slight pits.

After the full BP and single point recuting of the actions critical surfaces you could not tell it from any other. Looked as good as a day old action that was BP. I think the older 700 had much better bolt cam timing and handle placement that the new ones.

Cosmetically a well used action that is coated after the build with Cerakote, or any of the other coatings will be virtually indestiguisable from less used actions.

So yes build on granddads 700

 

[MTBULLET]

for what it's worth, I'm still using an 1895 Win. that was made in 1897, and it still works fine. And, believe me, it's well used !

 

[4xforfun]

Nope!!!! It's worn out. Please send it to me for proper disposal.