Opening a bolt face, good idea/bad idea

[Schnyd112]

So I know this is pretty common practice. My question is, is it worth it?

I have a rem 700 that began life as a .220 swift. It was trued and has a PTG installed, Mini-m16 extractor, .473 boltface. I have been using it as my competition rifle. I am in the process of building from a custom action and want to turn the Remington into a SAUM based cartridge. I already have a dbm so feeding should not be a problem? My concern is safety.

Is it safe to turn the frankengun listed above, and shoot it regularly, into a magnum short action? Also, Does it require anything more than opening the bolt face?

 

[Rich Coyle]

As far as the action you have, I don't know. What I do know is I had a Remington 700 .243 opened up to accept a .378 Weatherby head. I shortened the case to fit the .243 action.

The next one I did was a Weatherby Mark V six lug action opened from .25-06 up to handle a 9.3X64 Brenneke.

Both worked as hoped.

 

[RevJim]

have done it for years, go for it!

 

[blumboss33]

if its not broken then don't fix it and if ots broken, don't fix it if you done know how...hive it to who can.

 

[Schnyd112]

if its not broken then don't fix it and if ots broken, don't fix it if you done know how...hive it to who can.

It will be done by a gunsmith. The change has nothing to do with being broken. The barrel has 1800 rounds on it, I am building a second rifle to take the competition role and I want to make a hunting rifle off a SAUM cartridge using this action.

 

[blumboss33]

i meant the broken thing figuratively...just saying give it to someone that has the skills if its something you havent tried before.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Normally not a problem. In the case of a mini 16 or sako the cut is deeper for a .308 than a magnum. So aside from some budda stuff you are stuck with your 308 bf on this one.

 

[etisll40]

Order a new bolt from somewhere, they are out there. Not really that expensive really

Normally not a problem. In the case of a mini 16 or sako the cut is deeper for a .308 than a magnum. So aside from some budda stuff you are stuck with your 308 bf on this one.

 

[Schnyd112]

Normally not a problem. In the case of a mini 16 or sako the cut is deeper for a .308 than a magnum. So aside from some budda stuff you are stuck with your 308 bf on this one.

That never crossed my mind.
Oh well. A new bolt is $165, stripped. I can use the internals from my current bolt but would need to have a new one refit.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I would just order you a new PTG bolt for the SAUM bolt face, and then have your smith refit it. Especially since you're going to have him rebarrel that action anyway.

Are you going with a Sherman Shortmag cartridge? The 7mm SS is a short action hunting monster from what I have been reading.

 

[Schnyd112]

I have talked to rich to see what is involved; I have kicked the idea around pretty hard. Still haven't made a decision though. My uncle shoots 7 SAUM and it speaks for itself. Trying to decide if the extra work in prep and setup is doable.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I have talked to rich to see what is involved; I have kicked the idea around pretty hard. Still haven't made a decision though. My uncle shoots 7 SAUM and it speaks for itself. Trying to decide if the extra work in prep and setup is doable.

He sells pre-prepped brass now. Unless you don't mind the extra work (I own Ackleys, so the extra work doesn't bother me), you no longer have to worry with all the extra brass prep.

 

[Schnyd112]

He sells pre-prepped brass now. Unless you don't mind the extra work (I own Ackleys, so the extra work doesn't bother me), you no longer have to worry with all the extra brass prep.

Yeah it is sure tempting. He's got some magic in those SS's. Do you have one?

Until I got a line on a new action I was going to ackley my .260 and cut 4" of barrel off to play with for the winter. Now I am probably going to leave it alone until I get a new bolt and .284 barrel.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Yeah it is sure tempting. He's got some magic in those SS's. Do you have one?

Until I got a line on a new action I was going to ackley my .260 and cut 4" of barrel off to play with for the winter. Now I am probably going to leave it alone until I get a new bolt and .284 barrel.

No, but a long long time ago, I did toss out the idea to Rich (here on the forum) for the 7mm SS when he first unveiled his plans for the 6.5mm SS (his first shortmag). I'm sure you could dig back through the forum search function and pull it up.

I have advertised for Rich's cartridges alot over the years, both the Shermans and the SS cartridges, because I like the designs, have seen what they're capable of, and Rich is a great guy.

If I had the money I would have built one a long time ago. As everyone knows I'm a bit of a 7mm nut. But, the last year and half has been quite a struggle in the ole' money and job department (good run of bad luck), so it's not looking like I'll be building anything for a while until I can caught up on bills and debts and stuff.

The .260 AI is a great cartridge, one of my favorites. I plan to build one someday, as well. Same with a .280 AI.