Remington 700 bolt

[The Butcher]

I bought a 700 BDL at a gunshow last weekend, and only after I got home did I find a problem with the rifle. Someone ground the grove off of the bolt lug on the right side. Can this be fixed, and what would the cost be? Or should I just send it back to Remington, and have it done there? Any advice would be welcomed. Thanks Don

 

[James Jones]

Not sure whay the heck anybody would do that but I'd get rid of it ASAP ,if they did in deed grind it off and they diden't take care to keep the heat off the lug you could have some soft bolt lug issues and thats a major problem.

Bets bet would be to buy a bolt from Pacific Tool and Guage , they come perfectly square , a much better fit to the action and you can have them ordered with a Sako extractor kit and bolt handel with removable tactical knob. You could call remington and see what they are gonna charge but I assure you that its not gonna be cheap and you'll stoll ave a factroy bolt.

 

[The Butcher]

Thanks James,
I'll look into that. I would not sell it like it is, as I realized the it was missing after I got home. Gunshows now (at least here in my area) require wire tie keeping the action closed. When I got home, and cut the ties, the bolt was not riding right, and the follower was pushing up, causing the bolt to hit the front ring. I can wait two months, and take it back to the show, and try in get my money back, or stick it where the sun don't shine from the dealer. I could never sell the rifle the way it is, and feel good about myself. I keep thinking what if I did not know any better, and let one of the kids shoot it, and as you say it had a soft bolt, and someting happend, I'd be devestated. It is a 1966 model, and I just may get it fixed, and do a build on it. I did talk to Remington, they said send it in, but who know what the price would be. I'm going to shop around first, thanks for the info. Don

 

[EddieHarren]

Remington bolt

Don, I suspect that your bolt was one of the pre-anti-bind bolts that was substituted in your action. I have some bolt bodies. Let me know your needs.
Eddie.

 

[specweldtom]

Butcher, I don't know the years of manufacture, but I've seen several early Rem 700's. Some have a deep square notch cut in the front of the receiver bridge, some have a flattened safety knob, and some have both. What I remember is that none of the early actions had the so-called anti-bind slot in the bottom locking lug. I'm guessing that if the action has the notch in the bridge or the flattened safety, it probably never had the anti-bind slotted bolt. Those early bolts will commonly hit the back of the receiver ring with the top front edge of the bottom locking lug when you close the bolt. it's annoying, but not dangerous, and you can get used to closing the bolt without hitting the receiver. Remington should have called the anti-bind bolt something else, but this sounded better than the "won't hit the receiver" bolt.

A competent 'smith can tell you instantly if the bolt has been screwed with, or if it's just an early action that just hangs up sometimes. Also, you can measure the top to bottom thickness of both lugs, and their length out from the surface of the bolt. They should be within a few thousandths of each other.

If it has been ground on, it would probably be on the top of the right hand lug ( as you close the bolt), and I would absolutely replace the bolt. If it's not tampered with, like I said, you can get used to it, and it is safe.

I have so far resisted the strong temptation to pass a problem gun on to some other unsuspecting person.

Let us know what you find out. Tom