REMINGTON M-700 BOLT HANDLE SEPARATION (As in Falling Off!)

[Ian M]

A friend just had the bolt handle of his 700 Remington simply fall off while he was checking the trigger setting. Guess this is a true urban-legend! Amazing how little weld was holding that bolt to the body - would have been ugly if it had broke while he was hunting.
Anybody else have this happen to their rifle?

 

[Dave King]

I had one come off many years ago while on a prairie dog shoot. It was a Rem 700 SA in 22-250...good thing the prairie dogs didn't jump on the opportunity and attack, all I had left was a Ruger 22mag.

 

[Pete Lincoln]

This is a known problem on Rem 700's and is the reason why riflesmiths have started drilling, threading ( 6-48) and screwing the handle to the bolt. If you want to have a look at some pictures of this mod the best are to be seen at HD rifles web site, but many smiths offer this same modification. its a quick and easy fix.
regards Pete

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I had UPS beat mine off, and the best part was that the rifle was in a hard case at the time. Many smiths (or Remington) should be able to easily braze (or whatever welding method they use) the bolt handle back to the body without too much trouble.

 

[Ian M]

Pete,
I have that mod on my GA rifle, just in case!

 

[Shawn Carlock]

I have for quite some time been drilling the handle for a line up pin then silver soldering and finaly drilling and bolting the bolt to the bolt body on duty use rifles.

 

[Ian M]

Scary thing is how do you know if your bolt is attached properly or if it is the next one to drop-off /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Pete Lincoln]

Thats right Ian, just imagine you are facing down a Griz, a lion or a cape buff at the time. I am in the process of moding all my soldered on bolt handles ( they are usualy silver soldered at factory by the way)I'm screwing them all on, irrelevant if Remmy or whatever.
Where abouts are you in Canada by the way? I was stationed over there a while.
Get the bolt mod done guys,and you can sleep in peace.
Pete

 

[Ian M]

Pete,
I have never heard of anyone who had a Savage, Tikka, Sako, Winchester 70 or Mauser bolt break-off, have you? Your precautions are very wise - just not worth taking the chance.

Live in the currently frozen wasteland of Saskatchewan - up to our butts in snow - literally, windchills have been in the minus forties and fifties. Slight break taking place now but no doubt we will go back to the ugly cold shortly.

Did you train in Alberta or Manitoba, both have large military bases that host Nato partners (Camp Wainright and Camp Shilo they are called).

 

[Misfire]

I've never heard that one before. I had heard of the saftey issue, but I always balked at the thought of a Remington saftey issue. Three weeks ago it happened.......I flipped the saftey foreward and BANG. I couldn't belive it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Now I have to worry about my bolt handle falling off too?



I did see a custom Shilen rifle's (.300 WM) bolt handle break off several years ago. When the rifle was sent back for repairs they said that the reloads were too hot and needed to be backed down. Maybe over pressure could be the problem on some of these Remingtons??? What calibers are breaking off? Small, medium, magnum or any??

 

[LWolken]

I have known them to fall off but my question is can the handle be tig welded to the bolt if the bold is immersed in coolant to keep temperatures down? I have seen guys weld the box magazine to the lower portion of the action cut out and I am very well aware of the possibility of losing the heat treating of the steel but I wonder how some get away with it and others say it should not be done under any circumstance. Is this just a matter of proper technique?

Lance Wolken

 

[Pete Lincoln]

My guess is remington silver solder as its cheap.
mausers are welded on as are expensive custom action bolt handles like the johannsen the bolts will be heat treated afterwards.
You could weld a remmy handle on if you used a heat stop screwed in the rear end and some heat stop paste/putty to stop the heat going along that bolt i'd guess. But if its properly silver soldered on it shouldn't come apart anyway. adding the screws is just a redundant precaution if you sort out the factory problem in the first place, its a quality control issue and the screw modification is a quick and cheap fix or insurance.
Ian, i was at Camp Wainwright, we used to get a cab to Lloydminster on the Alta Sask border. I loved it in Canada. I fell head over heels for a lovely young lady from Red Deer and was a natts whisker from transferring to the Canadian REME, but my Mother fell ill and i stayed in Europe. I am still in contact with the lady, her brother was Canadian Airborn and she is now a training manager for 7/11.
I carry bout the screw on mod to all types of bolt handle that of similar design to the Rem 700, like i said, its a quick and easy fix.
Pete

 

[littletoes]

Nesika Bay is the only one who uses a Bolt/Handle that is made in one piece that I know of. Can't possibly break that baby off! I've got the HD bolt mod job on my rifle, and love the looks and feel. They will also ceramic coat your bolt, and I'll say this much, it slides sooo well, with very little resistance. I may have another rifle done in time. Very fast return, and my rifles are left handed, so there was no problem with that. And yes, they use a very high silver content silver solder to attach bolt handles.

The bolt can be re-tempered after welding, but the shrinkage? Metal contracts when welded, and I would think that the bolt may need to be re aligned after welding. Ever watch a weld "pull"? Ever have to make it "pull" back? I have, and it can be done, but metal does "contract" after welding. I imagine that if it was done prior to "trueing" it might be ok.

 

[ssandberg]

It's definitely not a myth. The last Remington I bought (brand new) was a 300 WM. After the 9th round of commercial ammo I lifted the handle and it came off in my hand. Not very impressive.