Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Is there a preventative fix for those pesky Remington bolt handles?

Why can't you adjust the trigger?

Never heard of this problem before, and I've been using and abusing 700's for 25 years now. Some folks have all the luck...

Well, you can. But Remington fights you pretty hard on it.

I've done it in the past on the pre-06 triggers and have always had to break that sealant their lawyers have them put on there. The problem with the X-Mark trigger is that now they are using some new sealant that's virtually impossible to get off. From what I've heard you have to take a blow torch to it. (As if taking a blow torch to my new rifle is something I feel like doing.) Apparently solvents won't do it.

I tried loosening up the sear engagement screw and managed to break off my allen wrench inside of it. Loosening the trigger pull weight screw had zero effect according to my Lyman trigger scale. So, in effect, Remington seems to have made this a non-adjustable trigger.

Ben

I've only played with one. They seem very determined to keep you out of the sear engagement screw, but we made a huge improvement with the pull weight screw alone.

Not as nice as it could be, but certainly better.

If you would actually read the posts in this and similar threads, you would find that in many cases no beating or other rough treatment is involved. Makes your post sound kind of stupid.

But, as you say, "Stupid is as stupid does."

Agreed.

In my case as I said I had yet to fire the rifle. In fact, I hadn't gotten around to even chambering a round. And the bolt handle simply fell off in my hand with very little effort. It's not as if the bolt was stuck and I pulled on it to try and loosen it. It just came off.

Ben

You know what? I was a bit confused by this post, as I have never heard of this problem before. So I went to the local gunsmith. Who happens to be the local Remington warranty person here in California. In 30+ years, he has replaced 2 bolt handles. Both of which had been abused with people trying to bang them open. He also thought that the idea of putting 3 screws through the handle was moronic, and would only serve to weaken the attachment, as you are messing with the overall integrety if the weld holding the handle to the bolt. Now I don't doubt that some of you have had this happen. But it seems to be a very rare problem. And if you did have the handle fall off, you really should bring it to Remington. They would be more than happy to fix it for you. Assuming that the actual cause was a defect, not somebody trying to use their rifle as a ladder to climb a tree. I'm sorry, but for the most part, I'm going to have to call BS on this one. This is not a regular thing, and aside from _maybe_ one or two of you who had real problems, this sounds like people who don't like Remington piling on and saying "me too! me too!" Or people who either bought a rifle that was beat up, or beat it up themselves. And who find it easier to blame it on the rifle maker than take responsibilty for their breaking thier own rifle through their own actions. And there seem to be an awful lot of "It happened to a friend of a friend" kind of stories here too. If Remington was having such a widespread problem with this, there would be MUCH more out there online than a couple of disgruntled posts. They would be recalling rifles and placing recall ads in all of the major gun magazines. I have yet to see one. If the gunsmith I know and trust says that this is a crock, I am inclined to believe him. He is one of the best in the area, with the reputation to back up what he says. If something is crap, he says so. I won't even go into his opinion on the Remington 710, but trust me, when a Remington is crap, he says so. And he doesn't think this true any more than I do. So, either take/send your gun into Remington to have it fixed (which is covered under their warranty) or stop griping and doing the FUD thing. If the handle comes off just cycling the bolt, that is a real problem, and you should have it fixed. If the handle came off because you were pounding on it with a 2x4, and know that Remington will laugh at you if you take it back to them, that is a different story. I am willing to bet that there will be very few of the former, and many of the latter...

-Mb

p.s. As an added note, you will notice that there are very few mentions of this problem online. And more than half of the articles I found were by people selling their fix to this "problem". It really sounds like FUD in an attempt to either make money off of people who are gullible enough to fall for it, or negative PR by Remington's competition. Again, this is looking more and more like an internet myth.

It could happen once to one guy with 30 friends. Each friend posts about it on 3 forums several times in a few years. The friend's friends post. One failure has now become an epidemic of bolt handle failures.

Yes, it does happen, but probably far fewer times than the number of reports.

Bruce

This is the thread on the Mossberg ATR and it's bolt comming loose. The Winchester 70's are put on the same way.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/2641799/page/0/fpart/1

g

According to Stewart Otteson in his excellent book "The Bolt Action", the Remington 700 bolt.."is brazed together in five pieces. The cylinder and bolt head are machined from chrome-moly barstock, while the handle is investment cast. Sandwiched behind the bolt head is a heavy steel washer to support the ejector and act as a stop when snapping the firing pin. A heavy dowel fits cross-wise into one side of the bolt head joint to reinforce it and index the parts during brazing. The dowel assures the lugs will seat, even if the brazed head joint fails. This is a very remote possibility, however, as both joints are furnace brazed at high temperature with copper alloy, forming a bond of extreme strength [and also one which is unaffected by subsequent heat treatment]. Following brazing, the bolt handles are tested in a pneumatic press and then punch marked under the shank for verification. This built-up bolt construction achieves economy without sacrificing locking strength, since the lugs remain part of the bolt head. In fact, the cylindrical patterns permit exceptional accuracy and precision in manufacture. The resulting overall concentricity of receiver, bolt, and barrel is superior to that generally possible with more classic forged bolts".

Yup, I smell BS with this "problem". Too many of the articles about it online are from people offering to "fix" it for money. Remember, 2 in 30+ years at the service station. Both of which were user error. I'm sure it can happen, but not with any frequency.

-Mb

I currently own 7, have custom loaded for quite a few, and know alot of folks that swear by them. I'd never even heard of it until reading it on the net. At the same time, I've heard of problems with just about every factory rifle (on the net as well).

I firmly believe that this is a very rare problem. You are talking about the most popular bolt rifle in existence. With the amount of 700s in the world, there will be a problem with a few of them just as there is problems with every man made product.

I don't think I'm going to run out and sell my 700s just yet

There are far more things I need to worry about than my 700 bolt handles.

Have a good one,

loder

If a silver brazing joint is wel done, it will NOT fail. Even with a mallet being used. If the joint is poorly done, it will fail. The same is true of a welding job. A good one is just that; good. A poor one can fail.
There can be little question that an integral handle (one piece bolt) is best from a strength standpoint but attached handles work too.
I have seen Remington handles which had been modified by the addition of a couple of screws and used to do this myself. After seeing one which had broken at the screw hole (not one of mine, for which I'm thankful), I quit doing this mod. GD