Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Remington 700 barrel install question...

lets say a guy with a workbench, some basic skills, a barrel vise, and an action wrench had a factory take off barrel and an action.

what would be required to make sure the headspace was correctly set to avoid potential issues?

could a guy just screw the barrel on, get it nice and tight, and try a go gauge?

what is the standard procedure here?

thanks.

That has worked perfectly many times for many people but you need to use the NO GO to ensure you don't have excessive headspace.

I just took two remington actions in to my smith to have pull off barrels installed...I took him 3 barrels and two actions. I asked him to do the easiest two of the three barrels. When I picked them up,he said to screwed on and headspaced correctly with no other work needed. When asked about the third barrel, he said headspace was excessive and would have to be set back and rechambered....so,yes it can be done...doesn't always work out.

It works for some....you do need a NO GO gage for sure. They are not all that much and a heck of a lot cheaper than all the other tools you'll need.

RH

nsaqam, so, how does it work?

screw it on, put in the no go gauge, close the bolt?

i know that somewhere along the line, the bolt is not supposed to close, right?

The bolt MUST NOT close on the NO GO.

simple and straightforward. i like it. thank you!

now, if one wanted a "minimum headspace" chamber, how would this be accomplished? a reamer and lathe?

On a 700 you'll also need a means to hold the recoil lug in position while you tighten the barrel.
Brownells and I'm sure Midway sell a tool to do just that. It's called the Klienendorst tool or some such thing.

could just have the lug pinned on... it wouldnt cost too much, and i think i know a smith who would let me use his gauges...

That'd be the start of it, yes.

A lathe at the minimum to take a bit off the shoulder.
If you're concerned about getting stamping on the barrel to clock properly you'll also likely need a lathe and usually a reamer as well.
You may get lucky with a factory takeoff and end up with a min headspace chamber without any additional work.
If the GO goes with light resistance then you nailed it on the min spec.

Pinning would be fine of course but the tool I mentioned is cheap and can be used on all your 700 rebarrels.

Finally be aware that if you screw a barrel on and the GO doesn't go you can easily deepen the chamber a bit with a HAND TURNED reamer. No need for a lathe.

nsaqam, thanks. you have been most helpful.

Here is what you need to go with the Go and NOGO gauges.

KLEINENDORST REMINGTON-700-BARREL-TOOL Brownell's has it.

Damn I almost got Kleinendorst spelled right! And off the top of my pointy head too.

I will always recommend Brownells over any other supplier of gun stuff.

They have separate ones for the Tubb's, Holland, and Standard Remington Lug.

Good advice, one last thing though, don't go gorilla when using the gages. Ease them into the chamber and don't force the bolt handle down if it feels tight

+1

I like this stuff so much I often think I should be a 'smith.










And then I remember how much my family likes to eat and I'm cured!