I am about to rebarrel a REM 700 action, I will be shooting long range varmints with it.
Is it worth blueprinting the action,
Not IMHO..
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or should I have the action face squared and the lugs lapped?
The receiver should always have a new face cut on an unmodified factory unit and I've found that about 90% of the time the bolt lugs should indeed be lapped.
FWIW.. YMMV..
Ex- USN (SS) '66-'69 Pro-Constitution. LET'S GO BRANDON!!!
Lapping and burnishing are two different things. Lapping removes a small amount of material with abrasive to fit parts together, in this case to provide even bolt contact. Material removal has to happen to achieve that if contact is uneven. Burnishing is just an action of smoothing off the high spots in the surface finish with no abrasive involved.
Against my better judgement I’ll share what I do. The front ring is held in a fixture and I use straight mandrels in .0005” increments to indicate the centerline of the action that the bolt sees. I have used the Gretan mandrel and bushing methods but could never get repeatable indicating results that I was satisfied with, meaning I need to be able to strip it down and reindicate with the same result. I don’t like to remove metal unless I know it’s as perfect as I can get. I have never had an original thought and I give credit to Alex Wheeler for this method. Others might also do this, not sure. I have never tried the hand tools that are available. I get a very nice finish, lapping actually makes it look worse and is not something I do unless specifically directed to. When done the rear of the bolt needs to float with the lugs in contact.
Originally Posted by jackmountain
I’m not an organ donor. I don’t believe in an afterlife, but I’d rather cover my bases in case there is and I need everything. You just never know.
Shooter71, that sounds like a really good method. Do you mind describing your fixture to hold the receiver? Is it something like a cat head mounted in the lathe chuck, or ?
Here's a Remington I just tore down next to one I just cut. You can see there is a lot of room for improvement.
For me, the time is in getting squared up in the lathe. Once it's dialed....it's an extra 15 minute to single point recut the threads....seems like a no brainer.
Originally Posted by BrentD
I would not buy something that runs on any kind of primer given the possibility of primer shortages and even regulations. In fact, why not buy a flintlock? Really. Rocks aren't going away anytime soon.
Here's a Remington I just tore down next to one I just cut. You can see there is a lot of room for improvement.
For me, the time is in getting squared up in the lathe. Once it's dialed....it's an extra 15 minute to single point recut the threads....seems like a no brainer.
I’ve yet to see or have explained to me how a small axial misalignment or being slightly nonconcentric for that matter makes a nickels worth of difference in a radial cut such as truing an action face or bolt face. Unless there’s something wrong with the lathe, the result is going to be perpendicular to the axis. If one is going to after the threads, then yes by all means a spider is a nice way to go as long as it’s not some garbage piece of aluminum sticking a foot out of a four jaw. I’ve machined a collar to fit the outside of the action, trued between centers on a precision mandrel passing through the action and then transferred to the chuck, indicated on the mandrel, removed mandrel, and cut the threads. Don’t like doing it that way, tedious and generally a waste of time. If you go after the lugs chances are your action will be making a trip to Dan to put the bolt handle back where it belongs or it won’t extract right😄.
Money is better spent on a custom action, and a good barrel, the latter being the most important part of the puzzle. If a gunsmith actually charged the amount of time it takes to fully blueprint one at a rate a machine shop charges, it would cost $$$$.
I’ve yet to see or have explained to me how a small axial misalignment or being slightly nonconcentric for that matter makes a nickels worth of difference in a radial cut such as truing an action face or bolt face. Unless there’s something wrong with the lathe, the result is going to be perpendicular to the axis. If one is going to after the threads, then yes by all means a spider is a nice way to go as long as it’s not some garbage piece of aluminum sticking a foot out of a four jaw. I’ve machined a collar to fit the outside of the action, trued between centers on a precision mandrel passing through the action and then transferred to the chuck, indicated on the mandrel, removed mandrel, and cut the threads. Don’t like doing it that way, tedious and generally a waste of time. If you go after the lugs chances are your action will be making a trip to Dan to put the bolt handle back where it belongs or it won’t extract right😄.
Money is better spent on a custom action, and a good barrel, the latter being the most important part of the puzzle. If a gunsmith actually charged the amount of time it takes to fully blueprint one at a rate a machine shop charges, it would cost $$$$.
Feel free to straighten me out😄
Are you assuming your chuck jaws hold the outside of an action so that the bore is true to the spindle axis? LOL. Do you have much machining experience?
I’ve yet to see or have explained to me how a small axial misalignment or being slightly nonconcentric for that matter makes a nickels worth of difference in a radial cut such as truing an action face or bolt face. Unless there’s something wrong with the lathe, the result is going to be perpendicular to the axis. If one is going to after the threads, then yes by all means a spider is a nice way to go as long as it’s not some garbage piece of aluminum sticking a foot out of a four jaw. I’ve machined a collar to fit the outside of the action, trued between centers on a precision mandrel passing through the action and then transferred to the chuck, indicated on the mandrel, removed mandrel, and cut the threads. Don’t like doing it that way, tedious and generally a waste of time. If you go after the lugs chances are your action will be making a trip to Dan to put the bolt handle back where it belongs or it won’t extract right😄.
Money is better spent on a custom action, and a good barrel, the latter being the most important part of the puzzle. If a gunsmith actually charged the amount of time it takes to fully blueprint one at a rate a machine shop charges, it would cost $$$$.
Feel free to straighten me out😄
Are you assuming your chuck jaws hold the outside of an action so that the bore is true to the spindle axis? LOL. Do you have much machining experience?
My question exactly!
+Professional member American Custom Gunmakers Guild
No I am not assuming that. Any time I assume anything with machining I’m quickly proven wrong, haha. I’ve outlined how I do it. Seems to work well enough I guess, but I don’t compete for fake wood these days.
Gun mechanics are a bit like surgeons. The only thing 2 agree on is that the 3rd one probably doesn’t know what he’s doing. 😄
An assumption I would make though, and probably a pretty safe one, is that Manson’s or Kiff’s action truing kit is likely a money maker for a real gunsmith in terms of time saved while producing a very quality product.