Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Swapping bolts in a 30/06 Rem 700

It seems to me that if the bolt is free and it doesn't cost much to check headspace, then why not?

And if it doesn't help, then I guess there's two ways to look at this. One, you like the rifle, it has worked for you, and shot well enough for the hunting you use it for. That being the case, just confine your paper punching to checking zero and quit worrying about it. At the risk of having my gun loony card revoked I have rifles in that category. I have others to use when I really want the higher precision too.

Otherwise, having more or less tried everything, if you really couldn't be happy with it, you'd send it down the road, or over a gully bank.

Don't remember about fast or slow.

Loads I used off the top of my head

57 gr IMR 4350. 165 gr Hornady Interbond
49 gr IMR 4320. 165 gr Hornady SST
61 gr RL 22. 165 gr Hornady SST

165 gr was used because the barrel twist was supposedly optimized for this by the barrel maker. Also tried Factory ammo in 180s and 150s but no joy.

Sold off my reloading stuff a few years back when we moved so can't reload but still retain quantities of the above listed reloads.

Can you access some little chips of noncompressable material of a known,

uniform thickness. In sizes ranging from .001 to. 010?

One really doesn't have to know the headspace in relation to
SAAMI spec. That's just for standards.

What's important is the relation of your ammo to
the gun.

If you understand this and it gives you an idea.
Good.

But I don't want to send you off down a road you don't belong on.

Are you sure you're a gun loony?? You're supposed to obsess about that - LOL!!

We're the factory loads booattail also or flat base bullets?

Don't know

Maybe the barrel is bunk and you don't know it.

Since this is a discussion that could benefit all of us, can you post what exactly has been done to said rifle including a few details ex. barrel make, receiver truing, bolt face truing, bedding...... and who did the work?

.oad development and scopes come to mind including scope alignment.

When was the rifle made?

What kind of rest are you using?

Anything else?

I totally believe your predicament BUT find it hard to believe that you are at the same place as when you started i.e. 2 inch groups.

Well lots a smart ideas here. How well do you shoot lower recoil cartridges? If you shoot them better than your 06 you may not be completely at fault. Mt rifle don't weigh much. It could be you aren't capable of sub 2 moa with this gun. The recoil or rather the anticipated recoil has a negative effect on you. Shoot someone else's well tuned 06 and see how you do. What you got to lose.?.mb

I really like this rifle and over the years have had a lot of the usual gunsmithing done to try to improve its accuracy (including a barrel changeout). No luck - it still remains a 2 MOA rifle.

I find a lot of time it could be a stock issue.Just for thrills,try a different stock and see if it shoots different.,it could be a bedding issue.I had that happen before,put it in a stock I had bedded for another 700 rifle and instantly it shot amazingly well.

Has the action been bedded properly (no torque) and the barrel floated? If so have you tried a shim at the end of the stock (business card) to apply a pressure point to the barrel? In doing many many Remington 700's my bet would be these items rather than your bolt. I have had Remington's that had 80% contact on one lug and 10% on the other still shoot pretty well. I am not saying that your bolt is a contributing factor but my money would be on a couple of other items. BTW the trigger can also be a factor. This is all assuming that your barrel is clean and in good condition and installed properly. Anyway let us know what your findings are as it is always good info for the Remington knowledge bank.

Betting a scope or bedding issue. Have you tried other scopes

How was the donor rifle destroyed? My concern would be if there might be damage to the bolt from that.

It would help to let us know a few things:
Remington 700 BDL or ADL?
Wood Stock or Synthetic?
Barrel floated or pressure point at forearm tip?
Stock bedded?
Trigger pull weight?
Ammo type?
What bullets?
Scope mounts?
Have you checked the bases to make sure they are tight?
Scope?
A lot of the usual gunsmithing done to try to improve its accuracy (Just what was done?)

So many questions. Some I've already answered but I'll be brief and to the point.

Rifle is a 30/06 Remington 700 BDL Mountain rifle with wood stock made in the 70s I think

All were done by a 2 professional gunsmiths excluding the barrel which made by a reputable barrel maker up here.

Tested with original mountain rifle barrel then got a new barrel with slightly heavier profile (Brushed Stainless)

Barrel was cut to length and crowned using a recessed crown cut

Factory Stock was free floated and bedded

The factory stock was then briefly replaced by a Mtn rifle laminated wood stock - tested and then switched back

Switched the free float of the factory stock to a pressure point at the forend using business cards then switched back

Trigger job done by gunsmith - Trigger is great

Bolt lugs appear to have good wipe on them - tested using a thin coat of Lithium grease

Tried several handloads (described earlier) using various 165 gr bullets as per recommendation because of twist

Tried some factory ammo using 180 and 150 grain bullets to rule them out

All test shooting done off benchrest at 100 and 200 yds (Hunting Zero)

Much test shooting done using front and rear bag under fairly calm conditions whenever possible

At times gun was left idle to cool barrel between test shots with action open laying on forward bag

Tested rifle out at the range using a buddy who happened to be there that has a known rep for shooting

Mounts are Leupold 1 piece base with Leupold off set rings.

Scope is Leupold Vari X3. 2.5X8 Duplex reticle

Action screws checked by hand to ensure none are loose - No inch pounds, just tightened by feel.

I am able to shoot my 300 Mag Sendero and 6.5 Tikka LSS much better than this rifle so feel my shooting is good.


Trying this 270 bolt given to me as a last ditch effort to see what if any improvement.

So after all these things done,has the scope bases been checked to make sure they are tight?Have you tried a different scope?

Hadn't thought of that. Don't know how it was destroyed.

I guess visually check it over - cycle it through the rifle's action checking for any binding or unusual travel etc - have headspace checked - Ask previous owner what happened.

Don't own any fancy measuring tools.

Don't know what else to do using my limited resources.

Can't get at scope base screws because of scope interference but appear to be tight. I tightened them myself years ago with blue locktite and if anything they are tightened beyond spec.

This is the second Leupold scope tried since ownership. Have no other scope available to try and not going to buy one.

Entire scope and mount appears quite ridgid.

New barrel with rifling for 165 gr bullet. What is that twist? Has the barrel been lapped? Just courious!

Yes - forgot the twist it was built in, just know it was optimized for 165 gr bullet - no lapping done.

Edit: Checked the twist just now - 1 in 11. It should be perfect for 165 gr bullets.