Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Rem. Mod. 7 From .223 to 7-08 ???

This is just a brain cloud I had today while at work...A couple things I'm wondering though is how much it might cost to have the bolt face opened up...I've got other .22's but would like to leave them as they are...What will it take other than the bolt face & a new barrel??? Follower??? Anybody done this?

Find a different rifle if you want a 7-08. You are taking the hard route, believe me.

This is why you see [bleep] up rifles in some pawn shop, the result of poor planning and a blacksmith hack job.

MtnHtr

Just a thought...thanks for putting it to rest...I'll sleep more soundly tonight...If I might ask, what do you mean by poor planning & a blacksmith hackjob? I asked the question because I didn't know. Sorry to get you so irritated...

That is about it. You could buy a new bolt form PTG and save some hassel. If I was in your shoes and having the wants for a 708. I would sell that 223 and put the money into a Stiller Predator.

If you can get $400 for the 223, Stillers are about $700. You would have put that money difference into squaring, opening up the bolt face and putting a Sako extractor in. You are looking at around 250-350 to get the action straight. Probably another 150-175 to open up the bolt face and put in a new extractor. You are in money by going the Predator. At the end of the day you will have a custom rifle on a Custom action, not a reworked Rem Model 7. My next ground up build is gonna be a Stiller, once I get a stock or two and a few new tubes installed.

Another thought, you might try swapping bolts and the mag box/follower with another Mod 7 (with a .473 boltface). It might feed if the frame rails are the same. You will have to find someone willing to swap parts with you obviously.

The Rem boltfaces can be opened up but that means a Sako extractor. I don't know of anyone who can recut the offset factory extractor groove but there might be some talent out there.

Sorry if I sounded harsh in my first reply, another donor action with a .473 boltface is your best bet IMO.

MtnHtr

Thanks for the replys. It really was just a passing thought. I kinda figured the extractor might be a problem but then again I'm not a machinist so I don't know. I don't really have any burning desire for a 7-08....then again...maybe I do??? HMMM

you can open up the bolt face without a sako extractor installation, sako extractors are a controversial issue on remington bolts to many of us.I have found just replacing the extractor on a remington will generally solve unreliable extraction problems. Some of those extractors have been around a long time and fired many rounds of questionable handloads, so sometimes they just give up.also sometimes the brass is not perfect or has gone out of dimension after numerous firings. Not withstanding it is not the best extractor system but then most types of actions have their weaknesses.

You righty's and your model sevens...

It would cost you as much to convert the action, bolt, feed rails et all to the larger size, as it would for you to buy a donor short action rifle.

Ditto on Mtn Hunter's points. I looked into a similar mod with an old M700 of my dad's, also in .223. Part of my rationale for my project was that my dad passed away and I wanted to shoot a bigger round, but in his gun. Whatever.

Besides having problems opening the bolt face to .473" to accomodate the 7mm-08, you'd run into much bigger feeding problems.

DON'T DO IT!!!!

Remington short-actions (in M700's, 721's, 600's, Model 7's, etc.) are scarce items! Whether an action has a .22-250/7mm-08/.308Win-size bolt, or a .223Rem bolt - there are shooters looking for rifles just for their actions who'll pay dearly to get the action for a project-rifle.

Off hand, if your rifle was in like-new condition it would be worth at least $400 to someone wanting just the action.

If you want a 7mm-08 in a M7, buy a Model Seven already in that cartridge - or find a .308 or .243 M7 (for a song!) and have it rebarreled.

Brownell's sells brand new M700 actions for $400 or so.

Tell you what--I'll trade you for my Model 7 in 260 and save us both big gunsmithing bills.

I hadn't thought about trading...until I posted this...let me think on it a bit...a finnlight would surely work...hmmm...let me look under my woodpile & see what all I have & figure out just what I THINK I WANT...tt

What???

it's not worth the hassle to change a Remington 600/660/700 or Seven action from a .378" bolt face to a .473" bolt face..as well as the bolt face work.....the feed rails are different as well as the mag box, spring and the follower...sell it and get one in 7-08 or at least one in a 308 based cartridge that is a straight forward rebarrel to 7-08....

I agree, it may not be worth doing for some folks, but let's keep it real, it is easily within the scope of a competent gunsmith. It is a piece of cake!

Well, let's have it. How fast you can turn this job around and would it include the factory Rem extractor?

MtnHtr

I�m sure there are some that are as good, but you would have to look pretty damned hard to find a finer machinist and gunsmith than Boresnake. He�s the sort of guy that if he doesn�t have a particular tool for a job he just makes one. He�s been a fulltime working gunsmith for 30 something years, and was a Marine Corps armorer before that.

What are your credentials Mtn Hunter?

Okay, but I really prefer to have conversations such as this in person.....

This type of conversion comes under the heading "custom" and requires a skill level that is sometimes beyond that of the arm chair "experts" that proliferate these kinds of sites. Yes, this conversion will require a different extractor system, but the good news is, there are folks out here, in the real world, who can do this crap in their sleep. It isn't complicated.

My credentials are tinkerer, some of my work can be seen in the rifle blueprint's thread of the Custom Rifles forum ( Link ). I've never claimed to be a gunsmith nor have the desire, I just build a few rifles to my liking and standards. But I do feel folks on here listen to my advice judging from the PMs I receive and feedback.

As for Boresnake, I find him to be arrogant at times on this forum. I was kind of surprised he chose the different extractor route as a person with his skills should have that figured out?

If you like, critique my work and rifles to your heart's content.

MtnHtr

The man that started this thread wanted to know the feasibility of doing this conversion and a professional working gunsmith, who has done it numerous times for his customers, answered him only to have you (quite arrogantly I might add) confront him about it as if you somehow knew more about this than he did...which you obviously don�t.

Just because you can�t do the job doesn�t mean it can�t be done quickly and reliably by a �professional, skilled gunsmith�...such as Boresnake.

He probably had more rifles come in and out of his shop in the last two months than most of us have ever owned...let alone worked on or built. The man is a wealth of knowledge and as any of his thousands of customers can tell you his work is impeccable.

The title of this forum is �Gunsmithing� not �Tinkering�...and Boresnake offers advice and help (free of charge) based on his vast knowledge from a long and successful career as a �for-real� gunsmith.

There is nothing wrong with being a �tinkerer�...I pretty much fall into that category myself in some areas... But we �tinkerers� should be cautious when getting so uppity and confrontational (like you tend to do so often) with those few guys who actually can and do things that are beyond our skill levels.

Boresnake has a proven level of skill at his craft that goes far beyond merely posting pictures of rifles assembled from aftermarket parts.