Estimate on cost to open up the rear action screw on a Model 7 action from the (I think) 8-36 to 1/4-28? Thanks!

It has been a while but my smith used to charge $30 a hole for drilling and tapping.... about the price of the tap and drill if you want to do it yourself...

tap and drill aren't nearly that much. You pay the 'smith so you don't have to deal with problems when the job is so blessed.

When I was in the business we always charged $35 per hole. Somewhere between $25 and $50 should be in line.

Why 1/4"

do it your self drilling & tapping a 1/4 hole is not hard just keep it stright

Yup, factories with good machines often fail to keep them straight and some guy in his garage is going to get four in a row right?

OP says it is a rear action screw but I'm not sure I've ever seen an 8-36 action screw? What kind of action are you dealing with?

OP stated M7

Wow! I need to appreciate my old time gunsmith more, he charges $10-15 a hole and I thought that was high. Live and learn.
Phil

Thanks for the feedback from those who answered the question.

Update on this. I did a quick google search and found a local "gunsmith". Stopped by to see them, talked to one of the owners about doing it and he said it wouldn't be a problem, got a price of $35 per hole, and I left one of the barreled actions with him then and stopped by to drop the second off yesterday.

When I stopped by yesterday I was handed my original barreled action and told they weren't able to do it. Seems they'd drilled it out and partially tapped it but had a problem and were scared to mess up the action. So now I'm stuck with a hole I can't use the original 8-36 with and isn't tapped deep enough to hold the Bad Ord bottom metal pillar tight with the 1/4-28. Gave me a discount so I only had to pay $25 rather than $35....great deal...only cost me $25 to make it unusable.


https://kodasgunandpawn.com/

Don't know what to say besides that ain't right. Not even close.

And he had the balls to charge you?!?

lol.... I was the one who said "So this is going to cost me $35?". He said "no, just $25 since we didn't finish it". I just wanted to get out at that point, take it home, and see if it was deep enough to work.

The moral of the story is be careful who you let let work on your rifle. I thought this would be a simple job.

You can buy a bottoming tap from McMaster -Carr and finish it yourself, if that's all it needs.
Get a high spiral bottoming tap so the chip comes up out of the hole.

And a drill bit and plug tap for the other hole and tapping oil and a good tap handle or find a gunsmith that is capable of basic machining tasks. Good grief, I do this sort of thing in my garage, self taught.

This is basic High School Shop Class stuff

My Mod 7 and other Remingtons have a through hole in the rear tang. Little confused about ?blind? hole.

I took an FN Mauser that needed one hole drilled and tapped in the rear receiver ring. I took it to a local machine shop and had it done in 20 minutes. $20.00 and I was out the door.

What! The Kid left the gunsmithing business? Who do the good people of Anchorage turn to now for firearms repair?

Wow, maybe I am way low. I charge $20 per hole.

But up to $35 if I have to repair a hole that is off-center. To do that you have to go larger ,and cut the steel only in the direction you need the hole to move. If it's way off there have been times when you have to go as large as a #10X32 screw. Most times going from a 6X48 up to an 8X40 is enough. If the hole is farther off center then a correction to a #10 screw will cover it is likely you can simply plug the old hole that's in the wrong place and drill a new 6X48 in the correct place.

Cost can go up if there are complications (like super hard steel) but I don't charge the higher price to do the more difficult ones on them all. I just take them as they really are, and I treat people as fairly as I can. If it's fast and simply the cost is pretty low.

it is s simple job

Is your caps lock broke?

Gonna give it a go to try to clean it up. Based on the recommendation of a smith here I'll order a couple of quality taps from McMaster.

The hole is a through hole. It won't need threads through the runway on the tang but I think it should be fairly easy to stop as it's very visible.

I've tapped aluminum spacers added to 700 .223 mag boxes but that is the extend of my tapping experience. Hopefully it will be as easy as everyone says.

If the first one cleans up ok I'll decide about starting the second.

Thanks for the input guys.

Is the steel extra hard for some reason ?? This is a pretty mundane chore unless the steel is something special. Ruger stainless steel is pretty hard and doesn't cut well if you have a highspeed steel tool. Carbide drill bits are required to cut it to the right dimension before taping. I have heard the K98's, Edyfields and 1903's can have some super hard steel.

kwg

It's a stainless Remington Model 7 action. It's been trued, rebarreled, and ceracoated in the past....but I don't think any of that would have an effect on how hard the steel is. The guy did say it was extremely hard steel.

From recommendations and everyone saying this is an easy job I've got 3 McMaster-Carr Cobalt (for steel and stainless steel) 1/4-28 taps on the way. Planning to order some Tap Magic EP-Xtra later today.....if anyone knowledgeable has recommendations on tapping oil you're welcome to let me know if I'm messing up with the plan on that...

JC, I just drilled and tapped some 6-48 scope base holes, to 8-40 on a Winchester M70 stainless receiver. It definitely was not as easy as a carbon steel receiver would be, but with just my HSS taps, alternating between taper and plug taps, using lard for lubricant, I got the job done. I always use cobalt drill bits. Solid carbide drill bits always get chipped and are very expensive. With the cobalt taps and Tap Magic, you should be fine. RJ

JC, You're ahead of the game with new. sharp taps. As soon as the tap starts to bind STOP, back it off a bit, clean off the cuttings and more cutting oil. Have gotten through some pretty hard steel with carbon taps but all the back and forth can try your patience. pretty easy to get frustrated and snap a #6 tap (though I've come close with a ¼").

Bought a can of Brownell's Do Drill years ago and it's almost gone. The stuff just works and has the proper sulfur and oil machine shop smell. Don't know but I suspect any name brand is fine for your job. Had a gunsmith uncle who was fond of STP.

You'll probably be OK with that stuff, but the best I've ever used (and what I've continued to use) for tapping stainless is Moly-Dee from Castrol. It stinks like cow crap and will stain some materials (especially clothing) but works really well for tapping stainless.

I do a lot of machining on various types of stainless, so for me it's worthwhile to keep some Moly-Dee around for that.

Yondering,

I'd seen Moly-Dee recommended as well when I was researching. If I'd seen your recommendation before I ordered the TM EP-Xtra I'd have gone with Molly-Dee.


Finished the half done one today. It wasn't bad, especially with some threads already started. Took my time, little by little, backing off and adding a little oil as needed. It was tight and took some turning....I was tentative on the pressure and it took a fair amount. I was worried the tap was going to break with the amount of pressure I was applying. Had to pick up a file to clean up the edges on top but that was fairly simple...just screwed in an inletting screw so it was even with the top then knocked the edges off.

Tested fit and feeding and it looks good. Ground out old bedding in the stock and touched up where I'd opened it for pillars. Not sure when I'll have time to bed it but what I was worried about turned out ok.

Appreciate the input and advice!

Good job JC. I'm glad things worked out for you. RJ