<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Pacific Tool and Gauge: One Piece Remington 700 Replacement Bolt</span></span>
Let me start off with how I found myself to be in critical need of a replacement bolt to begin with, it’s somewhat embarrassing but allows me to paint a more complete picture of the situation. About 6 weeks back I decided that I was in a hurry to finish up an action truing job for a rifle chambered in 280 Remington and didn’t feel like waiting a week for my usual bolt welder to do his work so I took it upon myself instead.
I over-zealously fixtured the bolt and handle into the position I deemed appropriate, brazed it in place and stood back in my newfound glory. About 2 seconds after I took the bolt out of the cooling bucket I realized the reasons why I have someone else do these jobs, I’d messed up the fixturing and the bolt was trash. Not “grind the mistake off, clean it up, try again” type trash, I mean “hang it on the wall and use it as a reminder never to experiment on something that really matters" type trash.
That Monday morning I called PTG and (forgetting that Oregon is 3 hours behind Pennsylvania) caught Dave Kiff as he was opening up the shop at 6am. I told him what happened and asked what the lead time for a new bolt body would be. After a few minutes of discussion he said (to my disappointment) that the standard bolt body they make would be 5-6 weeks out minimum. He went on to say that the quickest way to remedy my situation was with one of the 1 piece bolts that he was finishing up on contract for Remington’s military customers. The only change for the rifle build was that I couldn’t get a Standard bolt face from the long action, it was magnum only. Since I hadn’t cut the chamber yet this wasn’t a big deal, instead of a 280 Remington I decided to build a 7mm BAT (7/300 WSM) instead.
He had 1 or 2 left from overrun and was willing to send me one of these new bolts if I was willing to take a look at it and see how I liked it and give him some feedback on my impressions. The information here that I’m discussing and the pictures included are the first look at the Long Action, Magnum (0.532") bolt face for Remington 700 right handed rifles. They are not available on the civilian market at this time as the first production run has gone entirely to the military contract.
They are made as a drop in replacement for the Army’s M24 in 300 Win Mag, a short action version is also being made with a Standard (0.473") bolt face for the M40A(x) series rifles.
<span style="font-style: italic">Figure 1 – Bolt body with striker assembly installed, Rem 700 LA receiver for reference</span>
The feature list includes:
• One piece bolt body and bolt handle from pre-hardened, stress relieved plate
• Precision ground body, milled helical fluting
• Mini-16 extractor
• Properly sized firing pin hole to negate a firing pin bushing
• Drop in replacement for existing rifles, the only gunsmithing “required” is extractor and ejector installation.
• Uses factory Remington fire control pieces (bolt shroud, firing pin, etc.)
o Drop in replacement striker assemblies are available from PTG
• Bolt handle threaded for 5/16-24 to accept the myriad of aftermarket knobs
o Bolt knobs are available from PTG as well as many others
The pictures show the exact condition that I received the bolt in. I spun my striker assembly into the body and began looking it over for fit/finish/function. I installed the extractor and ejector assemblies after taking the photos but for liability reasons I’m not going to show those steps in detail.
Upon first inspection it is apparent that PTG has taken quite a bit of care to evaluate the process of building a tactical bolt from the existing Remington bolt and to replicate those features at the initial concept.
The bolt bodies are setup so that every fire control assembly will work in them without any gunsmithing necessary. This is an obvious benefit for those that have the knowledge and modicum of tools necessary to install the extractor/ejector but do not have the access to a machine shop or the time needed for hand fitting pieces together.
The downside that this poses is that depending upon the bolt shroud of a particular rifle it is probable that with the new bolt body a rifle will perform more of the cocking action on bolt closure than during the bolt opening. This is easy to cure by a gunsmith who can modify the bolt shroud and make the action completely “cock on open” (IMO an improvement over stock functionality), but again, this is work for a qualified gunsmith to perform. I am sure that if your particular ‘smith has questions the tech support staff at PTG can address these questions on a case by case basis.
<span style="font-style: italic">Figure 2 – Factory bolt shroud fit/finish with PTG bold body</span>
The bolt has mill cut spiral flutes (seen in detail in Fig 2 & 3), it has been blasted and then post machined (ground) on the bolt nose and bolt body for final dimensioning. This means it is ready to be degreased and coated straight from the box if the owner wants some sort of coating on it.
<span style="font-style: italic">Figure 3 – Bolt handle, sprial flutes, threaded handle, and ground bolt body detail again</span>
All of the bearing surfaces and locking surfaces on the bolt are precision ground and the function is exceptionally smooth in my receiver. I did not have any blue layout dye handy at the house so instead I used an indelible marker to check the lockup of the bolt lugs and the receiver lugs. I was pleasantly rewarded with excellent contact on both lugs, on my trued receiver it appears that no lapping will be required (as it should be). Full contact may or may not be the case with an untouched receiver, if lapping is desired please consult your gunsmith before attempting anything.
Some more photos will show the firing pin protrusion as the bolt is locked into battery. Note the tight fit of the firing pin nose through the bolt face, this was designed into the manufacturing process so that the factory firing pin can be used without having to send the bolt out to be bushed.
<span style="font-style: italic">Figure 4 – Firing pin protrusion with bolt locked into battery</span>
Being the ever curious engineer, I measured the bolt body to see how much clearance was available with my particular action. I have not re-bored this action during the accurizing process so it is still representative of a factory Remington in that regard.
Here are some measurements that I took to validate the consistency to the more discerning amongst us. Dimensions are in inches and were measured with a Mitutoyo #103-260 vernier scale micrometer. I verified the calibration using a 0.5000” Mitutoyo gauge block.
Bolt Body OD, forward region near locking lugs = 0.6973
Bolt Body OD, aft region near bolt handle = 0.6974
Bolt Snout OD = 0.6973
Locking Lugs OD = 0.985 (caliper measurement)
Firing Pin extrusion = 0.039 (caliper measurement)
Here is a pair of detail shots showing the aft view of the bolt handle and striker assembly threads (Figure 5) and the precision ground finish on the bolt lug locking surfaces (Figure 6). As you can see in Figure 5 the amount of material in the root of the bolt handle is substantial, I would be quite surprised to hear someone has managed to break one off like the soldered handles. Noting the locking lug finish and comparing to the factory finish one can easily see a contributing reason why this bolt functions smoothly.
<span style="font-style: italic">Figure 5 – Bolt handle root and striker body threads detail
Figure 6 – Bolt lug locking surface detail, note precision ground surface finish</span>
Since the 7 BAT reamer has not been finished yet I haven't chambered the rifle for it so this is all first impressions without putting the bolt through actual use. I am anxiously awaiting the reamer and headspace gauge set arrival so that I can get this bolt out to the range and put some rounds downrange and let everyone know how it performs under duress. I’m expecting the usual teething issues that a new rifle presents but I am optimistic that this bolt is going to outperform all my expectations.
Some closing notes worthy of mentioning. This bolt will be offered to the consumer/civilian market in coming months as I understand it. If you want one sooner than that Dave said that he is now the sole source supplier for Stiller’s new bolt, getting a new Stiller will include the PTG bolt with the features listed above plus the other anything else Stiller has in mind. That production run is currently in process and they should be filtering into our hands as shooters order the new Stiller action. I have no information on the Stiller bolts or action.
I passed it around to a couple of guys at my club last night and the unanimous reaction was very positive. When I have some trigger time on the rifle I will update this post with any issues/discoveries/etc. that I find.
I would like to thank PTG for the opportunity to take a sneak peak at this nifty piece of equipment and also for helping me remedy the foolish mistake I made with regards to the bolt handle early on. Dave Kiff has been exceptionally willing to answer questions and help me out picking the specific reamer details for the 7mm. If there is enough demand to ever make this available in a left handed one piece bolt I will likely be buying 2 more of them.
Let me start off with how I found myself to be in critical need of a replacement bolt to begin with, it’s somewhat embarrassing but allows me to paint a more complete picture of the situation. About 6 weeks back I decided that I was in a hurry to finish up an action truing job for a rifle chambered in 280 Remington and didn’t feel like waiting a week for my usual bolt welder to do his work so I took it upon myself instead.
I over-zealously fixtured the bolt and handle into the position I deemed appropriate, brazed it in place and stood back in my newfound glory. About 2 seconds after I took the bolt out of the cooling bucket I realized the reasons why I have someone else do these jobs, I’d messed up the fixturing and the bolt was trash. Not “grind the mistake off, clean it up, try again” type trash, I mean “hang it on the wall and use it as a reminder never to experiment on something that really matters" type trash.
That Monday morning I called PTG and (forgetting that Oregon is 3 hours behind Pennsylvania) caught Dave Kiff as he was opening up the shop at 6am. I told him what happened and asked what the lead time for a new bolt body would be. After a few minutes of discussion he said (to my disappointment) that the standard bolt body they make would be 5-6 weeks out minimum. He went on to say that the quickest way to remedy my situation was with one of the 1 piece bolts that he was finishing up on contract for Remington’s military customers. The only change for the rifle build was that I couldn’t get a Standard bolt face from the long action, it was magnum only. Since I hadn’t cut the chamber yet this wasn’t a big deal, instead of a 280 Remington I decided to build a 7mm BAT (7/300 WSM) instead.
He had 1 or 2 left from overrun and was willing to send me one of these new bolts if I was willing to take a look at it and see how I liked it and give him some feedback on my impressions. The information here that I’m discussing and the pictures included are the first look at the Long Action, Magnum (0.532") bolt face for Remington 700 right handed rifles. They are not available on the civilian market at this time as the first production run has gone entirely to the military contract.
They are made as a drop in replacement for the Army’s M24 in 300 Win Mag, a short action version is also being made with a Standard (0.473") bolt face for the M40A(x) series rifles.
<span style="font-style: italic">Figure 1 – Bolt body with striker assembly installed, Rem 700 LA receiver for reference</span>
The feature list includes:
• One piece bolt body and bolt handle from pre-hardened, stress relieved plate
• Precision ground body, milled helical fluting
• Mini-16 extractor
• Properly sized firing pin hole to negate a firing pin bushing
• Drop in replacement for existing rifles, the only gunsmithing “required” is extractor and ejector installation.
• Uses factory Remington fire control pieces (bolt shroud, firing pin, etc.)
o Drop in replacement striker assemblies are available from PTG
• Bolt handle threaded for 5/16-24 to accept the myriad of aftermarket knobs
o Bolt knobs are available from PTG as well as many others
The pictures show the exact condition that I received the bolt in. I spun my striker assembly into the body and began looking it over for fit/finish/function. I installed the extractor and ejector assemblies after taking the photos but for liability reasons I’m not going to show those steps in detail.
Upon first inspection it is apparent that PTG has taken quite a bit of care to evaluate the process of building a tactical bolt from the existing Remington bolt and to replicate those features at the initial concept.
The bolt bodies are setup so that every fire control assembly will work in them without any gunsmithing necessary. This is an obvious benefit for those that have the knowledge and modicum of tools necessary to install the extractor/ejector but do not have the access to a machine shop or the time needed for hand fitting pieces together.
The downside that this poses is that depending upon the bolt shroud of a particular rifle it is probable that with the new bolt body a rifle will perform more of the cocking action on bolt closure than during the bolt opening. This is easy to cure by a gunsmith who can modify the bolt shroud and make the action completely “cock on open” (IMO an improvement over stock functionality), but again, this is work for a qualified gunsmith to perform. I am sure that if your particular ‘smith has questions the tech support staff at PTG can address these questions on a case by case basis.
<span style="font-style: italic">Figure 2 – Factory bolt shroud fit/finish with PTG bold body</span>
The bolt has mill cut spiral flutes (seen in detail in Fig 2 & 3), it has been blasted and then post machined (ground) on the bolt nose and bolt body for final dimensioning. This means it is ready to be degreased and coated straight from the box if the owner wants some sort of coating on it.
<span style="font-style: italic">Figure 3 – Bolt handle, sprial flutes, threaded handle, and ground bolt body detail again</span>
All of the bearing surfaces and locking surfaces on the bolt are precision ground and the function is exceptionally smooth in my receiver. I did not have any blue layout dye handy at the house so instead I used an indelible marker to check the lockup of the bolt lugs and the receiver lugs. I was pleasantly rewarded with excellent contact on both lugs, on my trued receiver it appears that no lapping will be required (as it should be). Full contact may or may not be the case with an untouched receiver, if lapping is desired please consult your gunsmith before attempting anything.
Some more photos will show the firing pin protrusion as the bolt is locked into battery. Note the tight fit of the firing pin nose through the bolt face, this was designed into the manufacturing process so that the factory firing pin can be used without having to send the bolt out to be bushed.
<span style="font-style: italic">Figure 4 – Firing pin protrusion with bolt locked into battery</span>
Being the ever curious engineer, I measured the bolt body to see how much clearance was available with my particular action. I have not re-bored this action during the accurizing process so it is still representative of a factory Remington in that regard.
Here are some measurements that I took to validate the consistency to the more discerning amongst us. Dimensions are in inches and were measured with a Mitutoyo #103-260 vernier scale micrometer. I verified the calibration using a 0.5000” Mitutoyo gauge block.
Bolt Body OD, forward region near locking lugs = 0.6973
Bolt Body OD, aft region near bolt handle = 0.6974
Bolt Snout OD = 0.6973
Locking Lugs OD = 0.985 (caliper measurement)
Firing Pin extrusion = 0.039 (caliper measurement)
Here is a pair of detail shots showing the aft view of the bolt handle and striker assembly threads (Figure 5) and the precision ground finish on the bolt lug locking surfaces (Figure 6). As you can see in Figure 5 the amount of material in the root of the bolt handle is substantial, I would be quite surprised to hear someone has managed to break one off like the soldered handles. Noting the locking lug finish and comparing to the factory finish one can easily see a contributing reason why this bolt functions smoothly.
<span style="font-style: italic">Figure 5 – Bolt handle root and striker body threads detail
Figure 6 – Bolt lug locking surface detail, note precision ground surface finish</span>
Since the 7 BAT reamer has not been finished yet I haven't chambered the rifle for it so this is all first impressions without putting the bolt through actual use. I am anxiously awaiting the reamer and headspace gauge set arrival so that I can get this bolt out to the range and put some rounds downrange and let everyone know how it performs under duress. I’m expecting the usual teething issues that a new rifle presents but I am optimistic that this bolt is going to outperform all my expectations.
Some closing notes worthy of mentioning. This bolt will be offered to the consumer/civilian market in coming months as I understand it. If you want one sooner than that Dave said that he is now the sole source supplier for Stiller’s new bolt, getting a new Stiller will include the PTG bolt with the features listed above plus the other anything else Stiller has in mind. That production run is currently in process and they should be filtering into our hands as shooters order the new Stiller action. I have no information on the Stiller bolts or action.
I passed it around to a couple of guys at my club last night and the unanimous reaction was very positive. When I have some trigger time on the rifle I will update this post with any issues/discoveries/etc. that I find.
I would like to thank PTG for the opportunity to take a sneak peak at this nifty piece of equipment and also for helping me remedy the foolish mistake I made with regards to the bolt handle early on. Dave Kiff has been exceptionally willing to answer questions and help me out picking the specific reamer details for the 7mm. If there is enough demand to ever make this available in a left handed one piece bolt I will likely be buying 2 more of them.