How do you "Smooth out" the bolt of a bolt action?
- Thread starter garandman
- Start date
Rem 700 stainless action.
Mostly it seems to hang up on the forward stroke.
It might be a technique problem, more than an equipment problem. Seems like it cycles better when I put my thumb high up on the bolt handle close to the bolt axis, and push with my thumb more than with my palm lower on the bolt handle.
Rifle is properly broken in
If the "hang up" is during the forward (closing) stroke, that is a technique issue. You're not pushing the bolt straight forward and the bolt is getting cocked in the raceway. That bolt wobble doesn't help. You can help it out by lubing the bolt body with grease and running the bolt back and forth a few hundred times. Do this with proper technique and you will also build proper muscle memory, which will do as much to smoothing things out. If it feels gritty, you can use JB bore paste on the body (keep it off the lugs). Take out the trigger or at least clean it well, when you're through.
Do you have a stock bolt knob? This doesn’t actually smooth out the bolt but after I have replaced my bolt knobs with large bolt knobs, "tactical bolt knob", it makes it feel much smoother and much easier to operate compared to the stock Remington bolt knobs.
I have seen a new stainless rifle from Remington that did not have all the shavings removed from the factory. The shavings were in the anti-bind rail area causing it to hang up as well as being forward of the receiver lug area. Lots of brake cleaner and attention to detail removed the shavings.
I have to agree with everyone that says to just run the bolt a lot. The first 700 I had smoothed out really nicely after a couple nights of running it while watching a movie. I recently purchased another 700 in 223 and it has a pretty rough bolt feel. When comparing the area in question from the DIY thread, the new bolt has a pretty large bump in that area which explains the feel. I will be picking up some 1000 grit sand paper to do that, but I'm sure it will work as intended.
