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M40a1 build guide

While a take-off stock is a nice piece of history, a new McMillan stock will not have been beat to death. Nice, fresh start.

Check with your gunsmith about bolt jeweling. My M40A1 started with a jeweled bolt, and the jeweling does show through the blue. But, I'm sure with suitable prep there must be a way to eliminate that.

Bead blasting bolt will remove jeweling
 
10-4 on the jeweling. And I was thinking the same thing on the stock as well. Along with not costing 3 times what a new one will cost.
 
I just bought a new stock, new action, and Schneider barrel blank, to go with my old set of Winchester 70 per 64 2 piece bottom metal.....


IMG_20140405_174239_512_zpsb648e24b.jpg
 
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Looks like you have all the parts together for a nice build!

Bead blasting bolt will remove jeweling

The bolt was bead blasted and hydrochloric acid etched prior to hot bluing, and the jeweling looked removed when first done, but where the bolt rubs the pattern of the jeweling shows through.
 
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Scatsob, if you havent gotten a barrel yet, Karen at Hart barrels is great to work with. Great customer service.....Top notch bunch of people to work with.
 
I was actually planning on getting another schneider. I have not done much research on Hart but the guys here that were part of the barrel qualification way back when said they basically can't be shot out.
 
Well Schneider it will be then. Have Schneiders on My A5 and A3 as Gary has the contract....I always run Harts on my A1's. Just my personal preference as that is what we had on "most" and notice all you nit pickers (lol) i said "most" of our A1's when I was in.lol

You wont be disapointed ether way......I know one thing....Even as much as I shoot, I will never have the time to Shoot out any of the Douglas, Bartlin, Schneiders, or Bartlins that i have. If you are able to then I envy you deerly.lolololol
Look forward to seeing your build.
 
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Haha, I am in the same boat with shooting. With 4 kids I maybe get to shoot every other month :). I know I will never shoot one out regardless of the maker. It's nice building these to "spec" because it is pretty loose as to what parts were used. Gary is a fellow Arizonian and I like supporting local businesses :). I will update this thread as well as starting a separate one that has pictures as the rifle progresses as I did with my A3.

Rim8541 - was your scope mount fitted to the receiver? I am trying to decide if I need to get the mount as well before sending my parts up to quantico or if I can just throw the base on after the rifle is completed.
 
Yeah, Scat, it was fitted. All the Unertl's lugs on the under side are meant to be a tad larger so they can be hand fitted to that particular clip slot.
Was probably the one single hardest part I had finding without a doubt....I have purchased "several" repro mounts as well as mounts claiming to be the real thing that werent sitting on my bench. Just at a glance they can be difficult to tell the difference (except for some that are obvious).....but they are definitely different and substandard in comparison.
Be cautious when purchasing these, they are all going for big money, real or repro. The real ones are Unicorns but they come around every so often. Just have to patient. Like the rest of the hunt.....Hate to see you get ripped brother. I will keep an eye out for you as well as I think Im finished with my builds for the most part. It has gotten a little out of control...lololol
 
Let me know if Im in violation by asking here, but I'm in need of an early M700 trigger set with the flat slab side safety (single or double sere)....Anyone here got an extra they are willing to move on?

If Im out of line please dont boot me...lol. Just let me know.
Thanks!
 
Alright, you twisted my arm...I'll front half of the rifle cost and still send you the trigger for free :). in all seriousness though, I'll keep myy eye out in my searching for a donor gun.

Thats a lot of dough for a trigger! I think I'll pass, you're a scammer ;)
 
Does anyone know if I can build an A1 off a older remington receiver with the rear lug cut already done? I couldn't find any info on the dimensions and if they are the same as the ones for the mount. Thanks.
 
This is a link to an older post with the Remington drawings for their clip slot (http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-bolt-action-rifles/6547-m40a3-clip-slot-specs.html), Post #19 has the image, If you cant find the post, just google m40a1 clip slot and look for the machinist drawing. I have a receiver with the same slot machined into the rear bridge and it measured it and it is 0.54" exactly, and (hopefully), this corresponds to the narrower machine cut before opening up to the 0.58" for the actual clip slot, and then 0.675" for the "ears" of the clip slot. So, according to my limited knowledge, it should work in theory, that is what I am betting on because I am in the same boat. The original post has a few images of both the clip slot vs the lug slot on a1's and a3-5's. Anybody else feel free to chime in and correct me.
 
Does anyone know if I can build an A1 off a older remington receiver with the rear lug cut already done? I couldn't find any info on the dimensions and if they are the same as the ones for the mount. Thanks.

What is the width of the slot and the distance from the front of the ejection port to the rear of the slot, maybe I can help with the question.
 
Yes it's straight from McMillan, Just tell them you want a spec M40A1 stock and they'll take care of you.
 
lol, Ya I tried that once. Apparently the outer shell from the Smear and today's is a different type material?
 
It should be no more than .580 wide and 2.880/2.900 in length.

.580" will get him a usable clip slot, but to be properly machined for the older actions the slot should not start out any wider than .540".

I tried asking for a smear pattern when I ordered mine this week knowing what the answer would be, but I had to try.

That's their story, and they're sticking to it. From what I understand, the pigment changed from a translucent to a solid, milled pigment which could not be "smeared" around 1977. I knew nothing about all that in 1990 when I ordered a stock "just like an M40A1 stock" from them. First they sent me a stock with texture on the gripping areas, a one-inch recoil pad, and the camouflage pattern that is more like the blotch pattern. I sent it back and said, "What's this?!" I described again exactly what I wanted, also describing the camouflage pattern with which I was familiar, and got back one with a proper "semi"-smear pattern. Now I hear they can't make a "smear" pattern, but I think it's more a matter of they don't want to hassle with making the milled pigment look smeared. But, just look at their other colorful patterns with cloudy wisps of different colors and tell me why they can't do the same with the greens and browns to make a nice "semi-smear" pattern.
 
Yeah, I am not going to fight it. I may give Justin a call back and see if they would be willing to try but I doubt it will work.

Thanks all for the info on the clip slot. It is a 5 digit action and I many as well do this build right and get a 6 digit or "C" prefix.
 
.580" will get him a usable clip slot, but to be properly machined for the older actions the slot should not start out any wider than .540".

I agree with you, just thinking if he "Had" to make it work .580 would be the limit.
 
Just got meself a nice 6-digit 700 :). But its such a tack-driver and nice gun, I cant get myself to use it for a build! All this time looking for a correct rifle, and now I dont want to canibalize it.. Go figure ;)

It has the square clip-slot.

 
Just got meself a nice 6-digit 700 :). But its such a tack-driver and nice gun, I cant get myself to use it for a build! All this time looking for a correct rifle, and now I dont want to canibalize it.. Go figure ;)

It has the square clip-slot.


Give it a new lease on life. It came to you because it wants to be an M40A1. Don't disappoint it.
 
Maybe it's just the angle of the picture, but is that one of those that has the bolt handle swept back more?
 
Beautiful rifle and perfect for the build. What I like about the early ones like that is there is no pesky jewling on the bolt.

Just got meself a nice 6-digit 700 :). But its such a tack-driver and nice gun, I cant get myself to use it for a build! All this time looking for a correct rifle, and now I dont want to canibalize it.. Go figure ;)

It has the square clip-slot.

 
Even though George has stated the majority of issued guns were E prefixes, it seems the most popular a1 builds by a wide margin are the C prefix builds! The Bs and Cs are great actions for any rifle type for sure, my favorite Remys are Bs and Cs! I'll be getting a custom 280rem B or C prefix at some point for another handy Elk rifle!
 
Are you stating you heard most M40A1's were mostly E prefix.'s?
 
MescaBug, by other features I now see that your rifle is too early for the swept back bolt. However, your bolt handle above the knob is of the thin variety. I don't believe M40s were made on any actions that had the thin handles, though I'm not sure. The thin handles were earlier. What serial number range is yours?
 
MescaBug, by other features I now see that your rifle is too early for the swept back bolt. However, your bolt handle above the knob is of the thin variety. I don't believe M40s were made on any actions that had the thin handles, though I'm not sure. The thin handles were earlier. What serial number range is yours?

I could be wrong but Marty at Badger Ord possibly has an M40 with a very thin-stem bolt handle. My guess is its a repro build but not sure.
 
Most all of the really early 5 digits and many of the 6 digits with the short shrouds had the thinner necked bolt handles (not say all). Started seeing the thicker bolt handles on the new bolts with the longer shrouds. Many of the six digits you would see later on in the 70',80's and 90's with the thicker bolt handles and the longer shrouds were just replace during maint. as they would wear out.

And I am like 95% positive that Marty's M700 is the complete real deal usmc oned/issued....CMP purchase. His sniper rifle collection is of epic proportions!
 
A batch of C series actions were purchased in 1991 to augment what was needed at the time. I believe that E series (along with some seven digits, which Im assuming were carried over from a few of the A1's) receivers are production dated in the early 2000's and were used on the early A3's (with the Unertl 10X transfers prior to the S&B's) preceding the G's that were used on the A5's productions.
 
You may be right about the bolt handles. This is a feature I hadn't considered or really studied before now.

A batch of C series actions were purchased in 1991 to augment what was needed at the time. I believe that E series (along with some seven digits, which Im assuming were carried over from a few of the A1's) receivers are production dated in the early 2000's and were used on the early A3's (with the Unertl 10X transfers prior to the S&B's) preceding the G's that were used on the A5's productions.

The 99 C-prefix barreled actions were purchased during the 1992 fiscal year (1OCT1991-30SEP1992), according to DFA vol.2.

I have seen E-prefixed M40A1s in the E67048(or 9?)36, E6764029, and E6763874 range. I know of an E-prefixed R700 confirmed manufactured December 1995, and it was E689xxxx. I think it's safe to say the E-prefixed M40A1s were from no later than 1995.
 
yep, got my C prefix dates of 91' from Senich's book. Could very well be brother.....I got out on 96' so Im sure you are probably correct on your E's. Over the last 10 years I have come across a number of HOGS carrying the A3's and 5's and have personally only seen the E's (since i only really started sort of paying attention over the past 7 or 8 years) and G's....as well as a seven digit several years back.
I was told by my 12 buddy and have also read documentation that once they started getting the prefixed receivers in they (RTE at the time) didn't US stamp them. The only US stamped receivers came directly out of Remington on the 6/7 digits in the 60's and early 70's as part of the Remington/Redfield contract.
Just out of curiousity.....were any of the A1's you saw (C's/E's) stamped in the 90's?
 
I was told by my 12 buddy and have also read documentation that once they started getting the prefixed receivers in they (RTE at the time) didn't US stamp them. The only US stamped receivers came directly out of Remington on the 6/7 digits in the 60's and early 70's as part of the Remington/Redfield contract.
Just out of curiousity.....were any of the A1's you saw (C's/E's) stamped in the 90's?

When I mentioned the specific E-prefix M40A1 serial numbers, those were from photos and video still-frame enlargements I have available. The original M40A1s were roll stamped at the factory. I was asking a 2112 about later markings once, and it was said that while some 2112s stamped "U.S." on some of the newer actions coming in (would have been C-prefix), it was never a requirement and was stopped in the mid-1990s. Since I don't have good photographic sources of C-series actions from the serial number side, I can't verify that one way or the other. But, it's my understanding that by the E-prefix the practice was abandoned. Also, I know some, if not all of the E-prefixed actions had no (iron sight) side holes drilled and tapped during clip slotting (or "lug slotting" as per later).
 
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I apologize for being dense, and I swear I have read through the thread, but a 7 digit would be technically correct for an A1 build?