Gunsmithing Rem 700 bolt lugs

[p e bragg]

What I need to know is whether my lugs have been set back due to what I think was an out of battery discharge or if something is lodged or broken inside of the bolt. The reason I am concerned is that my bolt won't close. My grandson was unloading the gun one evening and he says that when he raised the bolt handle the gun fired. He swears that his finger was not on the trigger and my daughter's boyfriend concurred. The grandson had just gone through Hunter's Ed and was fresh from Boy Scout camp that had a course with .22 training. By the time I got back to camp, they had pulled the mangled cartrige case from the chamber. When I got back home, I pulled all of the bullets and measured powder weights and COLs and nothing out of the ordinary was noted.
So what do I do now. I tried measuring the distance from the front of the lugs to the front edge of the bolt and then compared that distance to another Rem bolt to see if there was a difference. I could'nt really say for sure if that was a valid measurement or not.

I would like to know if anyone out there can steer me in the right direction. I don't want to compromise my safety with this gun. I did buy this gun new in 1969. It has never given me any problems before. Thanks for wading through this ramble. I appreciate your advise.

 

[Immorteq]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

Measure the outside diameter of your bolt behind the lugs and the outside diameter of the bolt in front of the lugs. If you had a case head seperation you may have swelled the bolt nose enough to prevent it from fitting into the recess cutout in the barrel extension. Check the the bolt nose, is the extractor blown up? Is the ejector blown up? Is the ejector retaining pin dislodged?

 

[p e bragg]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

Immortec;

I measured both behind and in front of the lugs and got the same measurment 0.6955". I even measured both ways, with the lugs
and 90degrees opposite. Same measure.

The extractor is fine and I can push the ejector back and forth and feel the spring pressure just fine. ????

 

[Shortdraw]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

One way or another, a gunsmith will have to be involved. Take it in and let them figure it out.

 

[Immorteq]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

My next guess would be debris in the barrel extension. Where does the bolt lock up when you try and reinsert it?

 

[SDLAW]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

Ok this may sound too simple, but try turning the front action screw out a couple of turns and see if the bolt will close. If the younguns pulled the gun apart to clean the mess out they may have gotten a little over zealous when they screwed things back together. Just a thought.

 

[p e bragg]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

Immorteq;

The bolt slides all the way into the notch. The bolt handle just does not want to turn down. I have the barreled action out of the stock and it is still a no-go. Thanks for your help Immorteq and SDLAW.

 

[GasLight]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

try taking the trigger off and see if it will close without the trigger in place.

 

[Immorteq]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

Sounds like there might be chunks of stuff left in the receiver/barrel extension. Case head seperation can gets bits and pieces in lots of nooks and crannies so you may need someone to yank the barrel to give it a good inspection. If your extractor and ejector are still in decent shape, it's pretty likely your lugs and lug seats are ok. Glad nobody was hurt. Rough lesson for a new shooter to learn but it may ram the message home in a way nothing else can. Good luck, Red.

 

[Kalman]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

Any way you can post some pictures of the action with the bolt in as far as it can go?

A stupid question, but the striker on the bolt is cocked, correct?

 

[SDLAW]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

Have you pulled the bolt apart to see if it will close without the shroud and firing pin installed? You can also take a dental pick or even a wire bent 90 degrees at the end to feel the front of the receiver lugs for obstructions.

 

[GasLight]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Kalman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Any way you can post some pictures of the action with the bolt in as far as it can go?

A stupid question, but the striker on the bolt is cocked, correct? </div></div>

^^^ This ^^^

That is where I am trying to go too. Sounds more to me like something with the striker or the trigger is stopping the bolt from going into battery. The lugs would likely push a small bit of debris from a case head seperation at least to the point where it would start to cam home...

Dave

 

[GasLight]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

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[p e bragg]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

Gaslight;

Ding,DING,DING!!!!! Guess what fell out of the bolt when I pulled on the shroud?? I found the blown primer cap. Thanks guys for all your help. I am going to give that bolt and trigger a good clensing and lube job. Forgive an old fart not thinking follow-through. Thanks again.

Muddy

 

[SELPHB]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

I would send it to a qualified gunsmith and have it checked..

 

[Keith Johns]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

Glad you fixed it for now. It should still be inspected.


How much had the bolt raised when it fired?
How did a Remington fire with the bolt raised?
Doesnt the cocking cam get in the way? Wouldnt the bolt have to be pretty much closed?

Plus, if the cocking piece slipped past the trigger sear something is wrong anyways.

 

[p e bragg]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

I want to again thank everyone for their input on my problem. As to how far the bolt handle was raised, I don't really know. My grandson was too shocked at the time to remember. I am planning a rebuild for this rifle if my gunsmith checks everything out. I am just wondering if this might be a case where the gun fired when the safety was pushed off. But in the meantime, I am going to take this rifle to the smith this week.

Thanks again guys for all your help.

Muddy

 

[Kalman]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: redriverrock</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Gaslight;

Ding,DING,DING!!!!! Guess what fell out of the bolt when I pulled on the shroud?? I found the blown primer cap. Thanks guys for all your help. I am going to give that bolt and trigger a good clensing and lube job. Forgive an old fart not thinking follow-through. Thanks again.

Muddy</div></div>
Grats, glad you found the problem.

Definitely send it to someone to get the bolt face, barrel, lugs, etc checked for cracks and such.

 

[LRI]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

FWIW:

This brings up an excellent opportunity for me to "rant" a little on a subject that's related to what the OP started this with.

Headspace.

In my shop its an SOP to chamber a gun to a qualified headspace dimension. I don't use the tolerance allowed between a GO/NO GO gauge. I use the GO only and measure the clearance with a little snip of soft solder from Radio Shack.

Doing it this way offers certain advantages over the GO/NGO process.

1. I know where the chamber really is. If I cut the chamber and measure it this way I can document that the chamber was cut to GO +.002" The solder acts like cheap plastigauge. I measure the thickness were it gets squished between the bolt face/gauge. Solder is pretty soft and doesn't "spring" back so it's a reliable way to determine a clearance.


This way I know where things are. In the event a customer "sneezes" a cartridge I can reference back to the build sheet and determine very quickly/easily whether something got pushed around. It also saves my bacon in the event fingers ever start pointing as a byproduct of an accident like this.

It also offers a useful service at the loading bench. Buy a PTG GO gauge and set your die accordingly. Now you can control the shoulder bump and never worry about overworking your brass. If your using a belted magnum just order a shoulder gauge.

If you shooting a Wby cartridge your kinda stuck as nobody makes a shoulder gauge for these due to the funky radius combination on the shoulder.

Just something I've picked up along the way. . .

Hope it helps.

C.

 

[butch lambert]

Re: Rem 700 bolt lugs

Have you read anything on some of Remington trigger problems? I have had and seen a few that fired when the bolt was raised. It was a trigger safety problem.
Butch