Remington 700 SPS AAC-SD Picattiny Rail mount issue

[JeffOutWest]

Hi everyone! First time post, but I've been reading a lot from your forums the past few weeks as I've started getting involved in shooting!

I'm having an issue here.. I bought a Remington 700 SPS AAC-SD in 6.5 Creedmoor, and I just tried to add the Nightforce A115 Picatinny rail - 20MOA, made for short action Rem700 - but the screws won't go in.. I had read about it previously and was pretty sure the Rem700 used 6-24 screws, which is also what the model A115 should be.

I've read on this forum that sometimes Remington drills the holes a bit off - but what confuses me is that the screws that were already in there from the factory had no issue! So maybe the tolerances are slightly different - or maybe something else is off?

If anyone can help I will be eternally grateful!

 

[DedicatedShooter]

I’d recommend taking the rifle and rail to a good gunsmith. That will solve the problem the right way and you might be able to get him to open up the holes on the action and rail to use a larger screw. I forget the exact pitch but most gunsmiths offer that service on R700s to increase strength between action and rail.

Between now and then, might be worth taking some measurements of the distances between the screw holes on the action and rail (though I highly doubt the issue is with the rail) with a good caliper if you’ve got one. Would give everyone some more meat to chew on to help solve the problem.

Lastly, I’m guessing you’ve got the rail oriented in the right direction?

 

[JeffOutWest]

Thanks. I don't think it's the rail spacing - because I checked the screws without the rail on at all, and it had exactly the same issue.

I'm 80% sure it's just bad taps from Remington - I'm going to try to find a local gunsmith I can take it to today.

 

[Maxduty]

Have you compared the thread pitch on the screws, between the new ones and old ones? Put the threaded shafts together and see if they match up.

 

[JeffOutWest]

Yeah, I threw out the old ones. Stupid I know. And it was trash day so they are in a landfill.

 

[OREGUN]

Dude, we are doing this again? The receiver holes should be threaded for 6-48 screws. Get a 6-48 tap and run it in there if you want.

Nightforce rails come with either 6-48 or can be supplied with 8-40. If the rail screws won’t go in, the holes are wrong or the nightforce gear is wrong. Take the screws to a hardware store that has a thread gauge hanging on the wall and find out what size they are.

Go to a gunsmith and have them fix it. Clean the holes real well and jam those fuckers in there. There’s no easy fix here. Theres no greater likelihood that Remington effed up the tapping of your one unlucky reciever as there is that someone at nightforce grabbed the wrong screws or that NF is buying cheaply made screws in the first place.

 

[JeffOutWest]

Yes this is the plan, nothing has changed. Thanks to everyone for the advice. It's simply finding some time to get to the gunsmith now.