Action Trueness Test On My Old Remington 721 I Just Bought

Well German, if the shoulder gives you too much trouble, there is always the game we play. Heck, if you can "fog a mirror," you can shoot point blank Benchrest.

I just talked to Bill Shehane, I have a 8-32 Nightforce and suitable rings and bases coming.

This old $290 pawn shop special is going to get into $4000 with no change back pretty soon. My Wife even told me to spend what I wanted, as this seemed to be something special to me.

Damn, I should have held out for that new ZR1 Vette.......jackie
 
frwillia said:
Aluminum will also cold flow to release stress. So if the barrel was tight when it was installed, it could be less tight a few days later. An aluminum recoil lug isn't likely to be an improvement on a steel one.

Fitch
Click to expand...

I was not implying that a soft lug would be a good thing, any material that is softer than the bbl would to some extent cold flow radially.
Consider also that with a shank dia. of 1.062 and a shoulder dia of less than 1.200 , some as low as 1.180 dia, the true contact
surface is a mere .059 wide per side and on an edge. Like harold Vaugn, I believe that bbl shoulder joint is alive and will move
if it can.
 
Bob Kingsbury said:
I was not implying that a soft lug would be a good thing, any material that is softer than the bbl would to some extent cold flow radially.
Consider also that with a shank dia. of 1.062 and a shoulder dia of less than 1.200 , some as low as 1.180 dia, the true contact
surface is a mere .059 wide per side and on an edge. Like harold Vaugn, I believe that bbl shoulder joint is alive and will move
if it can.
Click to expand...

I was agreeing with you, and adding another fact in support of your post. :)

Fitch
 
jackie schmidt said:
Well German, if the shoulder gives you too much trouble, there is always the game we play. Heck, if you can "fog a mirror," you can shoot point blank Benchrest.

I just talked to Bill Shehane, I have a 8-32 Nightforce and suitable rings and bases coming.

This old $290 pawn shop special is going to get into $4000 with no change back pretty soon. My Wife even told me to spend what I wanted, as this seemed to be something special to me.

Damn, I should have held out for that new ZR1 Vette.......jackie
Click to expand...

Well Jackie, just let the wife know that the ZR1 is a gun case to transport the gun back and forth to the range. It's just a Deluxe model.

Hovis
 
Pictures of Trueing Bolt Face

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#1 Bolt Face before truing
#2 Bolt set up in lathe on steady rest
#3 Bolt in steady rest
#4 Indicating bolt
#5 Truing bolt face with hook tool
#6 Finished
#7 Small hand ground hook tool that allows you to get behind extractor.
#8 Finished bolt face
#9 Bar that screws into end of bolt to allow chucking in Set True or 4-jaw Chuck

As a note, bolt face was dead true, just rough. Nice and smooth now. Also, the firing pin and firing pin hole are in great shape, tighter than most new Remingtons.

I know that many of you skilled Craftsmen know all of this, but these pictures are for those who read about this stuff all the time but never get to see any of it. And of course, there are many ways to skin a cat, this is my method.........jackie
 
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I don't think your lathe is heavy enough for these machining jobs you are talking on...:):)
 
Jackie,
Thanks again from the peanut gallery. I'm just wondering, It seems like Remington was a lot more concerned about getting their bolts, raceways, lug abutments,triggers and firing pins right then they were about their action faces,reciever threads and barrel tenons. I can understand not offering match grade hand lapped barrels, but c'mon , what would it have taken to screw a barrel on straight ?
If the knowledge ,skill and craftmanship exists to build 80% of a great rifle,it obviously exists to do the whole thing right.
If an insiders "tell all" book ever gets written about the Remington Arms Co. I would shure like to read it.
Joel
 
Ya really. Its 2011 why in the world doesnt remington make these actions true and straight! Would it really cost anything more??? I wouldnt know, but what i do know, is that anything worth doing "And a rem 700 is worth doing" Is worth doing right!!!!
Thanks for the pics Jackie. I hope it is everything you hoped it will be!!! Lee
 
Joel, as a Machinist, I try to figure out how parts were initially machined, and if some of the errors that occur are a product of a flawed set-up. What I call a flawed set-up is one that produces parts that are not on size, or truly straight with prior or subsequent machined surfaces.

If you look at the various machined sufaces on a typical action, it is difficult to ascertain what was machined on the same set-up, and what was done on second, third, and so on operations.

I would almost think that the action body was drilled, reamed, the lug abutments cut, on the same set-up, simply because they are so true with each other. Then, the action was probably shifted to another machine, and the action face and threads established. Then, on various other machines, the mill work was performed, all the slots cut, ramps estabished, drilling, etc.

But I am just guessing. This action was certainly made before CNC, I suspect many of the operations were performed on manual Turrent Lathes, Slotters, Shapers, Broaching Machines, all with a lot of gigs and fixtures involved.

One thing I do know, all modern 700's have that cross hatch ground finish on the action face, this old 721 had phonograph tool marks like single point tooling makes.

I'm with you. I would love to go back to the late 40's and see just exactly how they did all of this. And what the criteria really was.

Hey Dennis, that is a 10 inch Pratt & Whitney, It's actually the next to smallest Lathe we own. The only one smaller is our little Monarch EE...........jackie
 
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I worked on the firing pin, spring, and shroud this afternoon. The firing pin was not straight, it had about .040 runnout at the tip, I straighted it, rides in action real well now.

I got lucky on the shroud. After a good cleaning, the factory shroud had more play in the threads than I like. This allows the firing pin to bind upon cocking. I happen to have a early stainless Farley shroud on hand, it is essentially a Remington Clone. But the threads fit the bolt like a glove, almost a tad tight. The Remington firing pin was also a tad tight. This allowed me to chuck the shroud up, bore the proper clearance in the center, and lightly skin the threads to fit perfect.

Now I have a really nice stainless steel shroud, properly fit, that will look good opposite that nice fluted SS Krieger Barrel hanging in front.

I set the firing pin spring at 22 pounds.

My HS Precision Stock arrived today, along with the 8-32 Nightforce NXS and mounts.

All I need now is my Reamer and the bottom metal. So Dave, if you happen to read this, crank up that grinder..........jackie
 
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Sorry to hear about the shoulder, German. You may have tp resort to "point blank" before it's over. Keep in mind, we are the guys that moan about the recoil of a 30BR:D

I mounted the Nightforce bases and rings on the action and lapped them in. The tapped holes in the action seem to be pretty straight, as the lapping produced a good impression after just about 15 minutes.

I think I will add another screw, (8-40), to each base. That big scope and those rings make the four 6-40 screws look pretty puny.

German, what barrel length do you recommend with an '06. I am thinking 26 inches, I am not real sure just when an '06 runs out of capacity with typical 165 to 180 grn bullets and a case full of 4831.

Just waiting on my reamer. Dave said a few weeks. ........jackie
 
German, I helped a good friend build a 280 Ackley Improved, we were stuck shooting 5/8+ groups with the big Honadys and Bergers untill we tried some SC 4831. At about 2950, groups were darn near cut in half.

But then, that is a different animal. I grew up shooting the old 4831 in a '06, back when it was honest to goodness surplus powder.

I'll take a few pictures of the action and bolt and post them........jackie
 
I have seen some awfully big mass hung off those 4 small 6 x 48 screws... and have never seen those screws fail because of size or number.
 
All this talk about the '06 I am starting to reget that I sold my SAKO TRG. Man that bone stock rifle could shoot.

Calvin
 
Dennis, I went on ahead and did it. I stuck a 8-40 socket head cap screw in between the others on both bases. Just looks stronger.

I don't know if you have ever used a set of the Nightforce bases and steel rings, but they are very well made, and while being a tad heavy, look great.........jackie
 
"I have seen some awfully big mass hung off those 4 small 6 x 48 screws... and have never seen those screws fail because of size or number."

How about a .460 Weatherby with a S&B 1,5-6 scope?

One shot with probably a very full case of Imr-4350 with a 500 gr Hornaday and all four 6-48 base screws let go !

Glenn
 
More Pictures, Waiting on Reamer and Bottom Metal



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1...Fluted Krieger Barrel polished, crowned, ready for chamber
2...Barrel
3...Crown
4...Bedding of HS Precision Stock with JB Weld. I ground out spots in the aluminum bedding block to get space for bedding, and to get action dead staright in the stock.
5...Polished Bolt, new spring, converted Farley Stainless Steel shroud. The spring is a ..015 smaller compressed diameter than a regular 721, actually for a short action, spacer brings it to 21 lbs, 1/4 inch before coil bind. The smaller diameter spring keeps it from hitting inside of bolt body.
I got real lucky with the shroud. It was just larger enough on the threads, and just smaller enough on the ID so I could treat it like a "blank" and custom fit it with zero play.
6...Another view
7...Action with Night Force Mounts, extra 8-40 screw.
8...NightForce 8x32 NXS, action, and stock waiting for reamer and Pacific Precision BDL Bottom Metal....(Dave Kiff take note).

Envestment so far, about $3500

My ultimate plans are to get it shooting, then take it apart and have all of the metal done in a deep dark blue. I have no idea at this time who I can get to do that. I am open for suggestions.......jackie
 
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German, if you look, I moved it back just enough to clear the front ring's cross bolt that goes through the slot. I did not want to countersink the front base any more than I had to, as you know, they do get a tad thin. So I compromised by shifting it to the rear just enough.

Since the rear base is much thicker, I could countersink the boly head deep enough to clear the cross bolt.

I like the logo. I do not know the proccess, but some Rifles, Savage in particular, have a black lazer etched name on the polished bolt body, so you can see it whern the bolt is closed.

It might be a tad pertentuous, but that would look neat on this old bolt.

As for the rusty steel, those are "drops". If you buy a piece of steel flame cut to a certain shape, you have to pay for the entire square or rectangle that it takes to make it, so we get the drops. Over a period of time, we do find use for them.....jackie
 
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