i have a heavy barreled remmy 700 in a bell and carlson medalist stock.......it shoots fairly good but hoping to make it better......i am thinking of having the bolt face trued, lugs lapped......am I throwing my money around needlessly or does truing work ?.......will it make a noticeable difference in accuracy ? .....input really appreciated .........thanks folks
truing an action
- Thread starter samcan
- Start date
Ian tells it straight. Save your money until you can do a complete build, including that stock. The B&C is very good but there are much stiffer systems out there.
Another issue you will have is to make sure the barrel tenon has been cut true to the axis of the bore and so has the chamber. The late CNC made actions are very true straight form the factory. Many smiths/machinists have a heck of a time making them any better than they already are and can actually make them worse. Lapping is good as is facing the bolt. IMHO the barrel/chamber will give you better results for the money in the end than truing an already true action.
If you have one of the old generation Remington actions you may have true to axis issues. Maybe. Most of those old girls are very good. There are some very bad units out there though and that goes for Winchester/Savage/Remington/Marlin/Howa etc combined. The new CNC equipment they all use now eliminates the human error factors. If your rifle already shoots acceptably, likely a new barrel with new stock and a good adjustable trigger that will adjust below two pounds and of course a parallax free scope will do more for you. I won't go into shooting technique that is a totally personal matter.
Another issue you will have is to make sure the barrel tenon has been cut true to the axis of the bore and so has the chamber. The late CNC made actions are very true straight form the factory. Many smiths/machinists have a heck of a time making them any better than they already are and can actually make them worse. Lapping is good as is facing the bolt. IMHO the barrel/chamber will give you better results for the money in the end than truing an already true action.
If you have one of the old generation Remington actions you may have true to axis issues. Maybe. Most of those old girls are very good. There are some very bad units out there though and that goes for Winchester/Savage/Remington/Marlin/Howa etc combined. The new CNC equipment they all use now eliminates the human error factors. If your rifle already shoots acceptably, likely a new barrel with new stock and a good adjustable trigger that will adjust below two pounds and of course a parallax free scope will do more for you. I won't go into shooting technique that is a totally personal matter.
I suggest having the action trued just before you have a match quality barrel installed... and lapping lugs is not part of the truing process. When the action and bolt are trued the bolt lugs mate perfectly with the lug recesses/abutments. Lapping is a very poor substitute.
gunrunner8
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Kamloops, B.C.
IMHO don't invest in Rem mod 700. sell it to the hunter and invest in better rifle.
By the time you do all of those things that you intend to plus non recalled trigger, custom recoil bracket, tig welded bolt handle and such,
you might as well buy custom action (stiffer as well for better accuracy potential) for the same money.
Ian said it right, barrel has the most influence in rifle accuracy.
GR8's 2c worth....
GR8 you're right there are better actions out there but in all honesty when all is said and done those Remington actions are fairly easily tweaked to give very good accuracy. Now that they are CNC machined they are very true and I haven't seen one of the late model rifles that will actually gain anything from trying to get it truer to its axis than it already is.
I have Mauser/Remington/Winchester/Howa/Tikka and custom actions that have been built up for one sort of competitive shooting or another. The difference between them is mostly the shooter at the bench when push comes to shove.
One evening I was quizzing Nobby Uno about truing actions. His opinion was that often it was OK but also not always warranted.
Guntech, I respect your opinion but I will have to disagree with you when it comes to lapping the lugs of a bolt. I am not saying you are wrong by any means because I have done it your way as well but like many things there is often more than one way to do something right.
I have Mauser/Remington/Winchester/Howa/Tikka and custom actions that have been built up for one sort of competitive shooting or another. The difference between them is mostly the shooter at the bench when push comes to shove.
One evening I was quizzing Nobby Uno about truing actions. His opinion was that often it was OK but also not always warranted.
Guntech, I respect your opinion but I will have to disagree with you when it comes to lapping the lugs of a bolt. I am not saying you are wrong by any means because I have done it your way as well but like many things there is often more than one way to do something right.
Most factory 700 actions including the ones made 40 years ago and the ones made today have poor bolt lug engagement. If you were to simply try and lap it perfect, you end up with a tapered poor fit. No one can predict if an action is true until the barrel is removed and the action inspected. Remington actions have been consistently inconsistent regardless of age. I have seen both good and bad in both old and new actions.
If you happen to get an action where the bolt lug fit is quite good, it is fairly easy to lap... I doubt you will see any difference in accuracy though.
If you have one with a lousy lug fit and true the action and bolt, the fit is as perfect as it can be... if you lap this now perfect fit, you will very quickly see the fit is perfect, the lapping is simply marking both lugs and lug abutments.
A 700 is a very inexpensive action easily trued at a reasonable price that will compete quite successfully in many shooting disciplines. It has less resale value compared to a custom action but also costs a fraction of the price.
That's been my experience.
Last edited:
You do a lot more actions than I do. I am relating my own experiences and they don't quite jive with what you say. I will however give you the nod on knowledge because of your much deeper and more extensive experience. I recently traded for a new, non assembled Remington 700 short action and an unfitted factory bolt. They are both so close that with my equipment I could screw up a pretty good thing already. The same thing with the same deal on a long action last fall. I can't say the same for the factory take off barrels that were purchased to put on those actions. Both of those barrels had off center chambers which needed to be completely removed to fix them and were then unsuitable for use on these actions. The worst actions for untrue that I have come across are the old Savage bolt actions from pre new tooling days and ruger M77 actions. Many of the old K98 surplus actions leave a lot to be desired as well. For the most part European commercial actions/bolts are also usually very good. Not always though.
CNC machinery is expensive and tooling as well as the machines themselves wear. That is what almost killed Remington/Savage/Ruger/Winchester. Their equipment was all old and badly worn. That doesn't mean the components made on them were unserviceable though. It just means they weren't as conducive to accuracy as they could be and people such as yourself could make them perform very well. I have to do a lot of experimentation to get to that point. There is no way you could afford to do what I would have to do or spend the time I have to. You need to do it right the first time or lose money. Sticking to what works for you is always the best policy.
CNC machinery is expensive and tooling as well as the machines themselves wear. That is what almost killed Remington/Savage/Ruger/Winchester. Their equipment was all old and badly worn. That doesn't mean the components made on them were unserviceable though. It just means they weren't as conducive to accuracy as they could be and people such as yourself could make them perform very well. I have to do a lot of experimentation to get to that point. There is no way you could afford to do what I would have to do or spend the time I have to. You need to do it right the first time or lose money. Sticking to what works for you is always the best policy.
