New rem 700 -- nasty sticky bolt -- it squeaks!!

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Martin248

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What do I do to smooth out that bolt? Lapping compound somewhere? Polish? Just grease it up?

It's an SPS tactical. Haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but I was dry firing and cycling it, and that bolt just does not open and close as smoothly as on the savage I have.

Would be nice if it did.
 
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The SPS is an entry level but pretty good offering and yes, the bolt is rough at the outset and the finish is poor. Good and bad news - good; is that the bolt will smooth out with use and lubrication bad; the finish will deteriorate and will attract surface rust unless carefully cared for. The most positive note re these rifles is that they are pretty good in the accuracy dept - out of the half dozen or so that I have personally seen ( inc one I own ) they all have quite accurate barrels.
 
It looks like its the nature of the beast with these Im afraid. Mine is just the same, the action feels almost gritty, I found that lubing the bolt up with engine assembly lube seems to help. I cant see it ever being as silky as my Savage tho.
 
The bolt actually squeeks! Sounds like a rusty hinge. Squeeeeek! When I close rotate the handle up and down from the locked position.

Anyway I will keep it slathered in grease and work it.
 
Your bolt should not squeak.

Be sure to keep your bolt properly cleaned and lubricated. Every time you clean your bore, you should use a cloth and wipe the bolt clean. Use this cloth to also wipe the receiver's rails and internal raceways clean too. Then you should apply a small amount of grease to the three key lubrication points on the bolt:
- a small dab on the surface of each locking lug
- a very small amount on the camming surface of the cocking piece
- a small amount to the bolt handle base or the receiver's camming surface

A light application of oil, Breakfree or your favourite liquid lubricant applied to the bolt body will prevent rust and also keep the bolt sliding smoothly.
 
nutmik said:
Have you recently installed a scope ? sometimes the base screws are a bit long and can contact the bolt.
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Excellent point!

Along the same lines, have you recently tightened up the stock bedding screws? They too can rub the bolt (and give you weird accuracy problems too). Try loosening the bedding screws half a turn and see if there is any change to the bolt feel. If there is, then you need to fix the problem (grind a small amount of the ends of the bedding screws so that they don't contact the bolt)
 
Tomochan said:
The SPS is an entry level but pretty good offering and yes, the bolt is rough at the outset and the finish is poor. Good and bad news - good; is that the bolt will smooth out with use and lubrication bad; the finish will deteriorate and will attract surface rust unless carefully cared for. The most positive note re these rifles is that they are pretty good in the accuracy dept - out of the half dozen or so that I have personally seen ( inc one I own ) they all have quite accurate barrels.
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You must have found the exeptional ones, I've never seen one shoot at less then 1.75 moa with factory loads.Once you get 200 plus rounds down the tude to break it in and tune a reload round then they start to shoot.
 
FLSTFO2 said:
You must have found the exeptional ones, I've never seen one shoot at less then 1.75 moa with factory loads.Once you get 200 plus rounds down the tude to break it in and tune a reload round then they start to shoot.
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I think there are a few lucky ones out there. Mine SPS Tactical will shoot .6-.75MOA with my reloads and no other modifications.
 
Its best if you get to handle the firearm before you buy it. I went to Cabelas and bought an 870 shotgun, and the first one I handled was messed up and would have been unhappy if I had bought it.
 
I'd suggest to clean all the factory oil and gunk out of the rifle. Remove the rifle from the stock and hose out the trigger area with break cleaner. I'll bet you'll be suprised how much gunk comes out. Remove the firing pin from the bolt and clean all that as well. Once everything is nice and clean, reoil the locking lugs and feed rails. A bit of grease on the cam surface of the firing pin will also help.
 
Grizzlypeg said:
Its best if you get to handle the firearm before you buy it. I went to Cabelas and bought an 870 shotgun, and the first one I handled was messed up and would have been unhappy if I had bought it.
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Mail order... I live in downtown Toronto. It's a PITA to shop for firearms around here.
 
cbh560 said:
I think there are a few lucky ones out there. Mine SPS Tactical will shoot .6-.75MOA with my reloads and no other modifications.
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Like I said, with tuned reloads. If you don't reload and have to shoot factory cases it's not pretty.
Don't get me wrong, I have 3 of them and after a lot of lead down the tubes thay all shoot fine with reloads.
 
Martin248 said:
The bolt actually squeeks! Sounds like a rusty hinge. Squeeeeek! When I close rotate the handle up and down from the locked position.

Anyway I will keep it slathered in grease and work it.
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Take your bolt apart and make sure the threads that hold the firing pin assembly into the back of the bolt is greased.
 
Also don't hold the bolt knob with your thumb and finger. Palm it forward, palm it down, palm it up, hook it with a couple of fingers and draw it back.

Many bolt actions can bind a bit if operated by gripping the bolt knob.
 
timmy204 said:
Take your bolt apart and make sure the threads that hold the firing pin assembly into the back of the bolt is greased.
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OK, done that. Still squeeks. I notice that there's no squeek / bolt is quite loose, if I put it back in place with the coin still holding the firing pin out. I guess that's to be expected.

Seems like it is probably squeeking where it engages with the trigger assembly. I'll take that apart next.

guntech said:
Also don't hold the bolt knob with your thumb and finger. Palm it forward, palm it down, palm it up, hook it with a couple of fingers and draw it back.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if I push the bolt forward as hard as I can as I close it, then there's no squeek. Still.. when it binds/sticks it pushes the rifle out of position. I'd like to fix this so that I can get quicker follow-on shots.
 
Sometimes you just get lucky. Unbelievably lucky. The vendor, in error, shipped my order TWICE. I'm returning one, but they suggested I return whichever one has better fit and finish.

I'm keeping the one with the non-squeeking bolt!
 
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