Remington 700 bolt handle question.

Buster95

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I've seen several posts on different forums mentioning Remington 700 bolt handles breaking off, have you ever encountered this problem?
 
Nope and a t least one of my 700's has 40k + rounds through the action. I have heard of it but have never seen it first hand but if the silver solder / brazing?? is done poorly it could come off I suppose. Guntech who has worked on 700's since Moses wore short pants could give you a more definitive answer. :)
 
Maybe somebody who tried to use plumbing solder has had it fall off before, but I have never actually heard of one that was properly installed in the first place ever breaking.
 
I personally haven't had one come off, but I have seen and handled a couple. I have also had several timed and tig welded in place.
 
We see a few every year. It is not common, but does happen from time to time. Typically it is factory work that is very obviously "cold" soldered.
Rather than solder we tig weld them back on and then they never come off.
 
Over the years I've seen a few. Not common, often resulting from serious abuse. I have also seen bolts where the joint did not fail, but the handle did, from hammering on the knob. As far as I know, the handles are induction copper brazed on. Nothing wrong with the method, as long as the contacting surfaces are well covered. Sometimes they aren't.
I reattach them using high temp. paste silver braze.
 
Yes, I have owned a boxcar load of 700 Remington over the years. [Beginning in 1962]

Never personally had a bolt handle come off, but actually did see one.

Guy at the range fired a big overload, then used a 2x4 to try to open the bolt....he managed to break the brazed joint after several hefty blows.

I would classify it as an uncommon occurrence.

Regards, Dave.
 
It is extremely rare considering the many millions out there and usually involves a custom made overload...

The problem with replacement bolts is most of them do not use the original 700 style extractor... which is what makes the 700 the strongest, safest 2 lug bolt action ever made.
 
seen it once

My main hunting rifle is a 15 year old custom shop Alaska Wilderness rifle.But I did see a Remingtion in the then new 300 Ultramag have the bolt snap off at the range. No abuse that I was aware of. Owner was a well to do fellow in his 40's not prone to brute force stupidity. Looked like it just snapped at the weld.Made me dubious of newer Remingtons.When I hunted grizzly, I used my Winchester 70;)
 
far as i can tell my cooper is brazed on too except its brazed halfway around instsd of about 30 percent. ive hit my 700 bolt before and it never broke.
 
I had one break off a Sendero 7 mm mag I had bought brand new. It had never seem a hot load I went to clean it and the handle fell off in my hand. Appeared it was either not hot enough or the surface may have been oily. Sent it back to remington never had a problem again. It's the only one I have ever seen.
 
The problem with replacement bolts is most of them do not use the original 700 style extractor... which is what makes the 700 the strongest, safest 2 lug bolt action ever made.

http://www.realguns.com/articles/634.htm
After checking out this article, I'm figuring that the Remington 783 is the stronger of the two actions. As for being safer in the event of a case rupture or pierced primer, I can't say for sure. Some controlled testing would be needed to be sure.

Anyone want to blow up a couple of rifles?:stirthepot2:
 
The 783 is vastly inferior to the 700, no where close to being as good with a catastrophic case failure as the original 700 is. The 783 extractor is considerably safer than the 'Sako' extractor conversion though.
 
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