Rem 700 trigger questions

[Bullets&Whitewalls]

I am pretty new to the bolt action type rifle and I have two 700s one in .223 and one in .308. When I cycle the bolt on the .308 after firing it is fairly easy and smooth to lift the bolt and eject the round. The .223 however is slightly more difficult to raise the bolt after a round is fired. My question, is there a way to make raising the bolt easier? Can the trigger reset be adjusted safely? Or do I need to just get more rounds through it and break it in some more?

More info

The resistance is the same with a round vs. an empty chamber

The .308 has a factory trigger the .223 has a Timney 517

I am suspecting this may be in the trigger more than the bolt but I cant seem to find much info on the web about it. I am probably not searching my questions correctly.

I did swap bolts just to see and it does feel like the .308 is easier still but maybe I am just getting used to it. And yes on an empty chamber of course

Any help or advice would be awesome.

[G-forceJunkie]

The resistance you feel lifting the bolt is the cocking of the firing pin. Perhaps one bolt has a stiffer spring, or smoother machined surfaces. How many rounds on each gun, the mating surfaces on these sort of things break in with use. When was the last time you removed the firing pin and cleaned/lubed them and the camming surfaces?

[LynnJr]

Grease the backside of both locking lugs and the extraction cam on the bolt handle. The extraction cam is right where the handle gets welded on and is that little angled piece of the bolt handle.
Also put one or two drops of oil on the cocking piece where it slides throud the bolt shroud.
If that doesn't solve it you will need to change the firing pin spring to a lighter spring as already mentioned. You can go down to 18 pounds but in all honesty the 700's that seem to shoot best all have a good whap to them when dry fired.

[Bullets&Whitewalls]

Thanks guys I will try lubing it at those points. The .308 is brand new less than 20 rds fire and it feels really good to me. The .223 I bought from another member here last week. If I remember right he said he had maybe 300 rounds through it. From what I can see it’s in really good shape. I don’t know why I was thinking trigger reset total brain fart. I have no idea if the .223 bolt has been apart and cleaned, hoping I’ll get some time tomorrow night to do a good strip and clean of everything. I’ll post back results.

[ar15barrels]

I do a lot of tuning work to smooth out the way the bolt feels, but it's primarily to smooth out the CLOSING stroke of the bolt.
The polishing and lubing of the parts would also smooth out the opening IF the cause of the difficulty is because the parts are not very smooth.

[Bullets&Whitewalls]

I do a lot of tuning work to smooth out the way the bolt feels, but it's primarily to smooth out the CLOSING stroke of the bolt.
The polishing and lubing of the parts would also smooth out the opening IF the cause of the difficulty is because the parts are not very smooth.

The closing of both bolts feels pretty good and solid. I will take a good look at all the parts once I have them apart thank you for the tip.

[ar15barrels]

The closing of both bolts feels pretty good and solid. I will take a good look at all the parts once I have them apart thank you for the tip.

I bet there are two bumps when you first start moving the bolt closed.

[Bullets&Whitewalls]

I bet there are two bumps when you first start moving the bolt closed.

When I first started cleaning it yes there were a couple bumps that I could feel. So this is what I did, first I removed the bolt and then the firing pin and cleaned up the areas where cap? meets the bolt with a stone. Very lightly then I used a little lapping compound on the lugs and rails and cycled the bolt a few times. Not a ton at least I don't think it was maybe 15-20 cycles quickly and then pulled it and cleaned everything up. The firing pin and spring were very clean I was expecting a lot more crud. I reassembled everything with a little oil and cycling is a lot better than it was very smooth and not sloppy like I have felt on other rifles. I figure at this point Its time to just start getting rounds down. I think this rifle was shot a lot less than the original owner told me. Which is great for me. Thank you guys for the advice it definitely made a difference.

One more question, When changing firing pin springs would it be beneficial to go to the duo spring set up? Has anyone done it? It sure looks like it could be from the videos I had watched but being this is a bench gun being used by me a very novice shooter I am wondering if I should save that stuff for later.

[ar15barrels]

One more question, When changing firing pin springs would it be beneficial to go to the duo spring set up? Has anyone done it? It sure looks like it could be from the videos I had watched but being this is a bench gun being used by me a very novice shooter I am wondering if I should save that stuff for later.

I doubt most people could actually find a benefit in their shooting with the duo spring setup.
Think about how many 700's are out there with standard springs and working just fine...

Some businesses will sell solutions to problems that don't exist to any sucker that are willing to pay for them...

[LynnJr]

You can buy 700 springs from. 16 pounds to around 30 pounds so what is the advantage of the duo spring supposed to be?

[ar15barrels]

what is the advantage of the duo spring supposed to be?

It's two striker springs that are each half the length of a standard spring.
The springs are wound in opposite directions.
You stack them both on the striker just like you install a standard spring.
There might be a washer between them so that they won't try to connect to each other.

The theory is that a single spring is trying to make the striker rotate as the spring loads or unloads and that this is someone an issue.

Because the two (duo) springs are wound backwards of each other, the striker will travel straight back without any rotation caused by the loading of the spring.
The washer clamped in between the two springs will rotate during the loading or unloading of the spring.

[Bullets&Whitewalls]

I doubt most people could actually find a benefit in their shooting with the duo spring setup.
Think about how many 700's are out there with standard springs and working just fine...

Some businesses will sell solutions to problems that don't exist to any sucker that are willing to pay for them...

[divingin]

The theory is that a single spring is trying to make the striker rotate as the spring loads or unloads

So? What effect would that have? Torque imparted from a 1 oz. piece on an 8 (or more) pound rifle is what? Unmeasurable?

[6mmintl]

Go to auto parts store and buy molydisulfide based engine assy lube, coat the bolt cocking cams and with a qtip lightly lube back of bolt luga (2) , be very careful to not get any lube in chamber area, if you do scub it out with acetone and patches.

[6mmintl]

If your mechanically inclined remove firing pin assy, dissasemble striker firing pin and spring, clean all parts, polish sides of striker, polish firing pin and readsemble with lightweight oil. Check to see if firing pin is fluted to reduce weight.

If not mech. Inclined any good gunsmith can perform a tuneup for you if he knows what im talking about.