Remington 700 questions

[Rwhat]

I have a Remington 700 Varmint with a Hogue stock for about 5 years. Maybe put 150 rounds through it. Gonna try to shoot it more. So I'm looking a spending some money on some upgrades. Mostly functional like a larger bolt handle and making the guns action a bit smoother. I'm planning on upgrading the stock to HS or B&C

Is there any local gunsmiths in the SF Bay Area that people could recommend that work on these.

[AK5.56]

Spend the money on more ammo and just shoot it more...Better use than any of the upgrades you mentioned.

However, there are options for your upgrades that don't require a gun smith:

Larger bolt lift

http://www.kineticresearchgroup.com/products/boltlift.php

Also a stock replacement takes about 5 minutes and a allen wrench. No smith necessary.

[Rwhat]

Thanks

[vliberatore]

Spend the money on more ammo and just shoot it more...Better use than any of the upgrades you mentioned.

However, there are options for your upgrades that don't require a gun smith:

Larger bolt lift

http://www.kineticresearchgroup.com/products/boltlift.php

Also a stock replacement takes about 5 minutes and a allen wrench. No smith necessary.

Not necessary? I'd agree if you don't want to do it right. If you're going to get a new stock, bedding it makes the most sense to me. You did forget to mention that action screws should be torqued down to be within the correct torque range.

OP, if you want to make the most difference in your rifle, a new trigger is the best way to spend your money. A Timney 510 is the go-to for aftermarket R700s. For $120, it's hard to beat.

Other than that, I'd be hesitant to suggest you spending any more money without knowing what kind of shooting that you're going to be doing.

[ar15barrels]

Remington 700 questions

Those plastic snap-in knobs are hokey.
If you want a bigger knob, do it right:

[NorCalFocus]

Nice work Randal. Never seen the badger knob installed that way, thats super clean.

Isn't Ivanimal (something like that) a smith in the SJ area?

[AK5.56]

Those plastic snap-in knobs are hokey.
If you want a bigger knob, do it right:

Id say any kind of after market knob is hokey for someone who shoots an average 30 rounds/year.

Edit: Isn't the bolt knob shaft Cast Steel?

[vliberatore]

Id say any kind of after market knob is hokey for someone who shoots an average 30 rounds/year.

But yes your process definitely is much nicer...and more expensive.

It's $40 on top of the price of the bolt knob

[AK5.56]

It's $40 on top of the price of the bolt knob

Hence why I said more expensive. Don't forget round trip shipping to Randall

[ar15barrels]

Nice work Randal. Never seen the badger knob installed that way, thats super clean.

I do it that way because about 1/3 to 1/4 of them have a void in the casting.
By cutting off the old knob, I get rid of the void:



The people that cut threads on the existing metal that creates the knob will often end up with a void right in the area of the threads:



Voids like that leave a great place for the bolt handle to break off.

[CobraRed]

I found a void just like that on a buddies savage bolt handle when I was threading it. Filled it with TIG rod and started again, didn't seem to be a problem after that although the metal was harder to work with after.

[kendog4570]

I do these all the time for local Bay Area gun shops. I use a slightly different approach.







No welding, no factory void, plus a heat treated reinforcing screw at the bolt handle root joint, per Greg Tannel of Gre-Tan Rifles. Increasing the bolt arm up to 40% can add significant moment to the factory heat brazed joint. Back when I experimented with threading these in a lathe, I have had them tear off at the handle root due to tool pressure.
I am in Aptos, let me know if I can help.
Ken

[ar15barrels]

Edit: Isn't the bolt knob shaft Cast Steel?

Yes.

[Rwhat]

Id say any kind of after market knob is hokey for someone who shoots an average 30 rounds/year.

Edit: Isn't the bolt knob shaft Cast Steel?

The knob make its a lot easier to manipulate. I shot my buddy's and it's better than hitting my hand on the scope. Thanks for the great input.

[AK5.56]

Yes.

Just thought it was interesting, cause you said "do it right" then proceeded to show a method that is considered a big no-no in the welding world. Welding to Cast isn't usually recommended because like you stated it is a very ferrous metal by nature and tends to have many voids, leading to cracks, especially at the edges of welds (or tacks, cant tell if that's MIG or TIG). Either way I highly doubt you have enough weld on that small surface area to get the cast to proper temps to create the proper bond.

I'm not doubting your process, and I'm sure you haven't had any problems. I've herd a lot of good stuff about your work! But I personally wouldn't consider that the "right" way to do a bolt knob job.

The threaded insert looks much more secure to me. Just my .02