Action Trueness Test On My Old Remington 721 I Just Bought

Hey Butch, some "rat rods" look like they are ready for "Pick-a-Part". but they are just as apt to have a $30,000 Reher & Morrison Rat Motor sitting under the hood, or even out in the open, going through a fully computerized 4L80E Transmission...

I guess that high dollar Krieger Barrel and NXS Nightforce could be the equivelent of that........jackie
 
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Jackie, I'm envious of your steel pile..... that "old rusty metal" looks like gold to me. I recently dropped my thermos, dinged the mouth in, and couldn't find a hunk large enough to turn a 2" mandrel.

sucks to have no pile

al-TINYSTEELPILE-inwa

LOL
 
a detailed account of the methods used in manufacturing the Springfield, 1903 model

United States rifles and machine guns : a detailed account of the methods used in manufacturing the Springfield, 1903 model service rifle; also descriptions of the modified Enfield rifle and three types of machine guns



http://www.archive.org/details/unitedstatesrifl00colvrich


Glenn:D
 
Jackie, those 721's and 722's have a 'classic cool' factor about them....simple lines, straight bolt handle with a nice knob, straight cuts on the loading port.

Neat project. :) -Al

P.S. Stan Ware does beautiful, old school bluing.
 
Checking neck thickness variation on lapua 30-06

I got my 100 Lapua 30-06 cases the other day, and I sat down with a ball micrometer and checked the wall thickness variations on all 100.

The standard thickness seems to be .0145. Out of the 100 cases, I found 40 that had less than .001 variation, most of these were in the .0142 at the thinnest and .0148 at the thickest.

Of the 60 that had more than .001 variation, over half were approaching .002, a couple went as thin as .0136 and .015+ at the thickest.

I forget what Dave said the neck on the "Salazar" 30-06 reamer is, it looks like the loaded rounds will be in the nieghborhood of .337.

I would think that having cases with less than .001 variation will be just fine for this project........jackie
 
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30-06, 721 action, shoot's in the .3's! probably all day if you do your part.
 
German, on the cases I sorted, that means just .0005 to the side to come off. They will clean up at that, I am sure.

The others would come close, with atad of shadow.

Thanks for the info on the reamer.........jackie
 
B Johnson

As a Benchrest Shooter, I know how difficult it is to get a certain combination to shoot up to the potential that is recognized as the pinnacle for that chambering.The 30-06 has always been recongnized as a reasonable accurate chambering, While "threes" might be a tad optimistic, I think a Rifle such as this should be a consistant "mid four" performer.

When I chucked the barrel up to cut it to length, crown it, and prep it for chambering, it was about as straight as any barrel I have ever seen.

Five 180 grn bullets in a .450 group. I would take that "all day long". But I doubt my shoulder would.;)

We will see........jackie
 
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I'm with Dennis. At one time not too long ago, the IBS 600-yard group record was held with a .308. I would have no qualms about building a .30/06 for 600 yard competition, and would be disappointed if it couldn't compete with the currently fashionable 6mms.

Now that would be a 17-pound bench gun with a brake, and I know you're not building that. But since you've been through it, the 3's still seem quite reasonable.
 
The 721 Trigger

I have been playing with the trigger on my old 721, and I cannot believe how nice it is, as compared to 90 percent of the Factory Rem 700 Triggers.

I have this thing down to a really nice 1.5 pounds, with no creep or backlash. I can see the sear engagement trough the port hole, and it is at least .015. This is a nice trigger.

I have never messed with a 700 trigger much, any I tried to adjust down to anything remotly "nice" would slam fire.

Besides the duel cocking blocks, (one for firing, one for the safety), on the 721. what are the other differences in the two triggers?.........jackie
 
One of the main reasons that the 721 and 722 triggers are easier to adjust to a safe lighter pull lies in the trigger reset or pull weight spring. The wire is a lighter gauge the coils more widely spaced and the coil diameter is larger, all of which make for a softer spring. It also may be that because there is half engagement contact area, for a given amount of engagement probably doesn't hurt. A friend did a little polishing and got one down to a reliable 1# If given the choice between the trigger you have, and a 700 trigger, I would take yours every time.
 
Boyd, one of the things I learned early on is when working on factory triggers, to reduce the pull and still be safe, you are much better off to replace the trigger return spring than to cut a coil or two off. You've helped explain why.

Since this is the "general" forum, here's what's going on for those new to trigger work. The biggest item affecting the weight of pull is the force of the mainspring. You can't do much about that, so right out the door (for a non "lawyer" trigger), you're left with the lessor causes of what adds to the force needed to release the firing pin.

(Note: the benchrest triggers add a third lever, so the whole trigger is a different mechanical system. That third lever removes much of the force of the mainspring you need to overcome to release the trigger, but adds cost and complexity, and some compromises not important in benchrest. You cannot expect the common 2-lever factory trigger to do the same job, no matter how much you work on it)

Of the remaining forces in a factory trigger, there is the friction of the parts, and the trigger return spring. Reworking the surfaces of the metal addresses the first, working on the spring the second. In my limited experience, it is the trigger return spring that is the most "lawyer" affected part, and offers the best place to lessen the weight needed to release the firing pin.

Now a coil spring is just a torsion bar, coiled to reduce the length. If you cut the length of a torsion bar, you increase it's stiffness, which is not what we want. On the other hand, with the torsion bar as a coiled spring, shortening it reduces the preload, which does help, and explains why "cutting a coil or two off" works.

But it is far better to replace the spring. For all the reasons Boyd mentioned, plus the fact that you can reduce the stiffness of the spring without riding the ragged edge of preload. Brownells sells some coil spring packs that will last us non-professionals a long, long time.

Finally, on polishing. There are a few people with gifted hands. I saw, with amazement, a trigger Joel Pendergraft freehand stoned, and kept all the angles the same, with flat surfaces where he wanted them. But only a few such people. If you are mortal like the most of us, you need a jig to stone a trigger. And yes, it is a matter of safety.
 
Charles E said:
Now a coil spring is just a torsion bar, coiled to reduce the length. If you cut the length of a torsion bar, you increase it's stiffness, which is not what we want. On the other hand, with the torsion bar as a coiled spring, shortening it reduces the preload, which does help, and explains why "cutting a coil or two off" works.

But it is far better to replace the spring. For all the reasons Boyd mentioned, plus the fact that you can reduce the stiffness of the spring without riding the ragged edge of preload. Brownells sells some coil spring packs that will last us non-professionals a long, long time.
Click to expand...

Yes!

Fitch
 
I used to do extensive work on Smith & Wesson Revolvers, I could make then so darned slick you would think there were no moving parts in there. Most of the work involved polishing all of the sliiding surfaces and lightenning springs, especially the return block. Getting the big main leaf spring right involved going through quite a few till you found one that did not try to "kink" as it was put under tension.

The one thing you had to be very carefull with was the hammer sear. You could add a slight radius to allow it to roll off, but a few thousanths too much, and it was ruined. The best thing to do was leave that particular area alone.

I look at this old trigger the same way. It is pretty darned good right now, but when I get ready to go to the range and see what it will do, I will have a Jewell model with the safety and all on it.........jackie
 
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Thanks, German

I just got the package of vintage Lake City Ordnance '06 brass. Gosh, this stuff was made when I was in High School.

And you included 3 pieces of brass with a 1949 headstamp. That is unbelievable.

I think a neat thing to do would be after I get my loads all worked up, load up the three 1949 cases, and shoot a 3-shot group. Then, polish them up, and put them in a little case with the group for show.

We have sort of a saying in the Marine Industry when we come accross vintage equipment. A few weeks ago, we rebuilt the steering on an old River Tug named the Clay Griffin 111. It was one of those classy looking old vessels that never die. It was built in 1947. The saying is, "most of the men that built this boat are dead and gone". I figure it's the same with those cases.

This project gets neater by the day. Still waiting on my reamer.......jackie
 
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Jackie, I worked out there in 82 and there wasnt hardly anybody that worked there during the korean war still out there. Alot of guys fought in korea worked there and ww2. The guys that worked there during vietnam were still there. Heck, Id be an old timer if I was still there and I worked there from 82 to 94. Doug
 
Jackie, I sure have enjoyed this thread and look forward to hearing how your rifle shoots.

I have great appreciation and respect for all the fine bolt action rifles we have thanks to Mike Walker and Remington. And just for the record, I think the Remington triggers are among the best ever designed and built. For a hunting and/or tactical bolt action rifle, I'll choose the Remington trigger every time.

Gene Beggs
 
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