Rem700 .243 bolt - a little stiff.

[Spott3r]

My good friend, Bill King, told me his Father gave him this rifle when he was 16.
We just celebrated his 40th.
He couldn't hit a barn with it when he was 16 and took it to a local Texas gunshop. The guy there told him the barrel was bent.
Looking at the rifle it was kind of interesting. Looking down the bore there was no evidence of the barrel being bent. It looked totally concentric.
The bolt however made some interesting extra issues.
The frontsight bead was also leaning to the right like as if someone had tapped it over.
Boresighting the rifle with a laser spud in the muzzle showed the open sights actually lined up perfectly.
First trip to the range proved the bolt wouldn't close on a round. You could push the bolt to the end but when you went to rotate it down it would not move.
At home after looking closely I noticed the cartridge was not seating properly.
It was not making it past the extractor. I noticed some rust around the edges of the extractor. So I swamped the bolthead with Shooters choice, then Kroil, and finally some brake cleaner. Then another shot of Kroil.
The rust was somewhat diminished. There was a small patch of surface rust on the extractor face. This I polished off a little at a time. I did not want to adversely affect the surface geometry. Then ding(bright idea) I took the bolt from my PSS LTR in .308 and noticed that the extractor on that gun had more of a scalloped cut to it and also there was a relieved area further around from the ejector position. I could see this maybe was done to make it easy for a round to move past the extractor.

So my question is...

Is it okay to add this relief to the .243's bolthead or will this adversely affect the bolt's hardness and make it unsafe?

After removing the rust from the extractor surface the bolt then closes on a round but it is stiff locking the bolt down. Suspect there is more rust built up behind the extractor. Would love to remove the extractor but want to hear some wisdom before I do something stoopid. Brownells has a tool.
The Second trip to the range showed the rifle shoots absolutely fine. Was easily knocking the steel plate at the end on range 6 at DSRPC.net. Maybe 400m I think is the distance.

Ammo was Remington core-lokt.
Might suggest we change the plastic butt plate though.
It would be absolutely fine for deer hunting.

Not bad for rifle that hasn't been shot for 24 years.

 

[Jay Idaho]

The LTR probably has a different style extractor than the older 700. The LTR extractor is probably a "floater" and the old 243 is probably rivetted in place. They look the same and function pretty much the same but are somewhat different.
You might want to removed the firing pin from the 243 and see if that makes any diffference, may need to lube the cocking cam and cocking piece.
Also, make sure that you have the bolt lugs lubed, but you probably know that and maybe everything else that I mentioned above.

Jay, Idaho

 

[Spott3r]

Thanks, Jay..

See the pics that show the differences.
Yeah, the firing pin looked good when I removed it.
I have not used any grease yet..

 

[denphillips2]

Spott3r

That scalloped area on the bolt nose is to aid in the instalation of the non-rivetted extractor.

I am assuming this rifle worked before. Did anything change, or did it just start doing it out of the blue? Remove the variables. Take the FP out and try it. Remove the ejector and try it. Check the chamber for a piece of patch left in there from cleaning. If you are using reloads, make sure they are not the cause.

Have a good day!
Denny

 

[Mike Bryant]

Have you tried the stripped bolt without the firing pin assembly? It should work freely with no binding anywhere. You might also remove the ejector pin and remove any accumulated rust and gunk from there as well. I'd do as you are doing with the extractor and trying to remove any crud from behind the extractor as Remington no longer makes the pinned extractors. You can get them aftermarket from Brownell's, but there is a little more to replacing them than the clip in extractors.

 

[Spott3r]

It wasn't the Professor in the Library..

After ..endeavoring to perservere.. the extractor showed it's true colors.
The lip was biting a chunk out of the rim. With the firing pin out and the ejector lying quitely by..it just left the extractor..

So I hacked right in to assay a measure of tuning..lotta good that did. No prize for dremel extraction. Yeah, I admit selfless dremel california'ing.
The extractor decided to oppose it's true aim in life and refused to remove the shell from the chamber. Now we were both guilty, your honor.

So off to the drill press tomorrow. The rivet is gonna get it. Theres a bunch of rust behind that sucker. No foistered dreaming here just plain recklessness. Unembued experience just waiting to happen. It'll be the same as an accident but not apparent until the single malt arrives with clarity. Although I understand Glenfiddich would probably do. I could adjust my sights being inversely proportional to the amount of frustration being thrust in my direction from the life that circumstance is.

The dykem showed who the guilty party was. A good witness it was.

Anyway, have fun shooting.

 

[Riflemeister]

Rem 700 .243 bolt - alittle stiff.

Get a new rivet and extractor before removing the current ones.

I remove the rivet by locating the center of it on the exterior of the bolt nose and taking a shortened punch ( shortened for rigidity ) of the rivet shank size and just driving out the old rivet. Brownells sells a Rem rivet installation tool that consists of an anvil to mount in your vise and supports the rivet head inside the bolt nose as you peen the rivet on the exterior of the bolt nose. Do a trial fit of the new extractor before peening to ensure the loose end of the extractor does not protrude into the bolt nose recess when the rivet is drawn up tightly' if it does, spread the extractor slightly. If everything looks good, polish the extractor angled surface with 500 grit emory cloth and Flitz on a felt fob. Place the extractor and rivet in place and grip the protruding shank with needle nose pliers as you guide it over the riveting anvil. Ensure the bolt is square with the anvil and peen the shank over using the flatter side of a small ball peen hammer. There will be more rivet than needed to fill the small countersink on the outside of the bolt nose, so some cleanup with a smooth cut diamond file and polishing with emory cloth will be necessary. Don't get in a hurry and double check your work and fit before peening and you should have a good job.

 

[Spott3r]

Thanks, MikeBryant and Riflemeister

I just ordered an extractor kit from Brownells.

Drilled the rivet out with 1/16 bit.

There was/is a rust spot behind the extractor. It has been stubborn to move but have been carefully polishing it with some 400 and then 600.
This has left some metal in the raw.

Will painting the raw metal with cold blue be okay? What is an appropriate coating?

 

[crb]

What is an appropriate coating?

Bare metal and blued metal get the same thin coating of oil.

 

[Spott3r]

Roger, that.

Thanks, Ray. Good point.

Since this is not my rifle.. I was thinking what would be good to coat it with if it has to go another 24 years before it is shot again..

 

[wnroscoe]

I just ordered an extractor kit from Brownells.

The last riveted extractor I replaced caused a little bit of a headache. The new extractors were too thick, from the bolt face to the extractor cut out just under the bolt nose. It would clip over the first case but wouldn’t extract. I polished both sides of the extractor, top & bottom, by laying it down on the wet rock with WD40 and using my finger to hold it down and polishing in a circular motion. I simply polished until I had a clean up. I was surprised at how rough the new extractor was. After polishing it worked like a champ, no problems.

 

[Spott3r]

Yeah some lips..

..just stick out.

When I compared the old extractor lip to the new the lip it was definitely not as well formed and WNroscoe is right the finish left a bit to be desired.