Remington 700 Bolt modification?

J

Jackson~in~GA

Guest
I know a bolt face can be opened up, but can a remington 700 bolt with the standard bolt face be made to work for the small cases like a 222 Rem? I'll probably just order another bolt, but thought I would ask first. Thanks, ~Jackson
 
I would have used to have said yes, but just about every sako style extractor that I've ever heard of being blown out has been when it's been used with .222 sized case heads. Now, I'd say no, just get a new bolt from Pacific and make sure that it has a Remington style extractor and not the sako style.
 
You could solder in a bushing to reduce the dia. You would then have to go to a different extractor. Also the ejector may be partly under the bushing.
 
...and the larger action rails will not feed the smaller case so it would be a single shot.
 
Mike,

What do you put it down to - deficiencies in the design of the sako extractor, or that shooters overload the .222 family of cases more often, or something else entirely like the geometry of the extractor on the big diameter bolthead?

John
 
I picked up a 700 ADL in 243 the other day for a deal. The rifle is well used, and looks rough, but I bought it for the action anyway so I didn't worry about it. I had thought about barrelling it for 222. I didn't think about the feeding issue. I might just use this for another project and find another action for my 222 build.
 
John

When using a .532 and .473 case the extractor is somewhat captured inside
the barrel counterbore for the bolt nose preventing it from pivoting outwards. In a .378 size case the extractor cut is so deep that any serious gas leakage can result in the extractor being blown down the bolt lug raceway. In a perfect world the action would be scaled down to fit the cartridge size.

Dave
 
Pat Byrne had a .223 case blow last year and sent a sako extractor flying with enough force that it penetrated either a metal door or a sheet metal wall. I don't remember which it was. I'm sure Dave is correct on the problem, but the small case capacity cartridges are also subject to quickly going from safe to not safe with slight changes in load or even difference in temperatures from one day to the next especially when they are loaded to the max.
 
Mike

It was a metal clad door ...

The problem was strictly a reloading error on my part. However, the extractor did come out and if I had been shooting the rifle as a left hander I very well may be among the long departed ! I strongly suspect had the bolt been wearing a standard Remington extractor that nothing would have happened other than some gas leakage.. Of course I had a bit of that when the Sako blew ------, lol.

I still have m700 .223's with sako extractors but won't allow a left hander to shoot them and have become extremely attentive during reloading..

Be careful, it can happen !
 
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Hi Mike
Smaller case means faster powder and faster spikes in the pressure curve. Been there, done that, fixed the bolt or maybe it was two bolts.

Not Picking on Pat because if we all told the truth we all have a story to tell. This is about the times in life when we're over come with a case of the dumb asses. It's happened to me on more than one occasion. But the facts are a Sako extractor in a 222 bolt face, with a case failure, means the extractor is coming out of there. Most people don't realise they're sitting behind a bomb. Just a word of caution to everyone.

Dave
 
A Sako conversion on a Rem 700 creates a situation where the shooter may have a light, high velocity projectile coming out of the rifle on the shooter's end.
I'll never do another conversion. Kiff has made it so that this no longer needs to be done.
Opinions, we all have them.

Jay, Idaho
 
Dave Tooley said:
Hi Mike
Smaller case means faster powder and faster spikes in the pressure curve. Been there, done that, fixed the bolt or maybe it was two bolts.

Not Picking on Pat because if we all told the truth we all have a story to tell. This is about the times in life when we're over come with a case of the dumb asses. It's happened to me on more than one occasion. But the facts are a Sako extractor in a 222 bolt face, with a case failure, means the extractor is coming out of there. Most people don't realise they're sitting behind a bomb. Just a word of caution to everyone.

Dave
Click to expand...

Dave, have you ever heard of a sako style extractor coming out of anything but the .222 family bolt faces? That's all that I've ever heard, never a PPC, .308 or magnum. But, then again just because I've never seen or heard of it doesn't mean that it hasn't happened.

When we were shooting the Sako balloon head PPC's, the sako extractor installation was considered safer than a Remington because it allowed the counterbore to be cut back to .125 instead of around .155 which let the balloon portion of the case head go farther into the barrel and let it be supported by the chamber. Evidently there had been a problem with the case head letting go when shot in bolts with the Remington extractor. That's not an issue now though with Lapua brass for PPC's.

I fixed a pre-64 Winchester 70 that had blown a primer in a .220 Swift. When the primer blew, the gases ripped the claw extractor off the bolt and he never found the extractor. He was fortunate that he still has his vision as he wasn't wearing glasses. He did have some reddness to his right eye and broken blood vessels, but no loss of vision. Mistakes in reloading can be dangerous. His problem was from too much headspace in his rifle combined with moving the shoulder back too much winding up with a combined .012" too much headspace between the chamber and the loaded round. All of the ones that he had fired that had been loaded at the same time didn't cause a problem up until the one case that failed.
 
1911 type extractor

hi just throught i'd put my pennys in
a 1911 type extactor is just as easy to fit just wish some would make them !

i made one years ago for mate . it toke ages and was held in place buy small roll pin (cross drilled) ! it was old masgrave mod 85 parts had become hard to find orginanly a 22-250 but head been coverted to 9mm short and was used with silencer for cull work on game ranch in south africa !

back to topic at hand , on remi's it may be better than sako type for small case heads as the couter bore in face would remain intact !
 
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Mike

here's pics of a couple of OH SH-T's!!!!

One's a 22 Jet Imp and the other is a 6.5-06 Imp that was totaly destroyed.

The 6.5-06 Imp had a modified M-16 extractor.

I've seen a couple of others. I have no problem installing a Sako extractor as long as the shooter is not looking into the loading port.

Dave
 

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I don't understand why, when the Sako extractor "conversion" is done to a 700, only part of the Sako extractor system is done. The bolt guide bar on an old Sako two lug action is there for one primary reason... to stop or deflect the extractor from the shooter if there is a catastrophic case failure.

Here is a picture of a 2 lug Sako action that was destroyed by a .243 blow up. You can see the bolt "guide" did it's job well in preventing the shrapnel from reaching the shooter. It all went out more sideways than to the rear... if that "guide" had not been there (as in the 700 conversions) it all would have come right down the bolt raceway.

243%20BLOW%20UP%20ACTION.jpg
 
Funny thing about this Dennis, the newer Sako made rifles have essentially the same extractor but not the guide rib.
 
Jkob said:
Funny thing about this Dennis, the newer Sako made rifles have essentially the same extractor but not the guide rib.
Click to expand...

You don't realize the difference in design between a two lug action and a 3 lug action?

In a two lug action the "Sako" style extractor is for all purposes still "exposed" when the bolt rotates to a closed position... while in the 3 lug action it rotates behind a portion of the action supporting one of the locking lugs effectively blocking rearward exposure.


.
 
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