Savage bolt head conversion for Rem bolts,

J

Jay Idaho

Guest
A number of us have done this and like the results. Now, I'd like to take it to the next level, fitted bolt bodies. Yes, you can make your bolt bodies out of 4130 and flame harden the cocking cam. But it would be nice to have it available, ready for you to finish.
I discussed this with Dave Kiff at the SHOT Show, this year. I told him that we wanted bolt bodies that were like Remingtons at the rear and Savages at the front. I suggested .702 and .704 diameter bodies for starters. He thought that this was a good idea and said that they would build some.
Further discussions with them resulted in Dave saying that they were targetting June or July. As of today, they have not yet started on this project. It should be pretty simple, no bolt head, lugs, ejector, extractor, firing pin hole, just a ground tube with the cocking cam and a hole for the cross-pin. Threaded one end and reamed the other end, most of this is already done on their current products.
If interested, give Kiff a call or send him an email and let him know that you would like to have them available.

Thanks,

Jay, Idaho
 
He would also need to make a special firing pin. A special bolt head retaining pin would also be nice as the Savage part is a bit short it seems. I fired this one for the first time yesterday and it worked great. Too bad the bbl I bought had a junk chamber. Next I get to use my new 6mmBeggs reamer and see if the custom SSS long extractor in a 308 bolt face will really extract a 220 Russian case head.

rem700Savageconversion.jpg
 
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I just modify the Rem firing pin to suit, remove material at the front to obrain correct firing pin travel and protrusion. Kiff could offer them, if he wishes.
Yours looks nice but it looks like it doesn't have much clearance between the bolthead and the body. As long as it floats enough to get full lug contact, it is enough, I guess.
 
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For this to be a 'drop in' conversion Dave needs to make the firing pin. I reduced the dia of the 700 fp and drilled out the back end of the Savage bolt head.
 
I'd sent Dave an old bolt that was converted a few months back, havent heard much since. The lack of a "drop in" firing pin/ bolt head leaves a nice hole in the market for someone with a lathe and some time in the evenings.:)
 
Dave Kiff's phone#

I found an article by Marlee dated 1/7/2006 and emailed him but it got bounced.
I was looking for some one to do this. Who is Dave Kiff?

Does anyone know a smith in metro Atlanta who has done this?

Thanks
 
Dave Kiff is the owner of Pacific Tool and Gage in Oregon. He makes chamber reamers, custom cutting tools for industry and products for gunsmiths. I don't think that he is offering parts for this conversion at this time.
Most conversions are done at the time of a new barrel installation. Modifications must be made to the rear of the barrel when doing this. And headspace will need to be adjusted.

Jay, Idaho
 
Thanks Jay;
I knew I knew the name just couldn't place it.
That's were I got my 6.5X308 AI reamer.
I've just got the barrel and was going to mount it this weekend.
But I may put it on hold until I find someone who can do the conversion.

Let me ask you this.
This is a switch barrel rifle. I'm assuming that if I do this conversion
I'll have to re-head space the rest of the barrels.

Thanks for the info.
 
Yes, you would have to have all the bbls machined. It's really not worth the effort and cost if you were having to pay someone to convert your bolt and redo all your bbls. You really need to run the reamer into the chamber another .020 to .030" to properly fit the bbl to the bolt head along with cutting off the recess and moving the shoulder of the tenon.
 
Thanks Jay;
I knew I knew the name just couldn't place it.
That's were I got my 6.5X308 AI reamer.
I've just got the barrel and was going to mount it this weekend.
But I may put it on hold until I find someone who can do the conversion.

Let me ask you this.
This is a switch barrel rifle. I'm assuming that if I do this conversion
I'll have to re-head space the rest of the barrels.

Thanks for the info.
 
if one goes to the trouble of converting the Rem bolt to a savage front end,doesn't it make sense to use the savage baffle for the boltways
 
You are probably right. Here is what I was thinking on leaving it off [ for now at least ]. The front part of the bolt body locates the front of the bolt in the receiver's bored through hole. By going with the Savage baffle you add a few more thou of slop due to the clearance between the baffle's hole and the bolt head. I am using a 308 bolt head with a long extractor with a PPC/6 Beggs/220 Russian case. I felt that the bolt head would be slightly better centered without the baffle.
 
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The baffle reduces the rearward movement of the bolt which can be a plus or not, depending on case length.
Couldn't you open up a .223 bolt head to fit the PPC?

Jay
 
Jay said:
The baffle reduces the rearward movement of the bolt which can be a plus or not, depending on case length.
Couldn't you open up a .223 bolt head to fit the PPC?

Jay
Click to expand...

My experience with a 6.8 SPC says that you have to massage the extractor quite a lot and the 220 casehead is another .020 or so bigger than the 6.8. People do it that way but I wonder how close they are getting to the relief for the extractor ball ?

I also just wanted to try the 308 bolt head. The std Savage extractor pulls the case 100% of the time but occasionally the case falls out of the bolt head before you have the bolt fully to the rear. Then you have to fish the case out of the front rec ring instead of it being laying there in the port. The slightly longer SSS ppc extractor works 100%.
 
I have done several conversions, mostly for my own rifles. It is a lot of work and the Savage bolt heads have to be machined as well. I would probably have to charge about $150 plus parts and I don't know if it's worth that to someone. Dave Kiff was looking at the possibility of building some bolts with this feature. This was some time ago and I don't know if he decided not to or is still exploring the matter.
 
crb;
Thanks
That's what I figured.
I think I'll just fit the new barrel for now.

I'll look around for a trashed 700 to play with maybe rebarrel it for a 338 RCM.
 
Jay, I still have the 700 bolt that you and Marlee helped me convert. I have not used it in a rifle. Do you think the cross pin and bolt head could be modified to take a standard 700 fireing pin as far as the diamenter is concerned?

Don
 
There is not enough cross section in the cross pin or bolt head shank to fit the unmodified Rem firing pin. This is why I think PTG has to offer a drop-in firing pin.
 
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