Savage Bolt Head on Rem 700 bolt

A

ALIKANA

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Am thinking of putting Savega BH on Rem bolt & have most of the problems worked out but the firing pin. Have done a fair amount of lathe work but never turned a firing pin. If I were to turn the firing pin to fit the Savage Bolt Head Am I going to have to case harden the firing pin afterwards? Any alternatives or info would be greatly appreciated.
Also, I have searched these threads & found info on this type of conversion (which was very helpful) but no specific info on firing pin details.
As a side note I also have a 6.5 Arisaka chambered in 6mm Ackley that may get the same conversion because the bolt head of the Arisaka is beat up pretty badly.
 
I did one of these conversions and turned the fp in the lathe and have had no problems with it.
 
I suggest a very sharp HSS toolbit and max rpm on your lathe.

A better bet might to grid it if you have the capability.

Jay, Idaho
 
ALIKANA, I have a reamer made by PTG around here somewhere that I used to make the Savage bolt heads accept a Rem firing pin.... when I was doing this.
Let me look around a little.
 
I only turned the very tip of the FP. I drilled the bolt head up to the reduced diameter of the tip. Hmmm, Actually I may have turned the larger dia of the FP to a straight cylinder with a step down to the tip.

I will say that this whole bolt head conversion thing is WAY overrated. Just buy the Rem or PTG bolt you need.

Ray
 
Thanks for the replys. Still in the planning details process. Lots of spring chores taking up time including an outboard engine somebody put a curse on (I think my wife). I will probably end up both turning the fp & drilling the Savage bolt head a little to reduce the effective of a major change on only one component. It's always great to hear about the different solutions to the same project. Keep 'em coming.
crb, I know you are right about buying one but my wife says I have some kind of addiction about messing with things, like taking them apart & having parts left over after I put them back together (& they still work)...
 
Alikana

What size hole is in the Savage Bolt Head as it comes out of the box??

Turning a firing pin is an exersize in common sense. It is obvious that a sharp, positive rake tool with a minimum nose radius is required, but since firing pins are usually made from a material tempered to a fairly high RC number, you do need to use a tool with sufficient hardness to do the job. That means some type of carbide.

Tool push off is the biggest problem with small diameters with any length. Small multiple cuts, and as stiff a set up as possible is a must. Any flaws in the lathes head bearings (as in slack), will show up.

I can grind small cemented carbide tools to perform any operation I wish. Do not fall for that old wives tail that you cannot get carbide sharp. I do it all the time. What is required is the correct grinding rock.

But, admittidly, it does help to have a tool grinder.

Tell you what. Give me an address, and I will grind you a 3/8 shank 883 grade tool that will do the job, and send it to you........jackie
 
I too, have done a Savage conversion. Not sure why I did it except to see if I could. I followed Jay McMunn's instructions. Becareful about drilling out the hole in the cross pin. If you break the cross pin during a difficult extraction you might have problems.

Don
 
Another aspect; imo if you are planning to jam the bullet then the Savage design is NOT desirable. The more you jam the bigger the issues. Due to the normal clearances in all the associated parts it is only natural for the bolt head to lag behind the bolt body if you have much jam or if the cases are tight/long in the chamber.

On my conversion bolt I had an issue at a match where I left my bullets at home. I borrowed some that had a longer length/different ogive and for the first few targets [ due to time contraints ] I was trying to figure out the seating depth which started out way too long. What would happen is that the FP would not drop all the way. No bang. But when I went to lift the bolt knob BANG.

Very disconcerting and it took a bit to figure out it was all due to the excessive jam caused by the longer ogive . I had fired this bolt set up a pretty good bit with my normal bullets and it did fine with the typical .005 to .010 jam. Once I got the new bullets back to an appropriate seating depth the problem disappeared completely.

I obviously have something out of whack in some aspect of my workmanship on the conversion but in thinking about this issue I did come to the conclusion that the Savage design is going to have issues when jaming the bullet. The normal Remington/clone integral bolt head of course is not going to have a problem with jammed bullets.
 
What size hole is in the Savage Bolt Head as it comes out of the box??
Click to expand...
.073" The internal shape is different as well.

If I were to install a Savage bolt head on a Rem 700 bolt, I would install a 4140HT .280" long bushing with a press fit to a flat seat then re-drill the vent hole. This ensures the firing pin is supported throughout its travel. If you need a small diameter firing pin tip for your 6mmBR or PPC then this is the chance to do it. I would take .004" off the face of the Savage bolt head and .002" off the lugs to true it. Then I would take a skim off the very front of it, just enough so it sits true for milling later. From the bolt face to the end of the head is approx 1.320". With a reshaped tip 700 firing pin at a length of approx 1.300" to the seat, I would turn the pin to fit the bushing almost all the way back so the cross pin is untouched. Your going to have to turn the pin anyway because its way too thick where the cross pin would be. Then I would mill approx .060" off the cross pin end to set protrusion. I would also use the Savage front baffle as well, milling off the tab and cutting a new groove to match the Rem.

I can't see myself doing it though, why not just get a tight fitting bolt and a trued action?
 
It might be worthwhile to make a bracket to hold a small grinder like a moto-tool on your lathe's tool post for jobs like this.

Then use one of the larger diameter stones for the grinder and make a series of light grinds with slow feed.

Just a thought!
 
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