Thread: Open Remington 700 bolt face

Any difficulties opening 0.378 to 0.473?

Not as far as I understand it, technically a simple matter in the lathe but I'm under the impression that the best approach for the extractor is to go to either the Sako or M16 type as the Rem M700 type that clips into the recess machined into the bolt face's lip isn't as reliable on aftermarket machining (your mileage might vary there depending on the accuracy of work). I'm not too sure on what your example would need for the mod to retain the factory type as well, as there have been at least 3 different designs for this setup from Rem.

I have had them that have had the modification done to convert to M16 or Sako, Sako being about half the length of the M16 version. The M16 was actually a factory Rem one so not really a mod - it didn't have the internal clip recess machining at all. It's in my viewpoint not much of a difference between the two designs (internal contained or external). The external is by reputation the stronger system, but at the expense of the '3 circles containment' for the case head that Rem went on about. I think your example would be the best case for the external mod though, as you would be removing most if not all of the factory machining opening out the bolt face.

Was wondering about the ejector and how that is generally handled

Leave the ejector to do it’s job

Obviously remove it to machine the boltface then re install

Greetings,
Or just sell the Remington and buy something with the right bolt face. Less risky and likely cheaper in the long run. I doubt if you would need to touch the ejector. Large and small BF look about the same position to me.
Regards Grandpamac.

Can you find a bolt in the bush somewhere?

Must be a few about for the amount of rifles for sale with no bolt...

Converting the Remington 700 bolt to take the Sake or M16 extractor seems to be a pretty common thing. It looks like when opening up the bolt face, as you want to do, it is easier to do this conversion than re mill the bolt face to take the original Rem 7oo extractor. Here's a Link. https://rifleshooter.com/2016/02/ins...0-model-seven/

I had it done a couple of months ago, .473 to .534. No big deal, and just about any gunsmith worth the name has a jig for holding Remington bolts.

Feeding might be an issue if you are using the feed rails in the action though, they will need to be opened up to get the larger diameter case into a position that the bolt can pick it up moving forward. I use a steel detachable mag, so 2 minutes with a pair of pliers had it working for feeding and gentle use of a file on the follower had the round in the right place for staggered loading.

Can be done ok had my 243 to 300 saum sako type extractor fitted works fine

Originally Posted by gimp

Was wondering about the ejector and how that is generally handled

As far as I'm aware the ejector plunger is the same across the basic bolt face sizes. I recall something about some caliber-specific variations with the ejector, but for the random average off the shelf M700's the ejector is samey samey. Remove it, open the bolt face and reinstall.

The extractor is where it gets funky - most people go for the mini-16 type extractor as it is more stable than the smaller/shorter Sako-type extractor.

Oh yeah the ejector isn't just the same it's in the same place across all bolts. Well there you go.

Very hard to find a model 7 with a .223 bolt face I hope your not having dirty thoughts

Originally Posted by Kelton

Very hard to find a model 7 with a .223 bolt face I hope your not having dirty thoughts

Not even remotely, don't worry

Well that’s a relief, as you were.

Originally Posted by Kelton

Well that’s a relief, as you were.

easy to reduce a bolt face diameter too....