Remington 700 bolt handle

[deercop]

I bought a new Remington 700 Stainless Milspec 5R last week. I ordered a Leupold Mark 4 LR/T scope, mount, and rings, supposed to be here today. I have not fired a single round through this brand new gun.

Yesterday, I was dry cycling the bolt, and this happened.

The dealer I bought the rifle from, has another identical one in stock, but (as expected) won't swap with me. Remington says repairs this time of year are running 6-10 weeks.

How PO'd would you be?

 

[MMCSRET]

I've seen that before, but never on a stainless and it had always been fired a few times, at least.

 

[homers]

I'd be a bit PO'd myself. If you bought it from a local (mom and pop) store and not a big national chain store, I'd expect the owner of the store to get involved. He could swap bolts and get in contact with Remington himself. He has no obligation to do this, but as a seller of Remington products, he should be as interested as you are in making sure the product is safe and well built.

 

[deercop]

Yes, local store that I've done a LOT of business with over the years, something on the order of $10K. I try and support my few local dealers.

They said they would let UPS pick it up from them, but that's about it. They checked with their distributor to see about getting a quick replacement, no dice.

 

[deercop]

Oh, they wouldn't swap bolts because of potential headspace issues.

 

[BornAgainBullseye]

I would trade it back for a Savage after seing that. No worry of a bolt handle coming off in an emergency on those rifles, or Winchester, or Mauser, Or Ruger shall I go on. You should take it to a gunsmith and have him Tig Weld it back on and smooth out the weld, mabye even have him drill a hole though the handle and then tig the hole to the bolt and fill it in. I would not want to have this happen when a Grizzly, or Islamic fighter is charging me. I would never sweat on any bolt handle.!!!!! End rant.

 

[John828]

hey bornagain,

What's the season dates and bag limit for Islamic fighters over there in Alabama?


deercop,

I would be POed too!!! I have no problem with Remingtons and see this as a fluke. Just for kicks, how hard were you cycling the bolt? It really should not matter how hard, that should not have happened regardless of how hard, but I'd still like to know.

 

[deercop]

John828,

Less than full strength, for sure. About like you would do if repelling an Islamic Jihad wave attack.

 

[USSR]

Not all that uncommon with M700's.

Don

 

[Runningman]

Remington says repairs this time of year are running 6-10 weeks.

If you get your Remington back in this amount of time consider your self Lucky. In the 90s I bought a 700 SS that had a very oversize chamber. I got it back about 6 months later with a new barrel.

A coworker won a Remington 700 300 Win mag at a raffle in the late 90s that would not chamber a factory round. He got it back about 8 or 9 months later because Remington was so backed up fixing their screw ups.

 

[John828]

I guess I got the only functioning Remingtons then. Man, I must be lucky. I have owned seven new models in the past twenty years and never needed to send one back. I have also had a few used ones and they all seemed to work fine. Of course the used ones could have been sent back by the prior owners.

 

[MMCSRET]

Silver solder is what it looks like, good stuff but very sensitive to proper heat. Probably a Friday afternoon gun.

 

[Acera]

Another reason there is very little difference between buying from a store and over the internet. You are facing the exact same problem.

Now it is a time vs. money issue.

Remington + Long Wait = Free Fix

Gunsmith + Money = Short Wait


Good luck with whatever route you choose.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Like Don said...it happens.

I would not be pissed myself...If I was in a hurry I'd put the handle back on myself...its not hard to do. If no hurry, I'd let Remington fix it.

Remington CS is not that bad in my experience...I had to send my SPS Tactical back...first to a "service center" in Kentucky, they didn't fix it to suit me.

Called Remington back, they sent me a shipping label, this time it went to the factory in Ilion, NY...and it came back fixed and is the most accurate production rifle I have ever seen.

Remington picked up the bill for all shipping...both ways, both times...the entire ordeal only took 2 months IIRC.

 

[MCMXI]

You should take it to a gunsmith and have him Tig Weld it back on and smooth out the weld

That's exactly what I'd do except I'd do it myself ... you'd end up with a stronger bolt as well and it'd be the perfect time to add a Badger Ordnance tactical bolt knob or something from Pacific Tool and Gauge. In fact, if you sent your bolt off to PT&G, they could do a bunch of nice stuff to it (including the welding I'm sure) and have it back to you in no time. I've called them a couple of times and they're really knowledgeable, friendly guys. I realize that it doesn't make you feel any better about what happened but think of it as an upgrade that you would do anyway. As for Don's double negative ... given the millions of 700s out there I would expect to see a lot more handles coming off. I have three 700s, two are around 12 years old and my latest was bought last year. So far no issues and no one I know, have met or have spoken too at the range (that own 700s) has ever mentioned this problem before.

 

[Horsemany]

deercop

Turn that frown upside down. Now you can have someone repair it and put in the trick screws. Some smiths do 2 some do 3. It looks very nice. The counterbore the hadle and sit the heads flush. And since you're stainless....no refinshing. And yes it'd be a good time for the oversized bolt nob. Badgers are OK but if you look at the benchrest stuff you can get some sick ones that are more machined, fluted, and punched full of holes for less than the Badger. You just got an excuse to start the modifications early with that bolt handle.

 

[plinky]

You just got an excuse to start the modifications early with that bolt handle.

Yes, you are one lucky dog in that respect.

Tonight I was trying neck sized brass in the chamber of a M700. It was range brass and I figured it would be tight but it really siezed up solid as soon as the lugs started camming down. The third case that I stuck in it was so tight that I had to hammer the bolt open. Your pics went through my head every time I hit the handle. After 20 whacks or so it popped open. Won't try that again.

 

[BornAgainBullseye]

A lesson for others to only neck size brass that has been fireformed in the gun you intend to use it in. FL size everything you find at the range

 

[USSR]

Silver solder is what it looks like, good stuff but very sensitive to proper heat.

Yep. There was a gunsmith who made a good living reattaching these handles by screws as well as tig welding. Personally, I would have a gunsmith do it and have him attach a tactical bolt knob as previously suggested.

Don

 

[deercop]

I decided to return it to Remington for warranty repair, and shipped it out yesterday. Now to settle in for the wait.

The 700's new friends are eagerly awaiting it's return.

 

[plinky]

Let us know how the service is. In a situation like this, they really should take good care of you.
Nice accessories BTW.

 

[SpeedAKL]

I'd be pretty irritated if that happened to me on a new gun. Hopefully they'll fix it in a reasonable amount of time, I'd expect them to given the price and touted quality of that gun.

 

[MCMXI]

Did Remington need the complete rifle? It's a pity you couldn't just send back the bolt? You could have been busy mounting the bases, mounting the rings, lapping them, mounting the scope, bore sighting it etc while you waited. I use red loctite for the base screws (18 to 20 in-lb) and smear loctite on the underside of the base where it contacts the receiver mostly to reduce the chance of corrosion in that area.

 

[deercop]

Yes, they wanted the entire rifle.
Anyway, I was physically unable to remove the bolt as-is, I tried.
Mounting bases and rings will only take a few minutes. No major loss of time IMO.
I plan to use blue loctite on the base screws, not red.

 

[MCMXI]

Anyway, I was physically unable to remove the bolt as-is, I tried.

Deleted: It was a dumb comment and I can't bear to see it any longer ... bloody krochus copied it though so I'm screwed! That'll teach me to make a post after a long night of reloading!