Remington 700 bolt handle

[MCMXI]

I'm assuming that bolt handle is forged.... would be strange if that is porosity within a forging.

I was under the impression that the bolt handle is cast and then machined to fit "precisely" around the bolt. There is some porosity in the bolt handle casting as Iansstud mentioned but all three of my bolt handles have porosity too. However, the porosity has no deleterious effect either, unless the sectional density is reduced sufficiently to allow the handle to elastically deform at the joint, which I very much doubt happens given the dimensions of the bolt, the applied load and the Young's Modulus of steel.

 

[kyle1974]

elastic deformation at the bolt?

must be a lot of zombies chasing you down!

LOL

 

[MCMXI]

elastic deformation at the bolt?

must be a lot of zombies chasing you down!

LOL

I don't understand that comment at all.

deercop, I'd agree with your gunsmith and Remington, that your bolt handle isn't going anywhere any time soon, but only you can decide if it's aesthetically pleasing enough. I'm still thinking about TIG welding the bolt handles to the bolts on my 700s so that I can be 100% sure that the handles aren't going to fall off in a match or while hunting. I'll most likely grind an 1/8" channel along the handle/bolt interface (shown with red arrow), fill it with one pass using TIG, and grind it flush if necessary. Given the geometry of the weld, it would be very difficult to separate the handle from the bolt using a vice and a hammer let alone chambering and ejecting rounds. To go one step further, I'm not sure yet about clearance issues, but it's possible that there's room for a weld along the channel shown with the blue arrow. These modifications wouldn't change the appearance of the bolt handle if that's important, but they'd go a long way to improving reliability.

 

[Iansstud]

just make sure you put a clamp on it, and tack the other side 1st befor you make a weld.. I have thought about doing the same thing myself!

 

[kyle1974]

1858... it was sarcasm....

if you are slamming the bolt open/closed hard enough to yield the material, or the braze.... I think that would fall under "operator error".

 

[deercop]

 

[deercop]

 

[Funderb]

I am ok with brazing... Im sure it will hold, otherwise my house would have some MAJOR problems with my plumming!!!

huh?

I think you have mistaken brazing with sweating, or soldering.

Brazing is a very high heat joint and is very strong.
Soldering is much lower heat, and unless you have threadless steel pipes under your house, I imagine they are soldered.

However, (comma) the braze job done on this bolt it without a doubt poor for the intended quality of the rifle. Fortunately, aesthetics are not key to function, so it will more than likely be just fine. As we can see, the groups are phenomenal.