remington bolt handle

[billy]

Anyone know of a gunsmith who modify remington 700 bolt handles with the three screws in the handle and the bolt?

[Nobade]

Never heard of such a thing. Have you got one like that? It doesn't seem like a very good idea since anything that would break a proper silver solder joint would break the screws as well.

[gunnut69]

I have seen people 'pin' (insert a screw) thru the bolt handle of a remington M700 to prevent it's seperation. I don't believe it was a good modification. I would think even less of 3 screws..

[roper]

We have a gunsmith in town that pins the bolt handle to the bolt body. 

[drdougrx]

Just out of curiosity....how common is this exactly??

[billy]

The ones i,ve seen on the internet were hex head and counter sunk from handle to the bolt,how common is the handle trouble with the 700?Though this could stop trouble in the future,love my rem. 700 ,it is the only rem. rifle i have ever owned.

[gunnut69]

I've handled hundreds of remington 700 rifles.. and worked on a bunch. I've seen extractors fail, rings in chambers from poor reaming, triggers that wouldn't reset because of gunk, crooked barrels (yes, literally projected at an angle from the receiver, famaged crowns and even crown that were never there!! but I've never seen a 700 handle fall off. I'm sure there are somewhere those who have, but I have not. Keep your rifle clean, shoot it well and you'll ne fine..  I would place this in the general classification of an ugly solution to a non-existant problem.

[roper]

The ones i,ve seen on the internet were hex head and counter sunk from handle to the bolt,how common is the handle trouble with the 700?Though this could stop trouble in the future,love my rem. 700 ,it is the only rem. rifle i have ever owned.

We have some guys in town who shoot the tactical course with Rem 700 and the screws are more for a what if problem.  Figure about 99% who fire a Rem 700 never slam the bolt open  so in certain conditions may want to install screws.  Just my .02

[drdougrx]

Thanks Gunnut,

That's what I expected.  The only one I've seen was on a custom rifle by a quality smith where the owner had a friend reload some ammo (.300win).  One round was too hot and the action would not open...so....the range officer got the bright idea to smack the bolt handle with a 2x4.  After about 5 or 6 progressively good whacks...the bolt handle came flying off and the action remained closed.

[Nobade]

Yep, I have seen a few break off. Usually it is a result of the above - ammo too hot or the wrong ammo fired in the rifle. Normally a boot or big wood stick will knock the handle off if you're determined. I still think screws are not going to make any difference. If you were to TIG weld the handle on, then recut the edges so it fits, you should be able to bend the handle pretty bad instead of breaking it off. Of course this brings other problems, and I still wouldn't recommend it. But if someone really thinks this is an issue and wants to pay for it, it would be doable.