Remington bolt repair

[AKdutch]

I need some advice here. I have a Remington Model 7 in .300 SAUM. Last year just before deer hunting the bolt handle broke off at the range. I only had a few days until I left so I took it to a gunsmith in Fairbanks and he silver soldered it back on. He told me that it looked like I had been slamming the bolt shut and was what caused the break. I have always taken extreme care with all of my guns and would never slam the bolt shut, nor had anybody else used my rifle. Anyway, I went hunting and came home without shooting anything.

I took the rifle to the range earlier this year and was getting ready for a spring blackbear hunt. I shot about 15 rounds and the handle broke off again. This time I had been extremely careful about easing the bolt into battery, is that the correct term for a bolt gun, and it still broke. This rifle is only three years old and probably has 300 rounds thru it. I called Remington after it broke and they told me it probably wouldn't be fixed under warranty due to the silver solder done. Any ideas? And is it an option to tig weld it on?

 

[bearheart]

bolt broke

bolt broke

No advice but I saw the same thing with a Rem 700 when the ultrmags first came out. Well to do dentist in town who shoots only factory ammo had his bolt break off at the range, sent it back to warranty depot, they fixed it but really scratched ( more like gouged) several areas of the bolt during repair. I have an older remington AWR that I hunt with and an old 600 I'll never part with but I will never buy a new remington rifle after what I saw with the dentist's rifle. I always thought that with regular use you couldn't break a rifle... slamming the bolt on a bolt action too hard??? Unles you are godzilla , I should think that would be impossible. Good luck.

 

[elmerkeithclone]

Your not talking to Remington on the correct terms. The silver solder job would have never happened if their workmanship were not sub par to start with.

Call their customer relation folks and tell them that either they fix it or the gun will be on display inside the front door of every major gun show around! I would do it even if I had to buy a table to put it on!

In my opinion they would be money ahead to just give you a brand splinter new rifle to quiet you down. Word gets around very quickly concerning manufacture defects and sales are usually greatly hampered as a result!

The only gun that I have ever had a bolt come off of was a Remington 788 in 308. That was 20 years ago! You'd think that by now they would have their [email protected] together on this! Obviously not!

 

[lester]

It sounds to me like there could be play between the locking lugs of your bolt and the receiver. Does your bolt's serial # match the last digits of the serial number on the receiver? I would guess that the "slamming" is imparted on the bolt handle by the movement of the bolt against the back of the bolt receiver recess. That kind of force could be enough to shear off a bolt handle.

If the bolt lock up is tight, there is no way I can imagine the occurence you report. The idea that you could get enough force generated to shear a weld by "slamming the bolt closed" with the little stubby remington handle is ludicrous. It takes really deft manipulation to operate the Remington bolt with any speed or dexterity, a good reason to replace or reshape the handle.

Have you measured your once-fired brass and compared to factory unfired dimensions? Are you getting signs of case-head separation? Have you ever had the barrel removed, or the action "blueprinted"? Just a thought. Maybe you can find an RCBS case-mic in your caliber and measure factory cases against some of your recently fired empties? If you see more than .005 of variation on several cases, you have a warranty problem.

 

[lawdog]

Call Ray at Remington

Call Ray at Remington

I live here in upstate NY where these guns are (still) made and I have a number for the guy who runs the repair shop. My experience is that he is a little hard to get a hold of but he has always been very helpful to me. Ray Agland 315-895-3359 Good luck. Jesse

 

[AKdutch]

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks for the responses. I will try Remington again and if not check my fired cases. John