Mack Brothers Remington 700 Bolt

[Chris320]

I'm looking at using the Mack Brother bolt for a remington 700 build. It says it will require gunsmithing to install.

Has anyone used one of these? My question is will the bolt drop right in and headspace is the only concern or will it take other fitting to install it?

I'm changing the barrel anyways to setting the headspace is no big deal. I can't imagine it needs other fitting into the action. The bolt looks like it comes nitride finished and any fitting would ruin that finish.

 

[Jhunter]

There is no such thing as a sholdered prefit for the 700’s. That chamber will need to be cut to fit your action. You could go the route of remage if you wanted a prefit barrel. I would take some measurements with your action before assuming the mack bros bolt is going to fit.

 

[Chris320]

I already have the remage barrel, i've done a barrel change like this several times. The concern is will the bolt fit in the action without modification?

 

[Jester896]

When I looked it up I read this note their bolt upgrade:

NOTE: This is not a drop in bolt and when replacing an existing bolt, it must be fit by a gunsmith for proper head spacing.

I would imagine the reason would be that they don't know the exact thickness of your recoil lug, the depth of your chamber or any other determining factors that would affect headspace. That would be why they recommend fitting to the gun..and that doesn't necessarily mean modifying the bolt. While you had the barrel off you may take the opportunity to true the action if it hasn't been...that would likely change the headspace as well. These are unknown factors for them and why they may make a CYA statement "fitted by a gunsmith" if you don't have that ability...just a guess

 

[Jhunter]

PTG offers different thickness for their one piece bolt. I bought one and had to lap it to fit my action. Remington has tight actions, sloppy actions, out of spec actions, etc

 

[Jester896]

Remington has tight actions, sloppy actions, out of spec actions, etc

don't stop there